A toast to the US Marine Corps 250^th Birthday – To My fellow Marines across the globe, those from the past, those currently serving and to all those future Marines, My we served another 250 years with honor and distinction. SEMPER FI Devil Dogs!

So here’s a really easy project that any beginner can do. It’s only three pieces of wood, 2 dados and some glue. This sofa snack table is one of those projects that is really handy tab if you have a sectional couch. Or even a long straight couch. This will give you a place to put your coffee soft drinks or even your computer while you’re sitting in the middle of the couch. And as I mentioned it is a beginner project.

Tools and Materials

For materials to complete this project you’re going to need about 48 inches or a four foot 1 by 12. As far as tools you’ll need it a saw so you can crosscut the material into three pieces and set of dado blades to go in your table saw. Personally, I recommend the Freud dado blade. I have a link below to that.

Layout

There isn’t a lot of layout to do this project. Measure off 3 pieces that are 18 inches long And head over to the saw.

Cutting

Cut your three pieces at 18 inches and these don’t have to be exact if you’re off by 1/4 inch for this particular project it really won’t matter. What is critical however is that the cuts are square.

Ploughing the Dados

With your parts cut the next thing you want to do is plow 2 dados. Make sure you decide at this point which surface is going to be the one for the top. Picked the nicest looking side. The dados are going to be 3/4 inches wide and 3/8 inches deep and the full width of the board. Put these dados about 1 1/2 inches in from the edge.

Sanding

Now you’re ready to sand. Send all the surfaces with 220 grit sandpaper and an orbital Sander this shouldn’t take too long because all the pieces are S4S which means they are surfaced on four sides. If you got a couple pieces that were particularly rough you may need to go down to 80 grit or 100 grit and then work back up to the 220 grit paper.

Assembly

Now we’re ready for assembly. All you need to do is put glue in the dados make sure it’s spread thoroughly and then slide the pieces together. I would suggest you use clamps and drive a few nails.

Edge Routing

now is the time you want to route all the edges with a 1/8 inch roundover bit. This just makes all the edges nice and soft so when you’re handling the sofa snack table there won’t be any sharp edges.

Finishing

With all this done you’re ready to finish. I put a dark stain on because I was using 1 by 12 pine. This is a very light wood that really wouldn’t look good in our living room. With the stain on I applied several coats of varnish. This will give it plenty of protection from coffee rings and sweating soda cans.

The finished drive the project is done and what a sweet project this is. It’s a super easy beginner project and one that anyone can do. If you don’t have a table saw and a dado you can use a circle saw just be careful when you’re making the cuts. Make several cuts for each of the dados and then use a chisel to knock out the excess material.