You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men... Actually, maybe you don't, and if not, just know that it's a cliché spoken as a prelude to anything that can go wrong with well thought out and executed plans. For the rest of you, turst me when I tell you, Murphy lives.
If you're wondering what all of this is about, I built a table for my shop with sliding legs (for adjustable height) that could be used for outfeed and assembly work. For more on that, see the Outfeed v.1 page. Anyway, I had all these lofty goals and reasons for its existance and proper use.
The first few times, I dutifly set the height, tilted it up, used it, and then popped it apart and folded it for storage. I was quite proud of myself. Then, one day, just as I was cleaning up for the day, my son happened to be coming up the driveway... "Hey Eric, help me set this table in the garage." Next morning, "Hey Eric, help me set this table in the driveway."
And, so it went. No more moving it by myself. No more storage savings. Bad things; Total colapse; Total failure! And my son was definately getting tired of "Hey Eric, help me set this table..." And I really got tired of not being able to find Eric. Yep, Murphy is alive and well, I always seemed to be a man short, and I have several mice nesting comfortably in my shop.
So, Adjustable Outfeed/Assembly Table Ver. 2.0 is born.
As per my Ver. 1.0 table, my grand plan of saving floor space was nixed by my own lack of diligence and just a tad bit of lazy. Now that I've decided I'm much too busy/tired to break down the table after I'm done with it, how do I make use of all that wasted space under it that I wanted to save in the first place? Also, the original was designed so that I could move it by myself. Leaving the legs up and extended meant that I was constantly faced with the "Hey Eric..." problem. That became a chore for me and Eric wasn't real thrilled with it either.
My 'second' solution was a large rolling cart. The cart has center dividers fitted into grooves that run along both axis', and thus, into quadrents. The case carcass is faceless and the dividers add considerable strength and also insure something isn't stored in the center such that it's never seen or found again. And, although the space under it is now gone forever, it gives me several advantages over the original table.
First, it gave me back the independence to move this thing by myself. If it's in the way, I simply move it. If I need it, I simply roll it into postion and use it. Second, it gave me considerable storage space which is something I never seem to have enough of. The tools I use on or around this table are now handy. Also, the cabinet top serves as great storage space for panels and sticks being cut for the next project until it's time to lower the top for assembly work.
The best bonus though, is that it allows me to employ all the lazy I want to. Eric is also well adjusted and happy again.
I used the table top from rev. 1.0. All that means is that I had to
take some careful measurements to fit the cabinet to it, especially considering
the new table top braces. In the rev. 1.0, I hadn't braced the top
across the entire width; good chance to fix that this time. If you
happened to have built rev. 1.0, no big deal. Just measure and account
for the braces that will be fitted on to the slides.
If a collapsable table is more to your liking, by all means, build it. The original plans are here, and the original design still has merit. On the other hand, if you're starting here, so much the better... build the cabinet carcass first and then fit a convenient sized top to it.
Since I was using the original top, I figured the best way to proceed was to build the new supports... the original supports didn't span the entire width of the table and it wasn't supported as well as I would have liked. Also, I wanted to get the maximum room for storage out of the cabinet.
So, I decreased the depth that the braces set into the table to 3", but I did
build them such that they span the entire width. It is considerably more
stable now. Another significant change came from not folding the legs,
so no more hinges. Instead, I cut four grooves into the pieces that
would become the 90° braces and fit some "
plywood into those grooves. A little glue, some screws, and these things
are rock solid.
With the table top still upside down and the new supports positioned, I clamped some scrap " plywood where the new slides would be attached to the supports and started measuring for the cabinet.
As stated earlier, the cabinet is just a large frameless box with dividers
running along both axis at the center lines, and thus, dividing it into
quadrants. I did take the time to mill some edge banding for the plywood
to protect the plywood veneers.
When measuring for the cabinet, I decided to undercut the width by a couple of inches on either side... I didn't want to find the edge of this thing with my shins. Ultimately, since I "fit" the cabinet to the original table top, I'm not posting the dimensions. If anyone wants them, shoot me an email and I'll post them.&bnsp; In the photo (right), the top is just laying on the cabinet and the slides are drying after a coat of poly, but it's easy to see the cabinet.
Note the absense of poly at the top of the cabinet where the presure will be applied to the slides when "locking it in." Still don't know how that will wear as time goes on, but it's working well now.
The new slides were cut to size, the grooves routed in, and finally fit to the
new table supports. Then the rails were attached to the sides of the
cabinet. After drilling the wholes for the carraige bolts, the new
slides were attached to the side of the cabinet.
I could have attached the table top supports and slides to the table first, but
to make sure I didn't get things a "hair off," I went ahead and mounted the
slides and braces to the cabinet. Then, it was just a matter of flipping
the top over and attaching it to the supports. Doing it in this order
virtually eliminated any racking of the top or binding of the slides in the oak
guides.
You can see it in its final assembled form in these photos. Also
visible is an upgrade I did to this revision... I wired it for power.
On either end, there's a couple of outlets. I used some 12/3 UF-B cable
to connect the outlets to each other, and some 12/3 SJ cable for the extension
cord. This was a very handy little addition, but I won't offer any tips
on how to do this. If you know what you're doing with electricity, then
you don't need my help. If you don't know, then I don't want the liability
of trying to teach you. Go get an electrician!
One last note; use some high quality casters when you build this thing. Moving it is easy, locking the wheels means it stays put, and you'll be much happier with the results.