seeking opinions on building a work table

[sleepyeyed]

Our shop is building a new work table which will be 4'x7' and have two 2 foot leaves on the ends to extend it to an overall size of 11' when opened. Underneath will be storage space for supplies, etc... I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as far as what kinds of accessories or additions to include that might be helpful.

 

[player]

If you search here there is a thread with exactly what you are looking for. Lots of pics and great ideas.

 

[Marlene]

the thing I would suggest is to make sure it is the right height so you can stand comfortably at it and be able to reach without killing your back. having it on wheels would also be nice. I love mine as I can move it around to get at hard to get places but when not in use, I can shove it up against the wall.

 

[Graphic Destruction]

I built mine 42" high with a rhino cutting mat on top. No hunching over to weed or work on things. Consider storage shelves underneath for all the little tools and things that clutter the top, particularly dowel rods for tape and occasional vinyl rolls. Mine are 4x8, on locking casters and they bolt end to end with carriage bolts/wing nuts for the option of one 16' table or two 8' tables.

 

[player]

You can use trailer jacks with wheels on the legs to for adjustable height.

 

[Jester1167]

I was spoiled at the first company I worked at. We had a 5' x 20' table that was extremely flat and ridged with a self healing cutting mat. Flat is important if your using safety rulers because they won't conform to the dips in the table. Under one side were 3 9' shelves for storing the most used flat media (coro, foamcore, and cardboard for shipping). The other 9' was used for shipping boxes, and supplies. The 5' x 20" wide table top was wider than the base and under the top we had shelves on both sides for an assortment of rulers. The wide top also allowed us to use screws to hang tapes, small rulers and tool belts off screws and not bump into them as your working. Another benefit of wider table top was that you could set comfortably on a stool and work.

Consider the height carefully because you want the work table at a comfortable work height under the most used conditions. We chose about 6" higher than your standard counter top (belt high 6' tall person). At belt high the work was closer to you but you could still bend over the table and get maximum reach.

On one end of the table we had a homemade horizontal banner material rack mounted to the wall so we could pull the material off the roll and directly onto the table (before printed banners). On the other end we had a homemade 60" mask dispenser.

Size is important and based off the types of jobs and size of your space. We had the space and used lots of 61" banner material back in the day so a 48" table wouldn't cut it. If your using a lot of 54 prints you might want to make it wider than 48". The size allowed us to work larger jobs easier and have multiple people working at the same time on smaller jobs. Weed on one side and mask and cut down on the other and often someone would be installing to substrates at the end.

A self healing cutting mat will pay for itself over time and give you better cuts because the blades stay sharper longer.

 

[bob]

Our shop is building a new work table which will be 4'x7' and have two 2 foot leaves on the ends to extend it to an overall size of 11' when opened. Underneath will be storage space for supplies, etc... I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as far as what kinds of accessories or additions to include that might be helpful.

Leafs on the ends? One of those things that sound like a good idea but after the novelty wears off, in maybe 5 minutes, they'll either be always up or always down.

Wheels? Anything sufficiently heavy as to require wheels to be moved is questionable. But if you must have them, make damn sure they lock or you'll be chasing your table all around your shop.

Under a table has to be the worst possible place to store stuff that you might use more than once a century. Far better to put stuff you actually use on top of surfaces, not underneath them.

Nothing brings out ideas that appear to be good but in reality are worthless like building a work table. Go for simple. Leave then underneath empty, you'll end up putting all manner of things you never use under there. Again, keep it simple. Bells and whistles seldom get run or blown once the novelty wears off and moving parts are merely things that can break.

The best table I've ever had, and the one I still use to this day, is a 3x8 banquet table [$100 plus or minus] purchased at any Staples, Office Depot, whatever with a 4x8 piece of 3/4" MDO screwed to the top and a cutting sheet with grid printed on it on top of that. It's sturdy enough to hold anything I've ever put on top of it, from truck tailgates to rolls of media requiring two people to lift, yet light enough to grab an end and move it to wherever strikes your fancy. I wouldn't trade it for any table I've ever seen or heard about in these or any other waters.

 

[sleepyeyed]

Loving all the suggestions, thanks a bunch. Just wanted to add that we are putting locking wheels on the bottom to make the table easily movable. Forgot to mention that earlier. I can see how leaves on the ends may be a novelty, but we came up with that idea due to space limitations in the workspace. We can't really have an 11 foot solid table in the space permanently because it would be too cumbersome. We'd utilize the leaves for the frequent times when we need to weed particularly long sheets of vinyl and it would only be a temporary hindrance to navigate around if the need arises.

 

[Signed Out]

Leafs on the ends? One of those things that sound like a good idea but after the novelty wears off, in maybe 5 minutes, they'll either be always up or always down.

Wheels? Anything sufficiently heavy as to require wheels to be moved is questionable. But if you must have them, make damn sure they lock or you'll be chasing your table all around your shop.

Under a table has to be the worst possible place to store stuff that you might use more than once a century. Far better to put stuff you actually use on top of surfaces, not underneath them.

