Easiest-to-Build Picnic Table

Lay the five 2x6 tabletop boards out on a flat, level surface with about a 1/4" gap between boards. Square the top by measuring both diagonals and nudging until they match — a tabletop that's a parallelogram stays a parallelogram forever once the supports go on.

Screw the two longer 2x2 supports across the boards, 4" in from each end, then the shorter 2x2 across the center. Two 2-1/2" screws into each board.

Cut the four legs at 25° off square — both ends, parallel, measuring long point to short point. Cut all four with the same saw setting.

Attach each pair of legs to the 2x2 end supports so they cross into the A-frame. The angle does the splay; your only job is keeping the leg tops tight against the tabletop.

Flip the table upright and check it stands level without rocking — fix that now by adjusting a leg, not later by shimming a corner.

Cut two scrap blocks to 11" and stand them under each seat support to set its height. Slide the support until the overhang is equal on both ends, then attach with four screws per joint. Four, not two — the seat support is a cantilever with a person on the end of it.

Check the table is level and the legs are plumb, then cut the two cross supports — same 25° setting, this time as a bevel, long point to long point, ends parallel. They run from the center of the tabletop down to each seat support, triangulating the whole frame.

The second one is the awkward one: at the top, the first support blocks a straight shot, so drive those screws at an angle around it into the end of the second support. Ugly is fine here; nobody ever looks under a picnic table.

Attach two 2x6 seat boards per side to the seat supports, gapped like the tabletop, screwed at every crossing.

If the table will host people who STAND on the seats — and every picnic table eventually does — run the optional 61" 2x4 on edge between the seat supports under each seat. It turns a bouncy span into a solid one for one board's worth of money.