Sewing Table

[Billedis]

Attached is the sewing table I made for my wife for Christmas.  I used 18mm prefinished both sides Birch plywood and poplar face frames and raised panel drawer fronts.  I planed the poplar to 13/16".  The drawers are 1/2" poplar that I planed, dovetailed, and used Blum full extension soft close undermount drawer guides.  Finish on the poplar is just hand applied satin polyurethane, 6 coats, sanding with 320 between each 2nd coat, then applying Briwax with OOOO steel wool. 

The airlift was purchased from Rockler, and the clear acrylic insert my wife got from a sewing company.  I just routed the opening down 1/4" to allow the insert to set flush. 

Thanks for looking.  Bill

 

[Holmz]

Nice!

I am gathering ideas...
What did you use for castors? And how are they attached?

 

[Billedis]

[member=40772]Holmz[/member]  I purchased the casters from CasterCity.com.  They have saddles that fit over the 18mm ply.  I had to drill 3/8" holes into the plywood and tap the receivers into the hole, then put the caster in.  They are soft rubber so they will not damage the cork floor that I put down.

I called the folks at Caster City and they are very helpful and I had the casters in 2 days from Las Vegas. 

Bill

 

[Peter_C]

Far better looking setup than the ugly industrial metal bench my Brother sewing machine sits on. Nice job!

 

[dltflt]

That is very nice.

 

[bronco71]

The trade off with my wife was that if I get festool, she gets bernina.

 

[Peter_C]

The trade off with my wife was that if I get festool, she gets bernina.

Which Bernina did she get? I just checked them out. Very nice machines, but they appear to be mostly for clothing and quilting. Some of the features they offer are pretty crazy! The only feature I wish mine really had would be self threading the needle. Otherwise with auto-cut, knee release, and plenty of power, I am happy with my current machine.

 

[bronco71]

The trade off with my wife was that if I get festool, she gets bernina.

Which Bernina did she get? I just checked them out. Very nice machines, but they appear to be mostly for clothing and quilting. Some of the features they offer are pretty crazy! The only feature I wish mine really had would be self threading the needle. Otherwise with auto-cut, knee release, and plenty of power, I am happy with my current machine.

I will check when I get home. Cost about $700, before all the accessories we added. It was the recommendation of a long time family friend who has been quilting for 30 or 40 years. It is a VERY well built machine. Having learned woodworking on a $100 tablesaw I didn't want to buy her a cheap machine and get frustrated and lose interest as I almost did when I first started.

 

[demographic]

The trade off with my wife was that if I get festool, she gets bernina.

My wife used to work in a sewing machine shop so used to see all the trade in machines.
Consequently we have two Berninas and she fully understands that I value good quality tools as well.

 

[ali]

Absolutely beautiful work there, thanks for posting. I will be building a new sewing machine table this year so didn't realise the airlift existed (I am in the UK) but was thinking alongside similar lines.

Nice long bed and excellent looking drawers for all the accessories, bobbins, needles and threads.

Not a criticism of your work but what in the leg room like when seated? Sitting down and sewing for long periods can get uncomfortable so was planning on open back. A footstool could help your wife too

 

[mirock]

Need to show my wife... not now... in the spring...

 

[Holmz]

[member=27901]Billedis[/member] - I looked at the castorcity site,and there are hundreds.
Do you have the numbers for the castor holders?

 

[Tinker]

That is a nice job.  I want to do something like that for my wife but she has decided to not do anymore quilting.  I guess I should have done it a long time ago.
Tinker

 

[Billedis]

[member=40772]Holmz[/member] The caster clip is CC34, and the caster is TWN-GR2X-GN1.

The machine is a Brother and cost about $4,000.

I made the height my wife wanted and there is plenty of knee room, and the machine control sits on the floor.  The main table is 22"x72" and the fold up/down table is 20"x72".

I used blum full extension soft close undermount drawer slides.

Thanks for your interest.  Bill

 

[Peter_C]

With the airlift installed, can a knee lift be used? That is one of the handiest features on industrial machines, or at least I think so. Push out on the knee and the foot lifts, leaving both hands free to spin the material and release it exactly where you want it.

 

[Billedis]

I don't know how much room you need, but the airlift takes only about 4" at the back of the cabinet so that would leave you about 18" from front of the cabinet to the airlift.

 

[Holmz]

With the airlift installed, can a knee lift be used? That is one of the handiest features on industrial machines, or at least I think so. Push out on the knee and the foot lifts, leaving both hands free to spin the material and release it exactly where you want it.

Do you have a link?

Those Rockler jobs are back ordered anyhow.

[member=40772]Holmz[/member] The caster clip is CC34, and the caster is TWN-GR2X-GN1.
...

Thanks Bill

 

[Billedis]

[member=40772]Holmz[/member] What link are you needing?  Bill

 

[Peter_C]

[member=40772]Holmz[/member] What link are you needing?  Bill

He quoted me, but the only thing I can think of is he got confused with my terms of "air lift" vs "knee lift".

Commercial machines have "knee lifts" on them to speed production. You can see my hand pushing the knee lift to the right, which lifts the presser foot.

Edit: Failing to post pictures right side up and I couldn't get it full sized, so...

 

[Holmz]

Yeah [member=50292]Peter_C[/member] it was knee lift.

I am now guessing that this is part of the machine rather than a separate lift?