How to Build a Side Table: Legs, Taper, Level

The first build where joinery shows. Mortise and tenon against pocket screws, tapering legs for lightness, and getting four legs level on a bad floor.

Difficultyintermediate
Timea weekend

Tools

table saw
drill/driver
chisel or mortiser
clamps
square
measuring tape
hand plane or sanding block
router

Materials

hardwood for legs and aprons
solid wood or plywood for the top
wood glue
figure-eight fasteners or wooden buttons
sandpaper (120 and 220 grit)
finish

A side table is the first build where the joinery is on display. It is small enough that the whole piece is seen at once, the legs are visible from every angle, and a shoulder that does not close has nowhere to hide. That makes it the right project after a few carcasses, and the wrong one as a first attempt at mortise and tenon.

Why the Joint Choice Matters Here

A small table is moved constantly. It gets dragged across a floor by its top, knocked by chairs, and leaned on. Every one of those is a racking force on a frame of four legs and four aprons.

Mortise and tenon resists that because the tenon has depth in the plane the frame wants to fold. The glue surface is long grain to long grain, which is the strong case, and the mechanical fit does work even before the glue.

Pocket screws will assemble the same table and it will stand. What they will not do is resist racking over years of being dragged, because the joint is essentially a fastener pulling two faces together with no depth in the racking direction. If using them, accept that the table is lighter duty, and consider a lower stretcher.

Loose tenons give most of the strength of a traditional mortise and tenon with simpler machining, and are a reasonable middle path.

Joint	Resists racking	Machining	Suits
Mortise and tenon	Strongly, depth in the racking plane	Most demanding	A table that will be moved and used daily
Loose tenon	Nearly as well	Router or joiner, repeatable	A first frame with good results
Dowels	Moderately, depends on spacing	Simple, alignment critical	Light duty, small tables
Pocket screws	Little, fastener only	Easiest	Light duty, or with a lower stretcher

See mortise and tenon and which joint to use.

Order of Operations

The single most important sequencing rule is that mortises are cut while the legs are still square blanks.

A tapered leg has no square face to register against a fence, a mortiser or a router jig. Cutting the taper first turns a routine operation into an awkward one that will not be accurate. Every experienced maker has done it once in the wrong order.

So: mill square, mark the faces, cut the mortises, cut and fit the tenons, then taper.

Tapering

Taper the two inside faces only. Tapering all four makes the leg look spindly and removes material from the faces that carry the mortises.

Start the taper below the apron line. The leg stays full width through the joint area, where the mortise is, and narrows only where it is purely structural.

A taper jig on the table saw does this repeatably. A hand plane does it well on a small table and lets the taper be adjusted by eye. Either way, do all four legs from the same setup or the same layout marks, because a taper that differs between legs reads immediately.

Sizing the Table

Set the height from the chair it will serve, not from a standard. A side table that matches the arm height of its chair is comfortable to reach into; one noticeably taller is awkward, and one lower means leaning down to it.

Keep the top modest. The failure mode of a small table with a large top is that it becomes unstable when weight is placed near an edge, because the legs are inboard of that point.

Set the legs in slightly from the corners of the top. A small overhang makes the top look thinner and stops the legs being kicked.

Getting Four Legs Level

This is the step that frustrates people, and the technique is simple once known.

Stand the base on a surface you are confident is flat, which usually means a table saw top or a flattened workbench rather than a floor. Press each corner in turn. Three legs will be solid and one will move: that leg is not the problem. The problem is the leg diagonally opposite, which is too long.

Trim it in small increments, square across the bottom of the leg, checking after every pass. Each correction changes the geometry slightly, so the test has to be repeated.

Work in small steps. Every time someone takes a confident cut to fix a rock, the table gets shorter and the rock moves to a different corner.

Attaching the Top

A solid wood top expands and contracts across its width. The apron frame does not.

Figure-eight fasteners let into the top edge of the apron, wooden buttons riding in a groove, or screws through slotted holes all hold the top down while letting it slide. Wood movement covers the direction and the amount.

