Projects / Mission tabouret (1909 plan)
Mission tabouret (1909 plan)
A 17″ octagonal-top side table with keyed stretchers, adapted from a 1909 Popular Mechanics plan.
AdvancedA weekend10 parts1× board
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Cutting diagram
Bright pieces are your parts; the dimmed wood is left over. Every cut allows ⅛″ for the saw blade.
Cut list
| Part | Qty | Width × length | Cut from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Leg | 4 | 4¾″ × 18½″121 × 470 mm | 1× board |
| B | Lower stretcher | 2 | 2¾″ × 15¾″70 × 400 mm | 1× board |
| C | Top stretcher | 2 | 2¼″ × 13¼″57 × 337 mm | 1× board |
| D | Top half (glue-up) | 2 | 8½″ × 17″216 × 432 mm | 1× board |
How to build it
- Cut the four legs, then taper each one so it narrows from 4¾″ at the top to about 3″ at the floor, and cut a shallow decorative slot near the top of each. The original plan shows the legs sloping inward slightly.
- Cut a cross-lap at the middle of each lower stretcher and each top stretcher, so each pair fits together into an X. Cut a through-mortise near each end of the lower stretchers for the keys.
- Cut mortises in the legs for the lower stretchers about 4″ up from the floor, slide the stretchers through, and lock each one with a small tapered key driven through its mortise. The keys hold the base together without glue.
- Glue the top stretchers into shallow notches at the top of the legs. Glue the two top halves edge to edge, then cut the 17″ square into an octagon by trimming each corner.
- Bevel the underside of the top edge, screw the top to the top stretchers from below, and finish. The 1909 plan fumed the oak with ammonia; a dark stain and wax gives the same look safely.
Adapted from Mission Furniture: How to Make It, Part I (Popular Mechanics Co., 1909), now in the public domain. The original called for ⅞″ quarter-sawn oak; ¾″ stock works with the same dimensions.