I'll show you how to build this side table, or C table out of white oak to improve any work from home or home office setup. This allows me to do work comfortably on the couch, or on the bed! The cross dowels used to join the legs allows this to be knocked down easily if you need to take it with you. It also gives it a modern farmhouse look!

Be sure to check out the full build video!

Free Plans 👉 https://bit.ly/sofa-tv-table-project-plan

Supplies

■ White Oak Lumber

■ Calipers

■ Saw Blade

■ Microjig Gripper

■ Tapering Jig

■ Dowel Jig

■ Rockler Cross Dowel Jig

Step 1: Breaking Down Lumber + Glue Up

Since the lumber I bought were already milled flat, with squared edges, all I had to do was cut the boards down to size at the table saw. And then I used Rockler's Deluxe Panel Clamps to glue up the panel for the top, and then used the bar clamps to glue up the pieces for the stretchers.

Step 2: Cut Leg Pieces

The legs will be angled back at 7 degrees. So start by setting the crosscut sled at 7 degrees, and cut both ends of the workpiece for the horizontal leg pieces. Next, lay out a taper going from 2.5" down to 1", and use a tapering jig to cut the taper on the horizontal leg pieces.

Once the horizontal pieces are cut, lay the parts together with the vertical pieces, mark the angle that needs to be cut on the vertical pieces and make the cuts on the crosscut sled.

Step 3: Leg Assembly

Once all the parts are cut, I used a dowel jig and 3/8" diameter dowels and glue to join the horizontal and vertical pieces together. Once they're glued up, I used a 1/8" roundover bit at my router table to smooth out the edges of the legs.

Step 4: Cross Dowels

I used cross dowels to join the leg assembly and the stretchers. The layout process for this is a little complicated, so I recommend watching the full video, but this is a cool joint that is surprisingly strong, but also allows for breaking things down if we need to move it around.

Once things were laid out, I used Rockler's cross dowel jig to drill the 9/16" diameter holes in the legs and the ends of the stretchers for receiving the 1/2" bolt. And then drilled the 7/8 " holes for the cross dowels.

Step 5: Final Assembly

After all the cross dowel holes were cut, I used a 3/4" forstner bit to drill some recesses along the top surfaces of the top stretcher and the top horizontal leg pieces for some figure-8 clips to sit into. These will be used for attaching the top panel to the legs.

Finally, finish assembling the legs to the stretchers. Then attach the entire leg assembly to the top panel to complete the build!