c¥_og5 jL_oSunny : suminer days -) mea an-picnics i in the countryside, and John Marshall’s folding picnic table is just the thing you need house dining table and four hairs in olive ash, ending up with a pile of off-cuts in the comer of the workshop. On consulting my wife as to how it could be put to good use, I was reminded that I had broken our Rie: I finished a farm last E picril able garavanaing in 4 1) Pepvence |whén! faving. pul |’) away two bottles of local wine, I mistook the table for a chair, sat ‘on it and turned it into firewood. You can make the table to your own dimensions but remember it does have to fit in the boot of your car. Mine stands 480mm high, 360mm wide and 730mm long. You could use any timber, but ash is a good one as it is strong in small sections, an important consideration if you want a robust but portable table. Not everyone will be fortunate enough to have a disposable income that will allow them to Picnic table @ PROJECT you alternate the grain to even out any tendency to cup. After leaving the glue to cure ‘overnight, plane both surfaces flat and square off the ends before sanding to a near finish. Measure in 20mm from each end and scribe this mark all round with a marking knife. This will give a crisp edge when you cut the tenons with your router. Make each tenon 6mm thick and cut its width back by 20mm at either side. Mark the end pieces left and right, measure in 20mm from each end and draw a thick line across the edge. When the chips are flying it's far better to see your mark than to guess it. With a 6mm cutter in the router and the depth stop set at 20mm, centre the cutter on the timber and cut down in 3mm passes. Rout a matching central mortice slot in each of the two ends, stopping 20mm from either end, Glue on the end pieces to the top, check that they are flush and level with the top, and leave overnight. You could, if you so wished, make a series of small tenons as Steve Maskery did on is coffee table in GW 102 Go Se oa ‘The two leg support rails each ue mad ‘a prdtoty pe fobtn-pine abd\ rf this‘has stood up well to quite a lot of pariishment. If you do neasure 18x65x650. Measure decide to make one in pine I in 25mm from each end and recommend you buy square a line around. This end ramin dowel from one of the DIY __ section acts as a buffer for the stores for the leg rails, as even top leg dowels as they run in close grained pine is not strong their slots, but don’t make it any enough for the dowel rods. shorter or the end grain beyond the slot will not have any How to Make the Table strength. From the face (lower) I started with the table top and edge measure up 15mm on each made it with breadboard ends. _ of the end marks and gauge a You will need four pieces at connecting line down the rail 15x90x670, and a further two at between these. Measure up a 15x50x360 for the ends. Glue up _further 15mm and connect this the first boards for the top by line. Measure in 140mm from the rub-jointing them, ensuring that end lines and, from this point, Gut the ends af the tongues on the main tap back to ‘match their slots, Take care not to cut into the top as you ‘saw the shoulders back Rout 2 matching 6mm groove in the edge of each end beard, Stop these 20mm from each end. You could use a ‘6mm straight bit but a €mm slotting cutter is better Joint the four boards together to form the main table top, then clean up and out the ends square and ta length, before routing a central 6mm tongue on elther ondCutting list for the stool Part Qty Material ‘A Table top panel =e Z x 2 1 2 2 1 {Dowel dome:ends — project back at an angle of 45° a Ash Ash Ash Ash th Ash Ash Laburum 15mm wide and 25mm long recess, This recess is where the top leg dowels will lock in place Avoid making the recess too long or Construction details for the table leg assembly when the table is in Length 670m 360mm 590mm 650mm 0mm: Sena, 30mm dia Cuttag Ests oays give the ful length of a piece inclucing the joint but not wastage. Allow at feast 26mm ‘extra for length and Simm on the width and thickness of sewn stock. Veneered panels are finished size. you will weaken the top, The distance between the internal ends of the two 140mm marks should be 315mm Now mark the longitudinal centre of each rail along the com Som 132.5mm bottom 15min line and square a Measure out 25mm of this and square a second line. Place the point of a compass on the centre mark on the bottom line and pencil on the 25mm mark on the top line. Draw an are from here around to the opposite 25mm mark. This section will be cut out to form the well for the axis of the legs to sit in, thereby enabling the table to fold flat. Take care