How to Build a Picnic Table - Step by Step Guide

This post will show you how to build a picnic table exactly like the one shown in the photo below.  I think this picnic table would make a wonderful addition to your outdoor summer experience at home.  When correctly built and finished you will be able to enjoy this woodworking project for many years to come.  I built mine using everyday woodworking tools that could be bought very cheaply second hand or borrowed from a neighbour.  I used plans that I downloaded and were essential when it came time to build my picnic table.  Just follow the step by step guide below and it will teach you everything you need to know about building a picnic table.

You can make this picnic table, just keep reading!

Step 1:  Materials list and tools used

The materials used were bought at my local hardware store quite cheaply:

• 2x4s
• 2x6s
• 2x8s
• 3" x 3/8" galvanised carriage bolts
• 2 1/2", 3" and 4" inch decking screws
• Outdoor wood varnish

Thankfully all the tools I needed, I already owned:

• Circular saw
• Sabre saw
• 3m tape measure
• Framing square
• Combination square
• Cordless drill and an assortment of bits
• C-clamps and bar clamps
• Ratchet set
• Paint brushes
• Safety specs
• 120 and 220 grit sandpaper

Terminology used in the guide

Step 2:  Cutting the legs to length

Cut the legs to length using a circular saw.  Clamp your framing square at 60 degrees to the end of the 2x8 and use this as a fence to run your circular saw against to ensure a perfect 60 degrees.  Obviously, you need to do this 8 times.

Step 3:  Cutting the table slats

Cut the table slats to length from a 2x8.  The top edges of the slats may be rounded off using a router or giving a light run with a smoothing plane.

Step 3: Prepare the end table and centre table supports

This involves cutting a 60 degree angle on the ends of the supports.  This cuts down on weight slightly and makes for a more 'knee friendly' table.

Step 4: Creating the picnic table top

The table top assembly requires the two

end table supports and the centre table

support.  Spacers are used in between the slats, during assembly, to allow a space between the slats for rainwater drainage while maintaining a practical table

surface.

            Drill pilot holes, 2 for each slat on both end table supports and the centre support.  Countersink the holes so that the screw head finishes flush with the bottom surface of the supports.

            Screw the supports to the table slats.  You may use a wood glue if desire for extra rigidity.

 Step 5: Attaching the legs

 
Clamp the legs in place and position them on each of the centre slats and on the outer face of the end support faces.  The legs will be attached with some galvanised carriage bolts with washers.  It is very important to use galvanised elements as they resist corrosion and ensure that your table will be held together securely.

Drill some clearance holes for the bolts.  It is a good idea to drill clearance holes which are very slightly smaller than the bolt diameter.  This will make for a very rigid leg structure.  The bolts will be tightened from the inside.  The counterboring ensures that the end of the bolt does not protrude underneath the table and possibly injure somebody while sitting.  Also, ensure that you use a galvanised washer.  This will spread the load applied when tightening the bolt and minimise any puncturing of the wood and prevent any ingress of water into the timber, which will result in premature rotting of the wood.  You can plug the counterbore with some clear silicone after you have finished tightening the bolts.

Step 6:  Attaching the bench supports to the legs

Mark the position of the bench support and clamp to the legs using a c-clamp.   Mark the position of the holes. Using deck screws and a cordless screwdriver attach the bench supports.

Step 7:  Cut and attach the braces

Using 2x4s cut the braces to length and cut

60 degree angles on both ends.  Centre

the brace on the bench support and drill

pilot holes for the decking screws.

Step 8: Cut the bench cleats and attach

Use spacers to space out the bench slats and fix the bench slats together using the bench cleat.  Clamp the assembly together usingbar clamps.  Drill pilot holes and fix using decking screws.  For extra strength you may choose to use two bench cleats.

Step 9:  Fix the bench to the bench support

Position the benches onto the bench supports and hold them in place using the c-clamps.  See the position guides in the diagram

Drill pilot holes on the underside of the

bench supports.  Attach the benches to the

bench supports using decking screws.

