# Torsion Box Assembly Table



## Morton (Nov 29, 2009)

*Introduction*

I am ready to replace the top of my workbench with a dead-flat Torsion box to ease assembly of future projects.



I built my current workbench a couple of years ago from plans from Fine Woodworking. The base is made from laminated plywood and is very solid. I filled the inside of the base with 6 drawers which are full and work well. The top is 2 sheets of 3/4 material that has served its purpose, but is far from flat.

Part of the problem (non flatness) also stems from the fact that I have a heavy vice on the left side of the bench. This is mounted on the underside of the top, that is overhanging the base. So, the weight of that vice pulls the top down and bows the whole surface.

So - I am going to replace the current top with a dead-flat torsion box. I plan on re-mounting the vice to it, but will add support legs on the other side to help support the vice weight.

The plans for the box are from The Wood Whisperer. His instructional videos are awesome and it's where I first learned of the idea.

I will post as I make progress and take pictures, and hopefully some video, along the way.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Morton said:


> *Introduction*
> 
> I am ready to replace the top of my workbench with a dead-flat Torsion box to ease assembly of future projects.
> 
> ...


Looks like a plan. Most bench tops hold up pretty well . perhaps the one you have now is thinner than most bench tops.


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## Morton (Nov 29, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Introduction*
> 
> I am ready to replace the top of my workbench with a dead-flat Torsion box to ease assembly of future projects.
> 
> ...


Yeah - it's only 2 sheets of 3/4 material, so it's not a very thick top. I'm looking forward to something that will be dead-flat (initially) and hold up for a long time.


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

Morton said:


> *Introduction*
> 
> I am ready to replace the top of my workbench with a dead-flat Torsion box to ease assembly of future projects.
> 
> ...


Hey Morton, nice to meet you.

Torsion boxes are dead flat, and that seems to be the main thing you are looking for here today. That is great for an assembly table which is a very nice thing to have, but not usually used for a workbench top. Bench tops are usually really strong so that you can bang on them and mount vises to them (and they also happen to be flat). Another problem with torsion boxes are that they are very thick by nature. This will make the whole bench taller, but maybe that is OK with you.

I think you should also ask around about classic workbench tops (think butcher block). A whole lot of us here have built benchs and could help you out.

Steve


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## Morton (Nov 29, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Introduction*
> 
> I am ready to replace the top of my workbench with a dead-flat Torsion box to ease assembly of future projects.
> 
> ...


Steve-thanks for the comment, I appreciate the thoughts. I think for now, an assembly-table style top is what I'd like to have in the shop, but I am going to try mounting my vice to it and see how it all works out for me. In the (not too distant?) future, I hope to create a more traditional workbench and do more hand-tool work.

The height doesn't bother me, as it'll add a couple of inches (3" interior torsion box), but I have a few inches that I can cut off the workbench legs if I don't like the new height.

At least, that's the current plan, but I'll definitely spend a little time thinking about other options.


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Introduction*
> 
> I am ready to replace the top of my workbench with a dead-flat Torsion box to ease assembly of future projects.
> 
> ...


sounds like a plan ,
flat is good .

i used to work with a guy ,
that was obsessed with this ,
he paid $300.00 to have a 4' straightedge
made for him to .001" true !
spent more time showing it of than using it .
your idea sounds better .

welcome to LJ's .


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

Morton said:


> *Introduction*
> 
> I am ready to replace the top of my workbench with a dead-flat Torsion box to ease assembly of future projects.
> 
> ...


Fair enough. A few comments if I may, this subject is dear to my heart.

I have built a lot of torsion boxes for this kind of situation. They were the favorite base and structure for homebuilt CNC machines. You can really crank them out quite quickly, don't get hung up on .001 inches. They are just two skins separated by a webbing. I would use MDF rather than ply as it does not warp and is pretty dead flat to begin with (unless you want to use Baltic Birch $$$). You mentioned a three inch web, which is ok, don't go any thicker, and maybe 2.5" would be just fine. If you use MDF, be sure to finish the outside when done.

