SOCK-LEG TABLE

Build this accent table and try your hand at an uncommon technique for dressing up tapered legs.

- VINCE ANCONA

Side tables with tapered legs are nothing new. But this one has a twist. Contrasting woods make up the legs, giving them the appearance of wearing socks. Creating this look seems complicated, and it requires careful fitting, but we'll help you put your best foot forward.

SOCK IT TO ME

Create the socks by cutting a long, skinny core at the end of each leg and wrapping that with contrasting wood before tapering the legs at the tablesaw.

1 Cut the leg blanks (A) to size [Materials List, Exploded View, Drawing 1].

2 Lay out the waste areas on the faces and end of each leg. Cut a dado on all four sides of each leg to establish the shoulder of the foot [Photo A].

3 Bandsaw away the bulk of the waste around the core of each leg, staying on the waste side of the layout lines [Photo B]. Then return to the tablesaw to bring the core to final size [Photo C].

4 Using a shop-made V-block to support the leg, cut a notch at the top end of each leg [Photo D, Drawing 1].

5 Using the same V-block for support, form a mortise in each leg [Photo E, Drawing 1].

6 From 3/8" stock, cut four 1/2×24" blanks for the sock sides (B). Bevel-rip the edges of each blank to 13/8" to match the legs (A).