Captain America Themed Kids Bedside Table

This is my first instructable. I made this about a year ago and have been intending to list it on here for a while. The table was made for a friend for his sons birthday. The basic shape was copied from one my friend found online, Google it you will find it but I changed the finish and look by using comic books and the technique of decoupage.

A small piece of mdf. 800mm * 500mm is plenty big enough for a table 450mm diameter. 25mm thick is probably the better option but 18mm thick will suffice.

100 × 100mm par softwood about 500 or 600mm long.

10 woodcrews. No5 × 75mm or similar.

10 small washers.

Some shellac. Not actually necessary but does make painting much easier.

Filler

Spray paint. White, red and blue.

Clear lacquer or varnish.

Wallpaper paste

Comic book covers.

Jigsaw
Woodsaw
Drill
Screwdriver
Masking tape.
Paint brush

First of all decide on the size of the table that you require. In was asked for a table 450mm diameter. This is fine for a small bedside table for a child. But obviously make yours to your own required size.

Mark out the circle for the top and the star for the base. Make the base slightly smaller than the top. Mine was about 300mm diameter.

Mark the centre of the circle and the star and also mark on the position and shape of the leg. Mark the position of 4 fixing holes for the base and top to be fixed to the leg.

Cut out the two shapes. A jig saw is best for this.

Pilot drill the centres and the 4 fixing holes to the top and the base. Then countersink.

Sand down paying particular attention to the cut edges.

Mdf paints easily and well if done properly. But cut edges can be a problem as they soak up paint. The best solution to this is to seal the cut edges with shellac. Coat the edges with a brush and allow to dry. Sand and repeat. A few coats will be required but eventually you will be left with a cut edge as smooth as the face of the mdf.

Simply cut the 100 × 100mm par softwood to the required length.

Mark the centre of both ends and pilot drill.

Sand ready for painting.

I actually made 2 tables to slightly different designs in the end. One leg was painted blue with white stars on all 4 sides. One leg had two red and white striped sides and two sides blue with stars.

I masked and spray painted but if you can paint better than me, highly likely, you could paint by hand and brush.

To form the stars I used self adhesive "laser labels". Printed some stars on them to the correct size and cut them out.

I made two versions in the end. One with a red base, one with a white base.

Paint both sides of the base. Paint only the underside of the top and the cut edge.

I painted the top blue and masked out a white star. Note, the underside of the top is the face without the countersunk holes.

Note, in the photo the top is not fixed and is upside down.

Fix the top and base to the leg.

Fix through the centre holes first to ensure that the top and base are correctly centred on the leg.

Use no5 × 75mm wood screws with washers to ensure a tight strong fix.

Fill the countersinks to the top and sand smooth.

I did not actually use comic books. I downloaded images from the internet and printed them on a laser printer. At work I must admit.

Trim any white boarders and stick to the top with good wallpaper paste. Overlap the covers as necessary to cover the whole of the top and trim the edges to the edge of the circle.

Allow to dry thoroughly and varnish.

You can use spray clear acrylic or traditional varnish by hand by brush or by roller. Varnish, varnish and varnish again and again.

Probably not enough photos and I did not fully photograph both versions. Sorry.

Next project is a toy box. May take me a while.