How to Make a Mitered Tabletop

By mitering parts of your table, you can change a bleak dining area into a warm room.

Tabletops can make or break your dining environment and be the difference between a table no one sits at and the place where everyone wants to be. By mitering the edges of some lumber boards and building a tabletop by yourself, you guarantee beauty and elegance even on the lowest budget.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring tape
• 4-by-8-by-96-inch lumber
• Saw
• 2-by-4-inch lumber
• Wood glue
• Corner brackets
• 1-inch screws
• Hammer
• Half-sanded plywood sheet

Instructions

1. Determine the dimensions of the table top. For this mitered tabletop design, saw the 4-by-8-by-96-inch lumber into two boards measuring the desired width of the table and two measuring the desired length.

2. Saw the ends of each board off from one corner, at 45-degrees, so that two pieces fit together in a right angle. This is the mitering. When all the boards are connected in this way, there will be a hole in the middle of the table. Measure the dimensions of this hole and cut 2-by-4-inch lumber to fit within the hole.

3. Glue the outside boards of the tabletop together at their ends.

4. Place the 2-by-4-inch center pieces into the hole, leaving 1/2 inch of space above them. On the underside of the table, secure them each into the table, using a corner bracket and 1-inch screws on each side.

5. Coat the top of the boards, inside of the tabletop, with a strong wood adhesive. Cut and hammer into place a half-sanded plywood sheet so that the table top is even and smooth.

Tips & Warnings

• You can play around with wood stain colors on different pieces of wood when assembling mitered tables, as this allows you to contrast different shades for a unique look.

References

• No reference - See note