Here is a link to a four minute long video of me, showing how easy this picnic table is to assemble, and to disassemble for flat pack storage. Please ignore the first minute, and the last minute of the video as that is just me taking off, and putting the straps back on.
Click on the image to view the video;
The picnic table is made from a single sheet of plywood, takes about 30 minutes to mark out, and about 1 hour to cut out
You will need a copy of the plans, which you can download and save from here:
http://familyfun.go.com/Resources/picnictable.pdf
To mark out the plywood, you'll need: a rule or tape measure, a pencil, a square, and a straight edge of about 4 feet long, or slightly longer.
I have used a cordless jigsaw for the rounded cuts, and cordless circular saw for the long straight cuts, but a jigsaw will be more than adequate for all the cutting requirements.
Pay close attention to the plans: being prepared by an American they are slightly odd: following both a Centre Line set of dimensions, and accumulated dimensions from the bottom edge of the sheet of plywood.
Note: I have used 18 mm thick shuttering plywood rather than the recommended 1" thick plywood: so if you follow my lead here, you'll need to reduce the joint let ins from 1" to 18 mm.
Ready to mark out:
The sheet of plywood marked out and ready to cut:
The best results will be obtained by using a jigsaw blade that will cut on both the up, and down strokes, and is suitable for cutting curves. You will also need to set the reciprocating motion function of your jigsaw to either 0 or 1.
A close up photo of a jigsaw blade that cuts on both the up and on the down strokes:
The first cuts to make are: The table top, seat tops, and seat supports, by doing these first, it'll make the remaining piece of plywood a more manageable size:
Then cut out the curved detailing:
You should end up with something that looks like this:
The next piece to cut out is the main support:
And then you can cut out the two end pieces:
When the plans say that you can make this flat pack picnic table from a single sheet of plywood, they weren't kidding. Here are all the off cuts and the pile of saw dust that I produced:
The table end:
The main support:
Assemble your table;
Then turn the frame upside down and place it on the table top and centralise it.
Cut 4 of these from two of the left over off-cuts:
Then glue and pin them to the table top only in each corner of the main support and table end like this:
Now is now time to round off all edges, to sand everything down, and paint or preserve to your taste & requirements.
