We enjoy camping and we've needed a small table on many occasions, so we finally made a portable camping table that packs flat for easy storage. The only building material is a 2' x 4' sheet of plywood for the table top and legs, plus some paint, because art, but that part's optional.
Building the legs
We started with the legs, measuring out a 16" x 16" square that we'd cut diagonally to create both legs, drawn a little larger than needed to leave room to sneak up on the line. The tops of the legs slot into the table top, so beyond that fit point, the rest of the leg shape is flexible. We kept the legs shorter than the table top's shortest side so they store underneath, and stuck to simple geometric lines to minimize material and weight.
Using a circular saw and straightedge, we cut the piece down to a manageable size, then used a jigsaw to rough out the leg shapes. We cut ½" wide slots on both legs, meeting in the middle: the slot goes on top for one leg and on the bottom for the other, so they interlock.
The first dry fit was a bit snug, so we kept sanding until we got a smooth fit that stood stable on a flat surface.
Lesson learned: we should have planned relief cuts into the design from the start rather than adding them after the fact. They help stabilize the table top significantly, so we'd recommend including them from the beginning.
Creating the table top
With the legs sorted, we measured the table top at 15" x 24" and cut it down with the circular saw and straightedge. We measured an X in the middle, about 3" long and ½" wide. This is where the interlocked legs poke through, so it's worth measuring twice. We drilled a hole in the middle, cut close to the line with a jigsaw from the inside, then refined the fit with a file until the legs sat snug.
Finishing touches
We taped off a section of the table for spray paint (purely aesthetic, so feel free to skip it if you're building your own). We used white paint, roughly following the rule of thirds. Everything got a few coats of polyacrylic, sanding with 220 grit between coats.
Finally, we drilled recesses sized for round neodymium magnets and glued them into the legs and the underside of the table, two per leg. It holds up, though we'd add a couple more next time so the legs don't come loose if bumped.
Our pup Layla oversaw quality control on the finished table.