# homemade worktable



## Rothrandir (Aug 8, 2005)

having recently purchased a minimill, i decided that my old worktable just wouldn't suffice. too small and rickidy. i ordered some metal and stayed after work a few nights to work on building my own table.
it ended up taking a bit longer than i expected, mainly because i kept adding things to it. origionally it was just going to be some legs, some crossbars, and a top. but halfway through i decided to add wheels, stabilizers, bend drawers, add shelves, and make the top removable.
the work surface is 30"x60". 

here are some pictures of the table finally completed, after painting and attaching handles, and loading it up. (gate handles btw). the pictures didn't turn out very good, so you can't see much detail, but maybe that's for the better? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif






this is probably the best picture of it. if you look close you can see the wheels and the stabilizers, which act as levelers, keep the table from rolling, and provide additional support.





next to old table. from this perspective, it doesn't look much bigger, but it is.





i went out to sears and bought some organizer doohickies for it. works quite well, as the drawers are 14inches wide, and each organithingamajiggy is 7inches wide.





and here is the table i got by with for over 2 years now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

while i was building this, it was being stored in the corner of the shop and used by the operator using the machine nearby. at one point i looked back there and it had 6 100+lb parts on the corner, and 2 more in the middle. this was before i had the extra support bars in either.
all in all, it should prove to be fairly sturdy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif


----------



## PEU (Aug 8, 2005)

Nice Roth, your has drawers. Here is mine:






No drawers but is 1.10mts tall /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


Pablo


----------



## Rothrandir (Aug 8, 2005)

nice poo!

is that a work table or a kitchen table though? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif (i don't see any tools, but no food either...)


----------



## PEU (Aug 8, 2005)

tomorrow I take a pic for ya and you will see the grandness of the MESS I have there /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


Pablo


----------



## jtice (Aug 8, 2005)

Nice work roth.! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
Very well thought out.

Heres a shot of mine, 
also built because of my lathe purchase.






4x4s for the legs, 
bolted into the block wall behind it.










Here it is on a clean day


----------



## wasabe64 (Aug 8, 2005)

Nich work guys. I'm still using 2x4 blocks on workstands for my lathe and mill.


----------



## Rothrandir (Aug 8, 2005)

hey ticey, that's a nice one too!

how big is your whole shop? looks like you have room for another table! (might be good weld practice to make one out of metal? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif )
what's nice about a metal table, is that it allows you to use a magbase and indicator to locate things on the mill, and dial things in on the lathe more easily.


----------



## gadget_lover (Aug 8, 2005)

It looks like both Roth and Pablo have a really nice work surface. I'd love to have one that nice.

I have a Gorilla Rack GR2000-B configured as a work bench with more units behind it. That gives me 18 deep by 36 high by 8 foot long. Unfortunately, I'm a clutterer, so only the few aquare feet around the equipment is really clear. I highly recommend the gorilla racks


My lathe sits on a Workmate brand collapable workhorse. It's sturdy enough for most uses.

Daniel


----------



## jtice (Aug 9, 2005)

Roth, 

Theres alot less room in there than it seems.
Dad parks his truck in there.
I keep trying to convence hime to park it outside, but /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

If my current table wasnt so sturdy, I would make a metal one.
Would have its advantages, like you said with magnet base mounts,, which reminds me, I need one of those...


----------



## Silviron (Aug 9, 2005)

Nice new table Roth! Looks like a professionally built $2000-$3000 work table... You sure do very good work.
(Can't see PEUs pictures to comment on them)

Always made my work tables out of 2X4s & 2X6s "butcher block" style though. 

Would take and show a picture, but it would take two days cleaning to just find the surface. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I've currently got my mini lathe on a rolling metal table/cart, but I want to build a long butcher block workbench for it , my table top drill press, grinders & buffers, (and for a mini-mill if I ever actually get off my wallet and order one.)

Take a bunch of 2X4s cut to the length you want the table, a big bottle of carpenters or "gorilla" glue and a bunch of 2 1/2 inch drywall or deck screws. Slather glue on one side of the first 2X4 and put the next board on top of that, and then screw in enough of your screws to take out any bends or twists in your wood (wide side to wide side). Repeat until you have just about 4 inches narrower than the size of the table work surface you want.

Then, for extra sturdiness, make one more layer on each side, with cut outs for the 2X6 legs, (Which I usually drill and countersink the top of the legs for two 1/4 inch by three or four inch lag bolts each) and screw them into the table slab _{If you aren't going to really pound on the table, the drywall /decking screws will be fine, but are too brittle for to last with heavy hammering even if most of the support is really from the glue.}_ ) then cover that with final layer of 2X4s. 

I usually further brace the sides and back of the legs about 6 - 12 inches from the bottom with whatever left over scraps you can find, one bys , two bys, whatever.

Then, usually I put another 2X on the back end of the table to keep stuff from rolling off the back., and drill a bunch of various sized holes from 3/16, 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 inch, and use that as an improvised tool rack for dremel type bits, screwdrivers, drill bits, pliers, pencils, marking pens etc. so they are really handy but mostly out of the way. Then anything from a 1 X to just some 1/2 or 1/4 inch lathing on the sides to keep stuff from rolling off the sides.

Quite easy and inexpensive to build, doesn't take any particular skill or tools.... The only trick is making the legs come out even.... and levelers like Roth used will make that easy even if you are a "measure once, cut ten times, glue a piece back on and cut again" kind of guy like me./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

Usually I also glue and screw a 1/4 inch thick of flat steel plate in one corner of the table so you have a really flat surface for flattening sheet metal etc. As I do a lot of high temp silver soldering / brazing and torch welding on my table, I usually have a slab of pseudo-asbestos soldering pad on top of the metal plate. That way I can heat the heck out of things and not worry about setting the table on fire.