(Side note: A very strong and easy to built torsion box is a slab of MDF skinned on *both *sides with plastic laminate. It is much stronger that you might think as to flex it you would have to stretch one of the laminates, not easy. This makes for a great router table top.)

Don't get hung up on half lap (interlocking) web supports. In the real world we found that it did not add anything except more work. An air nailer really speeds things up here. You can cut holes in the skins without any depreciation in strength (like for your legs to enter inside for attachment). Glue every joint and glue the web to the skin. Glue is very important here. Nails and screw just are clamps until the glue dries.

Maybe think about drilling some holes in the top skin and attaching some T-nuts from inside. These will come in handy for mounting hold-downs or bench dogs later. Or gluing a block in some of the corners of the ribs so that you can drill dog holes later (remember where they are, maybe even take pictures).

Keep us posted, and I will get off of my soap box,
Steve


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## bench_dogg (Oct 23, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Introduction*
> 
> I am ready to replace the top of my workbench with a dead-flat Torsion box to ease assembly of future projects.
> 
> ...


I built the top in Marc's video and really like it. I made a few changes; specifically I used melamine for the top and screwed it down so I can replace it if it gets too beat up. I like the melamine mainly for the ease of removing old glue.

-bd


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## Jimi_C (Jul 17, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Introduction*
> 
> I am ready to replace the top of my workbench with a dead-flat Torsion box to ease assembly of future projects.
> 
> ...


I agree with SPalm. I used 1/2" MDF for the skin and 1×4s for the web. I used two drywall screws at each butt joint for the outside square, and two more for the long cross members. For the shorter members, all I used to hold the pieces of wood in place was a single staple. Here's my write up on my bench top: http://lumberjocks.com/Jimi_C/blog/10524.

I disagree that they don't make good bench tops though. The top of mine is very solid, and you can see I doubled up the front piece in order to have more wood to screw into for the face vise (which I still haven't attached to my bench…). You could do the same on one or both ends if you wanted to do a traditional tail vise.

Overall, I'm very happy with my cheapo bench, it's been serving me well for a few months now, and if it ever gets beat to crap I can either just drop a new sheet of 1/4" ply on top or take the top off and build a new torsion box top.


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## Morton (Nov 29, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Introduction*
> 
> I am ready to replace the top of my workbench with a dead-flat Torsion box to ease assembly of future projects.
> 
> ...


@SPalm - awesome info, thanks! Most of what you wrote I was planning on already, so that is great to get confirmation. Thanks for pointing out that 2.5" is fine, I might do that. I don't plan on getting too hung up on flatness, I will do the best that I can. Love the idea of T-nuts on the inside, I was planning to double-up some areas with a small square of ply for more depth on punching through for benchdog holes. Really appreciate all the insight - great real-world info, thank you.

@Jimi_C - thanks for the link, I forward to reading through that. Glad to hear that you like it as a bench top - I hope to get the same use. Great idea doubling up the front edge - my plan was an internal 3/4 MDF with a 3/4 hardwood wrap all the way around - so a great 1.5" thick on all edges should be OK I think.


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

Morton said:


> *Introduction*
> 
> I am ready to replace the top of my workbench with a dead-flat Torsion box to ease assembly of future projects.
> 
> ...


Hey, me again.

Just a couple of notes on torsion boxes. These are engineering structures, akin to a 3D I-beam. All the components (both skins and webbing) must be securely attached to each other. i.e. Lots of glue everywhere. This is more important than the thickness of the components. Two real world versions of this are the hollow core door and an airplane wing. The components for these are very thin, yet the result is amazingly strong against flex. The torsion wing is actually stronger than a solid one, as it does not have to support all the added weight, and it even has holes in the ribbing.

So this structure will resist flex because one skin will have to compress and one will have to stretch. Again, this is very hard to do. It will dent or puncture; think kicking in a door or walking on a wing. This is why it is not used a lot for bench tops (but hey…).

So I would recommend 1/2" MDF for the ribs and bottom, with 3/4" MDF for the top. Real wood still has that dimensional problem with changes in humidity and it does not glue well with endgrain to long grain, so it is probably not the best selection for the ribs. You can even cut holes in the ribs to reduce weight (ala the wing). Add internal blocks where you are going to attach vises, legs, etc. (this is what they do in aircraft wings). Then add a loosly attached, replaceable, additional sacrificial top to beat on or drip glue on (hardboard?).