Step 10: Sand and finish

Using a sanding block and some 120 grit paper give the surfaces a sanding. Sand in the direction of the grain to give a smoother finish.  If you are in a hurry then may choose not to sand on the surfaces that are not visible.  Using a vacuum cleaner suck all the dust off the surfaces.  Using 220 grit sandpaper, sand again.  This should leave a smooth surface. Again vacuum the surface and rub all surfaces with a tack cloth.  Note: A tack cloth is a lint free cloth that has been impregnated with a wax that will grab all bits of dust from your woodworking project.  If you want to stain the wood I would recommend using a pre-conditioner if you have built your picnic table from pine.  The pre-conditioner helps softwoods like pine to stain more evenly.  Once the picnic table has been dusted you may apply a coat of outdoor varnish.  Allow to dry for 24 hours.

Conclusion:

I hope that you have enjoyed this project.  It can be easily done over a weekend and will last for years to come.  If you need some blueprints. I bought a very good set of plans online.

How to build an eight player wooden poker table over a weekend

Hello & welcome to my website.

This page will instruct you on how you can build an eight player poker table step by step.  The finished poker table is shown in the photograph below.  The table is octagonal and has cut outs to hold cards, poker chips and beverage cups.  The board is finished with stain and glossy clearcoat varnish; also the playing surface is covered in felt.  All materials are cheap and readily available at any builders providers or hardware store.  This table could easily be made over a couple of weekends depending on your woodworking experience and using modest woodworking tools.  It would make for a very neat addition to any man cave!  I got my poker table plans here.

 

Finished Poker Table that you can make over a weekend following the instructions on this webpage

 

Step 1 - Materials and Tools

Materials list:

3/4" birch plywood 4' x 8' (2)
3/4" birch plywood 4' x 4' (1)
6'x3" 3/4" thick pine boards (4)
6'x8" 3/4" thick pine boards (4)
2.5 Yards of Hunter Alova Suede
2 yards quilting batting
Plastic Cup Holders (8)
3M spray Adhesive 77
1/2" staples
1 box 1/4" Wood Screws
1 box 1/4" Finishing Nails
Minwax Stain
Minwax Pre-conditioner
Minwax Quick-Dry Glossy Polyurethane
Elmer's Wood Glue
Biscuits
25' Leather Texture 3/4" T-Moulding

 

 Tools used:

• Sliding compound mitre saw

• Circular Saw

• Cordless drill (with hole saw being the same diameter as your drinks glasses)

 

• Jigsaw

• Biscuit jointer

• Bar clamps

• Hand held sander

• Router

• Staple Gun

• Biscuit jointer

Step 2 - Cutting for each side of octogan

Firstly, start with your 6"x8" 3/4" thick pine boards.  These will be cut into 8 pieces and will form the perimeter of the top surface of the poker table.  These will be routered out later to allow space for cups and chips/cards.

 

  

Step 3  - Cutting edge piece/molding

Next take your 6'x3" 3/4" thick long pine boards and using a drop saw or hand saw (with mitre box!)cut them roughly 1" longer than the longest edge of the 8 pieces that you have just cut in Step 2.  These will be nailed and glued along the edge of the table top as a finish molding.

 

 

Step 4 - Gluing up each side of octogan

The next step will involve nailing and gluing the pieces cut in step 3 to the pieces cut in step 2.

I did mention that the pieces cut in step 3 ought to be about 1" longer than the longest edge of the piece cut in step 2.  This difference will be split so that the pieces from step 3 will stick out 1/2" on each side of each piece (longest edge) from step 2.  This was to ensure that there is enough material to trim off at the appropriate angle i.e. flush and inline with edges of the pieces made in step 2.  Nails out to be punched below the surface and then later filled with appropriate colored wood filler.

 

 

 

Step 5 - Cutting each side to correct length and angle

The next step is to trim up the assembly on both sides such that each edge of the assembly is at the same angle.   This is done using the mitre saw.  Please ensure that your mitre saw is at the correct angle.  Double check to be sure!  Run your finger along the cut edge to ensure that the surface is smoothe and the edge of each piece is aligned.

 

 

The image on the right below shows the desired result.

 





 

 

Step 6 - Cutting out for cup holder

Using a hole saw cut a hole wide enough to allow the cup holders to fit snugly.

