Table of Contents
- 1Introduction, overview
- 2Wood sizes, Angles, Material list
- 3Plans: Side elevation, Legs, Spoke pieces
- 4Plans: Spoke cutting detail
- 5Plans: Table and seat board cutting detail
- 6Cut the spokes to length
- 7Shape the ends of the spokes
- 8Assemble the spokes
- 9Cut the tabletop and seat boards
- 10Fix some seat boards
- 11Fix the rest of the seat boards
- 12Fix the tabletop boards
- 13Align the upper and lower frames
- 14Cut and fix the legs to the spokes
- 15Drop in the umbrella
FixTo secure with nails or screws. the rest of the seat boards
An equilateral triangle
An equilateral triangleAn equilateral triangle has three equal sides, and three equal angles, always 60°.
An equilateral triangle has three equal sides, and three equal angles, always 60°.
So, armed with the above information, position the first boardA piece of sawn, or dressed lumber of greater width than thickness. Usually 19mm (3/4") to 38mm (1 1/2") thick and 75mm (3") or more wide..
Ft and inch version:
The first seat board is 50 3/4″ long. Therefore each end of the board should be 50 3/4″ from the axis (center of the frame). Also, each end of the board should be aligned to the middle of a spoke.
When you have achieved that, you have created an equilateral triangle, and the spread of the spokes will be 60°.
Partially whack a nailA short nail with a large flat head used for securing roofing felt, plasterboard, sheet metal to wood etc. in both ends of the first board, just to hold it in place for the time being.
MetricMillimeter measurements. version:
The first seat board is 1322mm long. Therefore each end of the board should be 1322mm from the axis (center of the frame). Also, each end of the board should be aligned to the middle of a spoke.
When you have achieved that, you have created an equilateral triangle, and the spread of the spokes will be 60°.
Partially whack a nail in both ends of the first board, just to hold it in place for the time being.
Step 6: Fix the rest of the seat boards
Position the other five (1322mm or 50 3/4″) long boards to complete the first round.
Ensure the boards are the same distance from the center and all joins are in the middle of the spokes, and then drill and nail them securely in place.
You can now fix metal strapShort lengths of metal strap 25×1 (1/16×1) used to fix members together to resist uplift. to the top side of the spokes at the junction over the center of the frame.
Now begin the next round of seat boards. Place one (1149mm long or 44 1/16″ long) in position just to check that it is the correct length. If so, cut the other five, position them in place around the frame, and then drill and nail them to the spokes.
Great plan for a picnic table.
I used treated deck boards for the top. The last board needed to be ripped and rounded over with a router, but it kind of adds a trip effect to the finished project.
Also securing the spokes of the table to a piece of plywood prior to installing the seats or tops helps to ensure they will stay in place during construction.
The distance between spokes is equal to the radius of the table. My kids love the large table.
The extra blocking on the lower spoke and blocking under the table allowed drilling a hole for and umbrella.
Robert Boone
Love my table…of course there were some modifications.
First the size had to be reduced to fit comfortably on our deck. Away with the bench seats and the outer 2×6 ring was changed to 2×4.
As a first time miter saw user I had some difficulty with the upper frame bevel cuts. ( I don’t believe the Imperial dimensions for the long face (1 3/4″) are correct for dressed lumber.) So I cut six 15″ gussets/spreaders and installed them between the upper frame arms to assure 60 degree angles before assembling the frame and nailing the upper metal straps.
The spreaders also served as a “backstop” for the 2×6 legs which were installed inside the spreaders.
This eliminated the lower frame and also kept the feet inside the table perimeter for safety (tripping that is… you’d appreciate that if you knew the condition my guests sometimes manage to achieve.)
The 7″ inner triangles ended up with a truncated tip also due to the dressed size of the lumber. So, if I had to have a plug it may as well be substantial. Three rings of 2×2 (1 1/4 x 1 1/4 dressed) were added and a scrap piece of 2×6 was cut for the hexagonal center. This I think added an interesting architectural relief to the table.
Lastly, because these inner pieces float, and my grandchildren love puzzles, I carefully numbered them on the bottom.
Thank You, Kent
North Carolina
This plan makes a beautiful table!
I’m a math teacher and I used your plan for a summer project for some of my 8th grade students who were willing to come up to school for 3 weeks to learn and work.
This table will go in next to our school’s garden beneath a tree.
There were plenty of lessons on fraction and decimal conversions, angle measurements, equilateral triangle and trapezoid characteristics, and we even used the Pythagorean Theorem to figure out if we could fit the completed table out of our school’s courtyard doors once complete.
