I was asked to replace a pair of bed side tables (night stands) with a larger version. So, I set out to build a pair of them and painted to match the existing furniture.

The Plan

So, I lost the plan somewhere along the line and wasn’t able to take pictures of it. The tables are 26″ high, 26″ wide, and 18″ deep. Two drawers on each and the upper drawer will also house a small box for quick access.

YouTube Video

Materials

• 3/4 Maple Veneered Plywood
• 1/2 Maple Veneered Plywood
• 1/4″ MDF
• 8/4 (legs) and 4/4(everything else) Poplar
• 14″ soft close drawer slides
• Pulls from Amazon
• Primer (Insl X Stix)
• Paint (Corotech Command)
• Power Hub from Amazon
• Table top fasteners
• Screws, glue, tools

Milling and Initial Sizing

I started by cutting all of the stock to rough size on the miter saw and band saw. Then I started the milling process for the legs, table top, face frame. After the majority of parts were milled, I cut the 3/4″ plywood down to size along with the legs and face frame stock. During this time, I also glued up the table top and added hardwood edging to the bottom of the plywood panels that would be visible.

Making Panels

The next step was to cut some joinery and get the individual panels glued up. I used the domino to make some mortises and glued up the front and back panels as see below. I used spacers to make sure the drawer openings were the same size. Once those dried, I could glue in the sides, which is just a piece of plywood.

The bottom panel had to be created next and that required some cleats to be added(glue and screws) and a 1/2 plywood panel screwed in place. I did screw this up a little bit. I wasn’t paying attention and the bottom edge of the face frame was not aligned with the bottom edges of the plywood panels. So, I had to rabbet out some material along the perimeter of the 1/2 plywood to get it to fit properly.

Drawers

The drawers were next and they were made from 1/2 plywood. After ripping the drawers parts to height, I added some poplar edging to the top edge of the the drawer parts. Once the glue was dry, I had cut the sides to final length and created rabbets. Then, I could cut the front and back to final size. I could perform a dry fit and measure for the bottom, which was 1/4″ MDF. I made these little blocks for my clamps to help spread the clamping pressure across the whole seam. Attached to clamp with double sided tape.

Small Sliding Box

For the top drawers, I wanted to add a small box for easy to access items. So I had to add a piece of wood to act as a runner to the sides of the upper drawers. Then I made a small poplar box with rabbeted and pinned corners, similar to the drawer construction.

Drawer Hang and False Fronts

I typically use some sort of spacer to mount drawer slides and the drawer, but this project didn’t have a great way to do that since there wasn’t a great reference. (I suppose I could have used the top edge, now that I am writing this). So I just measured and used a square to get my layout lines. It went okay, but one drawer slide was not perpendicular to the face frame, so that caused some rework later one.

Once the drawers were mounted, I measured and cut out the false fronts. About 3/32″ gap on left and right and about 1/8″ top and bottom (for seasonal growth). I used playing cards to get them centered in the opening and screwed them into place. At some point in time, I cut the top to size and added some round overs.

Sanding, Painting, Poly

I was sanding along the way of the project. Flat panels are easier to sand and drawer/box internal surfaces. Yet, I still had a fair amount of sanding to do before paint and poly. Once all the dusty stuff was done, I cleaned up the shop and laid down plastic. I primed the top, drawer fronts, pulls separate, table carcass. Then, I put my first of poly on the drawers and small boxes. I primed with STIX by INSL-X (thinned with water)and my Poly was General Finished High Performance Polyurethane. Both were shot using my FUJI Semi Pro 2 HVLP.

After priming and first coat of poly. It was time to sand again with 320. Then second coat of poly and first coat of paint. After the first coat of paint, I gave it a very light sand and sprayed a second coat of paint on everything. I really like the way this laid down and will be using it in the future (Corotech Command thinned a little with water).

Final Pictures

After the paint was dry, I moved onto final assembly. Remounting the drawers and false fronts. I marked the false front and drawer with numbered punches before disassembly. Then attached the top with table top fasteners and some biscuit slots I cut earlier in the project.