Hi, Real man's DIY question here... I don't have a proper workshop (yet), but I need to start making stuff for the house. I have a shed that can take an 8x4' sheet on its side for storage, just to give an idea of what I do have. I don't have any level surfaces either outside. I do have a block paved drive to work off, but its curved, unlevel but solid. So I'm thinking of making a worktable top that can be sat on adjustable feet trestles to work off. It needs to be: 1) dead flat for gluing up; 2) water resistant (ie will not warp if it gets rained on); 3) not insanely heavy for carrying back to the shed. 3 rules out glueing up loads of 2x4" which is the traditional way to make a monster solid bench. 2 rules out any use of MDF. So I was wondering if anyone had any ideas? 2x4" frame with 3/4" ply glued/screwed to the top maybe? And how can I test that a surface is fully in one plane (ie dead flat)? Measure it with a level in every direction (assuming we build on the target tresles and that these can been set up first to be level). Or is there another way :) I'd also like the option to make this a modular saw bench and router bench with a removable ply panel say around 1.5x2' which can be replaced by identical panels that are customised to hold a circular saw and router upside down. I guess this is just a matter of adding some extra 2x4" framing to form a window in the surface that the panel can site on and be made solid with bolts into nutserts. I would want to then start looking to evolve this with guide rails and/or T-track to make it more versatile - but I'll probably start with a plunge saw track of some sort. All random thoughts welcome :) Cheers, Tim

Resolving this to its most basic properties you want 1/. light 2/. water resistant 3/. stiff That leads me directly to polystyrene or polyisocyanurate foam. 4"-6" thick. Used in floor and other insulation. What you skin it with is another matter. Polyiso is much ,more resistant to (celluelose) solvent attack, but is much more expensive. I've used smaller boards very successfully for building model aircraft on. it stays flat really well

Dead flat light work table?

May 17, 2017 42 Replies

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dennis 9 years ago

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burns.me.uk 8 years ago

rf-dogs-717978

Now, instead of spending silly money on a worktop with an array of nicely d rilled holes, you can buy a guide system that lets you drill your own nice array of holes - still silly money for what it is, but only half the silly money, and you can make a new top whenever you knacker up the old one.

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John Rumm 8 years ago

I'm going to be bankrupt and it's your fault! ;-)

Yup, saw that - probably worth it if you need to do it several times. (although if you have access to an accurately drilled surface, its trivial to copy it with a router and a bottom bearing guider cutter ;-)

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