Torsion Box Assembly Table

[Gene E Miller]

Greetings & Salutations,

I just finished this Assembly table which is 4'x8'
made in a Torsion Box style using the David Marks
DIY Wood Works show as a pattern.

I made the core out of 1/2" MDF and the top and bottom
Skins are also 1/2" MDF with a 3/4" Oak band around the outside.

I beveled all the corners as I am great for hitting my hip on any
sharp edged table or cabinet that is around and I'm tired of
being bruised all the time. LOL

I put a coat of Seal-A-Cell on then a couple coats of Arm-R-Seal
and 3 coats of wax. I am really looking forward to using this
since I am starting 2 Cherry Cedar Chests for my next projects and
this table will sure come in handy.

I made the base so that the table height is exactly the same as
my table saw and will come in handy when cutting long pieces or
sheet stock.

DSCN14552008-03-26-143447_resize.JPG

Gene

[John Thompson]

Looks good, Gene.. and functional which is more important. My main is only about 30" wide and 50" long, but I have a low assembly table also. If you have the room.. that size will be needed somewhere.

And you didn't go wrong by taking those corners off. I can't tell you how many times I got speared leaning into or going around a corner before I performed "field surgery" that removed the cancer.

Nice job.. now get back to work! he.. hee...

Sarge..

[Grady Cowardin]

Looks good Gene. Did the core sections only take table saw action to get them all the same height or did you make a master/template and size the rest according to it? I've researched the table construction method but real world experience is priceless.

[Gene E Miller]

Looks good Gene. Did the core sections only take table saw action to get them all the same height or did you make a master/template and size the rest according to it? I've researched the table construction method but real world experience is priceless.

Hi Grady,

for the 3" wide pieces I ripped them all about 3 1/8 off of the full
sheet of MDF then reset my TS fence to 3" and ripped them all to
3". By doing that I felt like I could control the piece better
against the fence instead of trying to hold a full sheet of MDF tight
against the fence.

After that I set up my cross cut sled and cut the 2 long outside
pieces to length then reset the stop and cut all of the long cross
pieces.

After that I set the stop to cut all of the short pieces which if
I remember was about 55 pieces.

After that I used the flat base that I had set up per the instructions
that I got off of DIY's website of the David Marks Wood Works show.

Then I set the sides and one end piece perfectly square and brad
pinned them with glue and put clamps along the long sides to make
sure they didn't move and started putting in the short pieces with
glue and brads using a spacer as I went. The I put in a cross piece
and so on and so forth on down to the end where I custom cut
the last short pieces to account for any cummlative error and put
on the last end piece.

Then it was a matter of putting on the top skin gluing and brad
nailing trimming with a rounter and after all was dry I turned the
sucker over and put on the other skin the same way.

I then made the oak banding to go around the outside gluing and
brad nailing it in place.

After all was dry I put on a coat of Seal-A-Cell then 2 Coats of
Arm-R-Seal and then about 3 coats of paste wax. The only thing
I would do again that I didn't was put on maybe one or two more
coats of Arm-R-Seal but I can always do that later.

I have done glue ups and if I don't get the glue wiped up right
away a putty knife pops it right off the table surface with no
problem.

Hope this helps but you might want to go on to DIY website
and look for the Wood Works episode that David Marks built
the same thing and it has a detailed step by step on how to
build one.

Gene

[Khalid Khattak]

I made my CNC router out of MDF with torsion box BED..it is very very sturdy..I hope ur table will have no sag in middle...
Good work ..keep up posting...

[anthony clark]

Very nice. I need to make one. Large table is a must.

[Jim Becker]

Nice job on that assembly table, Gene!

Question, did you consider making the top easily removable so you can put it on some crates for a lower position for larger project assembly for more comfortable positioning?

[Jim Solomon]

Nice Gene,
I'll be constructing one later in the year. I also saw it on tv (david marks) and have it saved on my DVR. Like most things in construction, the base/foundation must be perfect to perfect the final results.
Jim

[Chris Padilla]

Great surface, Gene! There is nothing like a nice flat reference to build projects on! I wish I had space for such an item.

[Tony Bilello]

What was your grid size?
You stated that the 1/2 MDF was 3" tall, but you didn't mention what the grid pattern/dimentions were.

Thanks in advance.

BTW: Great job.

I had made a torsion box table with MDF about 22 years ago and connot remember what grid pattern I used. Back then I mounted a bunch of old doors on saw horses to get a flat surface. How did you get a flat surface?

Also I remember making dado slots for the pieces to fit into and that made lay-up a lot easier.

Tony B

[Tom Veatch]

.... How did you get a flat surface?

Here is a link to the "Woodwhisper's" video (episode #18) on how he built a torsion box assembly table. The direct answer to your question is about 6 minutes into the video.

[Greg Hines, MD]

Very nice assembly table. When I have the space, I intend to make one like that, with a caster assembly like Abram used on his assembly table so I can move it around.

Doc

[Chris Padilla]

What was your grid size?
You stated that the 1/2 MDF was 3" tall, but you didn't mention what the grid pattern/dimentions were.

Thanks in advance.

BTW: Great job.

I had made a torsion box table with MDF about 22 years ago and connot remember what grid pattern I used. Back then I mounted a bunch of old doors on saw horses to get a flat surface. How did you get a flat surface?

Also I remember making dado slots for the pieces to fit into and that made lay-up a lot easier.

Tony B

Certainly, the more grids you have, the stiffer (and heavier) the torsion box assembly will be.

I made one for my workbench out of 3/4" MDF. The size was 34" x 81". I think I broke up the 34" dimension with 3 or 4 long pieces and I broke up the 81" dimension with 8-10 pieces. I also half-lapped the grids together and I got them so tight that it was difficult to remove the pieces for gluing so I didn't glue the grid together...just glued it to the skins and sides. Everything was made from 3/4" MDF so it turned out very heavy. I would go lighter next time with 1/2" MDF. I like MDF because it is dead nuts on at 1/2" or 3/4".

The torsion box will only be as flat as the surface you build it on so take care to setup saw-horse and such to get as level and flat a surface as you can and then build the torsion box on top of that.

[Gene E Miller]

Nice job on that assembly table, Gene!

Question, did you consider making the top easily removable so you can put it on some crates for a lower position for larger project assembly for more comfortable positioning?

Jim,

The table top that the torsion box is on was one I had made out of
3/4 particle board and I built the legs so after the torsion box was placed
on top it was level with the table saw. I also just have the torsion box
setting on top of the other table top so I can build a lower base if need
be for bigger projects. I just have to figure out where to put it all. My
shop is 20 x 30 in the back of a 30 x 50 building and I just wish I had
set aside at least 30 x 30 for the shop now.



What was your grid size?
You stated that the 1/2 MDF was 3" tall, but you didn't mention what the grid pattern/dimentions were.


I can't remember for sure what size the grid was but I think they were somewhere around 6 or 7 inches or a fraction there of. I just made sure they were big enough I could use my pin nailer and then I wanted to have
as many as possible and make sure they were all the same size. Depending on what size your top is going to be, I just laid the grid out using pencil and kept dividing it up until I got all of the spaces to be equal. For me
it was just a matter of trial and error until I got the right amount for the width and then made a spacer. Then I did the same thing for the length
but you don't need a spacer since the short grid pieces will act as a space for you.

Hope this helps.

[Lenny Howard]

<snip>

The torsion box will only be as flat as the surface you build it on so take care to setup saw-horse and such to get as level and flat a surface as you can and then build the torsion box on top of that.

Made one for our shop, the whole time I was working on it I thought "sure would be nice to have a torsion box to build my torsion box on"