I made a 8' long rectangular pic table about a dozen yrs ago. It uses 3
2x10s for the top, and 2x12s for the seats. It is bolted to a painted black steel frame designed for pic tables that allows you to sit down and slide along without lifting your legs over anything It looks a bit like this from the side: -?- (connect the nodes for seat supports) You can make the table any length., and modify the width totally and individually. I've only recently had to touch up the paint. It s a real bonus. I hate pic tables. This is awesome. It is pine, and came with knots and all kinds of character. I need to poly it every year. Not a big deal. Done in an afternoon and looks excellent. I haven't lost any wood to rot, and it looks great. Let it slide some years and its got water black stains. Excellent still. Can bleach out and do. Just routered a roundover on all edges, drilled holes and lag bolted. I take the top and seats off every winter to lay flat. The top has 2x3s along length twice so it comes apart as a unit. It is held flat 4x along 8' w/ supports attached.I don't really know how weather proof cedar is supposed to be; don't know if it can be used w/o polyurethane (don't use hi-gloss in sun!! go mid-scale), however: I was at a log home showroom in Parry Sound, ON (Confederation Loghomes) and thereabouts I saw a cedar pic table made from select cedar, thick , and defect free cedar, and it was really outstanding. I'm in Toronto. I do poly every year - sand and two coats, never outdoors in winter. Especially if no poly is involved, I would have gone with this cedar. It was wow. It was thick, like maybe the diff b/t 2x8 & 8/4 x 32/4, I can't say. round closer to 2-1/2" than 1-1/2" if I had to choose. It was prob 2" exactly. I can't even remember if it was polied. Why? Because.
You could design these legs out of wood, allow for cleaning around it, and easy entry even if not rectangle
P.s Can anyone comment on the outdoor wear characteristics, and need for poly, or even the size I saw for cedar?
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