Picnic Table Manual

Thank you for choosing our Picnic Table kit. Whether you chose the N or HO scale model, construction is identical. With a little care you can easily complete this model in less than half an hour.

Identifying the parts

Table Top (1): A single unit consisting of five connected boards.
Bench (2): Each bench top is a single unit consisting of two boards that are connected together for easy assembly.
Cross Braces (2): These are glued to the underside of the table top, along the red slots.
Diagonal Braces (2): These are glued between the small red slots near the center of the table top and the middle of the legs.
Legs (2): These are glued to the underside of the table and bench seats.

HO Kit Shown

Numbers in parenthesis are quintiles required to build one table.

The kit consists of just nine parts you'll need to assemble. Some of the parts are small and therefore easy to loose--we've included extra copies of these parts in case you should lose them.

The wide red lines (which will be black lines on the kit) are etched slots used to align the parts when you're assembling them. This makes assembly much easier.

You'll notice that there are several wide dark lines. These are slots laser cut into the bottom of the table and benches, and into the vertical supports for precise alignment of all the parts during assembly. If you glue everything into these slots, you'll get a perfectly aligned picnic table each time.

Applying the finish

It's easiest to apply a finish, such as stain or paint, to the parts before you remove them from the carrier. Most picnic tables are of a natural or weathered wood finish, but you can also find painted picnic tables. If you want to use a stain, Miniwax has a product called Wood Finish Stain Marker that you can buy at place like Home Depot in the paint department. These are small markers that look like wide felt-tip pens. You simply "draw" the stain on the parts. Cover one side entirely, and then let the stain dry before you flip the plywood over and cover the other side.

It's also a good idea to try out the stain marker on a part of the plywood that you won't be using to make sure you like the color. Once you're satisfied, go ahead and apply stain to the area that contains all the parts.

Let both sides dry before moving onto the next step. The Miniwax stain seems to dry in about 5-10 minutes, so you should be able to stain and assemble several picnic benches in less than an hour.

Cutting out the parts

Figure 2: Remove the table top from the carrier by cutting in just two places, on opposite sides of the table. This figure shows cutting through the support on one side of the table top.

This is a step where you'll need to be a little careful--you don't want to cut in the wrong place. The table top is a single piece with all five boards connected. It is held onto the plywood in just two places, at opposite sides of the table top. Only cut these two small tabs to remove the table top as a single piece.

Assembling the parts

Figure 3: Applying glue to one of the horizontal braces that will be glued to the bottom of the table top.

You'll want to use tweezers for this step. Place a small puddle of glue onto a scrap of wood, plastic, or some other material that won't wick through to your work surface. Remove one of the horizontal supports from the plywood carrier and pick it up with the tweezers. If you look at this support, you'll notice one side is wider than the other side. Apply glue to the wider side, as shown here, by dragging the part across the surface of the glue puddle.

Figure 4: Here the first horizontal brace has been glued onto the underside of the table, using the etched square for alignment, and the first vertical support is being glued in place next to the horizontal brace.

Glue the horizontal brace onto the wide etched rectangle on the bottom of the table. Then apply some glue to the two ends of the vertical brace that will be glued onto their corresponding positions marked by etched rectangles. When you add this vertical brace, it will be held in place by the horizontal brace you just glued to the underside of the table.

Figure 5: Adding the diagonal brace.

This step is the hardest part of the entire project. Apply a small amount of glue to both ends of the diagonal brace, then place it on the model. You'll have a little time to work before the glue dries. Make sure each end is centered in it's etched rectangle (one on the table underside and one on the inside of the vertical legs assembly). Centering this brace in it's two etched rectangles ensures the legs are mounted at the correct angle.

Carefully flip the table over so you can glue the bench seats on. Use a piece of scrap wood, styrene, or a toothpick to apply a small amount of glue to the support for the bench on each side.

Finally glue the two bench tops onto the supports.

The final picnic table, shown here in HO scale, is very small, but it looks exactly like a real picnic table.