Steve


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## Morton (Nov 29, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Introduction*
> 
> I am ready to replace the top of my workbench with a dead-flat Torsion box to ease assembly of future projects.
> 
> ...


@Spalm - thanks again Steve, great info. I am planning on using 1/2" MDF throughout (ribs and skins), so that's great to get confirmation on that. I am going to have a replaceable top, hardboard. I will "fill in" the areas that may get a vice or bench dogs. Prolly won't bother punching holes in the ribs - not too concerned about weight. I may use a 3/4" MDF top, but currently am planning on 1/2" for both skins, and an additional 1/8" hardboard replaceable on top of that.

Lots of glue, check. Will use screws/nail-gun as clamps while glue dries. May even remove screws after glue sets (am I a Yankee or what?)

btw - love your idea of laminate for router top (laminate both sides)-cool, never thought of that as keeping the top flat in the same manner as a torsion box.


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## Morton (Nov 29, 2009)

*Cutting the Parts*

Today I manged to cut all the parts for the torsion box assembly table top.






I am constructing the internal grid out of 1/2" MDF. The space between grid components is 6.5". The outside of the grid is constructed from 3/4" MDF and is 6'6" by 3'. The skins are 1/2" MDF and a top of 1/8" hardboard.

I started by breaking down the MDF using my Festool TS55. I cut a clean edge, and then measured and cut a spacer stick that would be used for all the other cuts. Since all the internal grid pieces are the same height, I cut a spacer about 2.5" and used that to cut all the other pieces from the sheet of MDF. I trimmed each piece to length on my Dewalt SCMS.

Last, I ganged and cut the (2) 1/2" MDF skins and 1/8" hardboard about 1/2" oversize to allow for trimming when fully assembled.

My first ever video. I'm very happy with the results!


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

Morton said:


> *Cutting the Parts*
> 
> Today I manged to cut all the parts for the torsion box assembly table top.
> 
> ...


Morton, this is going to be a nice addition to your shop. Nice job on the video, too. This will be an interesting blog to follow.


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## Morton (Nov 29, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Cutting the Parts*
> 
> Today I manged to cut all the parts for the torsion box assembly table top.
> 
> ...


Thanks Scott!


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## SteveMI (May 19, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Cutting the Parts*
> 
> Today I manged to cut all the parts for the torsion box assembly table top.
> 
> ...


Going to follow this. Good video and just the right amount detail.

Steve.


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## brianhavens (Nov 23, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Cutting the Parts*
> 
> Today I manged to cut all the parts for the torsion box assembly table top.
> 
> ...


Somebody has a Mac  Nice use of stills and overlaid music at the beginning.


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## Morton (Nov 29, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Cutting the Parts*
> 
> Today I manged to cut all the parts for the torsion box assembly table top.
> 
> ...


Hahaha, the secret is out! Thanks - I ran around and took pics and put that together quickly as a sort of test - very fun.


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## Morton (Nov 29, 2009)

*Assembling the Grid*

Today I assembled the internal grid and attached one of the skins.






I started by taking off the current workbench top, and leveling the top of the base. The top rests on two aprons that run end-to-end; one at the front and one at the back. I used hardwood shims (from a previous project) to adjust 3 of the legs and level the 2 apron pieces both left-to-right and to each other (front to back).

I then placed (2) 2×4s, which had been jointed and planed, on top of the aprons, the same as the torsion box will rest. I placed one of the 1/2" MDF skins on top of those to use as a surface to assembly the grid. I again checked that the skin was flat and level.

I later found that the middle of the MDF was sagging (only supported by the two 2×4 rails) and I then placed (4) 2×4 the other way to more fully support the MDF. It didn't end up causing any problems (so far).

I started with the exterior 3/4" MDF pieces and joined those with glue and brad nails, keeping each joint square, to create the exterior rectangle of the torsion box. I then started gluing and nailing the (4) small 1/2" MDF pieces, and then the 1/2" MDF cross piece. I worked my way across the box in the same manner.

