Torsion Table David Marks Designed Pics 'O Plenty

[Scott Vigder]

With seriously old, unlevel floors in the shop and a landlord who won't be smoothing them anytime soon it was time to build a nice flat work table. Off to HD for two 1/2" and one 3/4" MDF sheets and a few nice, straight 2x4's. Total expense around $52.

First I leveled the sawhorses

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Following David's instructions, I jointed and planed the 2x4's and placed the 3/4" MDF sheet on them as a work surface. Using homemeade winding sticks it took about 20 minutes to shim the board flat.

Then I squared, glued and brad nailed two corners. I started the interior slats using spacers to perfectly align each row.

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Being extra careful to make sure the spacers were properly set, I built the second row.

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The remaining rows went quickly. The last row is a little tricky as you need to see if the last row of slats need to be trimmed to compensate for minor variations introduced along the way.

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My slats needed to be trimmed about 3/32", which was real close to what David's needed to be trimmed in his show (!).

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***** Continued *****

[Scott Vigder]

Once the slats were trimmed, the interior was finished.

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The top face board of 1/2" MDF is then placed on top, and a reference line is drawn to guide where the brads will be nailed.

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With generous amounts of glue applied, the top board is placed then nailed. Putty fills in the nail holes later on.

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After flush trimming the MDF, it's time to sand! Of course, this entire process is repeated for the bottm face.

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Using some not-so-great- ash boards lying around, I fashioned the end trim pieces. I glued the long pieces on first...

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***** continued *****

[Scott Vigder]

Then glue on the long trim boards. These stretched my 50" Bessey's to their maximum!

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Now for some nice BLO all over.

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And the final table top, complete with 4 coats of Briwax.

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The legs will be 3/4" plywood, three sides so I can store stuff like the compressor underneath.

[Jim Becker]

Nice job, Scott.

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BTW, I merged your threads. There is no need to post three separate threads...you can reply to your own thread to add additional picture posts. The limit is five pictures per post and you can post as many times as you like in the same thread.

[Tom Andersen]

Scott,

you've done beautiful work on this table. Thanks for sharing. I have three questions:

Don't you think that your slats and edges could have been made thinner, yet preserving appropriate stiffness? I tried to make a torsion box once but it came out surprisingly heavy, so I scrapped it before completion. What is the weight of your table? Can one person lift it?

You have sanded the MDF table top. Will the sanding remove the surface resin layer? Obviously, you have re-protected it with Boiled Linseed Oil, so I guess that may be the answer?

How did you ensure that the table is flat, and how flat did it finally get to be?

Sorry for the direct questions, but, as mentioned above, I have in mind to make one too.

Fine work you have done!

Tom

[Al Willits]

If I remember right, Marks table was 3/4" top and bottom with 1/2" slats inside, going by Marks version it does become heavy and although it can be moved by one, two makes it easier.

If weight is a concern, maybe knock a foot off the table's width or length?
Not to sure I'd make it any thinner, I'm willing to bet Mark's table is a bit over built, but not sure how much.

Nice table Scott, I use mine all the time, coated mine with Turpentine and Tung oil and the about 5 or 6 coats of Johnson's & Johnson's wax.

I use a flat blades putty scraper to take spilled glue off, and with the coating of wax, works very nice.

5% picture limit?...musta missed Mr. Fry's post....

Al

[joseph j shields]

Tom,

Where in Sweden are you???

I used to work for ABB and traveled to Goteborg 6-8 times a year.

If I was bad, I would have to go to beautiful Vasteras :-)

-jj

ps I'm right now enjoying a little licorice Catch snus :-)

[Scott Vigder]

Don't you think that your slats and edges could have been made thinner, yet preserving appropriate stiffness? I tried to make a torsion box once but it came out surprisingly heavy, so I scrapped it before completion. What is the weight of your table? Can one person lift it?

You have sanded the MDF table top. Will the sanding remove the surface resin layer? Obviously, you have re-protected it with Boiled Linseed Oil, so I guess that may be the answer?

How did you ensure that the table is flat, and how flat did it finally get to be?

Tom

Yes, the slats could probably be thinner, but you could get warpage or twisting of slat pieces if they are significantly smaller. The table top weighs a lot. I can turn it over by myself, but I have to be careful because I waxed the bejeebies out of the work surface to keep the glue from sticking. I believe David did use 3/4" MDF for his table top, but I really thought that was overkill, and it adds 50% of the tops' weight (top and bottom) to the table. Yes again, the surface is protected by the BLO.
The table is as flat as my eyeballs can guage with the winding sticks. I guess it would be interesting now to build a new torsion table using this one as a base work surface. According to my T-square and Empire level, it's pretty darn flat.

[Mike Hill]

Scott: Something I have wanted to do for awhile, but space is a problem here. Looks like you could park a truck on that table. Very strong construction. Congratulations on a great job.
Mike

[Mike Spanbauer]

Nicely done Scott. One question, how big is your table? Looks like 5x4 or so?

mike

[Tom Andersen]

Tom,

Where in Sweden are you???

I used to work for ABB and traveled to Goteborg 6-8 times a year.

If I was bad, I would have to go to beautiful Vasteras :-)

-jj

ps I'm right now enjoying a little licorice Catch snus :-)

I am in Smaaland well south of Vasteras. Sweden is LONG country with midnight Sun in the north (right now getting pretty dark up there) and rain in the south. Sweden has a low population density which I find to be big asset. Maybe I am asocial

[John Piwaron]

This very project is on my to do list for this winter. Heck, not only is it on the list, I have the materials for it.

How heavy would you say yours is in total? I'm asking 'cause I'm likely to have to hoist this bad boy around by myself.

[Matt Meiser]

That looks familiar. Yours looks just like his.

[Al Willits]

""""""""""
How heavy would you say yours is in total? I'm asking 'cause I'm likely to have to hoist this bad boy around by myself.
"""""""""

Making it out of 3/4" does make it heavy, but I found with D handles on each end I can drag it around if needed, I also can get it back on my table by leaning it up against the table and using the D handles, pull it on to the table.
The table I put it on is carpeted so it slides on fairly easy.

I'm thinking I might have made a slightly smaller table and it would have worked for what I need, maybe a foot off the longer lenght.
This thing is strong enough that I can stand on it, and I'm not a small person, 1/2" might indeed work, but I think over building here is better than under building and having it warp.

Al

[Scott Vigder]

Thanks for all the nice comments.

The table started out as a 4x5, but it comes in closer to 44 x 56. Ooops.

I'd guess it weighs around 90-100 lbs. It could be lightened by skipping the hardwood trim. I suppose you could reconfigure the alignment and eliminate a row or two of slats inside, but that compromises the long-term stability of the flat surface. I really like the D handle idea.

I should clarify I used the 3/4" MDF only for the 4 sides that are now covered by the ash.

I also had an eye on the futere, so that if the top becomes seriously gouged or otherwise mangled I can flip it over and use the other side.

Last night I finished a 3-sided plywood base that the table will sit on. Table + base will give me a 38" working height, ideal for my 6'1" frame. I am still contemplating how I will attach the base to the top!