Weekender: Umbrella table

When faced with the problem of designing a small side table to support a patio umbrella, I turned to a shape engineers have been using for centuries for strength and stability: the triangle. Near my home, there is a trestle bridge that spans a small valley. I admire the simplicity of that bridge; it seems to be made with the fewest possible pieces, yet thanks to its triangular design, can support a 100-ton locomotive effortlessly. The design for this table is based on that bridge.




At first glance, the construction may seem quite complicated, with lots of strange angles to contend with. In fact, all the angles are 10° from square, meaning the saw blade only has to be set once to make all the angled cuts. Also, this project uses readily available and inexpensive cedar fence boards and deck railing balusters for all the parts.

Mill the Parts

Begin at the tablesaw, ripping all the cedar balusters to 1 1/2" square. This removes the eased edge and gives the finished table a tailored appearance. Next cut the four legs to length. I used a compound mitre saw with the blade tipped to 10° and the table rotated to 10°. If you opt to make the cuts with a handsaw, mark the cuts first using an adjustable bevel gauge. Next, rotate the saw's base back to square and cut all of the stretchers to length. Remember to flip the workpiece to make the cuts at each end rather than tipping the blade from side to side. For the tabletop and bottom platform, rip the fence boards down to 3" wide, then crosscut them to their final length. The runners which hold the tabletop are milled from baluster material. Rip them down to their 1" x 1 1/2" dimension then cut them to length with the mitre saw.

Cut the Dados
The plan shows how the stretchers seat into offset dados allowing a screw to be driven through the back of each leg into the stretchers. Lay the legs down on a flat surface and use one of the stretchers as a template to mark the shoulders and the base of each dado. I cut these dados by hand using the end of a stretcher to guide the saw blade. Make several cuts down to the base of each dado and chisel the waste out. Once the dados are completed the table is ready for assembly.

Bringing it all Together
The stretchers are secured into their dados with polyurethane glue and screws. Use a pilot bit with a countersink to avoid splitting the cedar when driving the screws in. Join each pair of legs using the long (upper and lower) stretchers first, then join the two assembled sides together with the four shorter (upper and lower) stretchers.




To make the tabletop, attach the runners to the tops of the legs first with some polyurethane glue and screws. Next arrange the slats onto the runners and secure by driving screws in from below. The slats that make up the bottom platform are also attached with screws from below. Drill the holes in the top and bottom platforms for the umbrella pole. As with most of my small cedar projects, I chose to leave this table unfinished to age to a silver-grey patina.

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