Thread: Almost finished my new assembly table...

I don't know if there's a name for the joints I used on the rails but I had fun making them and they fitted so well it all sat square and hardly needed gluing

I might as well have just glued several sheets of ply together as going to the trouble of making the torsion box. After I glued the top sheet on I discovered the sheet, which was sold to me as 16mm, actually varied almost 1mm either side of it in places , almost destroying the purpose of the box. Ended up giving the ROS a workout flattening it bit by bit until I was satisfied it wouldn't distort the top sheet.
I didn't glue the frame up until I had it bolted to the torsion box to make sure everything was going to fit together properly.

The notches in the side were sized to fit my Jet clamps so I could still clamp stuff on top of the table along that side and as luck would have it, my little Bessey clamps wriggle in to the notches quite well too
The slots in the middle of the table are also sized to suit the Jet clamps which means all my others will fit in there also. The rail underneath keeps the clamps upright while still allowing them to swing anywhere around the opening.
Trimmed 22mm off one leg and chamfered it a bit more than the other legs to give easy access to the adjustable foot, which is nothing more than a 3/8" bolt welded into an old motorbike gear . The gear teeth make it easy to grip to turn and my concrete isn't real flat so I'll be using it a lot
Already discovered a problem with the chamfered feet - buggers for pinching power leads when you drag them past but I'll just have to get used to it now!

That's one mighty fine table, you have given me some ideas for another project I have in mind

Great table Vern!! Extremely well thought out and made!!!

Great work. Gives me inspiration to do something similar. I particularly like the holes for your clamps.

Trav

Forgot to ask, did you think of putting dog holes in the top? I love dog holes in my bench and I'd always planned to incorporate them into an assembly table if I built one. You can use them to give opposing force if your screwing or tapping something into place, plus a million other things.

Trav

Originally Posted by Trav

Forgot to ask, did you think of putting dog holes in the top? I love dog holes in my bench and I'd always planned to incorporate them into an assembly table if I built one. You can use them to give opposing force if your screwing or tapping something into place, plus a million other things.

Trav

I was planning on putting some holes down the flat-face legs to support sheet material but I don't actually have any bench-dog devices yet. I was going to wait until I have something on hand to decide the spacing between holes. I suspect I'll end up making my own bench clamps as the Veritas gear seems horribly overpriced for the simplicity of what you get. I see some clamps on McJings website too but I wouldn't buy them unless I could see a decent pic of them first which is something the McJings don't seem to worry about much

That is a great concept and very well executed.

You could put a good set of lockable casters on one end to help move it about. With good rubber on them and kickable breaks will keep the table from moving when your working.

Great job on the table.

Vern,
I don't think that table is going to fall apart anytime soon. Nice job.

That is obviously well thought out and I like the slots down the centre. Very handy.

I'm looking forward to seeing whatever castor and lift mechanism you put on (as I'd like to steal the idea).
Torsion boxes certainly have their place, a great way to minimise materials and get great strength. I've only done the one and it seemed easier than I expected.

Well done!

Vern that table is a credit to your engineering skills. To have a problem and to then go about designing something that will help you get a better result is a real achievement. It is well made and well finished. Will it be the ultimate?? Someone will always come up with something else and you will say"Damn, if I has seen that I could have included it in mine". I think that scenario is universal.
When I was working in a kitchen manufacturing place we had "knock-up benches" that were only about 650 high and were 3600 X 1200 with 2 sheets of pyneboard on top. The top sheet was sacrificial to keep the surface in reasonable condition. When I retired I used an old (from the tip) office desk with a loose sheet of MDF on top. It was sort of OK but always could have been better. A mate got onto a hospital bed. Very good quality castors as well as hydraulic lift. I screwed a sheet of MDF on with a fair margin of overhang for clamping. It is still not ideal but the height adjustability is a good feature. Maybe there is no "ultimate bench", it may be an ideal that we in a quest for

But I do like yours

Tremendous Vern - really well thought through! Can you trim another 5mm off that leg to stop pinching the leads?

I'm also mighty interested in the gizmo you've rigged up for the thicknesser outfeed, if maybe you could post a couple of pics of that please? Looks like a welded up roller thicky thingy. The Hammer ext.tables are ridiculously difficult to get level, and they have to be more or less taken apart if you want to swap bwtween jointer and thicky.