Thanks to the many great ideas here, I recently made this adjustable height work/assembly table. It really came together when I saw this thread by fellow creeker Duane McGuire http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=123661.
As you can see, mine is pretty much the same as his, but mine is on wheels. This is so I can take it outside and work on nice days!.
The top is a torsion box design with walnut edging and a prefinished 1/4" birch ply top. It measures 40" x 70". I nailed the top down as necessary to keep it flat. I made the top and the bottom of the torsion box using 1/2" plywood and the ribs are 1/2" ply too. I half-lapped the intersection of the plywood rips and they weren't tight half laps. I probably had 1/4" clearance or more. It came out pretty close to dead flat. I think the biggest dip I could find with my 3' Starrett straight edge is 0.016".
The height adjustment is quite nice. This table won't be mistaken for a traditional workbench, but when doing things like assembly, sanding, routing, etc. it's perfect. Especially outside where I don't have to worry about dust collection.
The table adjusts from about 22" up to 45" or so. The hydraulic mechanism is an adjustable height cart from harbor freight (the 1000 lb version) that I got on sale for $200. The total cost for the table is about $450 (including the casters). You could reduce this if you use MDF, but I try to avoid that stuff when I can.
The third picture is of the mechanism I built to activate the plunger to release the hydraulic ram. The original cart had a lever on the handle, but I couldn't find a good place to mount that level, so I just ripped it all off and built that little wooden lever. It's simply two pieces that are loosely held together with nail and then the larger piece has a pivot point about 3" back from where the pieces are joined. You can easily activate it with your foot by pulling forward on it.
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Originally Posted by Robert Reece
