Cheapest Possible Garage Tables

[Louis]

I want to make some really cheap, temporary tables just to get some clutter off the floor of my garage so I can sort it all out. I don't have a saw so I'll need easy cuts that can be made at Home Depot or Lowes.

Something like this Bull Bracket Sawhorse table (upper right image that uses cross-beam feature) would be just about perfect.

Bull Brackets are too expensive though, so I think I can make the same thing with some cheap $4 brackets and just drill/screw the table base planks into the sides.

My question is what would I put on top that would be super cheap (a few bucks at most) yet sturdy table top? Just strong enough to hold a few boxes and odds and ends.

[Steve Barker]

Hollow core doors are pretty strong if you can find a few for next to nothing.

[clintonG]

Cheapest?

Take your bedroom door off its hinges. If you got kids already you probably have no privacy anymore anyway. Have the "little woman" get on her hands and knees on one end and put a kid on the other end -- or -- if she promises to start letting you have sex again put a kid on their hands and knees on each end spaced about 6' apart. You know, just enough to support the door laid across their backs.

Oh, don't forget to let them kneel on a pillow and put one on their backs too. Pounding on the table when making some other stuff can get kind of rough on the little critters.

Well, if they don't want to cooperate you can use 3-4 small scraps of 2x4x3 nailed to the face of the wall studs in the garage. These "cleats" will support the back edge of a door resting upon them. Use something to hold up the front edge of the door. Think like a college student and scarf up some concrete blocks for example and lay them up with a dry bond to support the front edge of the door. Stick sh!t in the cavities of the concrete block. Like incense or a candle. Good place to hide the pot too! But I still think putting the little woman on her hands and knees is the best idea.

I want to make some really cheap, temporary tables just to get some clutter

[Lawrence]

I typically use somw 3/4" plywood with a vew 2x4"s underneath to support. You can build your own sawhorses or find cheaper brackets. Plywood and 2x4 may not seem the cheapest but it is reusable and that makes it better that cheap.

[Carolyn Marenger]

You might want to hunt in the garage sales. A decent hand saw should only cost a couple dollars.

Super cheap and sturdy - a used or dented hollow core door. Something someone put their knee through when wandering the isles of their local big box store. To reduce sag, a 2" wide piece of 1/2" plywood attached along the full length front and back and you have a very strong table top. Set it up with the dings/dents to the bottom and the door handle hole to the back and you even have a hole to pass your electrical or in my case computer wires through.

Carolyn

[Louis]

Thanks Steve!

Anyone know where I could find a couple of these? Where to look?

[Louis]

This is a throw-away project. Needs to be super cheap.

[Steve Barker]

If you have a Habitat "Re-Store" in your area, they are cheap there. Otherwise, you'll just have to find them where someone is replacing some.

[bent]

try to find some knock down laminated mdf or osb furniture in the garbage, or buy a full 4x8 or 5x10 (any o/ than Borg & poss including) and cut it down. I also have a roller stand that does double duty as an adjustable to any height/angle/ plane tool or support. 1/2 price isn't too much. Prob find pieces outside used stores fro a few bucks too. May have shelf holes. I keep a couple to clamp to the sides of my bench and it ends up 16' long.

[Grumman-581]

If you don't mind some hairline gaps in the table, just use 2x4s or

2x6s for the table surface... If you decide your table needs to be 8 ft in length, the 2x4s will still be fully reuseable for other projects at a later date...

Concete blocks work great for the support structure... If I remember correctly, they cost about $1.25 or so up at Home Depot or Lowes... It will take about 6 full blocks and 4 half blocks per side and since half blocks cost nearly as much as full blocks, you're looking at perhaps $25 total for both sides... If you just dry stack the blocks, it's all reuseable...