Assembly Table with torsion box top/roll around shop cart

[Ed Morgano]

About two years ago I built a roll around cart for my shop that I could use for a work bench. I just don't have enough room for a full size stationary work bench. Well, there were several problems with the first one. First, I did a 2x4 construction for the legs and frames. The problem with that is the 2x4's just used up to much vertical height so when it got to storing my power tools underneath the bench, there just wasn't enough room. Also, I built drawers on both sides of the bench. Problem with that is I was always going to the wrong side to get something. Third major problem was the sice. I made it 32"x48" and it was just a little too small. A few pictures of the old cart first.

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[Ed Morgano]

The cart was setup for cutting some 4x8 sheets for my new work bench. I jointed an 8' piece of MDF for a straight edge and used it to cut out all of the pieces for the new cart. Worked great!
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[Ed Morgano]

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Pictures showing the base partially assembled. I made (3) 4" tall drawers on top and all the bottom shelves are adjustable.

[Ed Morgano]

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This is the start of the torsion box top. I'm going to use (2) 1/2 MDF sheets top and bottom and the strips are 2" wide x 1/2" MDF. I cut the top and bottom sheets together so they would be identical. Then I started glueing the strips. I did an 8' strip and then added the short divider strips, then another 8' strip and clamp until it was pretty strong (about 5 minutes. Then added more divider strip and another 8' strip. Repeated this till all the strips were inplace.

More to follow tomorrow. Thanks for looking.

[Peter Harbin]

Looking good, and that monster will be good and heavy!

Pete

[Ed Morgano]

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After spending about an hour checking the top for level, square, bows, etc., I glued the second sheed of MDF on the top. Wow, what a difference that made. As soon as the glue dried it was extremely ridgid. The next step was to contact cement a sheet of formica on both sides of the top so it will now have a very hard surface that glue won't stick to. The pictures are messed up in here and I'm having a time trying to figure out how to get them the way I want to show them....any help?

[matt swiderski]

Looks good. I am looking to build one this spring. How long to did it take you to build it? Did you figure out any tricks, or is it pretty straight foward?
Matt

[William Lai]

Looks great. One question: for the assembly table, can we just use a hollow core door? Since you aren't really looking for strength as much as flatness, it may be a shortcut as I imagine doing a torsion box takes a good while.

Also, can the dividers be something much lighter than MDF? Like 1/4" ply, etc.

[Ed Morgano]

Looks good. I am looking to build one this spring. How long to did it take you to build it? Did you figure out any tricks, or is it pretty straight foward?
Matt

Matt,
The top took about 6 hrs to build. That included contact cementing the two sheets of formica. I still need to put 3/4" x 3" oak strips around the outside. I don't know about tricks. I did spend a good amount of time jointing 3 2x4's and getting them as perfectly level as I could. Then, I cut both the top and bottom sheets together and marked an edge so they would be identical and all the edges would line up. After that, I ripped the divider strips and then fed them all through my thickness planer so they would all be the same. Assembly after that was pretty stright forward and everything fit together very well.

[Ed Morgano]

Looks great. One question: for the assembly table, can we just use a hollow core door? Since you aren't really looking for strength as much as flatness, it may be a shortcut as I imagine doing a torsion box takes a good while.

Also, can the dividers be something much lighter than MDF? Like 1/4" ply, etc.

William,
If I were going to use a hollow core door, I would plan on coating each side with at least a 1/4" sheet of good plywood and then a sheed of formica on each side. That will keep it flat. When I'm done, I'm going to put a 3/4"x3" strip of oak all the way around the outside of the table top. Remember, many times you will want to clamp something down to the table. A bar clam might poke a hole in a hollow core door without any further re-enforcement.

[Ed Morgano]

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Well, I've made some progress. So far, this is turning out to be one of my better shop projects. I still have quite a bit of work to finish but it's shaping up nicely. I have all of my portable power tools stored neatly on one side and I will be able to use the other side for supplies. Bar clamps all fit at one end and I'll have hanging storage under the handle at the other end. The top turned out very flat (probably within .010" but I have no accurate was of measuring that) and it's very rigid so It is going to be great for getting things flat while gluing. Also, with the formica top, glue cleans off easily. I'm in the process of gluing an oak border around the top. See next pictures.

[Ed Morgano]

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A while ago I made some wood furniture clamps (see separate thread). I didn't have any 60" long clamps to clamp the edging around the table so I removed the tail pieces and simply clamped two together. This way I can glue the edging around the top without any nails or screws.

[William Lai]

William,
If I were going to use a hollow core door, I would plan on coating each side with at least a 1/4" sheet of good plywood and then a sheed of formica on each side. That will keep it flat. When I'm done, I'm going to put a 3/4"x3" strip of oak all the way around the outside of the table top. Remember, many times you will want to clamp something down to the table. A bar clam might poke a hole in a hollow core door without any further re-enforcement.

Great advice Ed. Yeah, starting with a hollow core door was just to avoid all the cuts and glue up, and beefing up the surfaces and edges make a lot of sense.

[Ed Morgano]

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I figured I'd post some pictures of the final product. I'm using my home made furniture clamps with this top. I made a couple of clamp holders that clamp right on the table top with hand knobs.