Felder FAT300S table as a work bench

[Aaron Inami]

This FAT table was on my list and I decided on the FAT300S model (based on price and availability). One of the negatives I hear from people is that the FAT tables aren't exactly a perfectly stable work bench. I found that I could significantly improve the stability by after-market casters. The stock casters that Felder puts on are perfectly fine if you are moving material from one end of a shop to another. On the 300S/500S models, two of the casters are what Felder calls "directional locking". These are swivel casters that can lock into a single direction (essentially turns a swivel caster into a fixed caster), but they do not have brakes. The other 2 casters are dual-locking, which means they can be locked in any direction and also have locking brakes. When you "directional lock" the 2 end casters, the table works like a shopping cart to help steering when you are transporting material. However, the stock casters also have a lot of side-to-side play movement which doesn't help the FAT as a general workbench.

I found these casters on Amazon and they ended up be significantly more solid when using the FAT table as a workbench:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DB3NM2S/

All 4 of these are dual-locking swivel casters. The bolt hole pattern is slightly smaller than the Felder stock holes, but I could use extra thick larger washers to help hold the caster base onto the frame:

IMG_0581.jpg

Here's a short video showing how stable the FAT table is when the casters are all locked in one direction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReZKnG_nhkU

I found that you can get generally good stability in both directions by locking the rear casters sideways and the front casters "front-to-back" as in this picture:
IMG_0646.jpg

[Aaron Inami]

Next step is making the work bench table top. It is made from two layers of 3/4" maple veneer plywood. Then a 1-1/2" x 3/4" solid maple border was put on using glue and finish nails. The top was done first with linseed oil mixed with 1/5 mineral spirits - a couple coats and about 2 weeks to dry. Then coated with multiple layers of gloss polyurethane.

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[Aaron Inami]

I used a cheap Bora MFT table as a template for drilling the holes:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08GG5XCX4/

I used a 20mm Fisch FSA-134572 Wave Cutter forstner bit combined with a locally rented Baleigh MD-3500 magnetic drill, along with the Bora template. Short video demo here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCAtqzn7l7g

Somewhere between 7 and 8 hours to drill a total of 144 holes drilled in 1-1/2" plywood material. You can see the sacrificial boards underneath to prevent major chip-out of the plywood veneer on the bottom.
IMG_0616.jpg IMG_0618.jpg IMG_0619.jpg

[Aaron Inami]

Spent several days filling glue into in plywood gaps inside the holes. Also used a UJK parf reamer to clean up any holes where a bench dog would not fit all the way through. It is better to have a very slightly tight hole instead of a loose oversized hole here.

Then did a very small 45 degree chamfer on the inside of the hole to support the 1.3mm ledge on the UJK bench dogs:

ujk_chamfer.jpg

final result when mounted with sixteen 4-1/2" #10 screws:
IMG_0639.jpg

[Aaron Inami]

People have continued to ask me "why am I using a mag drill". This is due to high accuracy requirements for both hole alignment and angle and placement. A normal drill press would not be able to reach way out into the middle of the table while keeping a solid fence and table support. It was easier to move the magnetic drill around to where I wanted the holes. There are a variety of different projects that would call for a mag drill here.

The following pictures show my testing. On the left is a hole done using a drill-guide. You can see that it was not drilled at a perfect 90 degree angle. The picture on the right shows the result when using the mag drill:

angle_on_drillguide.jpg angle_on-table.jpg

[Aaron Inami]

Some pictures showing a variety of ways to clamp material:
IMG_0640.jpg IMG_0641.jpg IMG_0642.jpg IMG_0643.jpg

[David Walser]

Aaron -- That looks like a very nice workbench. I hope it serves you well for a long time to come.

Thank you for the detailed thread showing how it was made.

[Greg Parrish]

That turned out awesome. Not sure how I missed seeing the post yesterday. I really like the base being the Felder cart since you can easily adjust the height, roll it anywhere, etc. Bet that works great to unload plywood from the truck/van, roll it into the shop, slide it onto the table saw, etc. But wait, there's more................... It is also an awesome bench, clamp table, assembly table, glue up table, etc. If I had the space for it, I'd be all over copying this idea. Thanks for sharing.