Three things I would do differently if I were to build another one:
1) It seems like the seats are too low to the ground by an inch or so.
2) I would use crates or car jacks to set the seat frame- this was, by far, the most difficult part.
3) The stain we chose seems to be too dark for pine.
Three things we modified from the plan:
1) If you build according to the plan then you will have half inch gaps in between the trapezoids on the table top because the wood you actually buy isn’t 6 inches wide- it’s more like 5.5 inches…so we re-calculated and drafted a table top with no gaps and brought the seats in closer a bit
2) we used 1×6 lumber instead of 2×6 for the table top surface to make the table lighter.
3) We added chunks of 2×4 for seat support at the end of the lower frame pieces.
4) We took the recommendation of someone else on this site and cut our frame pieces in 60 and 120 degree angles.
Total cost in material = $170
Total time to build (with students and teaching them etc.) = 35 hours
Many thanks!
Ingrid Ristroph
Martin Middle School in Austin, Texas
Thanks for the plans. My wife is very pleased with the result.
Regards,
Mark Edwards, Worthing, England
This table was very easy to build. I originally made all my cuts with a circular saw but I got worried that my angles weren’t true so I went back and made all the cuts with a miter saw. You have to flip the board over to cut the last tiny bit on your 2×6’s but it made for a very clean cut. This was a Christmas gift for my mother and she loved it. Thanks for such a great free site.
Ben Davidson
That was a great plan!!! Everything was exact except for my chop saw. It slipped a little during my cuts for the table top, but everything turned out fine. Thanks a lot for this site of free plans. I live in Canada and it cost $150 to build. A lumber store in the area had a much smaller one for $149. This one gives you lots of leg room. Thanks Again.
Corey and Lynne
The hexagon picnic table is a great project… easily seats a large number of adults. Ours takes a lot of abuse.
Recommendations would be to double up the seat supports by sistering a second 2x and using 2×6’s for the legs instead of 2×4. We priced #1 cedar and composite and found the cedar to be very affordable – total price with hardware was $250 US. Snowcat
It is a great bbq table to sit at. We easily fit 6 adults and 3 children around it. Was unable to source the 150 x 40 at my timber yard (had to order specially and more expensive)so used 150 x 50 which made the table heavier (It is not one to move too often). Also used 100 mm flatheads as they didn’t have 90 mm either. I think the h4 and h3 are around the wrong way in the description. A drop saw is quite useful for this project to get the angles right. Still with one I spent about 5-6 hours cutting and measuring (may be I’m slow). Putting together it helps to have 2 people as the seat and table sections are heavy. Found that car jacks were useful for getting the seat section at the right height. Could cost more than $300 for the materials. Paul
You probably won’t see more modifications made to a set of your freebie plans than this project.
I’ve always liked this table design but what suited my requirements was just the table (minus the benches) and provision for an umbrella. The former wasn’t all that difficult to figure out… switch the frames over and lose the seating “gap” allowance from the dimensions. Finishing with a centered space for an umbrella in both frames was a bit more tricky but achieved by reinforcing stringers bridging the gap left when breaking the two long 2×4 frame members.
The metal strapping had to go but was replaced by screws, glue, bolts and quite a few pocket hole joints. A bonus provided by the use of these extra stringers was being saved the 90″ cuts and only having 120″ ones throughout.
All in all a fun project that combined a good set of plans with some interesting brain work as well. I’ve already received many compliments for a patio table with a unique design…
Brian Hughes
This is my third Buildeazy project. I am so happy I found this site. I was an absolute beginner in woodworking. Our farm allows me to build quite large projects. My first was a chicken coop. My sister purchased the ad-free plans for me and we are more than happy to help support such a great site.
Recently I finished a hex picnic table for my sister (Nana) and my two great-nephews! It will have many uses as you can see.
Again I purchased the downloadable ad-free, easy to follow plans.
I made the frame out of SPF and the seats and top out of cedar. I’m so pleased with the table but, man, is it heavy!! I had to assemble it in place.
Kelly
Here’s another hexagonal table made of knotty cedar – the third I have built as a donation for the Otto Specht School in Chestnut Ridge, NY.
This one took me two days with very little scrap wood left over.
The plans show lengths of each piece, but don’t calculate the actual amount of number you will need.
