Cool Foldable Picnic Table With Wine Holders

Summer is coming, so it is a great idea to start thinking about green meadows and birds in the air. It's time to make something for the picnic - foldable table with two wine holders.

Table construction is really easy. You don't need much of materials and tools, just::

- wood for the table (raw or already prepared)
- saw
- drill / hole saw
- sandpaper
- wood glue
- stain and laquer

I've attached to this instructable video with step by step process, and the final effect. I wanted this video to be as much descriptive, helpful and.. realxing as possible, so I encourage to watch it.

Anyway, Let's begin...

Step 1: Plans & Wood Preparation (in Case of Using Raw Wood)

On the picture above I provide full details about the project. There are all needed dimensions there. You can see that the table isn't very big. It's enough just to hold two glass of wine and a plate with grapes, cheese and Italian nuts.

I decided to use an raw oak for the project. I like this kind of hardwood. It's very strong and durable so it's good for a table. Moreover furniture from oak can be really beautiful after finishing with stain.

So after drawing the plans, I take the piece of oak and cut the rectangle from it.

Step 2: Table Top

Table top will have more than 30cm according to the plans, so I recommend to take two 15 cm desks and glue them together. Important thing is that the glued surfaces have to be flat and both have to have same thickness.

After gluing use sandpaper to make nice, smooth and flat surface. I recommend to start with 200 grit and end with 800 grit.

For gluing take a little bit longer piece of wood than the final table top. After gluing, cut the top to the proper dimensions.

Step 3: Wine Holders

Mark about 5 cm from both sides of the top right in it's middle. Then use 3 cm in diameter hole saw to cut the holes for the wine glasses.

Next cut the channels from the sides of the top to the new holes.

Remember to sand with sandpaper both - the holes and the channels.

Step 4: Table Leg

I created table leg from two 2cm thin wood pieces glued toghether to get 4cmx5cm rectangle in cross section. I think that it fit's nicely to the dimensions of the top.

After gluing I cutted one side of the leg in triangle shape. This side will be putted into the ground.

Step 5: Foldable Mechanism

Leg in our table should be detachable to make it more convenient for transportation.

I decided to make mechanism from two piece of wood, which are glued to the bottom of the table top. In this pieces there are two holes. There is also a hole in the table leg, so You can place the leg between the wood pieces and put a pivot through the 3 holes. This makes the whole construction pretty stable.

It is important to make the 3 holes with precision. I tided all three parts togheter and then drill through all of them at once. Pivot could be made from anything. I used old fancy screws.

See the picture above how it works.

Step 6: Final Touch - Painting and Laquering

This is the best part of the project. You have the properly finished parts (remember about good sandpapering!) so now just put the stain on the wood. Do not use water stains. They are tricky to use and could give You really bad results if You don't have experience. Use stains based on natural oils (not oil paints) or terpentine. They are lot easier to apply and allow small corrections during painting with brush.

When stain will dry, use a spray lacquer to protect the surface. Do not put thick layer at once, instead do lacquering 3 or 4 times.

Step 7: The End

That's all. Now You have Your picnic table ready to use. Enjoy it :)