I used a speed square and some home-built squares to align each piece as I glued and nailed. However, the internal grid is not particularly square (each small square isn't 90 at each corner). Luckily, that doesn't seem to matter.

Finally the grid was complete. I tested each joint with my finger and used a block plane to knock down any height difference (just a couple of extremely light strokes). I then liberally spread glue on the whole thing, placed the 1/2" MDF skin on top and brad-nailed the top down along each row and outer edge.

The moment of truth: I brought out my Lee Valley straight edge and feeler gauges. The most dip I could find was about .005 inches. *I'm extremely pleased with that!*


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

Morton said:


> *Assembling the Grid*
> 
> Today I assembled the internal grid and attached one of the skins.
> 
> ...


Morton, it looks like you are making pretty good progress with the box.


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## charlton (Jan 24, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Assembling the Grid*
> 
> Today I assembled the internal grid and attached one of the skins.
> 
> ...


Looking good. One thing I never understood was why Marc used this method for building the torsion box. I did the same thing but in hindsight, I wouldn't bother with cutting the little pieces. I would just use a dado to cut slots in the pieces to make center lap joints instead. I bet this is much more accurate. I found toe-nailing to be a pain just as you found and it sometimes caused the already thin 1/2 MDF to split.


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## jlsmith5963 (Mar 26, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Assembling the Grid*
> 
> Today I assembled the internal grid and attached one of the skins.
> 
> ...


Charlton
Marc's method comes straight from his mentor David Marks (as he demonstrated on his show Wood Works) and I never really understood it either. To each their own I suppose.


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## DerekL (Aug 18, 2008)

Morton said:


> *Assembling the Grid*
> 
> Today I assembled the internal grid and attached one of the skins.
> 
> ...


This method is preferred (by some) because cutting out all the little bits is a fairly straightforward task - while cutting that many joints and ensuring that they all line up precisely is a tedious, painstaking, and potentially error prone one.


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## charlton (Jan 24, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Assembling the Grid*
> 
> Today I assembled the internal grid and attached one of the skins.
> 
> ...


Fair enough…though I still think that a dado set to 1/2" and a little setup similar to what you would use for making box joints on a table saw/router table would be fairly accurate. As jlsmith says, to each his/her own, I guess.


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## Morton (Nov 29, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Assembling the Grid*
> 
> Today I assembled the internal grid and attached one of the skins.
> 
> ...


I will add that cutting the small pieces was super easy at the chop saw, and very accurate. Assembly with toe-nailing and handling all the small pieces was a bit tedious, but in reality did not take long. The toe-nailing went poorly, hardly holding at all, but it was enough to get the next cross piece in where I could get more nails. The whole grid is quite rigid now. And as noted, it turned out to be very accurate.

So, I'm quite happy with this method - I would prefer it over doing dados myself - for me it was pretty quick and very accurate.


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## SteveMI (May 19, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Assembling the Grid*
> 
> Today I assembled the internal grid and attached one of the skins.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the insight on adapting the grid design to the gun size. I would imagine you only have to vary the spacers distance and still keep the main supports at the same distance.

Steve.


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## Morton (Nov 29, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Assembling the Grid*
> 
> Today I assembled the internal grid and attached one of the skins.
> 
> ...


@SteveMI - I haven't done much torsion-box research as to why it's so stable, but I'm not sure if you can offset the small pieces - my guess is that they have to align; to form straight rows. Some internet research might reveal an answer to that.


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## Jimi_C (Jul 17, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Assembling the Grid*
> 
> Today I assembled the internal grid and attached one of the skins.
> 
> ...


That's why I stapled my short pieces for my bench top. Toe nailing seemed like a pain, so I just used staples to hold them in place till I glued it.


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## dlmckirdy (Oct 27, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Assembling the Grid*
> 
> Today I assembled the internal grid and attached one of the skins.
> 
> ...


I don't think the short pieces really need to be in all that straight of a line. If you have ever taken a hollow core dore apart, it is stiffened with strips of corrugated cardboard set on edge, which aren't placed particularly neatly. These doors will stay straight and true for many years.

