How to make your own garden table
Everybody needs a garden table, specially in the spring and summer days. Whether you are woodworker, DIY man (or women) or you just want to save money, we present you detailed instructions on how to make a garden table yourself. You can always buy a garden table, but nothing beats the pride and enjoyment in your own work.
Let’s get started now. First of all we will give you measurements and a sketch so you get the basic idea.
1. Height = 76,5 cm (30,1 inches)
2. Lenght = 186 cm (70,9 inches)
3. Width = 92 cm (36,2 inches)
Required materials and tools:
1. 5 planks 2,5 cm x 10 cm (1×4 inches), 370 cm (145,7 inches) long
2. 5 planks 2,5 cm x 10 cm (1×4 inches), 250 cm (98,4 inches) long
3. 1 plank 5 cm x 10 cm (2×4 inches), 300 cm (118,1 inches) long
4. wood screws 5 cm (2 inch)
5. wood screws 7 cm (3 inches)
6. wood glue
7. tape measure
8. clamp
9. carpenter pencil
10. safety goggle
11. drill and driver
12. jig saw
13. sander
14. level
After we acquired all the tools and materials we can get started. First make all the cuts as follows:
1. 2 pieces 82 cm (32,3 inches) long of 2,5 x 10 cm (1×4 inches) plank
2. 4 pieces 177 cm (69,7 inches) long of 2,5 x 10 cm (1×4 inches) plank
3. 2 pieces 168 cm (66,1 iches) long of 2,5 x 10 cm (1×4 inches) plank
4. 17 pieces 92 cm (36,2 inches) long of 2,5 x 10 cm (1×4 inches) plank
5. 4 pieces 74 cm (29,1 inches) long of 5 x 10 cm (2×4 inches) plank
After all the cutting is completed we can start with the sanding. Use the sander to smooth all the previously cut pieces and then we can start with the assembly of the table as in the picture below.
Make sure that you use the clamp when assembling every piece and make sure that all your joints are at 90 degrees. Do not try to put screws if you haven’t drilled the hole before. Always first drill a hole one or two sizes smaller then the screw and then put the screw through that hole. That ensures that the screw will get where you wanted it to go. After the frame is completed we need to put two 168 cm (66,1 inches) planks on the left and the right side of the frame like in the picture below. The planks enhances the stability of the legs and ads to visual appearance of the table.
Now it is time to put the plate of the table on the frame. For the plate of the table you will use 92 cm (36,2 inches) planks. Make sure that you leave 1 cm (1/3 of an inch) space between every plank on the plate for visual appearance. Every plank must be screwed down on four places, that means on every plank of the frame. That is very important because it is very hard to acquire completely dry wood and if you don’t tighten it down it will bent and your table will be ruined. On the picture below you can see how to assemble the plate on the frame.
The assembly of your new garden table is almost over and all we have to do now is to attach the legs. For the legs you will use 74 cm (29,1 inches) planks. The legs must be attached with 7 cm (3 inches) wood screws and put three screws on every leg so they form a perfect triangle. The picture below shows the finished table.
The assembly of your new table is now finished and all you have to do now is to paint it in the color of your choice. Make sure that the chosen paint protects the wood against the elements and always put at least two coats of paint. We hope this article inspired you to build your own garden table and if it did please send us pictures of it and we will publish it on our site.
