The goal was to make a strong fold up table that could be stored within a small foot print such as a closet when not needed. The entire table was made out of maple. The legs are made as such for them to fold together around a center pivot point; the cross members and legs are put together with mortise and tenon joinery. The top is hand finished with a medium dark water stain and the legs were stained with a dark red milk paint. This table was distressed after finishing giving it an antique look of old age to fit into the surrounding decor.
THE DESIGN
I used SketchUp to design the pivoting cross member/leg mechanism. If your a SketchUp user here is a link to the model:
SketchUp Model of Folding Table