Build Log: Convertible Picnic Table

At the last place we stayed, I had built a fancy picnic table: built-in misting fans, shade, bug zappers and bottle openers. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, we weren’t able to take it with us when we moved. It’s been a few years since that and I wanted to build another picnic table, but this time hoping to make it a bit less unwieldy.

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Quick Links

• Goals and Objective

• Rough Design

• Step 1: Bulk cutting the framing lumber

• Step 2: Rough assembly

• Step 3: Table Pivot

• Step 4: Legs and Table Top

• Milestone 1

• Step 6: Finishing Touches

• Milestone 2

• Mix-ups, Surprises and Lessons Learned

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Goals and Objectives

Our previous picnic table was pretty awesome for a first attempt (I had an additional requirement that I just didn’t want a super intrusive A-frame design where I’d inevitably bash my knees with) but I had two regrets about it:

1. It was just so unwieldy. Picnic tables are monolithic and even for the small one I had built, it was pretty awkward to maneuver around.

2. I used 2x4s for building everything. There’s nothing wrong with using 2x4s per se - just that it makes the proportions look off.

With this new picnic table, I wanted to prioritize making it more easy to handle and move around. We had bought a patio umbrella previously so the need to have a shade built in was taken care of. This project had to be easy enough to knock out too - I only had a week (of after-work time) to get it done before it needed to be thrown into service.

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Rough Design

To reduce the sheer bulk of a picnic table, I wanted to cut it in half. To reduce the profile even further (and give this a bit more use) the table top would pivot, allowing each half to act as a standalone bench and when pushed up against each other, could be a bed of sorts.

A traditional picnic table

Viewed from the side, this is roughly how a traditional picnic table (minus any braces) might look. It’s quite bulky.

Chop it in half

So if we split the top in half then (obviously) the required bulk to maneuver the table will be cut in half. This won’t stand so we’ll need to add a leg

Making each half self standing

Here we add another leg assembly (yellow) which will allow for each half-table to stand on its own. If we add some form of pivot to the top, then we can toggle the half-table into table or bench mode.

Putting them face to face -- a bed

Since each half-table is substantially easier to move around, we could swing them facing each other to make a bed of sorts in the middle.

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Step 1: Bulk cutting the framing lumber

This step was made especially easy because I had two miter saws so I could configure one for making the angled cut and the other to cut the boards to length.

Lumber run

Here’s where having a truck is handy: I started this project with eight 2x8s and seven 2x6s.

Miter 1: Cut to length

I set my main chop station to cut the boards to length - this is the left-to-right size (or the width) of the picnic table.

MIter 2: Angling the ends

I’m super lucky to have two miter saws so I setup the second one as a dedicated miter cut (22½°) to ensure all cuts are done exactly.

Guide Lengths

Statistically speaking, I will probably screw up somewhere and need to cut another piece, so I cut some scraps to the same lengths as my sections (pre-miter).

Hit with the sander

I ran all of the lumber through with the sander at 120 grit just to prep it for the paint.

Sanding all done

From left to right we have: table-pivot, seat-brace, back-riser and the legs.

You’ll notice that I only have two table pivots - and I needed four (good thing I have the exact length scraps)

Symmetry

Here I’m using an offcut and a 5/16 bit to pre-mark exactly where screws will go. Even though I plan on filling all of the screw holes, having a symmetrical guide like this means I can hold it up to a joint and know where the screws are (to avoid)

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Step 2: Rough assembly

This process was easy but extremely tedious - I wanted to give the wood as much protection as possible so this meant multiple coats of primer and paint before doing some of the fastening — and then coming back and doing multiple coats of primer and paint after filling the holes.

Prep for Paint

Rolling out craft paper to try and keep the mess to a minimum. The plan is to do two coats of primer and three coats of paint. I was only planning on painting the legs - the table and bench assemblies would be stained instead.

All the leg assemblies painted

This took a bit more time than I thought - I forgot to account for paint drying time.

Marking the connection point for the seat brace

I wanted to drill after painting so that the inner surfaces would be sealed, hopefully extending the lifespan a bit (since this is untreated wood).

Counterboring the screw holes

Here I’m making sure to aggressively counterbore the screw holes so i can go back and fill them later.

Seat brace installed

Here you can see the left- and right-side leg assembly.

