Shop Tables plus stealth gloat

Status
Not open for further replies.

Cuprousworks

Mike
User
Quick, look away if you seek fine woodworking. This is shop furniture - primitive and functional working tables. A couple years ago a Raleigh lumberyard offered 10’ 4x6 SYP timbers for dirt cheap. Being of the frugal sort I picked up a load and stickered them in my shop for a couple of years of drying and warping, with the plan to make some heavy-duty work tables. These are center-cut construction grade timbers, prone to cracking, checking, warping, twisting and moving in just about any undesirable way that wood can move. Except buckling- these things are strong and heavy and even with their multiple defects end up making some very stout tables:

20151109_002339_resized.jpg




20151109_002439_resized.jpg

Tops are about 2.5 feet deep and 8 feet wide, finished with boiled linseed oil, wax and oil-based poly. Bases have water-based poly left over from the flooring finish. Legs and short stretchers are also 4x6s, long stretchers are 5/4 SYP from Lowes. I experimented with various configurations of half-lapping stretchers, but all are face screwed. Scraps of leftover flooring ¾” ply fill in for the shelves.
20151109_002402_resized.jpg

Tops ended up just under 3 inches thick and were too heavy for me to handle / flatten as a single piece, so I glued pairs together and then used four 3/8” threaded rods to hold them together. You can see that one of the lengths is pieced from cutoffs glued together end to end with biscuits and held tight during glue-up with pinch dogs. This is an unconventional and labor intensive way to use scrap. Since the cutoff section is sandwiched with full-length boards I don’t expect any failures, but I doubt that it was worth the time unless you find the joy in cheap.

Stock was thickness planed in a DeWalt lunchbox. I don’t have a jointer so I built a sled for edge jointing. When the tops were secured with threaded rod there were no gaps but some differences in height and flatness, which I took out with hand planes. SYP is a bear to plane - in this case doubly so because of knots, varying densities and my inattention to grain direction during assembly – but the final results turned out good enough for shop worktables, nonetheless.

And for the stealth gloat: it’s a trip down memory lane. My dad was a patternmaker, and growing up I would spend time in the shop, often fiddling with his vise. When dad died I didn’t have a workshop so we sold his tools in an estate sale. I talked an uncle into taking the vise as something special; years later as he's getting out of woodworking it returned my way. Hmmm, that thing is heavy, it would definitely need a solid bench:
20151109_002657_resized.jpg



20151109_002630_001_resized.jpg



20151109_003013_resized.jpg


The evil internet tempted with some pictures of flush-mounted Emmert vises, so in the ongoing spirit of overkill I had to try that. Bad idea, adding unnecessary complexity and work. Not worth it, and that’s even before I pinch my finger twisting or turning the vise. I completely disassembled the vise for cleaning and lube, which made the installation somewhat easier. It's in great working condition, complete except for one broken dog. Looking closely, I think it sports a period-correct 1960’s broom handle for its handle. I’ll keep it, a nice reminder of my father’s cheap and practical repair. Reflecting on the Emmert, it’s a nice vise, but I’ll probably find myself spending more time staring at it and thinking of my dad’s shop than I’ll actually spend using it.

Mike
Chapel Hill
 
Last edited:

Mark Gottesman

New User
Mark
An excellent "Stealth" Gloat and very nice use of utility timbers. Tables like that are very useful and last forever. Thanks for the writeup and photos. Nice touch with the arched aprons. If you check the BOYD (bring out your dead" section over at OWWM.org you can probably get a replacement dog. Re: flattening. A plane certainly did the job, although some might have given serious thought to a router sled.

Enjoy.
 

Barry W

Co-Director of Outreach
Barry
Corporate Member
Mike, thanks for taking the time to share your new shop table with NCWW. You have built a super table and the installation of your dad's vise is super nice!

-Barry
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Premier Sponsor

Our Sponsors

LATEST FOR SALE LISTINGS

Top