Amazing Disappearing Coffee Table!

OK, I admit: it's not all that amazing, and it doesn't really disappear (it just folds up), and it's not much of a "coffee table;" more of a teeny little end-table/foot stool. But it does give me a place to put my feet/netbook/coffee/breakfast/etc while I'm preventing the couch from levitating, and it does fold up and hide quite nicely.

Step 1: Materials

Materials:
Two 18" lengths of 2"x2"
Two 5" lengths of 2"x2"
One 15" dowel (I used an old broom handle)
One 3" metal rod
Two 12" squares (for the base & top). I used 1"x12" pine shelving (plywood would be fine, too)
Two hinges (almost any size or style will work). Note: Four would provide less wobbly results.
Short wood screws: enough for the hinges
Four long wood screws: about 2"

Tools:
Saw
Drill
Small drill bit (for pilot holes)
1" drill bit (or: just a little bigger than the dowel)
1/2" drill bit (or: just a little bigger than the metal rod)

Comments

[AmyCat59]

I've got some cheap commercial folding tray-tables which wobble a lot. Going to try adding a base like yours to hold the legs firmly, and see if that will help...

[galadriel]

Nice instructable, very clear!

I wanted something a little taller (my supports were 26" and 22" for the middle) and slightly more rounded-looking. I used this as more of an experiment with several different techniques, so it's not as overall finished as I might have wanted, but I'm still pretty pleased with it.

One thing I did to make it a touch more stable, on those flimsy dowel legs, was to drill a 1/4" hole down the ends of the middle dowel, and stick a 1/4 dowel inside, with about 1/4" protruding. Then in the middle of the support dowel's stop-hole, I drilled a 1/4" slightly deeper hole. So the stop-dowel has a stop-dowel.

Thanks for the inspiration!

[mcraghead]

Very nice!

[galadriel]

Glad you approve! I appreciate the inspiring instructable.

[PeckLauros]

Nice instructables.

[tinker234]

hey just a thought could i use this and upscale and make a bed that dissapers under my flour and then a cover that mathches my floor

[theexpert]

i feel this is more of one of those mini fold tables for eating next to the couch yes a coffee table is similar to a mini couch side eating table but i feel this is less of a coffie table unless it was bigger

[mcraghead]

I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment, theexpert, but I couldn't think of a good word for "mini couch-side eating table," so I sacrificed accuracy for simplicity. Although the principle would work fine scaled up-and-out: perhaps the "legs" could become a big plywood sheet with one (or two) dowels that swing out to support a full-fledged coffee table? Or instead of a dowel, a section of plywood spinning on a frame of plywood, pivoting on a rod through its center. Then it still folds flat, but could truly do a coffee table's job...

[theexpert]

those are both very good ideas i might just try one

[gserrano701]

Great, worth giving it a try, thanks

[Rizwan Azami]

This was a clever constructible. Will definitely try it and report back.Thank you for it, Rizwan

[Bongmaster]

pretty neat