Work Table Build - Warning! - Lots of Pics

[Mr Eddie]

I have completed my work table and thought I would post some pictures. In a previous post, I expressed my concern about building a torsion box with a 4” grid. I was afraid it would make the finished table too tall for my short height: I am 5’7” tall. As mentioned in the post, the taller the grid, the stouter the box. I settled on using a 2 ¼” grid with one sheet of ¾” ply on the bottom and two sheets of ¾” ply on the top. This made the overall thickness 4 ½” and the finished height of the table is 36 ½” - about 4” below my belly button! Table size is 75" x 43".

Here’s the bottom sheet on the base, leveled, and ready to start.



The grid was made of ¾” ply strips and a small pre-fab component I came up with. This component gave me a large glue surface and effectively doubled the bottom thickness of the table over about half the area.









Starting to glue and nail pieces together with the support strips connecting them. I know it’s the glue that holds it all together but I couldn’t resist nailing it too.



Some shots of the grid as the final rows are installed:





I made the corner where the vise will mount a solid piece.



Here is the work table with the two layers of ply on top and edged with soft maple. Three of the sides have been routed to accept t-track.



And some pictures of the top as it progressed thru spraying and installing the t-track. I used EnduroVar Satin for the finish.











I still have to mill the front piece for the vise and I’m going to add a couple strips of t-track on one corner of the top. I did get my power strips mounted on each of the long sides. Overall, I am pleased with the outcome. It is very solid, heavy, doesn’t move, and is flat. In a couple of days I’ll be posting more pictures of “my adventures with spray finishing” in the finishing section if you’re interested in that part of the build. Hope you enjoyed the show!

Lonnie

[Turner52]

Thats too nice to do any work on. I would be afraid of schmucking it up.

[paarker]

It sure does look prudy. When you ding it the first time you'll be upset after that you'll get use to it.

[Mr Eddie]

I nicked a goober on the top of one of the side boards before I even got the finish on. My wife asked if I was going to sand it out or fix it. I told her, "Nope, that's the first ding and now I won't have to worry about it anymore. It's ready to go!"

[Steve N]

Is it flat? If so you've done well. A lot of work, but if it is flat today, unless you move it to a floor different from where it is it will still be flat in 20 years.

[Mr Eddie]

Steve,
It's not laboratory dead flat but so much better than my last top. About a 1/16" off in the worst spot. It will work for what I'm doing. If I was doing it over I would seriously consider an inner frame of 80/20 skinned with ply and wrapped in maple. I enjoyed building it and fixing my mistakes.

Lonnie

[Foggy]

Is that for the dining room or the kitchen?