Man, I wanted to see a picture of this. For some reason I keep thinking on that movie with Mister Bean, where he´s coming from the shopping mall with his sofa on the car roof:)
I was just going to get a couple of the tough built sawhorses to stand this on, but the C550 model is too short for me, and I’d be bending over the table working on it…
I love it that you´re thinking to go the same road as me. And I do agree that the sawhorses are pretty low. I personally did go with a C500 alternative because the C700 is twice the price over here.
Consider this, if you are making a torsion box, with bottom and top sheet, it will still raise higher then the sawhorses because you will be placing it on top of them?
Another way you could go is buy a toolbox cabinet on wheels. Mount the torsion box on top of this?
Yeah, I went through that. The torsion box is about 3.5" tall (To keep it below the 4" recommended thickness), still too short on the sawhorses.
C550 sawhorses, $120 CAD, 28" height, 32" with box. Too much money for something too low. No storage, and takes up more floorspace because sawhorse legs.
C700 sawhorses, $170 CAD, 32" height, 36" with box. Still no storage, more floorspace.
Ikea Kallax 4x2 shelving. 2 units, $160 CAD, 31" height, 35" with box. Tons of storage, though maybe not much room for the shop vac…
Ikea Kallax 2x2 shelving, 2 units. $120 CAD. 31" height, 35" with box. Lots of options. Both of these also allow me to link them together with some available material to make them a unified piece. Castors would make positioning easier, and add a couple inches of height…
2x4 / 2x6 legs.$50 CAD with bracing. Height is whatever I choose within reason. Storage is whatever I build. Assume another $75-$100 on that, because. Still the cheapest, but somehow not appealing.
Time to start working on some CNC-able leg options? Sit it on the old table while you use it to cut the new legs? Solid “2x” legs are easy and what my tables all are but everyday I go out and want to make some flat pack style ones. At least the corners. For me the drawback is I get lost in the options. I want to wrap a cord, hang some tools, shelves, wheels, at least one drawer…
I have one of the ikea shelves, it has lasted forever but for every self you take out (say for a shop vac) it gets significantly more wobbly.
I had fun with the CNC on my Zen project table for sure.
I don’t think the shop vac is a problem, and wasn’t going to remove any of the shelves because rigidity.
In the 4x2 solution, the 2 shelves would go along the length of the table, back to back. They’re a little under 16" deep, and the table is 45" wide. Leaving a couple inches for the LR2 clearance under the table, leaves about 10" between the shelves. I probably can’t squeeze the shop vac into that, but I could arrange some long storage…
In the 2X2 solution, the shelves would face the ends. The table is 5’ long, so lots of space between them. No problems whatsoever with the shop vac.
This is the biggest detractor for me with the sawhorses. It’d be one thing if it was cheap, but… It isn’t.
I´ve recently bought 2 Kallax systems for its original usage. My personal experience is that they are solid if used for their purpose and mounted against the wall. But I am not sure if they would be solid enough for the usage as a work table. It felt kind of wobbly when place in the middle of the room. Granted, they are the tallest version Ikea is offering.
I want to wrap a cord, hang some tools, shelves, wheels, at least one drawer…
This is the biggest detractor for me with the sawhorses. It’d be one thing if it was cheap, but… It isn’t.
True, I was lucky to buy them at a -40% discount. Otherwise I might have created a table in plywood.
I plan to test if those additional clamps, on their feet, would be solid enough to hold a beam, to create an additional and removable shelf. But that´s all with the idea to easily remove / store the table when needed.
I think in the end, if the table needs to remain where it is, the best option is to use some 2x4 beams, or create legs from plywood…
In terms of modular organization, it’s convenient, and I can get the aesthetics past those who won’t accept brick and board shelving. (Honestly, I thought it was all too much bother and fuss for a long time.) I’m using one for a TV bench in my bedroom, (4 wide by 2 high) and it’s very stable at that height. They don’t wobble when everything is tight, and the ~16" base is more than stable enough for the ~31" height. It would take a lot of lateral load to topple it. Now it’s more a matter of uniformity. (I would probably have just chosen something a lot more utilitarian, left to my own devices. I still have a bunch of the old Sten shelving in the garage, and really wish that I could buy more of it.)