A plywood top does not need this and can be fastened on all four sides. On a table this small the top is most of what is seen, which is an argument for solid wood and for accepting the fastening constraint.

What People Get Wrong About This

The first mistake is tapering before cutting the mortises. There is no good recovery.

The second is cutting the tenons to fit by force. A tenon that needs a mallet has no room for glue, and driving it can split the leg. It should slide home with firm hand pressure.

A third is gluing all eight joints at once. Two end frames first, cured, then the long aprons, is calmer and more accurate.

A fourth is trimming the leg that rocks. It is the diagonal one that is long.

And the last is screwing a solid top down rigidly because the table is small. Small tops split too.

Finishing

Finish the base and the top separately and assemble afterwards. An open frame and a flat panel are both far easier to finish than the assembled table, and the underside of the top needs finishing to keep the panel balanced.

Wipe everything with mineral spirits before the first coat. It shows glue residue around the joints, where it is hardest to see and most visible under finish.

Step by step

Mill the stock and mark the leg faces
Mill the leg blanks square and the apron stock to thickness and width. Mark each leg with its position and which two faces take joinery, because a mortise cut in the wrong face is an unrecoverable mistake on a leg.
Cut the mortises before tapering
Cut all mortises while the legs are still square blanks. A tapered leg has no flat reference to register against a fence or a mortiser, so the order here is not negotiable.
Cut the tenons and fit them
Cut tenons on the apron ends and pare to a fit that slides home with hand pressure. Test in a scrap mortise first. The shoulder line sets the finished frame dimension, so cut all shoulders for each pair from one setup.
Taper the legs
Taper the two inside faces only, starting the taper below the apron line so the joint area stays full width. Use a taper jig on the table saw or a hand plane, and keep the two tapered faces consistent across all four legs.
Dry fit and check for wind
Assemble the whole base dry. Measure the diagonals on the top and bottom of the frame, and sight across the top of the aprons for twist. Correct now, because a twisted base cannot be fixed after glue.
Glue up in two stages
Glue the two end frames first, each two legs and one apron, and check each for square. Once cured, join them with the remaining two aprons. Staging it halves the number of joints that have to be closed in one open time.
Level the legs
Stand the base on a surface known to be flat. Find the leg that rocks, identify the high one, and trim it in small increments until all four sit. Trim square to the leg, not at an angle, and work in small steps because material cannot be put back.
Make and attach the top
Glue up the top panel, flatten it, cut to size and break the edges. Attach with figure-eight fasteners or buttons so a solid top can move across its width. Screwing it down rigidly on all four sides will split it.
Sand and finish
Sand to 220 grit, wipe with mineral spirits to reveal glue and scratches, and correct before finishing. Finish both faces of the top so it takes on and gives up moisture evenly.

Common questions

What joinery should a side table use?

Mortise and tenon, if the table will be picked up, moved and used. A small table takes racking force every time it is dragged across a floor, and the tenon has depth in the direction the frame wants to fold. Pocket screws will hold it together but offer much less against racking.

Should side table legs be tapered?

Tapering makes a small table look lighter without weakening it, because material is removed where there is no joinery. Taper the two inside faces only and start the taper below the apron, so the leg stays full width where the mortises are.

How do you get four legs to sit level?

Stand the base on a surface you trust to be flat, press each corner to find the rocking pair, and identify the high leg. Trim it square in small increments, checking after each. Trimming the wrong leg or taking too much at once is how a table ends up progressively shorter.

What height should a side table be?

Close to the arm height of the chair it serves, which is the measurement that makes it useful. A table much taller than the chair arm is awkward to reach into, and one much lower means leaning down. Measure the actual chair rather than using a standard.

Can I use plywood for a side table top?

Yes, and edging it in solid wood hides the plies and allows an edge profile. Plywood removes the seasonal movement problem, so the top can be fastened on all four sides. A solid top looks better on a piece this small, where the top is most of what is seen.