I’m about to start my build! I’ve got about 90% of my parts. I’m designing a workstation/table in fusion360. I figured I’d start this thread to document the process and get some questions answered as they come up, and post the final design.
What is the distance from the edge of the table, to the center of the roller wheels?
I will be using T-Slot to act as a guide for the wheels and also act as clamping for some other features of the workstation/table.
My current progress. I’m still new to fusion and its slow going. But so far I have a fully parameterized workstation, with a cutout for my table saw. I currently have it set to 5’ x 10’ but just change 2 parameters and the whole thing changes. Also parameterized is the table saw station.
The workstation top will be completely flat when all tools are folded down. They will also have “caps” put over the slots for the flip down tools so that I will have a full 5’ x 10’ table top (minus where the lowrider sits but i guess that could be removable too). When doing CNC cutting there will be a 3 - 4 piece MDF spoil-board held down with recessed bolts. The 3 - 4 piece design will allow it to be a modular, and also easy to store. While also giving me a useful workstation.
This currently meets my minimum requirements to start construction.
Additional Goals:
Flip down station or recessed station for Planer
Router Table slot for big router
Shop Vac Station
Drawers to store tools, parts, and clamps
More t-track
spoil-board storage
Lofty Goal:
Flip down station for chop saw
Expanding chop saw support legs
I’m very interested in seen you final work table, I was planing something similar using Gunflint Designs YouTube videos.
Thank you for sharing
Gustavo
Added Drawers.
Next step:
I’ve decided against doing the chop saw flip table. Once I finish with my design, I can add it in case someone else wants to do it.
Got the first load of wood to start building.
This will get me everything except the drawers for now.
Total cost so far: $240
that is really cool! I’m slowly learning fusion 360 atm. I’m nowhere near your level though haha.
Guys … This thing is huge. Pictures don’t do it justice. Next step is putting in the table saw and some t-track. I made some adjustments to the design as I built it that will be added to the file for everyone else when I’m done.
I’ve already started thinking about how to build one with the CNC when it’s done, maybe for people on the forum to buy if there is interest.
Wish I’d noticed this earlier, but you need to leave a place for the lower Z Roller assemblies to “tuck under” the table…
It looks like the legs are flush with the edge of the top in your picture, and that’s going to be problematic.
Easy fix. They only need about a half inch of clearance, so use a 1X4 board of your choice to go around the top to dress up the table a bit, and protect the edge. Just don’t attach to the plywood, only the 2X4 under it. That way you can lift the plywood out when it eventually gets screwed up.
Your right it is an easy fix. I was planning on putting some edge banding around the side of the MDF anyway so that could be a fix. I have three possible solutions for this issue.
It’s wood, for God’s sake. Go with easy. When the time comes, if your need for the feature outweighs the benefit of the edging, take it off (or take it off/section it where you need to) then. It’s not like you’re casting it in adamantium, and won’t be able to modify it once it cools…
I’m not the type of person to just throw stuff at a challenge to see what sticks. I’m a software developer in my day job. That doesn’t cut it in my career field. So i’m trying to think through a problem, and find the best solution that won’t require work extra work down the road.
I’m also trying to develop some plans for others to use to help create their lowrider tables. These things take up a lot of room, and if we can get that room back by making multipurpose modular workstations then it will make it easier for people to enter into this type of project.
I’m a Systems Administrator by training, a Software Developer by necessity, and currently a QA Tester by a burning desire to stay indoors during Iowa winters (and summers, for that matter). Also deal with nasty bouts of over-engineering every damned thing I put my hands on. Trust me, I understand 100% with the desire to plan for everything now, and minimize the pain and effort later.
One of the things that’s taken me nearly my entire professional career to learn is that you don’t always need to do that. By the time you’ve engineered in the kitchen sink, technology has changed, or it’s become so complicated that it would really be better for everyone if the plans were put out for bidding. Wanting everything was why I had printed parts for a year and a half before I ever got anything else. I ended up paralyzed by wanting more elegance and flexibility than anything could deliver, much less anything I could cobble together.
In my case, whenever I would take time to consider how to add some bit of functionality or fold in some neat addition someone else had wrangled together, I would end up finding some newer bit or bauble to add on. Feeping creaturism isn’t something that the only Marketing Department or your client does to you…
What I’m saying is rather than getting caught up in the analysis paralysis and hypothetical what-ifs, just fish or cut bait. Piss or get off the pot. Just do it. At least, make a choice, then go all in. If you spend too much time in design, you’ll never hit your release. At a certain point, you have to declare a feature lock, and start your v2.0 list.
If nothing else, if you find you need to make a change, you’ll have this spiffy new tool to use to make your new table parts with. And let me tell you, you can do some insane joinery with it.
Also, you must be a seriously old school dev. These days, most software gets shipped somewhere between alpha and beta state, and gets patched in production. 
FWIW, I am also a software engineer. I have found the “design completely” and the “agile” (or design almost nothing) approaches both have their drawbacks. So does everything in between.
You can get stuck in design land, without the necessary information to make the right decision. But without a design you can also get stuck with a board that is too short and have no idea why.
Regardless, Captain Snake seems to enjoy it. So there’s no reason to argue about it. I suspect part of your post, K, was because that is the advice you wished you had had. You definitely can succeed or fail either way.
Trains get where they are going one spin of the wheel at a time, even if they can’t take the shortest route.
