Every boy and girl should have a place in the house that they may call their own. Each one should have a table where they may keep their writing materials and books and read or study when they wish to. The present design for a table is one that any careful young carpenter may make without any great difficulty. It is, in fact, a combination table and book case. The top is made from three or more boards held together by strips nailed across the under side, and, in order to hide the cracks and at the same time provide a durable working surface, the top is covered with imitation leather, fastened on with fancy nails. The legs are plain boards and are nailed to the cross-strips underneath. The shelves are simply nailed in place and the heads of the nails are afterwards covered by gluing on some small round blocks.

So you see all the difficult features in table making are eliminated.

All of the material is one-inch dressed lumber. First make the top, and be sure that the cross-pieces are not only square on the ends, but are put on so that the legs will come just right when they are fastened in place. The four legs are next to be sawn squarely to the exact length and planed smooth on the edges. Shape up the lower ends with the fret saw, and mark the places where the shelves will come. The four shelf boards are now to be sawn to the same length and exactly as long as the cross boards previously nailed underneath the top. In putting together, first nail the two legs and two shelves of each end together. Place the top upside down on the floor, and then nail on the legs. It now remains to fasten on the foot board, for which screws should be used, so as not to loosen any of the nails already driven in. Should the table now be found the least bit shaky, brace it by nailing and gluing in some small blocks under the top, and shelves on the inner side of the legs, as shown in the drawing. If it is desired to have the top look heavier, nail on strips on the under side all the way around and exactly even with the edge. After the table is stained and waxed, cover the top smoothly with some sheets of paper and then put on the imitation leather. Bring the edges clear around underneath and fasten them with ordinary tacks on the under side. Put in a tack only every foot or so until the leather is stretched evenly. When it is finally tacked all the way around, put in the fancy nails around the outer edge. Be sure to have them exactly in line and evenly spaced.