DIY Legs for a Folding Table

Use hinges to create folding legs.

In cramped living space, you might forsake a dining area in favor of more critical functions for the space, such as a food preparation area or living area. Instead of losing the dining area completely, use a folding table with hinged legs, which will allow you to eat your food or work on your projects at a table. Once you no longer need the table, you can fold up the legs and hide away the table. You can create a folding table yourself, as long as you already have a tabletop you like.

Things You'll Need

• Cedar stock, 4 inch by 4 inch
• Saw
• Hand sander
• Tack cloth
• Paint or stain
• Paintbrush and tray
• Tabletop
• Drill with bits
• Pencil
• Four medium size hinges

Instructions

1. Cut your stock into four pieces, each that measure 29 1/4 inches long. If you'd prefer thinner legs, you use smaller stock or cut some width from each length of stock at this point. Make sure all the pieces are the same length, and the same width, if you made any adjustments.

2. Sand your legs smooth, and then wipe away any dust with a tack cloth. Paint or stain your legs to match your tabletop. Allow the paint or stain to completely dry before proceeding.

3. Turn your tabletop onto its face. Dry fit your legs against the underside of your table. Place each leg against one of the four corners of the table, match all the edges, and then draw an outline of the table legs' tops onto the underside of the table.

4. Place your hinges against the boxes you just drew. Put one hinge against each box, with each hinge facing the center of the table. Mark your hinges' screw holes on the table.

5. Drill pilot holes into the screw holes you marked, and then attach the hinges to the table's underside using those pilot holes and hinges' attached hardware.

6. Dry fit your legs against the hinges you just attached, and mark the screw holes for the hinges onto your legs. Drill pilot holes into the legs before attaching the hinges to the legs with your hinges' remaining screws. Your legs are now attached to the table, but can be folded beneath the tabletop when necessary.

Tips & Warnings

• For your folding table to work properly, the tabletop must be twice as long as each leg's length.

References

• "Measure Twice, Cut Once"; Jim Tolpin; 2007
• Handyman Wire: Building a Small Folding Table
• "Make": Table Folds Up Into a Picture Frame When Not in Use