I have always wanted to make my own furniture. So when I saw The Complete Book of Woodworking on the bookmobile, I just couldn't pass it up. Later that week, JG was over with her kids and she saw the picnic table instructions I'd marked in the book and asked if she could build one with me. Super idea! I tend to start things and not finish, so it's great to have a partner!So we got enough materials for 2 tables, spent a few days in their big backyard measuring and sawing and saying "Oops, we marked it wrong" and buying another piece of wood and sawing it correctly this time and screwing it all together. And voila, 2 cute-as-can-be kid-sized picnic tables -- one for her kiddos and one for mine! And all it needed was four 8' 2x4s, four 8' 1x6s, and a bunch of 3" screws (per table) as well as a jigsaw for the curved cuts and another saw for the straight ones. (You could use the jigsaw for those too, but a circular saw would probably give you straighter cuts. We got to use the compound miter saw JG had on loan from a friend! Sweet!)
It took me a while longer to finally get the thing sanded (Thank you Brian for letting me borrow your orbital sander!!!) but it's done now, ready for the last bits of summer.
