Modern Nightstand (With Flip Top)

Intro: Modern Nightstand (With Flip Top)

I wanted to make a piece more than just a nightstand for my son. So I thought I would have a little fun with this one and incorporate a reversible serving tray-style top to hold his drink and snacks, but it also perfectly fits a phone!

This project is for any intermediate to advanced woodworker.I made mine using hard maple, but you can make it out of whatever hardwood you like!

The finished size for the lounge is 16"w x 16"d x 21"h.There is a complete build video on my YouTube channel (Timber Biscuit Woodworks), so you can follow along.

The approximate cost for building the Nightstand as designed with all of the bells & whistles is ~$35 (this will, of course, vary for everyone).

Tag me on social if you're building this project (@timberbiscuitwoodwork on Instagram) with the hashtag #BiscuitBuild - Happy building!

STEP 1: Milling the Lumber

Run the boards for the table top and the legs over the jointer and then plane them down. I have an 8-inch jointer, but my boards for the tabletop are about nine and a half inches. So I removed the guard and ran the boards over the cutter head.

Then I used some double-sided tape to attach the newly jointed face to a piece of half-inch plywood and ran the board through the planer to flatten the other face.

Next, I removed the plywood and ran the boards through the planer again with the freshly planed face down. This removes the remaining material that was not removed at the jointer, and now the board has parallel faces and one square edge.

STEP 2: Cutting Boards to Size

From there, I started ripping the boards down to their final width. This table doesn't have a ton of pieces to cut so this goes pretty quickly. But this maple is super hard and thick, so I took my time in the cuts.

One new addition to my setup is a vertical feather board from Magswitch. It helps hold the workpiece down and prevents it from kicking back up at you. Feather boards are excellent for helping hold pieces flush while you make the cuts.

If you're interested in making this piece, the plans for this project are HERE

STEP 3: Making the Legs

Putting the Legs Together

With my crosscut blade installed, I first cut a clean edge onto one side of all my legs. This ensures that both the top and bottoms of the legs are square to the face.

The easiest way to do this is to set up a stop on either a miter gauge or crosscut sled, whichever you prefer.

Here I went with a miter gauge, so I set the stop on my miter gauge and cut all the boards to their final length.

Making the Sled for the Tapers on the Legs

I prefer making my own sleds for tapers rather than using a pre-made jig or something I would have to store. And whenever you are cutting tapers, watch out for pieces that might kickback or wedge themselves between the saw blade and the insert.

I marked the midpoint of the table legs and the bottom of the foot. Then ripped a clean edge onto a piece of plywood to make a sled for the tapers. I then screwed in some reference pieces to hold the legs at my marked locations and screwed on a hold-down clamp.

Make sure your hold-down clamp supports are just under the height of your workpiece to get good clamping pressure.

Then I cut the tapers. After each cut, I rotated the leg 90 degrees before re-clamping and cutting again. With this design, I only need tapers on three of the faces. The fourth inner face stays flat.

To finish the edges of the legs, I used an eighth-inch round-over bit.

STEP 4: Making the Stretcher Transition

I made a template for the stretcher transition and outlined it onto the maple blank. Then marked the placement for the domino that will reinforce the joint.

I like to use a square piece of plywood to reference the domino against when making vertical plunges. (If you don't own a domino, this can also be done with dowels)

With the dominos cut and the stretchers test fit together, I brought the chunk over to the bandsaw and rough cut it to the line, removing as much material as I possibly could. Then I attached the template with some double-sided tape and used my router table with a flush-trim bit to cut out the stretcher. I then sanded the router marks clean and trimmed the ends to the final length at the table saw.

This ultimate flush-trim bit from Bits & Bits handled the hard maple with ease. However, it was a little intimidating with such a thin piece of wood. So go slow and let the bit do the work.

STEP 5: Glue-Up

I had to do three separate glue-ups for this piece to make sure everything dried square. This is another example of how dominos strengthen the joint but still do allow for some play. Clamping squares like this one from Rockler really help keep things in line.

For the first glue-up, once I had the placement for the dominos marked out, I plunged the mortises and glued the stretchers together. After the glue was dry, I could finish rounding over the joint and sand the joint flush.

For the second glue-up, I had to ensure the leg stayed square both horizontally and vertically.

And for the final glue-up, I moved over to the flat surface of my table saw and clamped the leg directly to it to hold everything perfectly square. Then I sanded the round overs before getting started on the tabletop.

STEP 6: Tabletop

With all of my pieces cut out, I marked the domino placement on the two boards for the tabletop. These are less for structure and more for alignment of the board faces

With those marked out, I plowed the mortices. Then I could glue the boards together. A little glue goes a long way and I don't particularly appreciate having a massive amount of squeeze out to clean up, so I applied the glue to one edge and then clamped the wood slices snugly together. I added a few cauls to the setup to ensure the top stayed perfectly flat while the glue dried. The dominos help align the faces but don't necessarily keep the boards flat with the added clamping pressure.

I cut a test circle for the tabletop and used it to mark the center location on my workpiece. Then, using a circle jig at the band saw, I cut the top to its final dimension. If you don't have a bandsaw, you can cut the circle with a router jig or jigsaw. However, a jigsaw will require more clean-up.

One thing to watch out for is your domino placement within the panel. It's not a good day when you cut only to discover that was your exact domino location.

From there, I marked out the location for the cup holder and snack slash phone tray and used some templates and my router to cut them out. I used a bowl bit for the snack tray to give a nice easing transition into the dish and round out the edge.

My main pointer here would be to go slow and make multiple passes. These bowl bits tend to leave slight variances that will need to be sanded out.

The circle for the cup holder was created with a mortising bit set to the same depth as the phone tray.

Finally, I added a chamfer at the router table to the tray side of the circle. Then the flip side got an eight-inch round-over. Since this top is designed to be used on both sides, you can choose which side gets each edge treatment.

STEP 7: Painting and Finishing

After sanding the tops and edges, I masked off the trays with blue painter's tape. Then applied two coats of primer and three coats of paint, sanding in-between coats. Any bleed out from the paint was easily removed with some 220 sandpaper.

This paint may not last forever, but that's okay. I can always go back and touch it up or remove it all together. And I'm not a professional painter, but I found that using long strokes does wonders to hide brush marks.

I'm using Rubio Monocoat for the finish since it is super durable, and this table will take some punishment. So I water popped the grain and wiped the whole piece down with mineral spirits before applying the finish.

When applying this finish, I like to use a white Scotch-Brite pad and then wipe away any excess finish with a soft shop towel to avoid over finishing the surface.

If you're looking to purchase any of the items or tools you've seen, I have links in the supply section. Full disclosure, I do get a few pennies if you do buy. But I would never recommend anything that I don't use myself.

Full plans for this build are available HERE or click HERE to watch the build video. Please like and subscribe if you think I earned it! I appreciate the support!

Let me know if you have any questions below or in the video comments, I tend to respond pretty quickly!