WHAT IT TAKES
TIME: 4 hours
SKILL LEVEL: Intermediate
After building this collapsible cedar table, your family will wonder how they ever grilled without it. The legs nest under the top for quick storage or carrying to all kinds of other jobs, indoors or out. All you need to build it is a drill, a saw, basic hand tools, a short stack of cedar boards and half an afternoon.
The table is made entirely from 1x4 cedar boards. Wood quality varies, so pick over the lumber for flat, straight boards that are free of large or loose knots. You can make the table from eight 6-ft. boards, but buy 10 to allow for possible miscuts and to give you more choice for the top slats.
You can use a handsaw to cut the parts, but a miter saw and jigsaw speed up the job significantly. Use a square to help make straight cuts (Photo 1). To ensure matching legs and frame parts, clamp two boards together and mark and cut them at the same time (Photo 2). Cut slats one or two at a time. You’ll cut the stretchers after bolting on the legs.
To assemble the frame, drill two holes in the ends of the longer frame boards and add a countersink hole for the screwheads to nestle into. Cut the slats and place them top-side up on a flat surface (Photo 3). Center the frame on the slats to create a 3/4-in. overhang on all four sides. Then lightly trace the frame shape on the slats with a pencil.
Lift off the frame and drill and countersink screw holes in the slats using the traced lines as a guide. Then screw the slats to the frame (Photo 4). Lightly tap a couple nails between the slats while screwing them to the frame in order to create the approximate 1/16-in. spacing between the slats. The end slats will overhang the frame approximately 3/4 in. to match the slat overhang along the frame sides.
Flip the tabletop upside down and screw the pair of angled leg stop blocks to the corners of one end (Photo 5). Butt the rounded leg ends against the blocks, then drill and bolt on the outer leg pair with the shorter 2-1/2-in. carriage bolts, washers and wing nuts. Attach the inner leg pair to the other frame, first screwing in the spacer blocks to allow the legs to nest inside the other pair (Photo 6). Add the angled leg stop blocks, then drill and bolt on the second leg pair with the longer 3-1/2-in. carriage bolts.
With the legs flat on the underside of the table, measure for the stretchers, cut, drill and fasten them to the legs (Photo 7). To pull out the legs, lift the more widely spaced pair first so the second pair can be raised without catching on the first pair’s stretcher (Photo 8).
Sand the table with 100-grit paper and, with a sanding block or rasp, slightly round the top edges of the slats. Put on your favorite finish; we used two coats of penetrating oil finish. Pull out the legs, tighten the wing nuts and throw some rib eye steaks on the grill—just in time for dinner!