I call this design my “double A-base” DIY sofa table plans due to the leg assemblies looking like As instead of Xs (like in our double X entry table plans). I saw it in one of my friend’s houses and had to take a few pics, which I posted over in our Visual Inspirations board. Although it is a very simple concept for a sofa table, there is a need for precision in order to maintain the clean straight lines and tight joints. You will definitely need a table saw and a planer in order to build this sofa table with the level of precision as the original. A drum sander would probably come in handy too.

Materials

• 21 – 2×4 at 8’ (leg assemblies & table top)
• 1 – 2×6 at 8’ (leg assembly tops)
• Tenons, dominoes, dowels, or biscuits for better joints on the leg assemblies
• Wood glue

Tools

• Table Saw for cutting the miters, or a lock miter router bit and router table
• Circular or miter saw
• Planer
• Router and wide dado jig
• Drill/Driver
• Kreg Jig (optional)
• Sander and sandpaper (a drum sander would be helpful)
• Square
• Tape measure
• Clamps (lots of clamps)
• Wood screws (optional)

Step 1: Prepare all of the table top pieces

Being that I have a small shop where I have to move around the larger equipment, when I build a table like this one I prefer to precut and prepare a lot of my pieces at the beginning. This table requires planing and jointing all of the boards used on the top to ensure they are square on all four sides and equal thickness. Any variations could become quite easily noticeable or create problems during assembly. So let’s do all of that work first

That said, here are the pieces you are going to need to prepare:

• 4 – 1″ x 2″ boards @ 72″ length (from 2x4s)
• 13 – 1″ x 3″ boards @ 72″ length (from 2x4s)
  • 4 of these will require a 45° miter on one end as the corners
  • 9 will make up the center of the table and just need to be square on all four sides
• 6 – 2×6 boards at 15″ in length, with corners squared and planed to around 1 11/64″. The thickness doesn’t have to be exactly this measure. Once glued together, these will create the illusion of a 4×6 on the top of the leg assemblies

Don’t worry about routing out the dados for the legs to sit in at this point. We’ll do that after we assemble the top later on in the build.

Step 2: Build the leg assemblies

Now that we have the top boards cut, it is time to move onto the leg assemblies before we put all of our tools away. I like to start by planing the rounded edges off my 2×4. This leaves them around 1 1/4″ thick, which seemed to be a decent visual thickness for the look of this table. Once you have the 2x4s planed to thickness, cut eight pieces to just over 25 7/8″ long with parallel 80° miters on each end. Then on the top end of each board, measure 2 3/4″ in from the outside and make a 90° as shown in the diagrams below.

I recommend adding a tenon or two to help keep the boards aligned during glue up, they also help create a stronger joint. You can also use dominoes, dowels, or biscuits depending on your preference. Now you can use some of the scrap planed 2×4 pieces to create the lower stretcher in the assembly by ripping the pieces to the same width as the legs are thick (approximately 1 1/4″ from above). Then cut the four stretchers to 6 53/64″ long on the bottom, with the same 80° miter. This measurement should allow them to sit 3″ off the floor. Of course, you can make them slightly longer (or shorter) and it will only affect how high they sit. Just make certain all four are the same length.

Now glue up all four leg assemblies. You can use pocket screws on the bottom of the lower stretchers to hold them in place while the glue dries. Or you can just hit each end with two brad nails from a nail gun. Once the wood glue dries, the chemical bond should be more than sufficient to hold them in place.

Step 3: Join the legs with the stretcher

Now lets cut two more pieces from the 2×4 scrap from the previous step. These will each need to be 12 1/2″ long, and since you planed the entire 2×4, they should already be at the same thickness as the legs themselves. You can adjust the width of these pieces to your own liking. I think the 3 1/4″ seemed about right based upon the version of the table I was trying to emulate.

Use dowels or biscuits on each end to help align these stretchers with the center of the lower stretchers on the legs. Glue and clamp to hold everything in place. Of course, you could also use pocket screws from underneath instead of the dowels or biscuits.

Step 4: Add the leg assembly top

The pieces for the leg top assembly were cut all the way back in step one. At this point, if you haven’t already glued and sanded the pieces to make them into a solid block, go ahead and do that first. After the tops are ready, use tenons or dowels and wood glue to attach them to the top of the legs.

Step 5: Assemble the table top

Building this soft table top looks simple – and it actually is if you have all of the pieces cut and squared precisely prior to assembly. We’re just going to use a lot of wood glue, and a lot of clamps in this step. It really helps to have a large flat workspace, a garage floor is always a possible last resort if you don’t have a decent workbench.

I personally think this piece is easiest to glue up all at once – with it flipped upside-down so the mitered corners are on the bottom. Of course this makes it a little harder to see the miters are tight – but I trust my table saw set for cutting them. If you use a lock miter router bit for cutting the miters, you should also be able to have confidence in these miter joints being tight.

It’s also a good idea to dry fit everything so you know you won’t have any problems arise once you start adding glue. Once you are confident everything looks perfect, go ahead and glue and clamp everything together and let the glue dry.

After the glue dries, we’re going to route a 1/2″ deep dado, 5 1/2″ wide, 10″ in from both ends. This will be the recess where the top sites on the leg assemblies. You’ll also want to give it one more good sanding on the top, bottom, and ends to make certain it is smooth and any excess glue has been removed. A large drum sander comes in really handy here, but you can also do with a hand sander.

Step 6: Attach the top

Once you have the top routed in these DIY sofa table plans, all you have to do is rest it on the leg assemblies and you should be ready to go! Of course, you could glue all three components together so they are permanently attached. However I find it more useful to leave it modular in case I ever have to move it.

Don’t forget you’ll also want to give it one more sanding then add a coat of finish to protect the wood. Especially if you used construction lumber which is going to be soft and porous. Once the finish dries, time to move it inside and enjoy!

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