Alrighty. Here’s where I’ve landed with my plans for the table. Plan is to just put it on sawhorses at first and then maybe build a cabinet base (with my fancy CNC router) later. Looking for a thumbs up or some constructive feedback before I start cutting…
See pics below…
Design criteria:
- Work area of 49”x49”
- Utilize Unistrut for y-axis rails
- Easily sourced sheet materials
- Optimize materials used for construction
- Make it buildable using a circular saw and table saw
Results:
- Router travel in X/Y of ~49.5” in both directions - Unistrut is biased/offset (runs long) by ~2” toward Ymax and table is offset 0.75” toward Xmax to center the router on the spoilboard
- Design optimized for (1) 10’ section of Unistrut by remixing/redesigning Doug Joseph’s awesome Unistrut table extender design [unofficial] LowRider v4 DIY CNC - for use with Unistrut / Superstrut / metal strut - table extenders, rail clips, and rail placement jig v1.0 to add 25mm of bonus length at each end so my Y-axis didn’t come up short
- Tabletop and bottom made from 49”x97” sheet of 0.5” MDF available at Home Depot (or similar), the torsion ribs are from a 5’x5’ sheet of 12mm Baltic birch available at my local hardwood/plywood supplier, Unistrut is 10’ P1000 available at Home Depot
- The tabletop is 49”x49” and the table bottom is 49”x47” - this allows for construction from a single sheet of 49”x97” MDF. The torsion table x-ribs are 60” long which allows for construction from a single sheet of 5’x5’ Baltic birch. The y-ribs are 49” long which is a bit inefficient if you wanted to use 48” wide sheet material but works out fine in the 5’ BB
- Circular saw to break down the sheets, then table saw for rips, crosscuts, and dados…
Questions:
- Is it okay to mix materials? Baltic birch for the ribs and MDF for the top/bottom? I could do it all in MDF, but those “outriggers” for the Unistrut look a little vulnerable and I’d prefer to use plywood for strength.
- Is 0.5” thick enough for the MDF top/bottom and is 12mm thick enough for the BB ribs?
- Ribs are currently 3” tall - is this adequate?
- Preferred torsion box assembly method? Glue only? Glue and nail-gun (brads)? Glue/screw?
- How are people attaching the spoilboard? I was thinking of putting threaded inserts into the top of the table and then bolting the spoilboard to that.
- Any other suggestions?
