Gardens Outdoor Fine Woodworking

Simple construction with a few basic tools

by Doug Stowe

W

estern cedar is one of the few inexpensive roughsawn

woods available from typical neighborhood lumber-

yards. It also is a fantastic wood for outdoor furniture,

because it resists the elements very well. So, it’s a great choice for

rustic furniture meant to live outside.

These tables can be made so quickly that the joke in my family

is that they can be made in five minutes. That, of course, isn’t

quite accurate. But despite being quickly made, the tables have

been useful and beautiful for many years. The roughsawn wood,

complete with knots and imperfections, never goes out of style.

You can make the basic table, or spice it up a bit with the de-

sign variations shown at the end of this article. Also, with simple

changes in the lengths and widths, you can make tables for a

variety of uses.

Because this is a very simple table, you don’t need a fancy

shop to make it. In fact, you don’t need a shop at all. I’ve made

Great on a deck or patio

This table is sized to sit alongside a chair—a great place to rest a drink—and can be made quickly

with common homeowner tools. Western cedar is one of the few roughsawn woods widely available

from lumberyards. Long pole-barn nails are used to secure the parts.

Pole-barn

nails

15 ⁄ 8 in.

221 ⁄ 2 in.

115 ⁄ 8 in. 15 in.

23 in.

245 ⁄ 8 in.

71 ⁄ 2 in.

what

you’ll need

Materials

2 x 12 Western

red cedar:

•   2 sides (1-^5 ⁄ 8 in.

thick by 11-^5 ⁄ 8 in.

wide by 23 in. long)

•   1 shelf (1-^5 ⁄ 8 in.

thick by 7-^1 ⁄ 2 in.

wide by 15 in. long)

•   2 shelf supports

(^3 ⁄ 4 in. thick by

1 -^1 ⁄ 2 in. wide by

6 in. long) with 15°

angle on each end

•   2 top sections

(1-^5 ⁄ 8 in. thick by

7 -^1 ⁄ 2 in. wide by

22 -^1 ⁄ 2 in. long)

Hardware

•   12 6-in. pole

barn nails

•   8 #6 common nails

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