New assembly bench

[Robert Ducharme]

Finally had a chance to get back in the shop and do some work. I needed a bench that was reasonably large that would stay level. Created an assembly bench using a torsion top with a 1" maghonay trim.

To permit leveling, Created a tube in tube leg system that adjusts the top from 25" to 39" high. Since each leg adjusts separately, it allows any unevenness in the floor to be handled. Because of the weight of the iron base, it is pretty stable. The lower shelf is for anything needing to be hanging around while working.

[Mark Singer]

Robert,

Great job! Did you make the torsion top?

[Frank Pellow]

That should work well for you. Nice work!

[Richard Wolf]

Looks great, in a pinch you could roll it into the dining room for extra guests!!

Richard

[Ken Garlock]

Robert, that looks too darn nice for a workshop

[Bart Leetch]

Great idea. Now grind the corners of the bottom wheel mounting plates round before they take a chunk out of your leg.

[Jim Becker]

That's really nice, Robert. I really need to get up to your place my next visit to Westminster...I really want to see that shop!

[Jeff Sudmeier]

It looks great! An assembly table is one of my needs as well. Looks like you have a great flat table!

[Robert Ducharme]

Yes Mark, I did the torsion top. Unfortunately, I did it each single piece instead of doing slotted pieces of wood. Learned something from that. The top is 52" x 62".

I am planning on rounding off the wheel flanges so they do not bite me. Once it warms up a little more here.

While I trimmed it in magahony, not certain if a harder wood would have not been better. I will use it a while before making the decision.

Thanks for the comments - I think this is my first post showing something I have done. Next for the office cabinets.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Robert, That looks very good. I just made a small torsion box which I'm going to laminate. I wanted to know how you made sure your sheet goods was perfectly flat when you laid in the ribs? I found this to be a little tricky but worked with a straight edge when I glued the "ribs" to the base sheet. The top came out really flat and I was happy. Just wanted to hear how somebody else did it.

[Robert Ducharme]

I used a 48" starrett straight edge I during the construction. I also spent a LOT of time in building a flat surface to do the construction on. Since I did not have a reference surface, I took some scaffolding and laid 1.25 x 1.25 steel tubes across the platforms. Then leveled all the tubes so the bottom skin was supported in all areas and flat. On top of the steel, placed a 3/4" piece of MDF to simulate a table top. Then put the bottom skin on top of that.

After that, just assembled all the pieces. Made certain I did not move the saw fence when cutting all the inner pieces and sides so they were all the same width for the top's thickness.

After assembly, in spite of all the effort, found I had some pieces sticking up about 1/16" higher than others. The bottom was flat, just some pieces ended up sticking up too high. To eliminate this problem, took it to a place with a 50" thickness sander. They removed that bulge and all is well. Then applied the top skin so it would not warp.

I think if I had done the slotted interior boards instead of each of the small pieces I would not have run into that problem. Could also have hand planed them down instead of sanding but don't own any planes yet. Of course, I have noticed my eyebrows starting to grow across my head so I expect I will retrogress to purchasing one sooner or later.

[lou sansone]

nice bench...looks a little like an optical bench
lou

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Thanks Robert, It sounds like you spent a lot of time doing it very carefully. I followed David Marks example and he also took great pains at getting a very level surface to work on. I used the biggest very flat surface I have in the shop, my table saw wing. It supported about 2/3's of my table and I just supported the rest and I got it very level to start laying in the grids. Now I have to get the plastic laminate to cover it with and then some hard wood banding and I'm all set. I may use it as part of an outfield table as well as assembly table. Again great job and thanks for posting.