BUILDING PROJECTS Picnic tables: easy to put together

Try to get the lumber yard to do as much cutting as possible.
By JAMES and MORRIS CAREY
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Building a picnic table is easy and will bring rave reviews from family and friends.
You will need the following tools:
Uelectric drill with a set of wood bits
Uhand saw designed for finish cutting
Uhammer
Uwood chisel
Umedium-size wood clamp
Umeasuring tape
Ucarpenter's square
Upencil
The job will be a bit easier if you have an electric saw, but since only a few cuts will be required, a hand saw is fine. Get the lumber yard to do as much cutting as possible. For example: Purchase 6-foot lengths for the table top slats and have each piece cut at both ends. This squares the ends, eliminates end-splits and you go home with the entire top precut and ready to assemble.
Although our design is for a 5-foot table, yours can be six, seven or even eight feet long. Adding to the length of the table will require additional cleats and longer leg braces. Everything else remains the same. Each bench is a lower, narrower version of the table.
Adjusting the legs
If you should decide to widen the top by adding another slat or two, increase the length of the cleats and, for added stability, you might want to lengthen and slightly increase the angle -- and therein the spread -- of the legs.
Unless you make some of these changes, you will end up with a 6-foot-long x 30-inch-wide table which will provide plenty of room for a family of six.
Select wood that will last; redwood and cedar are best. We suggest you stay away from treated lumber to avoid placing food on a table soaked in pest poison. With redwood you will want as little white wood as possible and with cedar you'll want the knots to be small and tight. Clear, dry, vertical-grain redwood is an excellent choice. Clear cedar, though hard to find, is the very best. "Select-tight-knot" western red cedar is nice.
Although almost any grade of redwood or cedar will work, there are some grades that will look better when the job is done. Ask your local lumber person for advice. Or, visit the California Redwood Association's Web site at www.calredwood.org. Stay away from pine and fir. They don't hold up well for outdoor projects.
As we mentioned, try to get as many pieces as you can precut while at the lumber yard. Most yards don't charge much for cutting and some will do the cutting free, to get your business. Don't expect them to make any angled cuts, but ask anyway -- just in case.
Cutting and shaping the parts
Cutting the pieces is easy. Here's your material-cut list and how to fabricate the parts:
UFive top slats, 2x6 x 72 inches. Cut each tabletop slat to 60 inches in length with squared ends.
UTwo cleats, 2x4 x 30 inches. Cut each cleat to 27 inches in length. Starting down 2 inches from the top, cut a 45-degree angle at each end of each piece.
UFour legs, 2x4 x 40 inches. Cut each leg to 39 inches in length. Cut each end of each leg at a 38-degree angle. Angle cuts should be parallel to one another.
UTwo braces, 2x4 x 30 inches. Cut each brace to 29 inches with opposing 45-degree angles at each end. The final length of these pieces might have to be shortened slightly.
USix machine bolts, 1-quarter inch x 3-and-1-half inches. Don't forget the nuts and washers. Here, a galvanized coating is recommended; stainless or solid brass is even better.
UFour-inch deck screws (pound). Ceramic coated grabbers are our choice.
For lasting quality, pre-finish your table parts with a high-grade oil stain. Don't paint unless you don't mind eventual chipping, cracking and peeling. According to consumer reports, the No. 1 product for this is Cabot stain. Find out more by going to www.cabotwoodcare.com.
Assembly
Assembly is easy:
UFirst, lay the top slats on a flat surface and create the tabletop by attaching the cleats centered on the table width, approximately seven inches in from each end. The cleats should run perpendicular to the top slats and hold them together as one unit. Use two Grabbers through the cleat into each slat (10 screws in all through each cleat into the top slats).
UNext, assemble the legs. Place one leg over the other to create an X. Then compress the X shape into an I shape and drill a quarter-inch hole dead center. Insert one of the machine bolts into the hole you just drilled. Using it as a swivel, again spread the legs into an X position. Use all the washers and one of the nuts to clamp the X shape loosely in place. Adjust the width of the X to 28 and one half inches, and tighten down on the nut. With the X shape held tightly in position, use a pencil to mark the pieces where they cross. This is done in preparation for notching the legs so they can be interlocked.
UNotch the legs and temporarily bolt them together again. While the legs are tightly held together, center them on the cleat and drill two holes through each leg and the cleat. Bolt the legs loosely to the cleat.
UNext, align the legs, table and brace, and mark the brace for drilling. Drilling a countersink into the brace will conceal the end of the bolt, the nut and the washer, and will provide a cleaner look.
UNext, using one of the quarter-inch bolts, attach the legs loosely to the brace.
UFinally, holding the brace and legs in a square and tight position, use a grabber to attach the brace to the underside of the tabletop and snug up the four bolts that hold the legs to the cleat as well as the bolt that holds the legs to the brace.
URepeat the final step for the other pair of legs.
XFor more home improvement tips and information visit www.onthehouse.com on the Web.