[Jim Becker]

That's a very nice setup, Aaron! Adjustable height work surfaces are the "best thing since sliced veneer"...major back savers and provide a lot more flexibility for building and assembling.

Dual-locking casters are the only type I buy for anything in the shop...they help insure the best stability once "whatever" is in the place it needs to be. The only thing "more stable" is "no casters".

[Edward Weber]

Your bench came out looking good.
I still have reservations about using a mag drill for the Dog holes. A router and template is usually all that is needed. To each his own

[Keegan Shields]

Parf guide is the best system I've found. Very precise. Takes me 2-3 hours to drill a 4' x 6' grid and chamfer them in 3/4" MDF.

I had quite a bit of multiplied error with the Woodpeckers router template but some of that could be user error.

Mag drill seems like reinventing the wheel, but hey it looks like it worked.

[Aaron Inami]

I still have reservations about using a mag drill for the Dog holes. A router and template is usually all that is needed. To each his own

I actually tried the router/template direction first. That would have been the cleanest cut. Unfortunately, it did not work out. The first challenge was finding a plunge-cutting flush trim router bit that would reach all the way through 2-1/4" of material (including the template). I was only able to find two possible solutions:

https://www.amanatool.com/47228-carb...outer-bit.html

https://www.amanatool.com/47229-carb...outer-bit.html

I bought both of these from Amazon. The problem with these bits are the lack of precision.

The 1/2" cutter bit actually over-cut the bearing by 0.15mm and produced a hole that was 20.3mm (measured with digital caliper). This was way too loose and the bench dog would wiggle around inside the hole.

The 5/8" cutter bit under-cut the bearing by 0.15mm and produced a hole that was 19.7mm. The bench dogs would not even fit inside.

IMG_0649.jpg

Additionally, I did do tests with the UJK 20mm drill bit that comes with their Parf guide system (which Keegan mentioned). While the UJK bit itself measured 20.0mm exactly, it cut a very rough hole and it was just slightly over-sized (actual hole diameter was somewhere between 20.13mm and 20.17mm). This test was done with the magnetic drill (it was not done free-hand). It works, but the bench dogs were slightly loose.

https://tsoproducts.com/jigs-fixture...-guide-system/

IMG_0651.jpg

The best result came from the Fisch forstner bit. The bit was exactly 20.0mm and cut an precise 20.0mm hole with ultra-smooth sides. The only benefit of the UJK bit was the length. The Forstner bit just barely reached through the 2-1/2" material with template and sacrificial board underneath.

[Keegan Shields]

If I remember correctly, UJK sells normal bench dogs and close fit bench dogs. The close fit ones are slightly larger in diameter and are used when you need a tight fit with no slop. My Parf jig drilled MFT tops cut a perfect 90 deg using the close fit dogs and UJK track attachment clips.

IMO the Parf guide is a much faster and more precise system than your mag drill. Just posting this as an option for others that stumble across this thread.

[Aaron Inami]

The UJK 20mm drill bit cutter is likely the better option if you have one layer of MDF. The MDF is really hard on normal forstner bits, but Forstner bits works better for solid wood or plywood material.

[Joel Gelman]

If you look up pictures of the Barth bench, you will see that this particular height adjustable cart/bench has drop down supports at the base to further stabilize. One could always rig up something to create an option to not have the bench/cart touching the ground only on locked wheels whether they swivel or not.

As a bench, I have a traditional bench and a height adjustable workbench with a perforate top. Clearly the traditional bench is most stable and if I wanted it more stable I would bolt it to the floor but no need. As for the height adjustable with the perf top as a main bench, depends on your use. If wheels locked are not a problem, great. If so, there are options to make the base more stable as it interfaces with the floor. Of course still some less stability than a fixed traditional bench due to the adjustable height feature where how much less stable depends on the brand and model.