207 – Tilt-Top Table

Small tables are great skill-building projects. You can pack a lot of joinery and techniques into a very confined space while using a small amount of material. The Tilt-Top Table is a great example of this as it contains a turned post, sliding dovetails, curved and tapered legs, an elliptical top, and a classic shop-made tilt mechanism.

While this video summarizes the entire build, I have a lot more footage available for folks who actually want to build the project. In the Guild, this project is represented by 12 videos with over 4 hours of HD video footage. Of course we also have a detailed project plan and SketchUp diagrams for you as well. Get access to the full project series here.

Tools & Materials

- Pre-milled wood kits will be made available!

- Jointer, Planer, Tablesaw, Bandsaw

- Miter Saw, Drill, Router

- Lathe (for a turned post)

- Die Grinder and Rasps (for a sculpted post)

Techniques Demonstrated

- Cutting an ellipse

- Turning a table post

- Creating a “Poor Man’s Lathe” router jig

- Routing sliding dovetails

- Cutting curved/tapered legs

- Designing a tilt mechanism

- Carving an alternative spiral post