Nothing brings out ideas that appear to be good but in reality are worthless like building a work table. Go for simple. Leave then underneath empty, you'll end up putting all manner of things you never use under there. Again, keep it simple. Bells and whistles seldom get run or blown once the novelty wears off and moving parts are merely things that can break.

The best table I've ever had, and the one I still use to this day, is a 3x8 banquet table [$100 plus or minus] purchased at any Staples, Office Depot, whatever with a 4x8 piece of 3/4" MDO screwed to the top and a cutting sheet with grid printed on it on top of that. It's sturdy enough to hold anything I've ever put on top of it, from truck tailgates to rolls of media requiring two people to lift, yet light enough to grab an end and move it to wherever strikes your fancy. I wouldn't trade it for any table I've ever seen or heard about in these or any other waters.

I couldn't disagree with this statement more. I'm just picturing plopping a 50 yd roll of heavy banner down on that banquet table and seeing it fold in 2. Kinda like the table they use in the wwf that break on purpose. I have no idea why you'd rather muscle a 8' or bigger table around the shop requiring 2 people, when you could just wheel it. Why not use that empty space under the table for storage, if you don't it's wasted space. I guess the only thing I agree with is the leaves at the ends, just build a second, heavy duty table on wheels, with storage, that you can but up to another table.

 

[bob]

I couldn't disagree with this statement more. I'm just picturing plopping a 50 yd roll of heavy banner down on that banquet table and seeing it fold in 2...

Did you miss the part about the sheet of 3/4 MDO screwed to the top? The banquet table, commercial grade with particle board top not plastic, is there to provide legs and a surface to attach the MDO. If the MDO is screwed on from the bottom with screws every 12"-18" the table top is functionally laminated to the MDO. It's sufficiently rigid as to support anything that's been put on it in the last 12 or so years. It remains dead flat so that rigid rulers can be used on it. It's light enough that it's easy to move, although it seldom is. It sits right where I want it. If I wanted another table, I'd build another of these in a New York minute.

 

[Ultimate13]

Locking Casters

We just built 2 5'x10' tables for our shop and the one thing I can add when looking for casters, there are 2 types of locking casters. The standard locking that locks the wheel and also the ones we got are TOTAL locking caster that lock the swivel as well. These don't move at all when locked but roll freely with one person when unlocked. Good luck with it!

 

[Sven]

Our table for reference. It's 10' x 4' x 3'H, w/ locking casters. It's been improved since this pic was taken:

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

This is ours. We have another one that's identical to it. They are made with 4x4 legs and a 2x4 framework for the shelf and top. Then we put 3/4" MDO on top with a sheet of 1/8" ACM on top of that. The one pictured has a cutting mat, the other doesn't. The one pictured also has the nifty vinyl/tape rack shown. Before anyone asks, I have no clue where to get another rack like it. We got lucky and found it used with a bunch of clothing racks on Craigslist. It works great for keeping rolls of material handy. We put casters on it that are small but very strong. They just don't roll easy, which I find to be perfect as there is no need to lock the casters, ever. And when you need to move it, it rolls easy enough. Aside from that, I'm 6'1" and the table is 39.5 inches tall and I think it works perfectly for me.

 

[Graphic Destruction]

Locking casters are a good idea, I honestly rarely lock mine though and the table has never moved on me whewhen I don't want it to. It sure is nice to be able to wheel them around easily by myself when I need to reconfigure shop space.

 

[Desert_Signs]

We have a 5'x25' table. The part with a top and bottom shelf separates from the other section. The section with 2 shelves is 9' long, so we can store coro and other full sheet media on those 2 shelves. We can also take that section and roll it somewhere else when we're installing a wrap or whatever. I still need to paint the thing, but we've only been in this shop for 2 weeks. We'll get there lol.

 

[rollerman]

We have a 5'x25' table. The part with a top and bottom shelf separates from the other section. The section with 2 shelves is 9' long, so we can store coro and other full sheet media on those 2 shelves. We can also take that section and roll it somewhere else when we're installing a wrap or whatever. I still need to paint the thing, but we've only been in this shop for 2 weeks. We'll get there lol.

i would kill to have a shop that looked like that mine I am waiting for the crew from hoarders to show up and see what my issues are

our tables are 4x8 the wheels we had we took off when force was used the slid a bit

i can add but wish i would have added a st of large rings at end to do work with roll stock and conduit

 

[Bly]

We just moved into a new shop too.
I got sick of rickety wooden benches and got a couple of these made from pallet racking.
Heavy and a bit hard to get rolling but these will last forever.

 

[Accelerated Graphics]

Ours is pretty ugly but functional. 2 old dressers we found on the side of the road and painted white.. The floor isn't very level so we had to level the top with wood.. 5'x10'

 

[neato]

Ours is pretty ugly but functional. 2 old dressers we found on the side of the road and painted white.. The floor isn't very level so we had to level the top with wood.. 5'x10'

That's a great idea! Not ugly at all

 

[BK Vinyl]

That's a great idea! Not ugly at all

Agreed. Most of the space under my table is wasted. I would use those drawers though...