Dining-to-coffee Table (and Back)

The perfect table doesn't exi- wait, what?

This Instructables will show you how to transform a dining table into a coffee table, and change it back to dining, then to coffee, then dining, and so on.

No great innovation, no incredible breakthrough, no crazy woodworking, just a simple idea concretized into a simple project:

You shorten the legs of your dining table to make it a coffee table, and you put the leg extensions back (screw them back, actually) any time you want a dining table. Easy.

Let's begin right away so that you can have a coffee, and then a dinner. Have fun!

What tools and hardware you will need:

• A regular dining table.

⚠️ The legs must be made of wood.

• A thin wood saw (ideally a Japanese saw).
• A mitre box.
• F-clamps.
• Sandpaper sheets and a sanding box.
• An electric drills and drill bits for wood.
• A T-square / try-square.
• A measuring tape and a metal rulers.
• Double-threaded screws

⚠️ These screws must be at least 60x6mm (2.36x0.24in), but the bigger the screw, the more solid the result.

• An all-purpose bottle of Super Glue.
• Pen, eraser and paper, to write the marking, the dimensions, make the calculation, and draw me like your French girls.
• Some furniture pads.
• A set of screw drivers (optional)
• Spare bits of wood (optional)

Note: I chose the linked brands randomly, as mere examples.

How high would you like your table to be when in coffee-mode?

It's up to you, but it's also up to the height of your sofa, your chairs, your dog, etc. You can also look for the regular height of the tables on the Internet.

You must now calculate and measure where to saw the legs. Let's say your dining table is now H cm, and you would like it to be h cm. You have to calculate H - h, and the result will be the height that will be cut off from each leg.

In my case, the table was H = 74 cm (29.13 in) and I wanted it to be h = 40 cm (15.75 in). I needed to cut off H - h = 74 - 40 = 34 cm (13.38 in)

Take the measuring tape and measure from the floor the H - h distance that will be cut off from the the first leg. Mark each of the 4 faces with a pen. Repeat on the 3 other legs.

With the T-square and the pen, draw the cutting lines from the marks you made on each leg. This is where you will cut the legs.

Note: If you are lucky, your table will be kind enough to have removable legs. In that case, remove them with the proper screw driver. The measuring and marking will be much easier, as well as the next step. Don't forget to thank the designer.

It's now time to saw some legs. (Table legs.)

This step may be tricky if your table is heavy or if the legs are a bit far inside from the borders. In this step you will cut the legs, making sure that the cutting plane is perfectly parallel to the ground.

You will use the mitre box.

First, rotate the table on one side so that two of its legs are on the ground, and place the mitre box under one of them. Align the drawn line with the groove of the mitre box so that you can cut perfectly along the line. Fix the mitre box to the leg with F-clamps on both sides of the line.

If the leg is not parallel to the ground, be sure to place a wedge under the mitre box in order to raise it and so that it is firmly put still.

Take your time to saw the first leg and to obtain a clean cut. If you have a Japanese saw, remember that the cutting is made when you draw it towards you, and not when you push it. Then, remove the F-clamps and the mitre box, and follow this step again with the three other legs.

Note: If you were able to remove the legs in the previous step, the sawing may be easier. Good for you.

You can slightly sand the edges of the cutting planes on the legs.

You now have four leg extensions. Good job.

In this step, you will drill eight holes, one into both parts of the four legs.

Rotate the table to its back (like turtles it won't be able to go anywhere), and firmly fix the leg extensions with the cutting planes facing up.

On each of the eight cutting planes, use the metal ruler and the pen to draw a cross, linking each edge of the cutting plane together like the diagonals of a square (see the associated photo).

The diameter of the double-threaded screws you have will drive your choice of the drill bit's size. The drill bit's diameter must be smaller than the screw's diameter. For example, if you have a ø6mm screw diameter, use a ø5mm drill bit.

Note: Before to drill the actual holes, I strongly advise to test the holes' diameter and the double-threaded screw with spare bits of wood. That way you can see if the hole are too big.

When you are sure of the holes' diameter, drill the holes in the center of the eight crosses you drawn before. Be precise so that the holes are perfectly centered and parallel to the length of the legs and leg extensions.

Note: If you unmounted the legs from the table, you can now mount them back.

That's height perfect holes. Time to put the screws.

The screws will be glued inside the leg extensions' holes on one threaded side. The other side will be screwed into the holes of the shorten legs when you want a dining table, and unscrewed when you want a coffee table.

You can refer to the 3D image with the 6 steps to help you with the following:

Carefully pour a few drops of glue into the first leg extension's holes (1). Take a screw and put glue on one of its threaded side (1). Engage the glued side into the glued hole and manually screw the tip until you can't do it anymore (2) (remember the hole's diameter is smaller than the screw's). Then take the leg extension with its screw and begin to screw the other side in one of a leg's hole (3, 4). Manually screw until the glued side is completely screwed inside the leg extension (5), and wait for the glue to dry.

When you unscrew the leg extension back, the screw must be firmly glued into it (6). You have one almost-full leg extension. Apply this step to the other three.

Before to put that former-dinning-now-coffee table back on it's shorten legs, you can add a furniture pad to each leg. Be sure either to make a hole in them before to apply, or alternatively to make the hole with the screw from the leg extension after sticking them.

Rotate your table and try your work by having a coffee on it. Tea works well too.

Note: If you forgot to work on a leg, that happens, and fortunately you will immediately realize it. Sadly, that goes the same if you mis-measured the sawing line of a leg.

As I said at the beginning, this is a very simple idea without any smart trick. However, just look at the face of your friends and family when you transform your dining table into a coffee table (or the opposite) under their very eyes. Do you feel that air filled of silent admiration and respect? You can offer them a coffee. Or a dinner.

For the future, some of you suggested me improvements in the comments section. I loved the idea of stocking the leg extensions under the coffee table with magnets! Also, the suggestion of using threaded inserts into the legs is awesome: it has the advantage of providing a more reliable mounting that will not wear with time, as it may be the case when assembling/disassembling the legs extensions too many times with wood screws (those are made to be screwed into wood only once...).

Thanks a lot for all the other suggestions and ideas, hopefully one day I will use them to make a second version!

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Thank you for reading this Instructables! I hope you had fun. Feel free to ask me any question if I wasn't clear enough or if you want some details.