Coffee table with drawers - How I learned to hate maple.

[CharlesC]

My kids have gotten into board games a lot over the past few months. The kitchen table doesn't work all the time for playing because if games run into supper time there's a lot of drama with getting the table cleaned off. The floor is uncomfortable for playing so I wanted a big coffee table that could handle a good sized board game.

I'm already done with this so I'll post the finished version first. Its made mostly out of maple I found for cheap ($1.50 bf) at habitat for humanity. The panels and top ended up being maple plywood. I'm not great at taking progress pics so forgive the huge gaps in progress. I only rough sketched the design before I got started which will probably seem obvious in the end.

Here's the material I started with after a rough cutting some of it down.

 

Trying to get a sense of scale to figure out how tall and wide it should be

Laying out a drawer front. Drawers and sides were put together with tongue and groove. The side panels are mortise and tenon into the legs.

Side panel glue up:

 

This was my first time working with maple and first time doing a breadboard top. The maple is really unforgiving for showing gaps in any of the joinery because it is so light. I intended to peg the breadboards only through the bottom but messed up and ended up drilling one hole all the way through the breadboard. So I tried to patch it with a plug but my plug cutters are crap and they don't even match what size they are supposed to be.

 

So then I ended up routing out for a dutchman patch, but even at my best I couldn't get the lines around the patch to be as small as I wanted. Damn maple, why you gotta be like that!

 

 

I thought maybe after some finish went on it would look better but it looked worse. Finally I gave up on it and made a second top with a walnut border around it to hide any deficiencies in the joint between the top and border. I'll repurpose this patched top for an outdoor table or something (after painting it).

Here's a view of how the interior went together. A piece of 1/4 ply and a 2x4 were added to mount the drawer slides on

Heres a picture of what could have been. I think this top's design is much better than what I ended up with. It fits the look of the rest of it better and the thickness is a better proportion than the final version too. Oh well. Live and learn.

Final version

 

 

Edited July 20, 2018 by CharlesC
I am not a smart man

[Coop]

Charles, I’m not seeing any pics.

[RichardA]

Pic's don't load.

[CharlesC]

Well crap. One minute let me fix it up.

Should look better now I think.

[Chet]

I think the top came out fine, even thought it wasn't what you had planned.  Over all a nice project, especially given you paid a buck and a half a board foot for material.

[RichardA]

Nice end result.... And that's what your after.   A nice end result.

[mat60]

Nice Charles.  What is the size of the game table?

[CharlesC]

47 minutes ago, mat60 said:

Nice Charles.  What is the size of the game table?

About 34 x 34. 

[Klappco]

Really nice and great job of adlibbing!

[wtnhighlander]

Looks great to me! The large drawers are to hold stacks of board game boxes, I assume?

[Chestnut]

I like it. I think the new too looks good. For the old one after i drilled through I'd probably have just gone through with all and then done end grain dowels. Highlight it and call it a feature no one would know it's a mistake

[CharlesC]

1 hour ago, wtnhighlander said:

Looks great to me! The large drawers are to hold stacks of board game boxes, I assume?

That's the hope at least!

13 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

I like it. I think the new too looks good. For the old one after i drilled through I'd probably have just gone through with all and then done end grain dowels. Highlight it and call it a feature no one would know it's a mistake

I considered it but I was pissed and wanted it to look like how I planned it lol. There were other smaller defects in the top too and I just wasn't happy with it. Good learning experience though because I have a kitchen table on the list.

[pkinneb]

That looks like it will work awesome for  board games. Great Job!

[Bankstick]

That is a nice table! My complements on the project, from idea to finish. I have seen plugs made from a contrasting wood as purple heart, walnut, etc. to add a bit of bling but not to overwhelm the overall appearance.

[Leaseman]

I'm practicing "passthrough" dowels currently and its more difficult then it seems. The main issue is to create that tight seem around the dowel you were looking for. You can buy dowels in 1/16th increments. Just buy a dowel 1/16 larger then the hole and sand down about 80% of the dowel so it fits in the hole. The remaining 20% will make sure you have a snug fit. Not sure if this is the best method . . .

The piece looks great by the way!

[CharlesC]

1 hour ago, Leaseman said:

I'm practicing "passthrough" dowels currently and its more difficult then it seems. The main issue is to create that tight seem around the dowel you were looking for. You can buy dowels in 1/16th increments. Just buy a dowel 1/16 larger then the hole and sand down about 80% of the dowel so it fits in the hole. The remaining 20% will make sure you have a snug fit. Not sure if this is the best method . . .

The piece looks great by the way!

Oh yeah that was a whole other disaster I didn't even mention. Since my plug cutter is crap I drilled the hole with a bit that was 1/32 smaller than the plug. Damn thing was tight enough that it put a hairline split in the breadboard. That damn top was death by 1000 cuts.

[mat60]

38 minutes ago, CharlesC said:

Oh yeah that was a whole other disaster I didn't even mention. Since my plug cutter is crap I drilled the hole with a bit that was 1/32 smaller than the plug. Damn thing was tight enough that it put a hairline split in the breadboard. That damn top was death by 1000 cuts.

I  have had things go like this but Im very glad not that often.  Sometimes Its best to walk away for a while. 

[Leaseman]

I've had a few projects like that myself. I guess you just have to keep PLUGGING away. HA HA