I went and picked up the Kallax units. I’m going to connect them together with a separator piece which will also attach them to the work surface.
These are similar to the Z stops I did and will go on the opposite side from the Z stops. I still need to make a trigger block for them, but that won’t be difficult at all. It just has to hold one of those discs and sit under the belt holder.
And installed on the Y plates. Thinking on it now, I could very well have made one part that handled both Y and Z with 2 switches, one vertical and one horizontal, but this works for me, too.
I still need an X switch as well, haven’t been very worried about that one.
Oops. They’re backwards… need to go down to clear the table.
Can’t just swap them, so I’ll have to alter the design a bit to reverse the impression of the Z holder. Not a big deal, but maybe I’ll just make it all one piece then.
Okay, an all-in-one solution that holds both switches. I added the wire harness as well. The one side has a shorter harness, which will be long enough to reach the control board, and the other side has a long harness which should run through the X gantry tube and reach.
Gotta glue and screw the torsion box together tonight. It’s already sitting on the pair of Kallax shelves, which seem like they’ll work out great.
Well, that wasn’t so bad… It’s getting a bit crowded in the machine room though.
16 #8 wood screws and a good amount of construction adhesive… it ought to hold. There should never be any real force against it, it’s mainly there to close the torsion box.
Flipped it over, with some clamping to be sure the glue sets up right.
I’ll be priming the surface, too in order to seal it, then set up a removable spoilboard. I used varathane on the Primo table, but I’ll just use latex primer on this one.
I’m fairly happy with the height. It’s a couple inches lower than the Primo, but if I add 2" casters to the Kallax, it’ll be the same. That makes for a comfortable working height with enough room over it for projects.
Next step is to cut steel to length and finish assembly.
So… I’m looking at a slight overhang on the 1/4" plywood bottom of my torsion box, and was about to go get my plunge router from the garage, thinking “What I really need here is a small trim router…”
I do that too, look all over the garage for a router while leaning on the LR table. I ended up even making a hole to mount it underneath and use the table as a router table. Kinda like multitasking for the bench and tool at the same time.
Not much to see, just a coat of clear latex primer. This is the bottom surface, so just something to seal it up. I’ve been thinking of using the gloss white on the top. Still not sure how I’m going to attach the spoilboard though, but most likely just wood screws.
I’ve been thinking about adding side rails to the table, and maybe extending them past the ends to get a longer Y axis too. I think some fir 2x4 stock would do the job nicely, and at least be resistant to warping.
Looks like a nice table! I think those side rails could be very handy, some additional room to work. But I imagine you´ll need to make sure it´s aligned perfect.
Somewhere in the FAQ it was mentioned that if your wood is warped it makes little issue because the Z rolls over it following the warp. But when adding a solid bar that´s obviously no more the case…
I’ve been struggling with possibly listing the Primo for sale.
On the one hand, I still want to see if I can make something that will machine aluminum or steel with it, if it’s cut down to a smaller size. (I don’t think that I’ll need aluminum or steel over 18" in length, for example) On the other hand, since I’m not running the machine all of the time, the chances that I’ll need more than one are pretty much zilch, unless one does something that the other cannot. (Like mill metal.)
So if I cut it down to say, 12" by 18" I should end up with something super rigid that will have capability that the LR2 does not.
Or, I can try to recoup a few hundred $ and reclaim half of my machine room.
A smaller machine can be put away easier. If you don’t think you would use it very often put it up for sale and see if you make a local friend. Maybe they will have some other cool tools to play with!
My printer build is just about done, you might need the money to build whatever is next!
