Outdoor picnic table for kids

[radhak]

May not be fine woodworking, but very satisfying nevertheless - because the kids loved it.

I had talked of making it in this thread, and now can share the pics (attached).

As the original plan said, this table uses no screws or glue to hold it together.
The third pic shows the table dis-assembled.

I chose to paint it in three different colors just to liven it up. I used Behr's Ultra paint (which claims to have primer pre-mixed in it, discussed here).

[TheRic]

Looks great. I think the mix of colors is better than one plan color, specially when it comes to kids stuff.

[BadeMillsap]

Well crud .. now I have to make one ....

Grandson will have to have one ....

Nice work .... looks great!

[docrowan]

Beautiful!

I went back to the other thread and downloaded the plans. What kind of plywood did you wind up using? Also, did you seal the edges with anything other than the paint?

[gaj1967]

My dad built a few about 30 years or so and at least one is still holding up somewhat. It's more of a low work table now with saw cuts and paint spills all over it but it's still there. We used to camp a lot and would place all the parts inside the full size van. The plan we had used one full sheet of plywood but that was the old dimension plywood so if you'd use it now you'd have to adjust it a little I think. He's probably still got the plans laying around somewhere.

[LCHIEN]

what holds the top on, gravity?

[footprintsinconc]

totally awesome!

just download the plans, thanks a bundle! my kids are going to love this one. now, only i need to figure out is this going to be project #999 or #1000. i am still building my work table!

[gaj1967]

what holds the top on, gravity?

Look at page 5 of the plans. There are four cleats that keep it in place. When you're assembling it sometimes it's a little tricky getting it aligned.

[lrogers]

Very cool. Love the colors!

[mater]

That looks good. I like the color scheme on it.

[radhak]

Thanks everybody. Felt good for once that the project took just a weekend to cut and sand, and just the evenings of the following week to paint (couple of coats), and was ready for the girls' bday party.

Loring, as Gil said, the cleats hold the top from sliding off. So in a way not totally without screws/glue, but that's the only place. And yes, assembling takes a bit of alignment, but nothing too bad.

[jhart]

Nice job. Looks like a fun and practical project.

[ejs1097]

Hey that looks great. I love those colors, very awesome. I remember this discussion earlier and printed out the plans back then. I plan to keep it in the rec room though.

I'm glad you move faster then I do and posted the results. You should get an extra Star for being able to follow the plans, they aren't the most user friendly I've seen. I really enjoyed the tip about having the yard cut all the pieces out when the plans have no room for waste. yeah, I'm sure that would come out right.

[radhak]

I agree, the plan is a bit cryptic.

The one place I had difficulty was in cutting the seat supports in a straight line. It is shaped like an extended 'u' (see pic), where the portions that are not cut at the ends serve as notches to hold the seats. (Check the green supports below the yellow seats in my original pics).

I have become very dependent on my TS for straight cuts (and sometimes the CS), but this was not a thru cut, so was limited in my options.

I used a jigsaw, and of course as can be expected, did not do a good job with the straight line; needed because the seat wholly sits on this portion and any unevenness makes it wobble.

I thought briefly of using the router table to trim the rough cut with the help of a straighline edge of some sorts, but was not set up to do so (read - messy work area), and got too lazy. Instead I sanded it to as close as possible. Frankly, I am not happy and would recommend not to cut corners. (And I need to clean up...).

Would sure be happy to learn of any other way to cut this straight.

[gaj1967]

radhak, you can try a circular saw with an edge guide to cut like 95% of the straight cut then use a jig saw to finish it off.