STEP ONE: First mill all your material to 3/4" thickness. The schedule includes four blanks for the legs that will yield one leg per piece. If you're being thrifty, the pieces will interlock and save material, but orient the grain so it follows the path of the lower part of the leg. Use the drawings to lay out the legs.

STEP TWO: Use a band saw or jigsaw to cut the legs to shape. Use double-sided tape to hold the four legs together and sand the edges of all four at the same time.

STEP THREE: Soften all the edges (except the ends of the end stretchers and the tops and bottoms of the legs) using a 1/4" roundover bit. Then mark the dowel locations as shown in the diagrams and drill the holes.

STEP FOUR: Sand the entire base through 220 grit, then glue the legs to the side stretchers, seating the dowels in the holes to leave 3/4" of the dowel exposed. Then glue the end stretchers between the two side pieces.

STEP FIVE: Now lay out the top. Bend a strip of 1/4" material along the edges of the top to mark the gentle curve, then cut the top to shape. For an interesting effect, I routed the edges of the top with a 1/2" roundover. I cut this detail on the bottom of the sides and the top of the ends. I then marked a line 1" in from the edges and used a random-orbit sander to further roll the edge details toward the 1" line.

STEP SIX: I finished the table with natural Danish oil, then fastened the top to the legs using figure-eight table fasteners placed parallel to the side stretchers. This way the fasteners will move if the top piece moves. PW

--David Thiel, PW staff