Desk-side Table, Part 1: Planning and Stock Prep

Last week I wrote about getting out of a rut.  I finally got to some hard work this week and I can't believe how out of shape I've gotten.  Woodworking shape, that is.  I've been dog-tired at the end of the day from planing oak boards and my right elbow is a little tender.

My first project on the honey-do list is a small table that will fit to the right of my wife's desk in a space formerly occupied by her old-fashioned computer CPU.  The space is about 13" wide and 31" deep, so I'll make the top 12" x 31".  Since she wants to be able to expand her desk-top area, the height will be the same as the desk, about 29 5/8".  I'm using oak to match her desk.

Here's a Sketchup model of what I'm planning.

Overall design - a short side will be the front

With top removed to show apron locations

I had to modify the design to suit the materials I had on hand.  A while back, I bought a couple pieces of 13" wide oak for a project that never came to pass, so I wanted to use that.  I was able to get the top from a single board.

Here's the material that will become the table

After I had cut pieces for the top, aprons and legs, the longest piece left was about an inch too short for the shelf boards.  I had some other "pre-used" oak that I could have used, but I wanted the shelf boards to look like the rest of the table and I really wanted to use up the oak I had bought.  So I modified the design a little bit.  Instead of having the top extend 1" past the aprons all around, I'm making it extend 2" at front and back (the short sides).  That shortens the length I need for the long aprons and the shelf boards.

Here's the product of this week's labor

From left to right: the top, three shelf boards, two short aprons, two long aprons, four (glued up) legs and two shelf rails.  All these parts came from the wood shown earlier, except for one of the legs.  That leg might look a little different, so I'll position it at the back.

I've started to do some layout on the legs.  I tend to go really slow on that to avoid mistakes.  I really should get into the habit of drawing the parts out on paper, showing all the important locations and details, so that I have a reference right there with me.

Next time I'll get into a discussion of reference surfaces and the details of layout and joinery.