How to Make a Picnic Table

A picnic table is a fun building project that can be put together using 2 X 4s, 2 X 6s or a combination thereof. Once this project is finished and all painted up, the table can become a useful piece of furniture for your backyard. Try painting your table a bright firehouse red or a baby blue to liven up the outdoor landscape around your house. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

How To Make A Picnic Table

1

If you want you can choose a design for your picnic table. There are a lot of designs on the web and in print for picnic tables. However, for this particular picnic table we are going to design the piece of furniture as we go. Some people call this flying by the seat of your pants, but we will aim for a little higher with our terminology and put this project under the classification of furniture design. By recalling other picnic tables that we have seen, we will try to duplicate the details of construction, and reproduce a picnic table similar to one we may have seen in the city park or at a friends house.

2

Build two trusses from 2 by 4s. These will become the main support system for the table. Our truss will be 32 inches wide at the top (that is the tables surface) and 68 inches wide at the seat level. Both these pieces will be parallel with the ground. The height of the table will be 31 inches and the height of the seat 14 inches. The width of the seat will also be 14 inches and the there will be a 40-inch gap between the seats. This should be enough information to build your two trusses. After they are built the rest is easy. When building the trusses, remember that the ends of each board in the truss will be angled slightly, so that the truss sits flatly on the ground. The upright piece will cross the bottom piece at the 14-inch mark.(please note that this is 14 inches straight up from the ground) and then it will have to be properly angled so that it is flush with the top piece of the truss . See if you can cut the two horizontal pieces to length then place them on your driveway or garage floor at the correct distances apart. Then lay out two more 2 X 4s, so that they ascend at the appropriate angles. Mark the top and bottom and then cut the 2 X 4s to fit. Screw everything together with 2 inch building screws.

3

Cut 13 two by fours exactly six feet long (7 of these will be used for the table top and 3 will be used for each seat). You can make the table longer or shorter, if you wish, but all of these boards must be the same length. Next, decide on a distance that each 2 X 4 will overhang the truss. For example about eight inches sounds correct. Now, attach the two 2 x 4s to the top end of each truss leaving exactly eight inches of 2 X 4 hanging over past the edge of the truss. Once the two end pieces are screwed to each truss, the table should stand on its own, although it will be very wobbly. Continue by placing one 2 X 4 at the very edge of each seat. Now your table should have even more stability. Complete the seat by placing two more 2 X 4s at one-inch intervals. You can probably feel the table get stronger as you go. Now take the remaining 2 X 4s and fill in the tabletop leaving an even space between each piece of 2 X 4. At this point your picnic table should be starting to feel quite solid.

4

Take two pieces of 2 X 4s and make a 45-degree on each end so that the long side is 24 inches long. Since these two pieces will be used as a brace, the 45-degree cuts should go in opposite directions. Install the two braces so that they run from the center of the longer crosspiece of the truss, right up to the underneath side of the table top. Screw these two pieces tight with 2-inch wood screws and the construction phase of your table will be complete.

5

Paint your table. You will probably need two coats. The first should be a primer and then you can put a colorful color on top ot that. Stand back and admire your creation.