07.03
I built a train table for my son this past Christmas. He is really into Thomas the Tank Engine, but I’m really not into paying $300 for toy table. With that in mind I decided to build him one myself and I think I got the dimensions really good for a 2-3 year old. I based them on the actual Thomas table but modified them a bit to suit my son. The total cost was around $50 and he loves it. I will lay out the plans here so you can build one too. I don’t do metric so all the dimensions are imperial. God save the queen!
The Materials:
The sides are white pine 1×6’s, the table top is 1/2″ sand-ply, and the legs are made from prime grade pine 2×4’s. It’s put together with yellow wood glue and brads, stained with analine dye and finished with clear polyeurethane.
The Cutlist:
- 2 @ 0.75″ x 5.5″ x 44″ (Ends)
- 2 @ 0.75″ x 5.5″ x 33″ (Sides)
- 2 @ 0.5″ x 1.5″ x 30″ (End strips)
- 2 @ 0.5″ x 1.5″ x 39.5″ (Side strips)
- 4 @ 1.5″ x 1.5″ x 15″ (Legs)
- 1 @ 33″ x 42.5″ x 0.5″ (Top)
Directions:
First chop the 2×4 into 4 15″ sections and rip the sections to 1.5″ x 1.5″ to form the legs. Set these aside for now. Knock the sharp edge off of them with a roundover bit in your router. Next, chop the white pine boards into 2 44″ sections and 2 33″ sections. Again, knock the sharp edges off with your router. Now you can make the strips that will hold the top up. Take a 2×4 and chop it into a 44″ piece and a 33″ piece. Now rip these pieces in half lengthwise, and finally, rip them down to 0.5″ x 1.5″. The final thing is to cut the top. To do this just rip a piece of 0.5″ sandply down to 33″ x 42.5″.
Now you are ready for assembly. Go ahead and brad nail and glue the strips to the sides, keeping them 1.5″ from the top of each side and 1.5″ from the end of each side. Nail and glue the sections together to form a rectangle keeping the 33″ end pieces to the inside of the 44″ pieces. Go ahead and set the top down inside the table frame to keep it squared up while the glue dries and let dry for 8 hours. After that, go ahead and nail and glue the legs into place, keeping their tops 1.5″ from the top of the side/end pieces. Flip it upside down and let it dry for 8 hours.
At this point you should go ahead and stain the frame and the top. I used analine dye since the grain of pine is so irregular and hard to stain. You might have to go to a place like Woodcraft to get it since I have never seen it at a hardware store. I used green for the top to simulate a natural landscape color. After the stain dries you can go ahead and glue and nail the top down. Finish it with 4 or 5 coats of polyeurethane, sanding lightly between coats, and your done. My wife drew a little train logo and I burned it on with a woodburning iron to finish it off.
Pictures:
