An intimate outdoor setting loaded with lessons
Ah, Paris in the spring. A stroll along the Seine followed by a warm baguette and a cup of coffee at a sidewalk café. While it won’t get you to France, this delightful, counter-height café table will help you simulate that experience in your own home. Its 30" diameter top is just right for breakfast for four without taking up too much of your outdoor space. The tapered cylinder that makes up the base provides a solid anchor against windy days and presents an excellent opportunity for you to try your hand at coopering as you bevel the staves from which it is made. After gluing the staves together, rout the base round using a fixture that serves as a large lathe. Then use the same fixture for routing a series of V-grooves to add a certain je ne sais quoi. While I made my table from black locust, a tough wood that lasts practically forever outside, other weather-resistant species such as white oak would also be appropriate. (See Woodsense for more information about black locust.)
Order of Work
- Make the staves
- Glue up the base
- Shape the base
- Make the cross braces
- Make the top
- Finish and assemble
A table with a tapered coopered base
The table’s base is a truncated cone sitting on leveling feet and is made of eight tapered staves cut from 8/4 black locust and edge-glued together. A series of tapered V-grooves adds visual interest and texture. Deep notches in the top end of the base hold a pair of half-lapped cross braces that screw into the edge-glued top.
Bevel and taper the staves
Mill stock for the staves so that all the pieces are consistent in size, as shown in the Stave Detail on page 33. Mill the stock for the tabletop, too (you’ll need enough material to make a 30" diameter circle). Set that aside for now. Make the tapering sled, positioning the fence and stop block as shown in Configuration A below. Tilt the blade on your table saw to approximately 67.1° and load the staves onto the tapering sled with their bottom end against the stop. Clamp them in place with two toggle clamps attached to the fence and cut the first side of each piece. Reposition the stop and fence as shown in Configuration B and taper the second side of each piece with the blade at the same angle. A number of variables are at play here, and your bevel angles and tapers may not match mine exactly.
Bevel and taper. After ripping the first edge of each stave with the jig in Configuration A, set up the jig for Configuration B. Rip each stave as before, only this time with the top end against the stop as shown here.
Glue up the cylindrical base
Make the fixture to shape the cylinder
To make the base round and then to rout the decorative V-grooves, you’ll need to hold it so that it pivots around its central axis as you cut it. While you could turn it, the base is too big for all but the largest lathes. So instead, I devised the fixture shown here to make these cuts with a router. Build the fixture leaving the tall end off for now. Add mounting blocks to the ends of the base as shown. Slide the axle through the fixture’s short end and the upper and lower mounting blocks. Then slide on one of the collars and screw it to the lower mounting block and the axle to lock the pieces together. Slide the tall end on the axle and screw it in place to the sides and bottom. Then add the indexing wheel and the remaining two collars to the axle to lock the base in place laterally. Attach the rails to the top of the fixture and rout the base round. Add a spacer under the rails at their low ends and swap bits to rout the tapered V-grooves. Space them with help from the indexing wheel—I used every other division. Remove the rails and sand the base smooth. Level the router and true the top and bottom of the base with a long straight bit.
Bits for the base
Rout the round. Mount your router to an auxiliary base that spans both rails. Attach a fence to the auxiliary base to guide the router along the rails. Rout the table base round using a tray bit. Rotate the base slightly after each pass and steady it with your hand as you cut.
True the cylinder. Shim the router’s auxiliary base level with your bench and clamp it to the rails with the bit positioned to trim the bottom of the table base. Rotate the base to trim the bottom in six to eight shallow passes. Repeat the process to trim the top end of the base.
Make and notch the cross braces
Size the cross braces and radius their ends. Cut the centered half-lap notches at the table saw. Drill the mounting holes and countersinks near the ends of both pieces. Also, drill 5/8" diameter, 1-1/2" deep counterbores from the topside to allow room for the screws to shift as the top expands and contracts. Round over the bottom edges, sand the pieces and glue them together. Position the cross brace assembly on the base to mark its notches. Screw two 16" lengths of plywood to the top of the base to create a platform for your router. Guide your router along the plywood to cut the notches.
Rout the notch. Align one piece of plywood along one edge of the first notch. Set up an edge guide for the bit to follow right along the plywood’s edge. Rout to the full depth in several shallow passes. Adjust the edge guide to remove the center of the notch and repeat. Reset the guide to align the bit with the opposing line and finish the notch.
Make the top, finish, and assemble braces
Arrange the pieces for a harmonious grain match, then edge-glue them to form the panel. Make the circular cut with a jigsaw, following up with a router at the end of a trammel (see onlineExtras on page 32, for a free plan). Profile the edges before sanding. I used a 1/4" roundover bit on the top edge and a 45° chamfer bit on the underside. Finish the parts with a suitable outdoor finish (I used Osmo’s UV Protection Oil). Then screw the cross braces to the base. Invert the assembly and rest it on the top, centered. Drive screws through the holes in the cross braces into the top and add the leveling feet to the base. Place the table base-side down on your patio and serve up a nice café au lait et croissant. C’est magnifique!
Router follow-up. Cut the top roughly to shape with a jigsaw, then trim it to its final size with a router attached to a trammel in a few passes.
