This folding tray table is easy to make. (Just don't make the dumb mistake I did!) 

Thanks for supporting how-to project videos! If you'd like to build this table, you can get plans here: shopwwmm.com/products/folding-tray-table

I never watch videos recommended by the algorithm. I usually go to my subscriptions where I have only worthwhile channels like Mathias Wandel, Jimmy Diresta and yours for example. I love your work and your projects.

Thanks for including the "woops" corrections. You know what they say, 20% of woodworking is working with wood. The other 80% is figuring how to keep it out of the fireplace. Great useful project. Thanks for sharing.

The greatest thing about your videos is you show mistakes can be made at any skill level. Thank you for another entertaining video Steve.

I like that you show when you make mistakes! It makes me feel better knowing that even people who have woodworked for years are human, and i shouldnt feel bad when i accidentally make my table top too small cause i mathed it wrong!

Showing honest mistakes and the fixes are the best part. Really feel at home and can identify.

It's better when it slides right in and you don't have to pound it. Agreed. Sometimes though, you have to pound it. And once it finally goes in, that's nice too.

30 minutes in, already 12 comments, I would be confident that the "Dramatic entrance" has little to do with our interest in your videos. Thank you for all your videos, tips and advice that helped me start my woodworking adventure this month, after years of watching......

There are no dumb mistakes. Only opportunities for creative problem solving. That is what makes woodworking so challenging and fulfilling.

8:30 - LOVE the wheely workbench. Can't recommend them enough

Love the DRAMATIC into!!

Bubbles Cam is top notch. I love your continued ethos of working with and embracing your mistakes. What a great project.

It's great to see that at no matter what level we are, no matter how detailed our plans are... wood worker mistakes are inevitable and we just need to adapt 😁

Great video, Steve. I absolutely love watching you build a project. This one was especially fun to watch. You know, through the years I've found dowels from the big box store to be terribly inconsistent in their sizes. Several times, I've purchased a hand full of dowels only to find when I use them that they are not identical in size. I usually find them to be smaller than they are labeled. This is a problem because I generally use them in conjunction with a forstner bit which of course are always a consistent size. Anyway, thanks for the video and for all the great projects in the past.

I'm so glad that "Project Steve" is back! Thanks for all the videos.

I've got a set of 4 of these that someone gave me years ago. I've been using two of them as my work from home desk for 3.5 years now. I should do something about that. 🤣

These tables used to be very popular 30-odd years ago. One thing they nearly all had was an extra piece on the stop block - either a piece of metal or ply - so that when Uncle Stumblebum walked into the table the legs didn't pop out from behind the stop block leaving the table to collapse and spill everything across the yard/deck. As for the left over pieces from the top: I could see a 'hopper' style carrier for cutlery and sauces, or a few trivets, or even some boxes coming from those = there is really very little scrap wood if you plan well.

Awesome Steve! I’m almost ready to sign up for the Weekend Workshop! Just a few shop tweaks before I get started!

It worked! Those first 3 seconds tricked me into watching the whole video. 😂

I am going make a couple pot these!!

It's so good to see we're all human Steve,re the damage to the leg😂 Love your videos.

velcom to the hidraulic press channel! in today's video, we're going to find out how much you can compress a folding table befor it explods

gorgeous!!!

Great video!@ Are you worried at all about the top splitting from the screws and wood movement? Or is that not really applicable with a small tabletop like this?

Haha, that opening made me laugh. As a serious point, i do personally find your videos more engaging when they are humerously interspersed, whether they be how-to videos or not. I know that this is personal preference, and someone else might alternatively find it distracting, especially in the how-to category (can see people just wanting to get the clear, straight instructional). My preference is humour (incl. openings like this one), but you'll never be able to please everyones preferences simultaneously, and i think you do a great job in delivering a range of video styles that collectively satisfy a range of different preferences, and you also do a great job of not worrying too much about does it / doesn't it, which I think is healthy & well measured too!

"...take it over to my finishing room!" 😂😂

"Now I just need to take this over to my finishing room." Nothing more Norm Abram/New Yankee Workshop has ever been spoken. (And then you move 5 ft over. 😂)

Would have helped rounding after pounding the dowels in?

