Before moving up to Chicago, in the spring of 2011, I put together a small breakfast table. The legs were mortised into the top (a move I used to better effect a year later) and removable, making for a simple, lightweight, knock-flat table. Each leg was a simple, tapered 2x4, run through with a dowel that reinforced the mortise. At about 30" square, it fit perfectly into our little studio apartment, under the kitchen window.
After nearly two years of faithful service, however, the Breakdown Table is showing some signs of wear. The top, an old laminate desk that I spray-painted primary yellow, is peeling, and the black rubber rim around the perimeter brings an institutional flavor to our meals. My lateral-stability scheme, based on drywall screws through the dowel "ears" at the top of each leg, is also failing The top has a particle board core, which has gradually lost its grip on the screws in each leg.
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