Worktable recommendation

[fine point]

Hi all.

Do you have any suggestions for good worktables? 4x8ish?

We have steel frame worktable from Speedpress and pretty satisfied with it, but I was wondering if you all have something you can recommend.

Custom built will be always nicer but looking something pre-fab.

Thx!

 

[jman]

I was wondering myself but didn't want to spend the crazy money so for $200 me and my brother in law built this. 3/4 ply with 3/8 high impact pvc. Not bowing and glides around like a feather

 

[kcollinsdesign]

jman: I make my tables the same way. I have them taller than a "normal table height" so I can work on stuff without bending over too much.

I also made two that were 2' x 5' (I have a 24" plotter, so it fits my output). I drew a 1" grid on the surface and cover them with .25" plate glass. I can clamp them together to make a 2' x 10' table. I use these tables all the time for weeding and masking vinyl (I have a home-made transfer tape dispenser at one end). Also great for painting small things because you can scrape the paint right off. I use the glass as a palette when hand painting.

If anyone is interested, I can take some pix and post them. I have been in dozens of shops, and my el-cheapo set-up is the most convenient I have ever seen. I really can't describe the tape dispenser other than I use the plastic "end caps" that come with Arlon vinyl, threaded rod, and wing nuts. I tension that between two of the legs that extend up beyond the table top. I can adjust tension with the wing nuts. Works really well for me, and I can do longer than 10' with one piece of tape if needed. The whole affair is a couple inches higher than the Webermade dispensers I used to use. I find my home-made set-up more adjustable and easier to do longer runs.

All my 4' x 8' tables are on wheels, and are the same height so I can configure them as needed.

 

[netsol]

our space is really too small. waiting for some additional space to open up
we have (2) 3' wide tables that fold down, bolted to the wall.
saw this on this old house.
when not using them, they are out of the way.
we have folding tables that can be clamped together end to end or side to side

 

[fine point]

jman: I make my tables the same way. I have them taller than a "normal table height" so I can work on stuff without bending over too much.

I also made two that were 2' x 5' (I have a 24" plotter, so it fits my output). I drew a 1" grid on the surface and cover them with .25" plate glass. I can clamp them together to make a 2' x 10' table. I use these tables all the time for weeding and masking vinyl (I have a home-made transfer tape dispenser at one end). Also great for painting small things because you can scrape the paint right off. I use the glass as a palette when hand painting.

If anyone is interested, I can take some pix and post them. I have been in dozens of shops, and my el-cheapo set-up is the most convenient I have ever seen. I really can't describe the tape dispenser other than I use the plastic "end caps" that come with Arlon vinyl, threaded rod, and wing nuts. I tension that between two of the legs that extend up beyond the table top. I can adjust tension with the wing nuts. Works really well for me, and I can do longer than 10' with one piece of tape if needed. The whole affair is a couple inches higher than the Webermade dispensers I used to use. I find my home-made set-up more adjustable and easier to do longer runs.

All my 4' x 8' tables are on wheels, and are the same height so I can configure them as needed.

 

[fine point]

Hi Kcollins.
I would love to see your setup. Would you mind sharing the pics?
thx!

 

[2B]

Building tables are easy and require minimal construction experience.
whatever you make take extra care to make sure EVERY TABLE IS PERFECTLY FLAT

https://signs101.com/threads/seeking-opinions-on-building-a-work-table.125523/
https://signs101.com/threads/looking-for-plans-for-work-tables.149470/

We have several table sizes, depending on the available area in the shop. the ideal is 5' x 10' or bigger.
our finishing tables are extra tall, 43+" this allows for multiple shelves under the table and still have room for trash cans to be under it all.

Make sure you put EVERYTHING on coasters, the layout that works this week will be better changed next week.

 

[Adirondack]

We also built our tables rather than purchased. Saved a boatload of money, and have two 8'x5' really sturdy tables that we usually position end-to-end to fit best in our space.
One recommendation I received from others that I fully endorse: Don't scrimp on the wheels. We have good quality 4" caster wheels, with locks for the ones on each corner of the table. We can move these tables easily from our production room into our garage when the need arises, and these wheels handle the movement with ease, then lock into place again. I've heard other business owners complain when they tried to economize on the caster wheels (go smaller or cheap), so I'd go with good quality ones. I bought mine at Service Caster Corporation, but you might find good ones elsewhere.

 

[k_graham]

Hi all.

Do you have any suggestions for good worktables? 4x8ish?

We have steel frame worktable from Speedpress and pretty satisfied with it, but I was wondering if you all have something you can recommend.

Custom built will be always nicer but looking something pre-fab.

Thx!

We have a base made of EZ-Rect commercial shelving which provides 2 shelves of 4x8 and the top (3rd shelf) originally was 4x8 but I purchased a 5x10 sheet of 3/4" plywood from Windsor Plywood for !50.00 Canadian $ to fit over top, in order to fit on the 4x8 frame underneath I simply screwed 2 of 1"x4"x8' planks to bottom of 5'x10'plywood and repurposed the original 4x8' plywood. On top of that I placed a 5x10' Rhino cutting mat. When it was 4x8 I used Puckboard but found the blades wanted to follow previous cuts. I've also used glass on a smaller light table but I find the blades dull much quicker. In my opinion a cutting mat is by far the best and preferable to add even to a light table used for cutting. The Rhino mats are quite thick and I expect I can use both sides if I ever wear one side out.

While I used 8' long Ez-rect shelves because I had it, a person could get by with 4' and the steel supports could be about 1" instead of 2" thick. I've also seen the Ez-rect shelving available used, at store fixture supplies in larger cities The larger the table top the more one has to bend over to reach the other side so I cut posts quite short at about 30" so our shortest person could use it. I did not add castors as that would have raised it so we just have some furniture glides under the posts. A key benefit of the 60" x 120" top is it allows a considerable space on the 2 shelves underneath for our 54" rolls of Vinyl and banner material. Steel also allows more spacing than wood supports. I have some basic photos here https://www.facebook.com/imageedge.ca/ but before we threw the 5x10 sheet of plywood on top.