DIY Portable Flat Pack Camping Table

We enjoy camping and we’ve needed a small table on many occasions. So we finally made a portable camping table that packs flat for easy storage!

The only building material we used is a 2' x 4' sheet of plywood to make the table top and legs. Oh, and some paint because art, but that’s completely optional. :)

Watch the video to see how it’s built!

First, we tackled the legs, measuring out a 16 x 16" square. We’ll be cutting the square diagonally to create the legs.

We drew our square a little larger than we actually needed so we have plenty of space to cut around the shape and sneak up to the line.

The tops of the legs will slot into the table top, so as long as that fits, the rest of the legs can be any shape or design. We kept the length of the legs shorter than the shortest side of our table top so we can easily store the legs underneath. We also opted to follow simple geometric lines, and did our best to minimize material to cut down on the weight.

Using a circular saw and a straight edge, we cut down the piece to a more manageable size.

Then we used a jigsaw to cut out the rough shape of the legs.

Next, we cut 1/2" wide slots on both of the legs, meeting in the middle.

The slot goes on the top for one leg, and the bottom for the other leg, so they can interlock.

The dry fit was a bit snug, so we kept up the sanding until we got a smoother fit.

Sanding is more fun when you tag team! :)

The legs should interlock smoothly and stand stable on a flat surface.

Lesson Learned: We should have measured and incorporated the reliefs cuts below from the beginning, but alas, hindsight is 20/20! The cuts helped provide more stability for the table top, so we highly recommend it.

Skip down a few pictures to see it in action!

Now that the legs are in great shape, we’re ready to move onto the table top.

We measured the table top at 15" x 24" and cut it down using the circular saw and straight edge.

We measured an X in the middle of the table about 3" long and 1/2" wide. Take your time here to measure carefully because this is where the top of the interlocked legs will poke through! Measure twice, cut once.

To cut out the X, we drilled a hole in the middle and then used a jigsaw from inside to cut close to the line.

We refined the shape with a file until the legs fit snug.

Then we taped off a random area section of the table to spray paint.

This is for aesthetic purposes only, so if you wanted to build the table, this step can be skipped.

We use white paint, roughly following the "rule of thirds" because we're trying to be artsy.

Everything was given a few coats of polyacrylic, making sure to sand with 220 grit between coats.

And finally, we used a drill bit to create recess about the same size as these round neodymium magnets. Then we glued them onto the legs, as well as the bottom of the table.

We used two magnets for each leg and it definitely holds up, but we’d probably add a couple more next time to make sure the legs don't fall off while when bumped.

Here’s the finished table. Our pup Layla oversaw Quality Pawtrol.

Thanks for reading!

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