What i do with mine is add a string through the top legs rail and the stopper. You can pull one way to collapse the table one-handed. I guess it could be made from wood in some fashion

I have no idea why, but this is the first video of yours that showed up in my subscription box in *donkeys* o_O

Ok. You caught me with your dramatic first seconds. Ahhh. I'm so gullible.

6:30 That's what edge banding is made for.

“I’m gonna take this over to my finishing room.” 😂

Intro 🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼

I like the fix part, because i f-up also and don't know what to do

plan on building a folding table too oh yeah steve did you see my comment about building a boat would be cool to see you build a boat

Really nice one :)

7:17 insert shortwave radio tuning noises here:

Hey Steve and community. I've been out of woodworking for a couple years and am trying to get moving again. Is there no WWMM community forum? I know I can leave comments on videos, but where do I post my woodworking questions to the greater community and how Steve notices, lol?

Pretty swell tv tray

A man who makes no mistakes in life would never learn and grow. A woodworker who never makes mistakes means he's not trying out nrw things, not enlarging his skill set. Also, mistakes are the spice of the trade.

Great episode! I there going to be a Halloween one?

I honestly thought the cat was a black panther roaming in your backyard

That dramatically annoying intro made me yearn for the GRIPPER intros! Nevertheless, cool folding table, Steve!

Great table if you like cheap 1970s stuff.

Calling us fish isn't that far off 🤣

I really admire how authentic you are as a person. We all make mistakes, why not have a sense of humor about it! Love you, man! 😀

It's incredible to think that I've been watching this channel for over 10 years! This one really brought me back to the cleverest folding stool ever, which my rendition apparently turned out well enough that someone stole it from my porch lol. 10 years ago, my 'shop' was half of an apartment balcony and now I'm gearing up to build a devoted workshop outbuilding. From one mortal to another, a sincere thank you Steve for everything you do!

I love these longer form videos. They are quite like the ones in your courses. It takes me through a project step by step! Thanks

NIce. I am still using the redwood from a deck I salvaged 26 years ago! The tight grain is unbelievable. Keep up the good work. I loved when you went to your "finishing room," I.e. put down some paper on the assembly table.

Wow! Love your new finishing room, never seen it before. Looks awesome, even better than the shop itself. 🙃

I will forever associate that riff with the Hydraulic Press Channel.

Well what's a video without a kitty cat checking to make sure you got her or his table done yet and done right. LOL

Welcome to the Hydraulic Press Chann-- oh wait... lol

Thanks, Steve, for another useful and interesting video. I plan to make one or two of those folding tables for our courtyard. Most especially, I want to thank you (and other makers) for using pipe clamps in the shop. There have been too many videos that use expensive tools, fasteners, and clamps to get the job done. I, for one, appreciate the back to basics approach. The end result is what counts. You are doing a good job. Keep it up! Also, thank you for getting us through the pandemic lockdown! You deserve an award and recognition for that!

I have always been told A man who makes no mistakes is a man who does nothing.😁

Watching you put in the dowels and I thought to myself ‘good thing he has plans because he had issues with this during the lockdown series…’ Famous last words I suppose

Steve; long time viewer & even LONGER TIME carpenter/woodworker (like, since 1979). Please. For the love of God - or in your case, for the love of horror movies - GET A 14" BANDSAW!!! At the very least, start using a fricken ripcut panel saw... The table saw might be faster than a handsaw on a ripcut but not by much (once you get the hang of it) and, of course, much safer and less noise and dust. Then, breakout that "Stanley five and a half" that everyone talks about and get to flattening.

As a long retired shop teacher, my main job after safety was saving student projects.

I'm lovin a woodworking channel showing woodworking. I dunno what happened but for a few years it seemed more like all the woodworking channels were tool salesmen. Ty for the video! :)

Mr. Ramsey, I've been watching your videos for quite a few years and think you are amazing. However, when i saw the $27, I thought wow, he's selling the handmade table for $27? Sign me up! Then I saw that you are charging $27 for the plans. I'm sorry sir, but thats ridiculous.