 

 

Step 7 - Cutting out for chips storage

The next step involves cutting the rectangular hole out which will allow each player to store his/her chips/cards.  I did this by drilling a hole within the outline of the rectangle to allow the jigsaw blade to get started then slowly and carefully cutting out the material.  Patience is key here, as I would imagine you want a smooth straight finish.  Tip: Clamp a piece of straight edge to run your jigsaw against.  This will ensure a very straight cut.  This isn't shown in the diagram by the way.

 

 

Step 8 - Dry Assembly

At this stage, all going well, you should have 8 assemblies exactly like that in the picture above on the right.  It would make very good sense at this stage to dry fit the assembly to ensure that all edges join up with no gaps, if you what I mean.  They then can joined permanently.

 

 

Step 9 - Gluing up final assembly

Assuming that step 8 went well, the next step will be to cut out holes for the biscuits using the jointer and then gluing up the assembly.  The pieces will be held together using clamps in the positions shown on the image on the right below.

 

  

 

Once the glue has dried, the two halves are then glued together on the flat as shown below in the picture.

 

 

 

Step 10 - Cut plywood base

The next step is to cut the plywood base onto which the assembly above will sit. 

 

Using the octagon ring made in step 9, measure the inside diameter and this will give you the measurement to mark out the outline of the base onto a sheet of plywood.  I actually had to join two plywood sheets together as one would not suffice.  It's all about measuring twice and cutting once here!

 

 

 

 



 

Step 11 - Cutting out for cup-holders in plywood base

The holes for the cup holders will now be cut out in the plywood base.  This is done by fitting the top octagon ring (from step 9) to the plywood base (from step 10) and then using the top holes as a guide for the hole saw to cut holes into the plywood base.

 



 

Step 12 - Router the top edges

To give the table top a nice appearance I rounded all the edges with a router and a rounding bit.

 

 

Paying particular attention to the joints, I sanded all the surfaces with 120 grit paper on a hand held sander.  I finished off the sanding with a 220 grit sandpaper.  The surface was very smooth at this stage ready for stain and a finish.  But that will come later.  Next to cut out the centre octagon.

 

Step 13 - Cut out centre octagon

Next, the centre octagon (play surface) is cut out and wrapped up with felt.  This piece is cut using a 4' x 4' sheet of 3/4" birch plywood.  Remembering that batting & felt will be wrapped around this piece it is important that there roughly a 1/8" gap all around to allow for the thickness of the felt.

 



The batting is glued to the plywood using a spray adhesive.  The edges are then wrapped around the edges and stapled to the other side.  The same is done when gluing the felt (green) to the batting.

  

Step 13 - Making the foot of the table.

The foot of the table is simply a plywood octagon which can be made to any width you desire.  Mine was made 5/6 the width of the octagon centre piece mad in step 13.

Step 14 - Making the pedestal

The pedestal is the base onto which the table top rests.  The pedestal consists of an upper pedestal and a lower pedestal.  The upper pedestal slides over the bottom pedestal such that the table can be easily dis-assembled and transported from one place to another.

 

 

 

 

The top (&bottom) pedestal is square and is made from 3/4" plywood.  The pedestal is nailed and glued together.

 

 

 

The bottom pedestal is constructed in the same way as the top pedestal but is nailed to the plywood foot.  This is shown in the photos below.

 

 

 

Both the top and bottom pedestal edges are finished with a pine trim.

 

Step 15 - Finishing

The next step involves staining all surfaces that will be visible when the table is fully assembled.

All surfaces are given a sanding firstly with 120 grit sand paper and then secondly a rub with 220 grit sandpaper.  All surfaces and brushed and rub with a tack cloth to remove any dust.

Uneven staining is a common problem when staining softwoods like pine, thus the wood is first preconditioned to allow the stain to stain the wood more evenly.  The stain is allowed to dry, lightly sanded and rubbed with a tack cloth.  The wood is then given a coat of polyurethane.

 

 

Step 16 - Attaching the top pedestal to the plywood base

Once the polyurethane has dried you can now proceed to attach the top pedestal to the plywood base.

On the underside of the plywood base mark out a section in the middle and apply glue.  For extra security the top pedestal is screwed to the plywood wood base.

 

 

Step 17 - Cutting & gluing fabric in chip holder cut out

The table is assembled.  The octagon ring will give the correct positions for the batting and felt cut outs.  The method of securing the batting to the plywood base and then the felt to the batting is identical to the method used in step 13.