When I was an Airframe Repairman in the Army in Vietnam, the walkways on top of the Huey helicopters, all aircraft decks, and Jet Ranger bodies (fuselages) were two parallel aluminum sheets filled with an aluminum honecombed heavy foil. The biggest problem with these was adhesive failure between the skin and the honeycomb, creating voids, which compromised the panel's strength.

It should not matter much how the internal web is assembled, so long as it is firmly adhered to the skins. I would use a good glue and use brads to hold the skin down while the glue dries.

I was also thinking that for a workbench top, a 1/2 inch work surface might be too fragile. I think I would use two 3/4 inch MDF or plywood sheets for the top of the box so that you have some flex strength in the skin so as not to break the adhesive bond. I like the torsion box idea for the bench top, especially if it is to double as an assembly table.


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## Morton (Nov 29, 2009)

*Finishing the Box*

I put on both skins, the hardboard top and even picked out some rough-sawn cherry to finish the project!

http://blip.tv/play/hO9GgbaLEQA

I created 3/4" plywood squares to just fit inside of the torsion grid. I placed a row of them in line with my front vice in order to have more depth for potential bench dogs (1/2" MDF + 3/4" Plywood). I also attached a double stack (1.5") to the bottom skin, where the bench vice lag bolts will attach. This should give plenty of support for those pieces.

I glued and clamped all of those internal filler blocks, and then screwed from the *outer* side of the skin to hold while the glue dried. Once the glue was dry, I took out the screws. I not only wanted to save screws (hey, they cost money!), but I didn't want metal in there when I go to drill for dogs and the vice.

I glued on the other skin to finish the torsion box itself. The bottom skin was not as flat as the top, probably because the grid wasn't perfectly flat on the bottom as I worked from the top. I trimmed the skin flush to the sides with the router and flipped the box back upright.

I checked the top again and found about .010 dip in the center at some places. I had previously found only .005, but either I missed checking some areas or things shifted slightly. I still think that's pretty damn flat.

I put on the hardboard with drilled+counter-sinked screws, probably about 20. Checking for flat, it was definitely worse. So, I took it back off to re-check the 1/2" MDF skin and it was fine. I noticed on the bottom of the hardboard that where I had drilled through, there were dimples around the drill hole from punching through. So I took a sanding block and knocked those down. Placing the hardboard back down and re-attaching, it was much better; only .010 out - the same as the 1/2" MDF skin.

I got started on milling the lumber for the final edging. I have a nice stack of Cherry that was milled out of trees from my property - this is the first project I'm getting to use them! I chose a few of the pieces near the top of the air-dried stack, so they are pretty badly twisted. It was a challenge to mill them (I'm pretty new at that too) - but I made some good progress and got them ready to attach.

Next up is the final trimming and finish!


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

Morton said:


> *Finishing the Box*
> 
> I put on both skins, the hardboard top and even picked out some rough-sawn cherry to finish the project!
> 
> ...


This is coming along nicely, Morton. The cherry trim will give this box a nice look. You could easily just let is go as is, but adding the cherry will give it a nice finished look. I have come to appreciate that look in shop furniture and accessories.


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## Ger21 (Oct 29, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Finishing the Box*
> 
> I put on both skins, the hardboard top and even picked out some rough-sawn cherry to finish the project!
> 
> ...


Best way to remove the dimples when drilling through, is to countersink the back side a small amount. This gives a bit of room for any dimple in the board below to go into.


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## Morton (Nov 29, 2009)

*Final Thoughts*

I've completed the torsion box workbench top!

http://blip.tv/play/hO9GgbeEPgA

I milled the cherry boards using my jointer and planer and finished with a little hand-planing to remove the mill marks. I attached them using screws, keeping them flush with the top surface. Even so, I had to hand plane the cherry top in some places because it was a little higher than the table top.

I counter-sunk and counter-bore the screws, leaving a 3/8" diameter hole. I used a plug cutter to create some plugs from birch that also came from our property. It was straightforward to plug all the screw holes and then flush-saw and block-plane them smooth.

