Building a dining table is a lot easier than it looks. With the right tools and materials, you can create your own beautiful, sturdy wood table to last for generations.

How to build a traditional dining table

To build a traditional dining table, you’ll need:

• A circular saw for cutting leg parts. This can be rented from a hardware store or home improvement center.
• A miter saw for cutting the tabletop and dowels. This also can be rented from a hardware store or home improvement center.
• Drills (and bits) for drilling holes in wood pieces so that screws can be driven into them when attaching them together; one drill bit should work for all of these holes unless otherwise specified below.*

A table saw is used to cut dowels into two different sizes: 1-1/2″ long pieces equal to half the length of each leg plus 1/4″ extra; and 2″ long …