 

 

 

Once the fabric fitting is complete lay the octagon ring on top.

Step 18 - Ready to Play some Poker?

The table is ready for some fun nights of poker playing with friends or family.

 

 

I hoped that you have realised just how easy it is to make your own poker table.  I used some plans that I bought online and they were well worth it.  I have had many a fun night poker with my buddies, you can too.



Woodworking Business Ideas - What To Build To Make Profits

I take it that you are into starting your own woodworking craft business. Perhaps you are stuck for woodworking business ideas?  If you plan on selling your woodworking from your own garage or yard then this article may help you start some creative thinking as to what you are going to produce for your woodworking business.  This is a critical step.  If you know what you are going to be making then you will know what tools you will need and the plans you will need to secure.

1. Toy making

Does the figure $19,595,000,000 mean anything to you?  No?  Well that's the estimated annual sales just from the top 9 toy makers in the world (source: TheRichest.com)!  So with that in mind don't you think that toys sell very well?  They are not even that hard to make but they have a high perceived value which means that it will be easy to get parents to part with their cash to make their kids happy.  Out of curiosity, I did a Google image search for the keyword "simple wooden toys" just for some inspiration on what toys could easily be made. Take a look!  Now if you have any woodworking experience then you will know that these are very easy to make and I would say that any of them would easily fetch $10 on the market. The added bonus with making wooden toys is that they are a lot of fun to make and are going to make some kid happy.  Obviously just make sure that any toy you give a kid is sanded smooth and protect with a non toxic wood finish.

Collection of Wooden Toys

2. Furniture building

Beautiful and practical is what all furniture in the home should be and the furniture market is enormous. If you keep up to date with latest fashion trends then you will have more of an easy time selling your furniture. You can sell your home made furniture online on sites like ebay.com, craigslist.org, backpage.com.   Just have a search and you will see that wooden furniture is being sold all the time all over the world by woodworkers.  If you can reverse engineer and see what furniture is being sold time and time again then you incorporate this into your furniture building efforts. And on the same theme as the toy making above don't forget children's furniture which can be made from children's furniture plans.

Simple & Stylish Wooden Breakfast Table

3. Fence building & repairs

Every home needs a perimeter fence.  And all fences need replacing at some stage.  So there will always be a need to either build new fences or be in the fence repair business. Luckily for you fences can be made inexpensively by stripping pallets for their wood and nailing them to lengths of 4 by 2 planks. Like in this picture below. A 3.5 ft by 8 ft fence panel sells for up to $25 if you check online stores like Lowes.

Basic Wooden Fence Panel

Thank you for reading this blog post.  I hope that it has been useful and maybe sparked some creative ideas for your woodworking business startup.  This is obviously not a fully comprehensive list of wooden articles that could be made but they prove to be very profitable.

Homework:

It's not going to be hard!

It may be best to study your local wooden furniture shop.  Take note of all the types of things that get sold regularly.  Also take note of all the items that could easily be made with simple woodworking tools.  Another exercise would be to take note of what sells on ebay and for how much and come with ways you could out-value each piece and devise ways in which you could make it cheaply.

How to Start a Woodworking Business

If you have ever wondered how to start a woodworking business, then this is article is going to help you do that. Woodworking is a craft that can see you earn a decent second income. Wood is abundant, readily available and a very versatile material that is very often used to make items of furniture. The thing is that you often know a lot more than the average folks when it comes to woodworking. There is probably a lot of information and know-how that you take for granted. What seems easy for you may seem very difficult for other people and here lies a serious money making opportunity. There are people who love woodworking, but just do it as a hobby and that's fine. The good news is that if you have interest & even a basic basic ability in woodworking, then transforming it from a hobby to business is quite effortless and this article is just going to give you an outline into how this may be done.

As you will see the barrier of entry is very low into this business. It is very easy to start a small woodworking business and there are many woodworking ideas to make money with.

What you will need:

                                                                                                                      

1. Tools

A good set of tools is essential. You can borrow or buy these but you may want to shop around and check the classified newspapers or the online classifieds e.g. craigslist.org. I am sure that there are lots of people advertising their tools for pennies on the dollar. The kind of tools that you will need for your projects will depend on the nature of your business. If you want to start selling small items e.g. tables, chairs and/or toys, then having simple hand tools may prove to be adequate. Larger projects may need bigger tools.