This might be helpful when you go to buy the wood if you want to minimze waste – and cost:
2×4 – 3 @ 10′, 3 @ 8′; 2×6 – 5 @ 10′, 5 @ 8′, 7 @ 6′.
Instead of the plywood the plans call for under the seats, I used the 9.5″ temporary braces used when attaching the legs.
It saves on wood, and is pretty invisible if you cut the ends facing outside at a 30 degree angle.
I believe the cedar braces will last longer than plywood.
Instead of nails, I used 2.5″ construction screws and filled the holes with plastic wood.
The screws are quicker, stronger, and cleaner than nails.
I used teak oil after sanding to 220 grade with an orbital sander (80 – 150 – 220).
The tables I made last summer still look like new!
Now that I have the routine down, I know I can build the next one in a day, including pickup of lumber, screws, straps, and carriage bolts (I use 3/8″ diameter and 2.5″ length).
Bill Kelly
I wanted to send a couple of pictures of our hexagonal picnic table we built using your on-line plans, along with some verbiage you can post, if you wish. Thanks for making them available!
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Thanks for making the plans available. Here are a couple of pictures of the table at various stages. Hopefully, they will be helpful for someone else who decides to build it. Overall, it probably took us 4 – 5 hours to cut everything and put it together.
Total cost for all materials at the time we built it was about $200. I ended up using 3″ Deck-Mate screws for everything instead of nails and also put a piece of angled 2×4 under the middle of each seat instead of a piece of plywood.
Ryan Parmenter
Thanks for these plans… Made this (amended) version using re-cycled timber for the tabletop. Three tables in one?
– Basic garden table
– Table with removable inserts in place
– Existing umbrella accommodated by removing one section.
Rod Stebbing
Here is my take on the hexagonal picnic table. I had 3 solid weekends in the shop to build this one.
Ed Deford
Attached you will find two photos of the 4 hexagon picnic tables we built for my son’s Eagle project. It took me about a week to cut and stain the wood and then one day (with a lot of help) to put them together.
Mike G
Enclosed is a photo of my table using your plans with a few modifications. Thanks for the help to build a lifetime of enjoyment.
It took me a whole year to make my hexagon picnic table. I needed the proper tools, time,and the weather here has been rain,rain,and rain.
I covered it up for the winter then restarted working back on it beginning of spring.
I messed up a couple of times on several different spots. This project wasn’t as easy as it looks to make. I followed the instructions i saw on your website. Everything worked out just fine.
I sanded off all the boards,hosed off the whole table with an air hose to rid of the dust, and finally I used water proofer with honey gold stain mixed in for the finishing touch.
I think it looks alright. My neighbor still doesn’t believe I made this all by myself,but I did.
ty for the instructions guys! Of course adding an umbrella makes it look even more slick.
Northern Ohio,
I built this table back in July for my wife’s birthday, she was extremely happy as this is a plan she picked out for me to build for her.
I worked on this project off and on for three days, I have a large stack of treated lumber but only had 2×8’s so i ripped each and every board to the 2×4’s needed for the spokes and the 2×6’s needed for the seat and top boards. I chose to use 2×6’s for the legs because of the weight factor and to maximize the life span of the table.
I built this with the old plan and did have trouble understanding the directions for the angles on the spokes, but after some trial and error and a few misscut boards i figured it out. I did decide to use an 18″ circle of 3/4 plywood underneath the bottom spokes with glue and screws for strength and i also added 2×6 runners cut on the same 30 degrees underneath the center of the seats for better support. if you look at the picture you can see the circle underneath as well as the additional runners underneath the center of the seats.. the entire table was put together with 3″ wood screws and is solid as a rock, it is also extremely heavy and I am sure it will be in our backyard for many years to come..
Charles Medlin Rockwood, Tennessee
Here is a picture of the tables I referenced in my comments on your web site.
Bill Kelly
Hi there.
Attached find pic of my hexagonal picnic table, made per your instructions. Could not be happier. Rock Solid, comfortable.
I don’t remember if it said this in the instructions, but if it doesn’t, you should remind all the dum-dums (e.g., ME) to buy GALVANIZED nails/screws. Genius McGee over here bought the indoor kind and, sure enough, they are rusting already. Hopefully, when I sand and stain/seal it, it will help keep the rusting to a minimum.
One other thing I would recommend is changing the length of the carriage bolts suggested. 4-1/2 inch long bolts leaves a lot of excess threading, which people could snag their thighs on getting up.
I will definitely be coming to your site in the future.
Great design, love the table! Thanks guys!
Dan Wiley