Attaching the back riser

Screwed in from the inside.

Back riser installed

The back-riser will be installed on the ‘inside’ side of the leg assembly. I had some second thoughts about the aesthetics of the bottom portion of the leg assembly… it just looked odd.

Doubling up the bottom leg assembly

The seat portion looked weird with only one piece of lumber getting to the ground so I cut some stumps to tack onto the foot to give it a bit more bulk.

Prime and paint the extra feet

Again, I had to go through a paint cycle (two coats of primer, three coats of paint)

Quick Test

Here trying to decide between 4-, 5- and 6-ft long bench. I ultimately went with ‘about’ 79”

3/8 Dowel Rod

Cutting 3/8 dowel rod down to size to fill screw holes.

Filling all the holes at once

I wanted to wait until I could batch as many as I could — since I have to sand, prime and paint the dowel rod.

Cutting the dowels flush

I used a flush trim saw to cut the dowel rod flus and followed with a sander.

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Step 3: Table Pivot

When this all comes together, it’s kind of magical - the trick here is to definitely make sure you have some 2x6 offcuts with the angles cut - this way you can visualize and orient the wood accordingly.

Testing the Pivot

Here I’m using some matching scraps to test out a location for the holes to allow the pivot to work.

Pivot Down

When pivoted down, the table top will act as a seat back

Just a Quick Test

The top bolt will be the pivot and, the bottom bolt will be a rest, used when the back is in “table” mode (the whole table’s weight will be carried on the bolt). When in “seat” mode, the span of wood will be stopped/supported by the leg assembly.

Carriage Bolt Pivot

After finding the ideal size and hole locations, I settled on using a ½” x 5” carriage bolt as my pivot.

Counterbore for the Bolt

A carriage bolt has a square bit on the under side of the cap - I counterbored a 3/8 hole to allow the entire head to sit flush.

Pro tip: use a small drill bit to drill all the way through - this way you can line up all your holes.

Trimming the top

Since wood has thickness, I need to cut a bit off the edge to allow the tip to pivot smoothly. Here i am, figuring out how much to cut.

I wish I had a Domino

This is where a domino would have been nice. By making the back in two parts and joining them, it may not be as strong or elegant, but it was a heck of a lot easier to figure out things as I went (and I could settle on the exact height later on in the build when I could temporarily sit at the table)

Marking out the pocket holes

Here you can see the planning I had to do to pre-spot the placement of the pocket holes. The big gotcha to be careful of here is not to put the holes too far back — otherwise the screws may come out the back side of the angle.

Fille the screw holes

Again, used 3/8 dowel rod to fill the holes. Really hope this is the last prime and paint cycle…

Rubber Washer

I used a cut-up rubber washer to try and keep moisture out of the bolt hole and also to dampen it.

From the other side

The bolt sits nice and flush against the rubber washer.

Dpme

The entire table assembly will be cantilevered against these massive ½” x 6” eye bolts. I used eyebolts so that it would be easy to pull the bolts out.

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Step 4: Legs and Table Top

Back to easy stuff - this is just cutting 2x8s down to size, sanding and doing some minor tweaks.

Final Size Testing

Now that I have the legs actually done, I tested around with the length of the boards. I erred on the longer side since I wanted to be able to put a long cushion and sleep on it

Sanding Hell

Thankfully the sanding was all single-pieces at least

Quick coat of stain

A quick coat of stain (Varathane Early American) to give the bench and top a little bit of pop

Placing jig for left-to-right

I made a scrapwood placement jig. Here you can see that the larger side allows me to space the overhang of the seat board, left-to-right.

Placing jig for front-to-back

And the smaller length allows me to set the overhang of the seat front to back

Bench Connector

All of the bench boards will be secured to this piece which in turn will be secured to the leg assemblies. I went with two ¼-20 bolts here - so theoretically I could unbolt this to disassemble the bench

Bench brace

Here you can see one of the ¼-20 bolts securing the bench brace to the leg assembly. I’ve got the outer bench in place ready to screw down.

Order of operations

I gave the boards a roundover as I added them. It’s important to do this now (at least for the second set) since you won’t be able to access this after the second board is secured.

Lopped off the outer corner

In attempt to prevent broken knees. This is just a simple 45° cut, 2” in.

