I designed this DIY plywood table so that it could be made out of a single sheet of ¾” plywood. The only power tools that I used were a circular saw and a drill/driver. This table does NOT require a CNC machine to make.

SUPPLIES:

¾” Plywood
Available at Home Depot
I made two of these tables. One out of a sheet of ¾” thick sanded pine plywood and the other out of ¾” furniture grade poplar plywood.

Miniwax Polycrylic
Available at Home Depot
I used miniwax polycrylic to seal the plywood.

BEHR Interior Paint
Available at Home Depot
I got some BEHR interior/exterior high gloss white paint to paint one of the tables. It looks great but I think an oil-based paint would be more durable.

TOOLS:

RYOBI 18 Volt Cordless Drill
Available at Home Depot











RYOBI Circular Saw
Available at Home Depot









Download the DIY Plywood Table 1.0 PDF »

INSTRUCTIONS:

STEP 1: Rip the plywood.
I installed a new fresh plywood blade on my 6 ½” cordless circular saw. I want nice, clean cuts and I got great results with this Diablo 6-1/2 in. x 40-Tooth Finish/Plywood Saw BladeDiablo blade. I set up the sheet of plywood on my sawhorses and 2x4s. The 2x4s elevated the plywood above the sawhorses and ensured that my circular saw blade would not hit the sawhorses. I clamped a straight edge to the plywood to make sure my cuts were straight.





STEP 2: Cut the plywood strips to length.
I set my circular saw blade and a speed square to cut the plywood strips to the appropriate lengths.



STEP 3: Cut the angles.
I used a ruler and a pencil to mark out the angles before cutting them with my circular saw. I didn’t clamp down a straight edge but rather used the guide on my saw and just followed the lines that I drew.

















STEP 4: Sand the pieces.
I sanded the edges of the pieces with some 220 grit sandpaper. The fresh saw blade cut cleanly so there wasn’t much sanding to do.



STEP 5: Assemble the legs.
I assembled the legs in two stages. First I glued together 4 different sets of pieces. For the first table I made I used screws as well. For the end table I relied more on glue so that I would have to cover up the screw heads later. I clamped the pieces together and let the glue cure on the first set of 4 pieces before combining those pieces into a single leg for the table.

















STEP 6: Cut the table top.
I clamped down a straight edge and then cut strips off of the plywood to use as supports for the underside of the table. I also cut off the corners to make additional supports and to give the tabletop a cool shape.







STEP 7: Assemble the inner support frame.
I trimmed so of the triangular pieces that were cut from the legs and then glued those to some of the support strips that I cut off of the tabletop. For some of these support pieces I had to glue a few short pieces together. I then glued and screwed these pieces to the inside corners of the legs. I glued the pieces that I cut off of the table top corners to each other to make 2 triangular braces that I glued and screwed to this inside frame to give it additional strength.





















STEP 8: Plug the gaps.
I trimmed the scrap pieces that I cut for the inner frame and then glued them into the gaps in the legs.







STEP 9: Putty the screw holes and sand the plywood.
I used wood putty to fill the up the holes left by the screws. Once the putty had dried we sanded it flush to the plywood. I used sandpaper to smooth down the edges of the plywood and to round over the edges just a little bit.



STEP 10: Paint the plywood and glue to the tabletop.
I painted the table with 2 coats of white paint. I then glued the tabletop to the base. I used weights to hold the top down tight to the base while the glue cured.







Table 1.1
For the 2nd table I made some adjustments to the designed so that the inner frame support would be thinner in profile and help emphasize the sharp angular geometry of the legs. I also trimmed some of the triangular pieces at a 45-degree angle so I could place the legs closer to the ends of the table. This give more room for chairs along the long side of the table. I also wanted to leave the wood grain exposed so I relied more on glue and less on screws to connect the pieces. I did however use screws in a cross pattern to attaché the table top to the bases. I like the way these crew heads look in contrast to the wood. This sanded pine plywood was cheaper than the furniture grade poplar plywood I used for the first table so I used weights to hold it flat while I assembled it.

I will post drawings for the updated table soon.

























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