I took one last pass with the router and a chamfer bit to add about a 1/8" chamfer to the top edge of the cherry. I then did some hand sanding on all the cherry, up to 220. I rounded over all the edges so I won't get cut or snag anything.

I did add a support leg near my vice since it's very heavy and had bowed the previous top. I don't think there's any concern about bowing this time (torsion box!), but no harm adding an extra leg to help bear the weight on both sides of the vice.

I finished the top with 2 coats of shellac and a coat of paste wax. It was easy to apply and makes the whole piece really shine!

I had an awesome time building this project and look forward to building future projects *on* it! Please leave me any comments, questions or thoughts. I'd love to hear from you especially if you have something like this or plan on making something similar.


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## davidroberts (Nov 8, 2008)

Morton said:


> *Final Thoughts*
> 
> I've completed the torsion box workbench top!
> 
> ...


Beautiful table. I bet you beam with pride every time you walk into the shop. I have learned that dead flat is one leg of the holy trinity of woodworking, the other two being dead square and dead straight. I think you used the same type of pulls I used recently. I picked them up on clearance at Lowe's. $8 pulls for $2 something. Thanks for sharing.


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## studie (Oct 14, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Final Thoughts*
> 
> I've completed the torsion box workbench top!
> 
> ...


That looks great & what a tidy shop you have! I'm still needing to build a bench & want to make a new fangled bench like Dave Pruits on thefoldingruleblogspot. Nice work!


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

Morton said:


> *Final Thoughts*
> 
> I've completed the torsion box workbench top!
> 
> ...


Morton, this turned out to be a nice addition to your shop. You documented the construction well and it has been fun to tag along on this one.

Thanks for sharing this.


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## rcs47 (Oct 31, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Final Thoughts*
> 
> I've completed the torsion box workbench top!
> 
> ...


Great Job! Now you can put all that hard work to use. Thanks for sharing.

Doug


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## king (Aug 5, 2007)

Morton said:


> *Final Thoughts*
> 
> I've completed the torsion box workbench top!
> 
> ...


Great job,I enjoyed your video also.


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## dlmckirdy (Oct 27, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Final Thoughts*
> 
> I've completed the torsion box workbench top!
> 
> ...


After all the discussion on the(maybe real and percieved) pros and cons of a torsion box for a workbench top, I would like to here from you about how it is really working after a short (and extended) time.

It looks great! Hope it works as good as it looks, because I want to copy it.


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## griff (Feb 6, 2008)

Morton said:


> *Final Thoughts*
> 
> I've completed the torsion box workbench top!
> 
> ...


Great job, I enjoyed all the videos.


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## randyb (Apr 16, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Final Thoughts*
> 
> I've completed the torsion box workbench top!
> 
> ...


I Really like you table, it turned out great! I want to build one of these. what is the dimensions of the top?


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Morton said:


> *Final Thoughts*
> 
> I've completed the torsion box workbench top!
> 
> ...


Glad you had fun that's what it's all about . Good job.


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## Morton (Nov 29, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Final Thoughts*
> 
> I've completed the torsion box workbench top!
> 
> ...


@randyb - I made it 3' x 6' 6" (or just about). That was essentially the size of the top I was replacing, and what works in the space that I have.


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## Dchip (Jun 30, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Final Thoughts*
> 
> I've completed the torsion box workbench top!
> 
> ...


Sorry I'm a little late to the show, but I have been investigating torsion boxes in preparation for my own. First off, thanks for the videos, they will help in my future construction. My question is about the vise on the torsion box. I noticed that it sits below the top of the table due to the thickness of the top. Has this caused any problems with the vise function, or have face plates rectified this discrepancy? Thanks again.
Dan


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## Morton (Nov 29, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Final Thoughts*
> 
> I've completed the torsion box workbench top!
> 
> ...


Dan-GREAT timing as I'm about to change that vice. It does currently sit below the surface and that is very very annoying 

So, I'm about to try to retro fit it to be level with the top (or at least very close). Not sure how easy or hard this will be. I did fill in the torsion box in that area for the lag bolts, so I suspect that I can use the router to make a recess for the vice to slot into, essentially raising it a couple of inches (and insetting the back faceplate).