Seat Secured

A handful of screws secured the bench to the support. The table top will be attached in a similar fashion (and can also be taken apart since the pivot is a bolt)

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Milestone 1

You could probably stop at this point if you wanted to.

Table Top Attached

Again, a handful of screws secure the boards to the pivot mechanism. Here, the table is in bench configuration.

Table top in the upright position

Here the table is in the upright position. You can see the load is being transferred to the ½” eye bolt.

MIlestone 1

And here we’re at the first milestone with two days to go. Adding the extra blocking on the legs makes this look a lot better.

One Down

With one assembly done, I threw together a scrap dolly to wheel this out of the shop so I could repeat this process on the other half-table.

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Step 6: Finishing Touches

By filling in all of the screw holes, the entire look is much cleaner and we give the wood just a little bit more protection from the elements.

Cutting Plugs

I ran out of dowel rod so I used a plug cutter to fill all of the screw holes.

Oscillating Tool

It’s not as refined as using a flush pull saw, but using this is sure as heck fast!

Repurposing ½" PVC

I had some ½” PVC from a screwdriver holder project - which was perfect for holding the eye bolts.

Drilling into the PVC

I need to drill a small hole through both sides to allow the shank of the screw to pass through and a big hole only on one side so that the head of the screw can pass. Having a drill press here is a huge saver.

Drilling into the PVC

I definitely needed the drill press for this. I drilled a hole through the entire tube big enough for the shank of a screw to fit and then only on one side, expanded the hole to fit the screw head.

Placement Jig

I tacked together some scraps to make a symmetrical placement jig so the bolt holder would be positioned the same way on both leg assemblies.

Attached the bolt holder

With the ½” PVC in place, I predrilled and attached it to the leg assembly.

Bolt holder

Now when the bolt is removed (to put the table top down) there is a spot for it to go.

Flush deck lights

I used these on the previous picnic table too: solar powered flush deck lights. I didn’t bother trying to recess these or anything — they are mounted in a spot that you wouldn’t normally rest your hands.

Solar Lights Mounted

I mounted the four lights to the leg assembly so they will now give ground lighting when dusk comes.

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Milestone 2

The hardest part of this step was the upside down brushing (to get the underside of the bench seat). I stopped after five coats on the bottom side.

Exterior Polyurethane

I had just over a day at this point so it was a frantic rush to get as many coats of poly on the table top as I could. This is after seven.. (Varathane Exterior Polyurethane, Semigloss)

Test Placement

It’s easier with two people but this can totally be done solo if needed.

Small Deck

This works well for our small deck (even though the picnic table is on the large side) — being able to collapse it down makes it much less visually bulky.

As a picnic table

The eyebolts make it super easy to switch to table mode.

Making footpads

Knowing that rain was coming, I made some risers out of pressure treated deck boards

Shoe-ing the table

Flipped each half of the table over and screwed in the feet.

No longer standing in water

With the feet, the table is never left in standing water (especially on end-grain)

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Mix-ups, Surprises and Lessons Learned

There were two actual mix-ups:

1. I initially only cut two table pivots (need four!). Thankfully I made the measurement sticks and had the miter saws in their dedicated roles.

2. When I was cutting the relief cut for the pivot to be able to clear - I didn’t cut it enough. Currently, when the table is in the bench position, the table-top never truly sits against the leg assemblies because it can’t pivot down enough.

Thankfully, these are minor issues. If I could do this over again, I would change a few things:

1. When pocket-hole screwing the pivot mechanism to the back riser, I would have used Kreg HD screws (especially since I have them). The only reason I didn't was because I didn’t have any means of plugging the screw holes

2. The foot pads to keep the table out of standing water: Instead of directly screwing them into the endgrain, I would consider a magnet or encased shoe style — this piece will be the first to wear so it should be replaceable.

3. I would consider adding a third leg (or shortening the width). As is, the picnic table is okay but there is a bit of flex over the span. This may be something i retrofit in a few years. I considered adding a spreader bar to stiffen up the entire assembly - maybe I integrate this into stiffening up the bench.

This project is actually quite accessible as you only really need a means to consistently make the 22½° angled cut, a drill and optionally, a plug cutter. A pocket hole jig would make life easier but you could face-screw everything as well. Having a power-sander makes the sanding process much less painful.

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