Huge cognitive dissonance in the first few seconds because...well, it's like seeing a schoolteacher at the grocery store. You recognize them, but that's not where you recognize them from. Anyway, Hydraulic Press Channel ahoy!

Imagine having a table saw that can successfully resaw boards. I need to save up and replace this garbage Ryobi table saw I've been using

Beautiful work, Steve! Nicely done!!! 😃 But yeah, sh*t happens! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

blah, blah, blah.. yes its great to see that other make mistakes too, but can we please acknowledge that it was awesome to see both Cobra and Bubbles in the video! 😁

wow---that intro made me smile.. Thanks Steve!

That was some jamming music Steve! What song was that? Great video!

That's pretty much how our tv trays were made. I've had the thought before of taking one apart and copying the design.

Finding dowels that are precisely the advertised circumference is about as easy as finding straight 2x4's. In the past I have used a forstner bit on some scrap wood and brought that to the big box store and tested the dowels there. Easier than bringing calipers or having to resize the dowels once I get them home. Great video and idea. Thanks. I hope you are doing OK with the current weather. Be safe.

I'm gonna level with you Steve if any other woodworking channel hit me with an opening like that I would have closed the video as fast as I opened it. Thankfully I've seen enough of your stuff to know better by now haha

No the intro was stupid noisy😮. I prefer usual

Thanks for project. I just noticed on this video that we have the same Ryobi drill press! It is a nice drill press that has never given me any problems. I am glad that I am not the only one who makes mistakes! But we know you are a good woodworker when you can correct the mistake without get more wood!

Dude I missed your humor so much! Hysterical intro! Also I still miss that WWMM spray paint on the foam in the background!

Steve, keep up the great work! Have been watching you for years and always brings a smile when I see you post a new video.

Steve it's not a RU-vid video without you making a mistake lol, great job on the TV Table

How sad that more than 1/2 your viewers probably don’t understand the MacGyver reference 😝 Great little build, appreciate the oops being included. Reminds me I need to repurpose my old redwood deck pieces, you can forget how pretty it is under that weathering!

I have found that it is a good idea to add a small piece of wood to the center bar stop cleat at a 90° angle. This prevents the top from separating from the center bar if the tray table is lifted to move around.

you never disappoint, Steve.

I was only going to watch for 1 second but man, that intro kept me hooked!

Several thing I like here. One it’s like me in the shop, making mistakes lol. Two I loved seeing the dictionary print in the background. I’ll be working on my Halloween video soon! Three, the project turned out great and you showed how to fix those mistakes! Great video!

Love the dramatic ending!

Glue is mightier than the pen or sword! I appreciate you leaving the mistakes in!

I made this table during your lockdown series - my wife loves it!

You need a dramatic closing too, as a reward for those who watched the whole thing! :)

Jump on it like Mattias

Hi from Fort Wayne, IN., I like the video and your over videos. A thought maybe make a video about consumables & the different levels of them. Such as level 1; 1. Glue 2. Paint & / or Stain 3. Paint bushes 4. Sandpaper 5. Brad's & / screws Ext... Then there's level 2; A. Saw blands Ext. Then say how off to buy them to have on hand.

Keep doing those intros, Steve! I love it! 😂

Love the tables. Now if only I can convince my wife that we have the space to store some and I have the time to build them!

COBRA??? Here cobra cobra cobra! Nice cobra! Anyway, great video again. You don’t need click bait for me. You make a video, I click!

MUSIC TOO LOUD. Now, if you’d played some 1930’s big band, you would have drawn me in. 😂 But I did stick it through your entire video (ears bleeding).