I'll try to take some video - thanks for pointing this out!


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## Morton (Nov 29, 2009)

*Front Vice*

http://blip.tv/play/hO9GgeaQOwA

The Assembly Table has been in great use for the last months. It's awesome to have a perfectly flat reference surface on which to assemble projects.



However, one problem I've had since I replaced the top is the front vice. My old top was 1.5" thick and the front vice was level with the top. The new torsion box top is thicker (about 4") and so the top of the vice sits about 2" below the table top. That makes it near impossible to clamp many things and work from the top. In addition, the vice dog isn't high enough to be above the table top, rendering it useless.

Also, the back jaw of the vice is just bolted to the top's cherry edging and therefore it's proud of the front edge. This is the same as it was on the previous top, but I want to fix that and make it inline with the tabletop's front edge for clamping longer boards.

So, I took the time to recess the front vice both vertically and horizontally. I needed to raise it about 1.5" into the torsion box and .5" back from the front.

I unscrewed the torsion box top from the base and flipped the whole thing over. I then traced where I needed to remove material and measured exactly how much I wanted to remove in both directions. I took off the vice, which is attached with 2 bolts from below and 2 screws into the back jaw.



I started with the the front piece. Using my Lie-Nielsen carcass saw, I cut through the cherry edging, which surrounds the torsion box MDF. The small piece I removed wasn't attached at all (the screws were on either side), so it popped off no problem. It turns out that it's thickness was exactly what I needed to remove, so I lucked out there not needing to add or remove any more material from the front edge.

I started using the router to remove material from below, but with 1.5" to go and a large area, that was going to take awhile. So, I switched over to a drill and forstner bit to remove the bulk of the MDF (skin) and plywood (filler blocks in the torsion box). That went well, and then I could use the router from there to clean up the recess.



I used a flush trim bit and freehanded the first couple of passes to my pencil lines before the bearing got low enough to follow my first passes. One mistake I made at this point was that I went all around the outside first, which meant that as I went lower, I had no support for the router base to get to the middle section. Instead I should have gone front to back, getting to full depth - which would have left material behind the router to support the base. In any case, I was able to chisel out the middle section which wasn't a big deal.

With material removed, I placed the vice into the hole. I got it as close to 90 degrees to the top as I could. It's now sitting just below the hardboard top and just about inline with the front cherry edge. I added some leather to the back jaw and a piece of cherry to the front jaw. I'm definitely looking forward to lots of great use with the new position!


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## jstegall (Oct 9, 2008)

Morton said:


> *Front Vice*
> 
> http://blip.tv/play/hO9GgeaQOwA
> 
> ...


It looks very well done.


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## woody57 (Jan 6, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Front Vice*
> 
> http://blip.tv/play/hO9GgeaQOwA
> 
> ...


That is a very fine table you made and I like the way you have attached the vise. You should get many years of use out of this and it will make the work more enjoyable. Thanks for the post. I might have to make one of these for myself.


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## davidroberts (Nov 8, 2008)

Morton said:


> *Front Vice*
> 
> http://blip.tv/play/hO9GgeaQOwA
> 
> ...


Nice job. Really nice videos. I'm still working off the old double 3/4" plywood top that I mounted the vice without recess. I have wanted to recess that vice since I installed it.


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## wstokes (Mar 20, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Front Vice*
> 
> http://blip.tv/play/hO9GgeaQOwA
> 
> ...


Nice job, inspiring.  You also have a great vice!


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

Morton said:


> *Front Vice*
> 
> http://blip.tv/play/hO9GgeaQOwA
> 
> ...


Sweet. That is a really nice modification. Mounting vises is harder than it looks.

You done good,
Steve


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Morton said:


> *Front Vice*
> 
> http://blip.tv/play/hO9GgeaQOwA
> 
> ...


well done


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## bigike (May 25, 2009)

Morton said:


> *Front Vice*
> 
> http://blip.tv/play/hO9GgeaQOwA
> 
> ...


nice job.


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