You will at least need the following tools:

1. Carpenter's pencil
2. Tape measure
3. Stanley knife
4. Saw
5. Hammer
6. An assortment of nails/screws.
7. Tri-square
8. Sandpaper
9. Small plane
10. Assortment of screw drivers (phillips & flat)

Craigslist.org, as I have mentioned before, is one of the biggest websites of its kind and there's plenty of people offering their tools for sale and sometimes for free.  It is most popular in the USA where there are sections for every state.  If you live in America this will be a very useful resource if you need to find tools & even wood for your woodworking business.

You need to have clearly marked out your niche. Woodworking is a broad subject that can see you produce anything from a simple birdhouse all the way to production of office and home furniture. You need to copyright your products to avoid cases where people can steal your ideas for their own benefit.

Make sure you advertise. Again the classifieds can be a huge source of revenue for you that is if you don't want to make your own website. Ebay has been around for about 15 years and is still going strong. Which just proves that people buy stuff from one another over the internet and are completely comfortable doing so. There are many ways that you can advertise your products. You can use the internet. Using the internet will need you to put up a website. You can have a variety of sample pictures on the website. You also need to know all the ways of putting up a good website if you want to get enough traffic. You need to use the internet to not only advertise, but also to sell. With the website you will be able to tap into potential markets that cuts across country boundaries.

2. Woodworking Plans

The amount of money you make from your woodworking will be directly proportional to the ease and speed at which you build your projects.  This being said the fastest way to get building your projects will be if you have the plans already.  Plans have been carefully thought out and I do recommend that you purchase a good set of plans.  Trying to design your own projects is only going to cost you lots of time and there is no point in reinventing the wheel.

4. Wood

Wood can be sourced from numerous places.  Even scrap wood can be cleaned up and turned into beautiful woodworking project.  Stripping down old pallets can be a useful source of wood and nearly every business in town will have some that they were going to throw out anyway. Again check Craigslist.org!

3. A Workshop

It would be great if you could have the use of a big workshop full of the latest machinery and tonnes of wood.  This may not be a realistic option for you but all really need is a workbench and an empty room in your house.  If you live in a dry region then you may even prefer to build your woodworking projects outdoors.  You will probably need a clamp on your bench.

4. An Advertising Stream

This can be as easy as telling your friends that you have stuff for sale.  Other methods will include posting adverts on classifieds (online and offline).  Below is a list of classified type websites that will help get you started on making decent income from your woodworking.

Posting an advert on any of these sites is free.

ebay.com (International)

vendanything.com (USA)

craigslist.org (International)

gumtree.com (USA)

gumtree.co.uk (UK)

gumtree.com.au (AU)
gumtree.ie (IE)
gumtree.co.za (ZA)

backpage.com (International)

kijiji.com (CA)
cdncc.com (CA)

donedeal.ie (IE)

ukclassifieds.co.uk (UK)
trademe.co.nz (NZ)
nzherald.co.nz/classifieds (NZ)
global-free-classified-ads.com
getyardsale.com

Of course at the end of the day word of mouth is very powerful and advertising a yard sale may end up being a terrific income stream especially if you live in a built up area.

Making your own website
If you plan on making a catalogue of items and let your customers browse your website for items to buy then you may easily do this.  There are many great resources out there to help you start your own ecommerce store.  To start a website you basically need a domain name and some hosting.  The domain name is basically the .com or the .dot org name.  Your website will need hosting to store all the files that your website contains, for example the pictures of your woodworking projects and the text of your site.  As long as the woodworking business owner can commit to delivering the goods everything else is easily done even if you don't have good web technology skills.  Tip: if you sign up with bluehost for your website hosting then you get a free domain.

Woodworking ideas
There is no end to the range and scope of woodworking business opportunities.  There are literally thousands of items you could build and sell.  So the name of the game here is to build quickly and cheaply any woodworking item that has a high value.  The more valuable people see the item the more you can charge.  I will go into more detail with this later on in this series of woodworking business startup blog posts.

Thanks for reading my blog post.  I hope that you have gained value from this post.  I will be updating this blog with many different articles and tutorials.  I hope that you take the plunge and make a good income with your woodworking business startup.

Best Regards,
Ryan Riley