Phillip Mitchell
10-26-2021, 2:32 PM
I have been wanting to do this for a couple of years and finally found the right deal on a used scissor lift this past weekend.
The lift itself is a Bishamon LX100WBI and has a lift capacity of 1000kg (2200 lbs), made in Japan, and weighs about 600 lbs by itself. The size of the steel table top is 34 1/2” x 51 1/2”, which is a perfect size for my small shop. Many of these you see at auction or for sale have huge 4x8 tops, which is fantastic if you have the space, but I do not. I feel very happy about the deal I got on this lift after having looked on and off for a suitable one for a couple of years now and almost bought several others that were not as well suited as this one.
I built the torsion box top from 3/4” MDF and basically copied Mike Farrington’s assembly table, which is an adaption of the Paulk style torsion box workbench. The top is flat as flat can be and I’m very pleased with that.
The top is 40” wide x 75” long and the inside height of the cubbies is 9”. 3 sheets of MDF and some glue and screws and I was set. I cut the cubbies with the tracksaw and finished the corners with a jig saw. The top and outside of the box has 1/8” roundover everywhere and has one coat of wipe on poly just to help seal the MDF and prevent glue buildup. I build doors from time to time and will likely add a temporary layer on top of this that is at least 7’ long for building doors, but unfortunately that’s just too long for a permanent top of my tiny space.
With the casters, lift, and torsion box top all stacked up the lowered height is right at 24” off the floor and the raised height is around 64”. The Torsion box is attached with 4 cap screws (one at each corner through the steel top) and could slide off very quickly if need be, though it’s quite heavy.
The casters / wheels are from Caster City (thanks Jim!) and are rated for 1200# each. 6” phenolic wheels with double locks, which are the best locks I’ve used. Not cheap, but worth every penny when I can maneuver this 700# + table around in a tight space with one hand!
The motor and pump on this lift is not mounted underneath the lift as you see on many because this is a super low profile lift. If it were sitting on the floor and all the way down, the height would be about 3 1/2” tall. I still need to find a permanently mounted home for the motor and pump, which is 1 HP, 220V, single phase. I have several 3 phase machines, VFDs and a rotary phase converter but was glad that this particular motor was single phase as it would be a pain to have to run the RPC just to use and a VFD would have added to the cost.
You can see in one of the photos that I needed to drill some steel for (4) 3/8” bolts connected to some 1/4” thick angle iron brackets I happened to have laying around from a past project to attach the casters on one end.
Since I have a tail of a hydraulic hose, ground wire and remote control anyway, I added in a 4 way outlet box into on of the end cubbies and keep a 15’ extension cord in the cubbies ready to go.
The only big thing I still want to do is put some 20mm dog holes in it on a grid layout. My brother has a Parf guide jig and is coming to visit in about a month and hopefully will bring it with him and let me borrow it for that.
Figured I’d share this as some of you may be interested in such a pursuit. I think I’m more excited about this than any other machine or upgrade I’ve done in my shop and I have some nice and beloved tools!
I have a handful of smaller scale cabinetry type projects come up soon and am really looking forward to using this table while assembling and working on the cabinets.
Now I just need a bigger shop! I will do a shop tour type video sometime soon to show just how slightly insane I am for playing a never ending game of Tetris with big and heavy tools in a tiny space. I think by the time I get it all sorted out it we’ll be ready to sell!
Thanks for looking.
PS - of course my photos got jumbled up and are not in the intended order. Does anyone know how to prevent that?
The lift itself is a Bishamon LX100WBI and has a lift capacity of 1000kg (2200 lbs), made in Japan, and weighs about 600 lbs by itself. The size of the steel table top is 34 1/2” x 51 1/2”, which is a perfect size for my small shop. Many of these you see at auction or for sale have huge 4x8 tops, which is fantastic if you have the space, but I do not. I feel very happy about the deal I got on this lift after having looked on and off for a suitable one for a couple of years now and almost bought several others that were not as well suited as this one.
I built the torsion box top from 3/4” MDF and basically copied Mike Farrington’s assembly table, which is an adaption of the Paulk style torsion box workbench. The top is flat as flat can be and I’m very pleased with that.
The top is 40” wide x 75” long and the inside height of the cubbies is 9”. 3 sheets of MDF and some glue and screws and I was set. I cut the cubbies with the tracksaw and finished the corners with a jig saw. The top and outside of the box has 1/8” roundover everywhere and has one coat of wipe on poly just to help seal the MDF and prevent glue buildup. I build doors from time to time and will likely add a temporary layer on top of this that is at least 7’ long for building doors, but unfortunately that’s just too long for a permanent top of my tiny space.
With the casters, lift, and torsion box top all stacked up the lowered height is right at 24” off the floor and the raised height is around 64”. The Torsion box is attached with 4 cap screws (one at each corner through the steel top) and could slide off very quickly if need be, though it’s quite heavy.
The casters / wheels are from Caster City (thanks Jim!) and are rated for 1200# each. 6” phenolic wheels with double locks, which are the best locks I’ve used. Not cheap, but worth every penny when I can maneuver this 700# + table around in a tight space with one hand!
The motor and pump on this lift is not mounted underneath the lift as you see on many because this is a super low profile lift. If it were sitting on the floor and all the way down, the height would be about 3 1/2” tall. I still need to find a permanently mounted home for the motor and pump, which is 1 HP, 220V, single phase. I have several 3 phase machines, VFDs and a rotary phase converter but was glad that this particular motor was single phase as it would be a pain to have to run the RPC just to use and a VFD would have added to the cost.
You can see in one of the photos that I needed to drill some steel for (4) 3/8” bolts connected to some 1/4” thick angle iron brackets I happened to have laying around from a past project to attach the casters on one end.
Since I have a tail of a hydraulic hose, ground wire and remote control anyway, I added in a 4 way outlet box into on of the end cubbies and keep a 15’ extension cord in the cubbies ready to go.
The only big thing I still want to do is put some 20mm dog holes in it on a grid layout. My brother has a Parf guide jig and is coming to visit in about a month and hopefully will bring it with him and let me borrow it for that.
Figured I’d share this as some of you may be interested in such a pursuit. I think I’m more excited about this than any other machine or upgrade I’ve done in my shop and I have some nice and beloved tools!
I have a handful of smaller scale cabinetry type projects come up soon and am really looking forward to using this table while assembling and working on the cabinets.
Now I just need a bigger shop! I will do a shop tour type video sometime soon to show just how slightly insane I am for playing a never ending game of Tetris with big and heavy tools in a tiny space. I think by the time I get it all sorted out it we’ll be ready to sell!
Thanks for looking.
PS - of course my photos got jumbled up and are not in the intended order. Does anyone know how to prevent that?