Clamping Table

[Mr Eddie]

I turned one of the desks in my man cave into a winter work space.  My shop has a propane heater but on those really cold days it isn't the most comfortable place to work.  I'm working on some small projects for my daughters so the desk has been o.k.  Also, it's nice to not have to suit up and leave the house when it's cold out.  The one problem I ran into was clamping pieces of wood so I can work them.  I decided to make a small clamping table (Mini-Me MFT).  Dimensions are 16" x 24" and 3 1/4" tall.  I used a piece of bamboo plywood for the top and baltic birch for the sides.  It's big enough to be useful and small enough to leave lots of flat working space on my desk.  Lots of options for clamping.

Lonnie

[GlenS]

That's a nifty little set up!! I bet it would work great in your larger shop for making small boxes & such.

[Mr Eddie]

That's a nifty little set up!! I bet it would work great in your larger shop for making small boxes & such.

That's what I'm using it for right now!  Also, I thought it might help me decide whether I want to put a bunch of holes in my bench.  I'll be giving it a test run the next few nights.

Lonnie

[photobug]

Looks like a nice little table.  Can you tell me more about it's construction?

How did you lay out and drill the holes?

Did you go with 3/4" or 20 mm holes?

[Mr Eddie]

Looks like a nice little table.  Can you tell me more about it's construction?

How did you lay out and drill the holes?

Did you go with 3/4" or 20 mm holes?

I used good quality squares and a marking knife to layout the holes.  I knew I wouldn't get CNC accuracy but they are pretty darn close and fine for what I'm doing.  I set up my drill press fence and drilled a row of holes.  Rotated the top 180 degrees and did the opposite row of holes.  Reset the fence and did the same thing for the next two rows of holes.  Of course your board has to be cut square for this to work well.  I used a chamfer bit in a cordless drill to just kiss the tops of the holes so they aren't sharp.  I made the holes 20 mm and used a bit from Lee Valley.  The bit is still razor sharp after drilling all those holes.

The side pieces are 3/4" plywood 2 1/2" tall and are attached to the top with (3) 5 mm dominos per side.  I also used the domino to drill thru holes (8 mm) for the clamps that hold the table to the bench.

Using 3/4" ply allows the Festool clamps to go thru the holes on the table top and also allows the clamps to be used on the sides to clamp a piece of wood for working an edge.  I know the Festool clamps are pricy but they have become my favorites.  I bought one every couple of months so it didn't sting so bad!  I got the Festool Elements clamping devices on eBay about a year ago for around $75.  I saw last week that they are now $118 so glad I got lucky.  They work nice but need to be thinner.  Let me know if you have any more questions.  Thanks for the interest.

Lonnie

[GlenS]

Lonnie-- How well do you think this Kreg clamp would work. I thought of this one when I seen your clamping table.

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/in-li...-dog-holes

[Mr Eddie]

Lonnie-- How well do you think this Kreg clamp would work. I thought of this one when I seen your clamping table.

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/in-li...-dog-holes

I'm not sure as it doesn't appear to have a way to lock it in position.  I'm going to look for something where the clamp face is less than 3/4" tall.  The Festool clamp and some of the others I've looked at are all 3/4" high.  Lee Valley has the Quick Release Wonder Dog that is 5/8" tall so a little better but it's also about $60.  I'm tempted to cut the end off the Festool and make my own thinner (shorter) face block.

Lonnie