Picnics are great – but only when the weather is too! That is the short version of why I have never felt the urge to build a conventional “park-like” picnic table for use in our back yard or patio.

Aside from the fact that they are most often only used a few times during the summer season in most parts of North America, they frequently are in the wrong place when it is finally the right time to use them. It then becomes a backbreaking job to wrestle them into the shady spot selected for the meal or event planned for them. But, there really is a better way, through the magic of imaginative design.

Several years ago I noticed a cartoon depicting a caveman who was easily rolling a rough-hewn stone wheel he had just made. I think the cartoon was called, “BC.” It dawned on me that the “wheel” could as easily be a circular table top of almost any size that could be easily moved wherever needed by simply tilting it on edge and rolling it to wherever it was needed. Further, I then recalled seeing a banquet room being prepared many years ago in Chicago, featuring rather large circular tables that were rolled into position in exactly the same way. These tables, which seated ten, had folding legs similar to those used under the conventional card table, except that they were heavier and there were more of them. I also recalled having been seated at those tables, frequently at a location that required me to dodge the leg or the associated bracing used to stabilize it. So, while the concept was sound, I considered the presence of the leg a problem to be avoided, particularly if a smaller diameter table were built.

As my need was more modest and the lumber available also shorter than the 10 seat versions noted in Chicago, I decided to build a circular tabletop forty-two inches in diameter of 1x4 stock rescued from a few shipping crates I had salvaged from a local mechanical contractor.

The top is simply a series of boards laid side by side about 5/8” apart and nailed to cleats positioned in a diamond pattern beneath them. Two more cleats were added to bridge the longer boards in the center of the assembly. I found the center of the center board, added a nail as a center pivot and then used a string and pencil to scribe a line depicting the perimeter. A jigsaw was then used to cut the ends of each board to the circular segment desired.

I wanted to support this top on an easily moved base, preferably one that did not have legs that extended to its edge. While considering what I might already have available, I noted that if I placed it atop a 32-gallon metal trash can, it would match the height of a game table we use as our everyday kitchen table. But I then had to find a way to stabilize it to resist tipping if something heavy were placed near the edge, or if someone leaned on it’s edge. The solution to this problem was to hang a cement block from a hook bent to pass over the top of the center board. I use a length of clothesline and let the block hang almost to the bottom of the trashcan.

The plan for seating at this rollaway picnic table was standardized too. I use 5-gallon plastic pails as a base and added a pair of 1x4 boards secured with cleats atop them to keep from falling into the open buckets. Kids and tender types are provided with individual seat cushions otherwise used in our fishing boat. The usual fold-up patio chairs also serve well here too. When not used for seating, the buckets are used for many things and then telescoped into a group when simply stored.

The seat tops are also used as shelves by placing them atop a pair of extended cleats nailed to the exposed studs of our garage walls. I use these shelves to store my hand-held power tools and trays of nails, glue and the like, so they can be retrieved easily when needed for seating purposes.

Before you get your shorts in a knot about using a trash can for double-duty this way, let me assure you that the can we use for this is not used for trash. I bought a fresh new one that is otherwise used as a storage container while not supporting the tabletop.

Both the tabletop and the dual-service trash can have been painted with my standard outdoor latex redwood opaque stain but they would certainly look acceptable finished in any color that would better suit your family or taste.

A sketch of the layout used to determine the minimum length of the boards to make the top can be found at, http://www.msnusers.com/TrashWoodTreasures/files/Jerry's%20trashy%20stuff%20!/Picnic%20Table%20Top.gif

© August 2001 by Jerry Buerge