Here’s the result of my backing off from doing through tenons after injuring my wrist when a drill bit grabbed (previous blog entry) on my backyard utility table. Went from nice joinery to glue and screws. Retractable wheels to roll around, when the wheels are up this sucker is rock solid so should deal well with stuff clamped to it for planing or chiseling, and ought to make a nice surface for finishing and glue-up.
The top is an old chunk of bowling alley, the mid-lane portion so it’s probably doug fir, as everything else is. I did have to tweak the wheel mounts a bit ‘cause they want to overextend and bind the wheel against the leg, but they work pretty darned well.
-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/User:DanLyke
6 comments so far
Dick, & Barb Cain
home | projects | blog
5047 posts in 781 days
posted 182 days ago
Very nice, this table should last you a long time.
I like your wheel lift set up.
-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1
Bob A in NJ
home | projects | blog
334 posts in 481 days
posted 182 days ago
Nice bench, simple and effective, I like the idea on the wheels.
How did you find a hunk of bowling alley?
-- Bob A in NJ
Scott Bryan
home | projects | blog
9039 posts in 304 days
posted 182 days ago
This is a very nice table. Your caster set-up gives me an idea for my workbench that I have been debating on how to make it mobile.
Thanks for both the post and the inspiration.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
GaryK
home | projects | blog
8482 posts in 470 days
posted 182 days ago
Pretty nice bench. I made mine from a bowling alley lane also. I took mine all apart and re-surfaced
the maple before putting it all back together again
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
Dan Lyke
home | projects | blog
368 posts in 607 days
posted 182 days ago
Bob, about ten years ago a local bowling alley was closing down, and they put an ad in the paper. I had been hoping to get the maple on either end, as GaryK apparently did, but I got something mid-lane, which is made of a softer wood. I’d been hanging on to it for years intending it to be a counter, but now that I want to do counters I looked around and realized that we could afford maple, but we might also want to go with concrete or something else, so the best thing I could see this thing becoming was a big ol’ work table.
Scott and Dick, I stole the retracting caster idea from (roughly) my DeWalt planer table. Seems to work fairly well, we’ll see how long those hinges hold up to being abused.
Gary, I envy your patience, I was thinking about renting a floor sander to take the finish off, but figure it’ll work just fine as-is.
-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/User:DanLyke
Grumpy
home | projects | blog
5597 posts in 333 days
posted 182 days ago
Excellent table Dan. I like the portability.
-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python