New Coffee Table

JimD

Jim
Senior User
I wanted a new coffee table for two reasons. First my existing coffee table is made of oak which doesn't fit my current house real well. The other reason is my other hobby, air guns. I can shoot air rifles in my backyard legally and I often do. So I like to have them near by but I also have 3 grand kids and some visitors are not as comfortable with air rifles as I am. I saw a youtube where a guy made a coffee table with the top on drawer slides so it can be slid back to reveal a storage compartment. In my case it holds a couple short air rifles. PCPs.

Top is cherry, base is mostly poplar stained black with in and then finished with water based polyurethane. Leg to apron joints are 12mm dominos. The bottom of the compartment is 1/2 plywood screwed into rabbets from the bottom. There is an extra apron covering the drawer slides.

My new dining room table, built earlier this year also has a black base with a cherry top. So my new coffee table has the same coloring. Now I just need to make at least one more (that will hold things other than guns).
 

Attachments

  • coffee table 1.jpg
    coffee table 1.jpg
    475 KB · Views: 182
  • coffee table 2.jpg
    coffee table 2.jpg
    641.1 KB · Views: 179

Jim M.

Woody
Corporate Member
Sorry Jim, but I might have to copy that design. That is a beautiful piece of furniture, like the hardware too!
 

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
Very nice ! for a sec I thought the tine were tobacco dip :oops: :D
Eyes getting old me thinks
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
Thanks guys. I copied the idea from a youtube video. Dimensions were to fit my guns and space. I used 2x2 legs of poplar because I had some 8/4 planned down to 2 inches. The aprons came from more of the 8/4 but I resawed it first and it finished out at 15/16. I housed the slides in a dado 7/16 deep. I will probably make at least one more and I am thinking of using thicker material for the side apron where this dado goes. It left over half an inch but part of the domino tenon was cut to make the dado too. I might just go to the big box store and buy a 2x6 for the next one. I'll joint and plane it and should end up with 1 1/4 inches, at least. I made the aprons 4 inches wide to get the depth I needed but that also works well when the little cover apron needs to be 2 inches wide to cover the drawer slide. The cover apron screws on from below so you have to slot the holes to allow the top to move. The side of the apron closest to me where it opens is just fastened to the actual apron. The other three sides secure the top to the base and move when the top is slid back. Easy for any of us to make, I think. I used left over material from other projects for this one. I will need to buy a little wood for the next one. My shop is small so using up what I already have on hand is a good thing.
 

Roger45

Roger
User
Question
With the top sliding out does the coffee table feel like it will fall over. Did you consider adding extra weight
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
The short answer is no, unless the compartment is empty. Then it's a little tippy. I used 18 inch full extension slides which I already had. The sides of the table where the slides are are over 20 inches long. So I wondered if I would have good access. But once it was built, I discovered it is a bit tippy until I put something in it. Then it seems solid. So I'm glad I did not use 20 inch slides. Access is still fine. To be clear, it will not tip over when the compartment is empty and the top is slid back fully but with a little extra push, it would tip. I put both airguns and pellets in the compartment and with either gun in there, it doesn't want to tip at all.
 

Premier Sponsor

Our Sponsors

LATEST FOR SALE LISTINGS

Top