Woodworking: Side Table

Over the course of a few weeks I had the joy of taking a woodworking course in the Brooklyn Navy Yard with Bien Hecho Academy. Over the weeks we made chopping boards and a side table. It was a lot of fun to revisit some tools that I hadn't used since before the pandemic, and get to learn a few new joinery techniques as well.

The build process

  • The Tools

    Working out of Bien Hecho’s woodshop in the Brooklyn Navy yard we had access to a variety of tools; chopsaws, jointers, planers, sanders etc. that made the process much simpler. We used two different woods to assemble the table, ash for the legs and base, and oak for the table top.

  • The technique

    In order to build this table starting with rough lumber we cut all our boards to length, planed and jointed them. We then cut biscuit joints to adhere the table top together cleanly. For each leg we created tapered cuts on the table saw and hand cut mortice and tenon joints.

At home

This table now permanently lives in our living room, holding a variety of different interchangeable items from planters and books to coffee makers and our coffee bean of the week.

In a future iteration of a table like this there are a few changes I would make, rounding over edges more intentionally with a router, as well as softening the shape of the top of the table.