Index

A Plant Table from one Two-by-Four: For my other mission-style tables, I used 2x2 utility pine for the legs, 1x6 hemlock shorts for the spindles and rails, 3/4 MDF for the top and shelf, and 1/2 x 1-1/16 door stop for the trim. For this one I cut everything I needed from a 10-foot, straight-grain, fir two-by-four (except the top, which I made from two pieces of hemlock - I should've got a one-foot longer 2x4). One pair of legs was cut from a 24" chop off the 2x4. The spindles were made from a 21" chop; I actually made nine of them and sacrificed a few to estimate cuts for tenons on the six spindles I used. Rails were made from 8" pieces (2 rails each). Trim was cut from the rounded edges (4 pieces from one 2' chop). I made the jig which rides along the saw fence to help with the tenoning of the spindles and rails. Mortises were done with my friend Mike's mortising machine.
The original ten-foot 2x4	4 legs, 9 spindles, 4 (of 6) rails	cutting a tenon shoulder
completing the tenon cut	mortising a leg	cutting top and shelf trim
pre-gluing layout	all clamped up	the finished product