Another great Ramsey video: a simple "anybody can make this" video. You do alot of panel glue-ups: you need to get 4-way panel clamps that provide squeezing pressure in BOTH the horizontal AND vertical directions--at the same time. My first was Clampzilla clamp from Woodpeckers, but as one would expect, it is high end and speedy but has tremendous clamping pressure. It is also a bit cumbersome and confusing to set up the first couple times: I think I got it now. As with any glue-up, squeeze-out is inconvenient: hard to keep clamp bars clean. I always use glue-impervious paper (the backside of rolls 3M transfer, AKA double-sided, tape, for which I use 12" width to permanently bind all sorts of stuff, especially acrylic plastic). Additionally I always use a teeny-weeny bit of fine sand between the boards and never have a board-sliding issue. The quantity of sand is so insignificant it is inconceivable there would be any damage to a saw blade; besides one rarely cuts thru glued wood, but for squaring up, etc. The sand is so sparsely applied, no grain of sand would likely be in the cut line. Some use salt for a similar purpose, but salt is too reactive: who knows what wood degradation has occurred between the wood--until it is too late. There other 4-way panel clamp options than Woodpeckers; the best I found is on Amazon & elsewhere where the hardware part is purchased, and we provide the wood (caul part). Additionally, these clamps allow for panels up to ~6" thick (high)--minus the thickness of the cauls, e.g., 2x2s. Also it is easy to glue-proof the cauls. I reduced the thickness of my cauls (top & bottom) by using 1/4" flat iron/steel bars and screwing a strip of 3/16" +/- HDPE on one side of metal bar to keep glue from sticking to the cauls. The metal cauls (with HDPE) have more rigidity than thick wood. Woodpeckers use metal channel steel, but offer no "built-in" protection from glue. However, I use a 2" wide Gorilla tape (extra strong packing tape) to cover these metal cauls: glue will NOT stick to this tape). Again thanks for a great video. I'm gonna downsize your tray table to make a "serving" tray for use on my bed, chair, or wherever. I eat on my portable tray, use it for my laptop, etc. Hmmmm, I think I will make a modification/attachment for pen & pad, beverage holder, fold-out mouse pad, etc.

AFter you broke it, you should have threw it across the shop and have a meltdown and say I quit and fade to black. That would have been good drama. That would be the funniest WWMM video ever!!!

A few months ago, my mothers uncle passed away. I hadn’t seen him in over a decade, but in his will, he had said he wants all his tools and everything to go to a young man who will use them with the same love and passion he had. His kids all told my mom they wanted me to have it all. Problem is I live 1700 miles away from his shop. Well, there was no cost too high for me to not accept my new responsibility of caring for this fine machinery. All this is to say, after years of building decent furniture using methods you and others taught me with all the “basic” equipment (table saw, etc) I now, as of this last weekend, have all the tools one could ask for from a real woodworkers shop. A planer, a jointer, band saw, drill press, lathe, etc. and all are in impeccable shape! And on top of it, the hand tools, the tools to maintain the machines (stones and whatnot) and more! I’m not sure why I wrote this whole story, but I guess it was to say thank you. Cause if it weren’t for you showing me how I can make good looking tables and stuff using basic tools, then maybe my mom’s cousin’s wouldn’t have thought of me to have such an amazing shop. I absolutely cannot wait to get everything set up, and get every ground surface cleaned and stoned, and make sure everything is as flat and square as I can reasonably accomplish. First project with the new (to me) tools is to make a desk, a gift for my girlfriend who changed my life over a year ago.

@17:05 “shouldn’t have to pound it” proceeds to look into the camera immediately after. 😂😂😂😂 subtle yet well played sir

Watching this video made me realize: I would appreciate a video on making jigs. I know you have done a featherboard, but drill press jig? A miter saw extension? If you have, and I just haven't seen it, thank you...

This video feels way longer than it needed to be. forget the first three seconds, try to keep videos around 10 minutes

When I’m watching people making things with scary power tools the last thing I want is drama. Stay calm, stay safe. Keep the horror fictional. 🤞🏼🙏🏼🤞🏼

Hola! 🖐Great project and awesome video! I've always though of a folding tray like this as "too complicated" to even attempt. Thanks for showing how approachable this can really be. Especially after a "minor booboo" (or two), it can still be corrected and end up with a good project. Thanks again and looking forward to the next one. Take care and have a good one, Adios! 👊

Called cupping.. as a cabinet/ furniture maker for 40+ years. Alternating the growth rings directions is very important!

Nice work Steve & don't fret, we all screw up now & then. Maybe not as bad as you but S__T happens nonetheless! 😂😂👍👍🔨🔨