During my freshman year of college, I lived in the dorms which was nice. However, I wanted to make a nightstand or small table to put next to my bed due to the beds being at their max height and you had to reach quite a far ways down to grab your phone or place things down. In the spring of 2020, during open lab and my manufacturing1 class, I made a nightstand.

To start off, I designed this on Solidworks, similarly to my other projects, there was more than one version to this. The first one included a small shelf instead of a drawer but I opted for a drawer for a closed and completed look.

For construction, I used 1 1/4″ angle iron, everything on the frame was mitered and welded together. For the side panels, I used 1/2″ oak plywood with a rabbet on them so they can be inserted and flush with the sides of the metal. They are bolted to the frame. The top is held on a similar way with it using carriage bolts to be flush with the top surface. I had to use plywood spacers in the inside to allow for clearance for the drawer slides. To build the drawer, I used rabbets to joint it together and the drawer bottom is inset to the sides. For the handle, I used some bar stock and welded one together, drilling and tapping it so I can attach it to the drawer face.

However during final assembly, I noticed a problem. When I had drilled the holes in the frame for the bolts, I measured all the holes in the same spot/distance from the edge, so when I assembled it, I had to use very thin nuts so I can clear the table top and the bolts holding that on. But luckily, I had enough space between the side panels and the side of the top to make it fit. I also had to chamfer the corners of the side panels so they can have clearance around the welds.

But once the project was assembled, it was sturdy and it can take a beating. The table weighs around 30lbs and I carried it to the dinning hall a few times due to the open lab ending late. For dimensions, it is around 16in wide/long and is around 28in high.

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