Build

This was the first furniture project I've made entirely from maple. As a novice woodworker, I tend to favorite darker woods since they hide errors well. However I had a few large stacks of maple plywood sitting in the corner that needed to become something - and since we're still in "lockdown," there's no better time to knock some projects off my to-do list!

My project plans aren't typically fancy and perfectly organized in Fusion or SketchUp like most professionals. Most of the time they're crudely sketched on my chalkboard wall and adjusted on the fly. In fact, the final product rarely looks like the original intent.

When building kids furniture, I avoid using screws whenever possible. This table is entirely held together by 3/8" dowels and glue. The table top, while reversible, is held in place by 4 ea. unglued dowels that allow for easy removal and assembly. They allow for a much smoother look and hold the base of the table together incredibly well, but don't allow for much error. However I prefer how customizable and readily available dowels are.

The accent holes on the base were traced out using an old paint can, cut out with a jigsaw, and sanded smooth with a belt sander. The rounded edges on the top were traced using a roll of duct tape and sanded out. All the remaining parts were cut to length using a table saw and mitre saw. Easy peasy.

The kids love it so far, but they're stuck with the larger Duplo blocks. When we trust the youngest to not eat Lego, we'll graduate them to the much more fun stuff.