I've literally done small scale blacksmith work on a table like this: with a 3 pound sledge and a 25 pound (or more) piece of railroad rail for an improvised anvil bolted down, I have forged up to 1 1/2 inch thick steel rod.

What I like about these butcher block tables is they are strong as heck, cheap to build and quiet to work on, even when you are pounding the heck out of something. Metal tables, while much more elegant, easier to keep clean and more durable, are NOISY:

Even if your machine tools are isolated with rubber legs or pads, a metal table without a slab so thick it has to be moved with a crane is going to pick up and amplify the noise from your tools.. That wouldn't bother most people, but it annoys the heck out of me. And when it comes to doing much hammering on it, better get out the ear plugs and pass them out to everyone within a quarter mile.


----------



## Rothrandir (Aug 9, 2005)

i need a new one too /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
the one i have i bought used from a guy who was retiring at work, and i'm afraid it ain't too good /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

i'm thinking a noga base (they seem to be most highly recommended), and a brown and sharpe indicator. $$$ (i'm at least going to get the noga base, but the indicator i might wait on. i also need a brown and sharpe calipers (which are, in case anyone is currently looking, the best you can buy and an absolute steal at $80!!! (enco))


----------



## PEU (Aug 9, 2005)

As promised, My Royal Mess /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif



















Pablo


----------



## gadget_lover (Aug 9, 2005)

I wasn't going to do this, but I figure what the heck. Maybe it will make others feel better about thier shops.

My garage, in all it's splendor.







Let's play where's waldo! Can you spot the following items?
Micro mill
Drill Press (free standing)
Small drill (Bench mount) 
Grinder
key making machine
2 PCs
Bench power supply
Dremel tool
8foot long, 18 inch deep, 6 foot tall storage rack
Rocking horse
Bicycle

The lathe is off picture to the left.


Happy hunting!

Daniel


----------



## PEU (Aug 9, 2005)

Ooooohh My God /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/huh.gif

I'm not alone /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif 


Pablo


----------



## jtice (Aug 9, 2005)

yep, good to see im not the only one with table COVERED in things.

i ah,, spotted the grinder and drill..
after that I gave up hehe /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


----------



## gadget_lover (Aug 9, 2005)

*LOL*

I give up every once in a while too. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Now, back to the NICE worktables!

Daniel


----------



## Rothrandir (Aug 9, 2005)

silviron, while i haven't used the table very much yet, i think it will do fairly well in the noise department. it is designed so that the top is actually 2 pieces that are secured together, but can be taken apart.
essentially, there is the frame (complete with the drawers slides), a 3/4inch x 58x28 plywood top which bolts to the top of the frame, and the 30x60 metal top (about .100 thick) that has 1inch angle iron welded around the entire outside and sits on and around the wood slab and screws into the wood from the side.

it does make a hell of a noise when you roll it with empty drawers though! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

poo, that's about what mine normally looks like, but you've got to take that pile on the right side and spread it out acrossed the table...


----------



## Silviron (Aug 9, 2005)

Oh, yeah, that would be lots quieter than a solid metal table!

I thought it was all metal(except for the bottom shelf).

I knew a blacksmith that had a 6X10 all steel layout table that had a 2 inch thick slab. Man, that thing was solid. But, whack it with a hammer (even with a couple of buckets of sand and water hanging underneath as kind of a sound snubber), it sounded like Quasimodo ringing the bells of Notre Dame when he was really mad.


----------



## Rothrandir (Nov 21, 2005)

well, i've worked on this table some more in the past few months. it now has 4 cubbyholes/shelves with 3 drawers in the top, pegboard on the back, and a "built-in" power strip.


























one nice thing about having a nice workstation though...it makes you feel compelled to actually keep it clean :green:


----------



## parnass (Nov 21, 2005)

Nice work. Like many of you, I hang my tools from pegboards. But, I painted the pegboards white, which made the basement workshop so much brighter and it is now much easier to see projects when I'm working on them.


----------



## jtice (Nov 21, 2005)

Nice Roth,

Mine ends up messy no matter what I do,
but at least I clean it up,,, ever so often 

Ive been looking for some magnetic strips to put on the wall, and on the bench,
to hold some of my tools.

~John


----------



## sween1911 (Nov 21, 2005)

You guys are killin me! 

Now I need to snap a pic of the workbench I designed and built in our basement.


----------



## Rothrandir (Nov 23, 2005)

sween, i'm waiting for those pictures!

i went back and reread some posts in this thread, and see that i mentioned getting a noga magbase, b&s indicator, and b&s calipers.
if you look in one of the pictures, you can see the noga magbase in the far right cubby hole (if you don't have one btw, get one! they're awesome!), a b&s indicator in the left top drawer, and b&s calipers in my kennedy at work. as soon as my batteries in my hf digi calipers run out at home i'll get another set of browns.


----------



## parnass (Jun 10, 2007)

I know this is an old thread, but it is timeless. My wife got her first digital camera yesterday. 

Here is a portion of my electronics test bench. It consists of a solid core door supported by a 2-drawer file cabinet at each end. Metal shelving units hold the test equipment atop the door. About 2/3 of my test equipment is out of view and can be brought to the bench on wheeled carts

I built a woodworking shop in another part of the basement, but haven't photographed it yet.


----------



## ICUDoc (Jun 10, 2007)

Silviron said:


> ...even if you are a "measure once, cut ten times, glue a piece back on and cut again" kind of guy like me./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif



THAT is the best quote of the year! LOL!
I know exactly what you mean.
I am getting better, 'though, as I get older.


----------

