The Table Was Turned
Apr. 22nd, 2008 11:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellyssianMultiple times, in fact. We had to turn it to put the legs on, then the braces for the legs, and, finally, the stops for the upper deck.
It was kind of neat - once the legs were on it was actually solid enough to function as a work table for the remainder of the assembly. Kind of felt like when you're a blacksmith and you flub your way through making a set of tools so you can make a better set of tools and so on. Only it was just one table, and it went from "I'm a wee little table" to "I'm a tank. Put rocks on 'em and hammer away, I'll hold up!"
I'll take some pictures tomorrow. It's not pretty, and there's a reason I don't build furniture or do finish carpentry for a living, but it's functional and it's - pun quite intended, thank you very much - rock solid.
There's two table surfaces by design, the upper deck, a bit of padding, and the lower deck. The lower deck is the table proper, and it has four two by fours bracing it along the length. It's only 18" deep, so that's a 1.5" thick piece of lumber running the length every 3" or so. The upper deck just sits there, held in by an open-cornered frame. I expect it to wear out with normal use, so it's designed to be tossed out and replaced - only thing you have to do is cut another sheet of plywood and drop it in place.
The legs use wing nuts and carriage bolts to mount to the lower deck of the table. Although everything's rather a pain right now (mostly on account of the holes for the bolts being barely larger than the bolts, requiring some persuasion to remove them), the legs can come off. The legs are two 2x4's in an L, so they're pretty solid on their own, especially considering the small size of the table (30"x18"), but to make sure they can hold up to a pounding hammer, they are braced by an additional 2x4 frame from leg to leg. The side braces are permanently mounted, while the front and rear braces (~27" long) have carriage bolts and wing nuts. While assembling, we tested the disassembly process for one side, as the shallow depth barely provided enough room for the drill - and to ensure a perfect fit, we used the brace itself as a guide, and the braces mounted inside the legs.
The table is a perfect height for me to work on - it should prove very comfortable to work stone on, with the height optimally set for me. Now I just need to find some canvas bags to use as sandbags and it's good to go.
In other related news, the newest design went off to the customer for approval today.
It was kind of neat - once the legs were on it was actually solid enough to function as a work table for the remainder of the assembly. Kind of felt like when you're a blacksmith and you flub your way through making a set of tools so you can make a better set of tools and so on. Only it was just one table, and it went from "I'm a wee little table" to "I'm a tank. Put rocks on 'em and hammer away, I'll hold up!"
I'll take some pictures tomorrow. It's not pretty, and there's a reason I don't build furniture or do finish carpentry for a living, but it's functional and it's - pun quite intended, thank you very much - rock solid.
There's two table surfaces by design, the upper deck, a bit of padding, and the lower deck. The lower deck is the table proper, and it has four two by fours bracing it along the length. It's only 18" deep, so that's a 1.5" thick piece of lumber running the length every 3" or so. The upper deck just sits there, held in by an open-cornered frame. I expect it to wear out with normal use, so it's designed to be tossed out and replaced - only thing you have to do is cut another sheet of plywood and drop it in place.
The legs use wing nuts and carriage bolts to mount to the lower deck of the table. Although everything's rather a pain right now (mostly on account of the holes for the bolts being barely larger than the bolts, requiring some persuasion to remove them), the legs can come off. The legs are two 2x4's in an L, so they're pretty solid on their own, especially considering the small size of the table (30"x18"), but to make sure they can hold up to a pounding hammer, they are braced by an additional 2x4 frame from leg to leg. The side braces are permanently mounted, while the front and rear braces (~27" long) have carriage bolts and wing nuts. While assembling, we tested the disassembly process for one side, as the shallow depth barely provided enough room for the drill - and to ensure a perfect fit, we used the brace itself as a guide, and the braces mounted inside the legs.
The table is a perfect height for me to work on - it should prove very comfortable to work stone on, with the height optimally set for me. Now I just need to find some canvas bags to use as sandbags and it's good to go.
In other related news, the newest design went off to the customer for approval today.
