Knockdown worktable

[chopnhack]

Something I recently started working on courtesy of shopnotes #87. I am thinking of embedding an aluminum track on both top rails to increase the functionality of the worktable, be useful for attaching smaller benchtop tools and jigs/outfeed capabilities to a knockdown solution.

[Pappy]

Cool idea.

[bmuir1616]

I have build a set of these. I only use them for assembly and sometimes cutting sheet goods. Not as 'rock solid" as I would like.
I get more use out of something called Shop Boxes. Very cool. Here is the link: http://www.popularwoodworking.com/ar...hop_box_system.
I use these for everything. They stack. They are great for clamping something for cutting or routing.
Just my two cents.
Bill

[chopnhack]

Ah shoot Bill... I should learn to post before starting to build The shop boxes I have seen before as I am a fan of Lang's stuff, but I don't have the space, I really needed a flat solution. Thanks for the input, I will finish them out and give them a try, do you think there is a way of making them more rigid?
Thanks

[bmuir1616]

I built them to spec. The only way I can think of to make them a little more stable would be to make the angled slots a little steeper by a couple of degrees. Maybe small scale prototype??? first.
Now that I think about it, I have probably used the short cross pieces more as a table than the longer pieces for cutting or assembly.
Good luck. By the way, the design holds a ton. They are very strong.
Bill

[chopnhack]

Thanks Bill, I already have all those gussets cut but I will give it a go and see what happens. Have you seen Lang's 21st century workbench? http://www.popularwoodworking.com/video/bench

[chopnhack]

I am almost done with the table, just need to glue the freshly dadoed 2x4's to their plywood carriers and I can say finito. An interesting project, pretty straight forward but taught me some cool things:

First, I had never had to make 30+ angled small parts before, the project required these gussets to reinforce where the 2x4 and plywood carrier go into the legs - see photo for more clarity. Those pieces are parallelograms at 80 degrees to their bases or tops. Using my cut off sled I first made oversized rectangles that would be later cut to angle and size. The I used a framers square (triangle) to lay out some guidelines on my sled in pencil and fastened a piece of wood to hold the soon to be parallelograms at the required angle. I trimmed one side of all the pieces then reattached the wood to trim the other side.

Second, when in your life did a square peg in a round hole make sense? Well today for me, it saved my but :-) I had drilled the wrong size hole on the single ply plywood pieces that attach to the 2x4's in this project. The wrong size was already in the drill from another part of the project that required the smaller size... I trimmed some small squares from scrap ply and banged them into the holes, remarked my centers and drilled out the larger diameter hole.

I must say after all of that, I have seen another interesting table in the '09 Wood Magazine 101+ Best issue - a folding assembly table, folds like an accordion using piano hinges! Genius!! Things that fold flat and can be hung on the wall are rapidly becoming favorites in my shop.

[gsmittle]

I am thinking of embedding an aluminum track on both top rails to increase the functionality of the worktable, be useful for attaching smaller benchtop tools and jigs/outfeed capabilities to a knockdown solution.

Just a thought: would the T-shaped miter track (Incra) work better? I'm thinking it might give you a beefier hold down if you attach a miter saw or something to the table.

OTOH, it's not my project.

g.

[chopnhack]

Absolutely, G. I think its a great idea, thanks!

[chopnhack]

Bill, I have been using these now for a couple of months as both a welding table(sacrificial plywood top) and as an assembly table (thanks to the two heights) and they are rock solid! I was pleasantly suprised. I think the stability really comes from the tight fit of the top rails to the uprights. They are so tight that even waxed I have to use a deadblow to separate them, a small bother as they are really handy. Store flat and out of the way.