if you resize the table to your own specifications that the leg and rail dimensions correlate or your table may not fold properly. Use a 15mm cutter ina handheld router to cut out the races first. I found a jigsaw the 140mm 25mm — Deiat rfis (Guo the onds in place, ensuring they are flush with the top. You may wish to glue ony the middle two-thirds to ‘educa the chances of the top splitting if it tries ta move Mark out the slots in the table rails to accept the dowel runners in the legs. Take care with this as the ‘egs will rot fold properly if you make a mistake best tool for cutting out the angled recess on each race as well as the central area where the leg axis will sit Sand toa smooth finish and set aside. ‘The four legs each measure 15x30x590mm, and it is important before you start to mark the top and bottom of Clamp all the legs together, ensuring the stack is square, and measure in 30mm then another 290mm from the top. Square the lines from both marks across all four legs, then separate and use a marking gauge to mark the centre of each line, Drill a 15mm hole with a Forstner on each centre, two to a leg. Turn two dowels to a 15mm diameter and 295mm long, and one rod to 15mm x 260mm. I recommend using beech if you have any. Drill a 6mm dia hole to a depth of 10mm in each end. Turn with your lathe set to medium speed and avoid too much tailstock pressure. You'll also need to tum two spacing washers to 18mm thick, to match the thickness of the leg, support rail, and 45mm diameter, with a 15mm diameter ) hele fhtovghcthe' middie. To turn these place a pitee st wood measuring 50x50x80 on a screw chuck, turn down toa 45mm diameter, then sand the body and face to a finish. Use a 15mm Forstner bit ina Jacobs chuck in the tailstock to drill in to a depth of 20mm. Part off a 20mm thick piece, then clean up the face and drill in 20mm and cut off another 20mm piece. Form a 15mm jam chuck to enable you to clean up the other two faces, finishing both spacers to 18mm thick Six buttons are also required to plug the ends of the dowels The central cutouts accept the 45mm dia spacers that separate the legs, while tho small ‘recesses in the slots flock the legs into place when openPoa Peay Sa oe EE 63000 where they show through the outside of the legs. A piece of laburnum gave a nice colour contrast, being a darker brown than the olive ash. I secured the timber on a screwchuck and tumed the dome shaped buttons down to 30mm dia with a 5mm shoulder and a 6x10mm spigot. Le the table top upside down and measure in 50mm Omen 360m Father than te Joose tongues shows bree (eee PY Ne bp irorked nen tones onto och end, Yu ould use ether method from both edges along the length of the table and 40mm in from the ends. Put the leg support rails on these marks and trace around them, Lift off the rails and drill four evenly spaced holes in the middle of the sight lines, avoiding the weak areas of the rail. Using double sided tape, stick both leg support rails back on their positions, turn the top the right way up, and drill and countersink through the top into the rails, | used 3.5x30mm brass screws, opening the holes up with a steel screw. Remove the having put corresponding marks on both top and rails. 8 Place two legs on the inside of the rails and pass the 260mm dowel rod through all four components. Do the same at the other end of the rails but put the legs on the outside of the rails, using one of th¢ longer dowels. At the middlé, put the spacing waters ae tiells ays theot long dowel rod through both pairs of legs. Push the buttons in to the ends of the dowels and stand the legs up, locking them into place. You will now be able to see how much’ to cut off the top of each leg for these to sit flush under the table top. Stand the legs on a flat surface and mark the bottom of ach leg at the appropriate angle to be flush to the floor, The easiest way is to scribe along the top edge of a piece of scrap timber thick enough to ensure The table will fold away flat for transporting in a car boot. Check your for size the angle scribe line runs the full width of the leg, Dismantle and sand, then glue and screw the leg support rails in place and leave to cure. Be careful when gluing up; my first prototype ended in a total lock-up as too much glue seeped into the wrong joint. The inside legs need to be glued to the dowel rod at the top as well as to the spacing washer and the centre dowel. The outside legs are only glued to the top dowel and must be allowed to pivot at the middle. Glue the buttons into the end of each dowel. Lused two coats of Liberon oil, denibbing between the coats, and finished off with Bri-wax. Pete tate