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Lift Top Coffee Table

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Project by chipmaker posted 1551 days ago 14025 views 5 times favorited 17 comments Add to Favorites Watch

Hello,

This is my first furniture project in over 18 years, it is a lift top coffee table made for my wife’s birthday. It is made of red oak stained with minwax golden oak to match her other oak furniture, finished with 4 coats of water based gloss poly applied with HVLP. I used a combination of bisquits, mortise and tennon and pocket hole joints. It has one large deep drawer and two small cabinet doors with additional storage under the top. The lift hardware is from Lee Valley. This table also has a hidden storage compartment not shown in the pictures.
It has interchangeable tiles in the top so they can be changed to match the furniture or other accessory items.

This is my own design and is larger than most coffee tables, dimensions are 34×60x19 she loves it so much that she has instructed to make end tables to match. (And that in my mind gives me an excuse to buy more wood working tools with no complaints from her.)

-- The rule is measure twice and cut once. My problem is I still measure with a mic and cut with an axe!




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17 comments so far

View oldskoolmodder's profile

oldskoolmodder

761 posts in 1848 days


#1 posted 1551 days ago

Nice job. Isn’t that hardware pretty pricey? At least the last time I looked at it, it was.

-- Respect your shop tools and they will respect you - Ric

View chipmaker's profile

chipmaker

16 posts in 1607 days


#2 posted 1551 days ago

Yes, I searched High and Low for a less expensive lift mechanism. Lee Valley was about $160 which was $40 less than anyone else. The wife wanted a lift top so the price was really a non-issue.

-- The rule is measure twice and cut once. My problem is I still measure with a mic and cut with an axe!

View CharlieM1958's profile

CharlieM1958

14857 posts in 2387 days


#3 posted 1551 days ago

Outstanding!

I would love one of these, but my wife would complain that I’d be wanting to eat in front of the TV all the time. :-)

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

View aldente's profile

aldente

175 posts in 1583 days


#4 posted 1551 days ago

Very nice.

-- Rodd, Texas grandpa

View pommy's profile

pommy

1695 posts in 1860 days


#5 posted 1551 days ago

stunning !...........

-- cut it saw it scrap it SKPE: ANDREW.CARTER69

View jm82435's profile

jm82435

1217 posts in 1911 days


#6 posted 1551 days ago

That is a big one. I like the storage, I can see a bunch of remotes stored in there, and dvds and…

-- A thing of beauty is a joy forever...

View LesB's profile

LesB

899 posts in 1612 days


#7 posted 1551 days ago

Nice table and great work. I think we could use one like that but I think my wife would still make me eat in the dining room with her.

I would suggest you get a copy of PhotoShop Elements on your computer (about $80). Then you could take dark pictures like these and brighten them up. I also use the program to remove stray visuals that detract from the picture. Things like the dog or cat that just walked through or a corner of the chair, bed or what ever that are hard to keep out of the frame. The program is also great for fixing up all kinds of pictures; including old family picts.
Of course you can also enhance the appearance of your work but that would be cheating (-:

-- Les B, Oregon

View jm82435's profile

jm82435

1217 posts in 1911 days


#8 posted 1549 days ago

Photoshop is great for fixing pictures but $. Picassa is free from Google an it will do minor edits like brighten dark pictures…

-- A thing of beauty is a joy forever...

View Tractor's profile

Tractor

1 post in 1518 days


#9 posted 1518 days ago

This coffee table is exactly what I’m looking for. Could you please tell me where you got the plans for such a beautifl project. I’d be very interested in starting this project as soon as possible. Thanks Roy

-- Luvtractor, Penasco, NM

View chipmaker's profile

chipmaker

16 posts in 1607 days


#10 posted 1517 days ago

The Plans are my own, I just drew out the dimensions from my own sketch that was designed from my wife’s vision of her very own coffee table. The tiles are easily removed if you should like to change colors at a later date in order to match new furniture or floor & wall colors. You should be able to get a good idea of the rough dimensions from my first post, along with the pictures. You might want to adjust the overall dimensions to fit your own personal needs. The storage areas could be changed from doors/drawers etc…

I am glad you like it, if you have trouble, I can take some measurements if you need them to get started. (If I had time and knew how to use sketchup I would be glad to post the design but alas I am not very good at sketchup yet.)

Thanks to jm82435 I now have google picassa to enhance my poor picture taking skills.

-- The rule is measure twice and cut once. My problem is I still measure with a mic and cut with an axe!

View bpkoilady's profile

bpkoilady

1 post in 1275 days


#11 posted 1275 days ago

How much does the top of your table weight? the mechanism from lee valley says it holds 20 lbs? do they have differnt size ones?

View a1Jim's profile (online now)

a1Jim

87141 posts in 1746 days


#12 posted 1275 days ago

cool table

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

View chipmaker's profile

chipmaker

16 posts in 1607 days


#13 posted 1275 days ago

I am not sure how much the top weighs, I am pretty sure it is over 20 pounds. I don’t think they make more than one size.

You do have to lift the table top, it won’t lift by itself. It does stay in the up position without any problem.

-- The rule is measure twice and cut once. My problem is I still measure with a mic and cut with an axe!

View castlebuilder's profile

castlebuilder

1 post in 1191 days


#14 posted 1191 days ago

Nice work.

I know it’s been a year, but could you possibly tell me the approximate rise and travel? Also, after having used it for a year are there any changes you might make?

Thanks much

View chipmaker's profile

chipmaker

16 posts in 1607 days


#15 posted 1191 days ago

The rise is 9 inches and the travel is about 17.5 inches. My wife loves the table just the way it is, and the kids use it a lot more than anyone else. If I were to build another one, I would make the lift mechanism myself (stronger springs and heavier materials) I would also make the spindles on the ends a little wider.

This table was what got me back into woodworking, I have built more furniture / cabinets / jewelry box’s /pens and misc. items in the last year than I could possibly list. So this year I have decided to record each item with photo’s, measurements, materials, finish, and completion time. I have also started to sign and date each piece before it leaves the shop.

Thanks again

-- The rule is measure twice and cut once. My problem is I still measure with a mic and cut with an axe!

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