sheet good table, 4x8 or 2 smaller

[treesner]

hey guys trying to get my track saw sheet good (4x8 and 5x5) cutting off the floor. I have a 2.5 car garage and thinking this would go in the middle of the shop and used as outfeed table for table saw and glue up station.

would you go 4x8 for table saw, smaller? or would you do 2 separate 4x3.5' tables? That way you could like walk between them but still put a big sheet across it. I see them being on locking casters as well

 

[Sparktrician]

Suggest that you consider making a really cheap, sacrificial cutting grid of 2 x 4s from the 'Borg.  Join the pieces using lap joints and screw them together from the bottom so you don't hit screw heads with the saw. 

 

[sancho57]

Couple Of saw horses w 2x4s will work used them for a long time until I got my 2nd MFT or if you have a MFAt the extension table with some ply 4 ft long and some 20mm dowls that you can stick in the dog hole would work to I did it that way for a while to

 

[hdv]

Veritas has great platform saddles that come in handy for a portable saw stand when combined with some lengths of lumber. See this page. I use them quite often and think they are wonderful.

 

[Imemiter]

I made one almost exactly like Willy's in a 42"x84". I was going to leave it collapsible, but came to my senses and glued it together with Gorilla Glue. It's been rock solid and plenty big enough for sheets. The next time I make one it'll be 40x76 and cedar to make it lighter.

 

[treesner]

Suggest that you consider making a really cheap, sacrificial cutting grid of 2 x 4s from the 'Borg.  Join the pieces using lap joints and screw them together from the bottom so you don't hit screw heads with the saw.

that does seem nice but I want to be able to put elevated cookies for jig saw cutting and I think I want dog holes for track saw guides

 

[treesner]

hey guys I dont want a portable solution I'd like to allocate space in my shop for cutting sheet goods all the time.

 

[hdv]

Make a bench with an MFT-like top and use the platform saddles to prevent your saw from cutting into the top?

 

[sancho57]

hey guys I dont want a portable solution I'd like to allocate space in my shop for cutting sheet goods all the time.

So cut up some 4x4s for legs, 2x4 for a apron and cross members set a couple of sheets of MDF on it screww the MDF to the cross members get a sheet of hard foam insulation Oh say  1 1/2"-2" thick set it on the MDF and call it good

 

[treesner]

hey guys I dont want a portable solution I'd like to allocate space in my shop for cutting sheet goods all the time.

So cut up some 4x4s for legs, 2x4 for a apron and cross members set a couple of sheets of MDF on it screww the MDF to the cross members get a sheet of hard foam insulation Oh say  1 1/2"-2" thick set it on the MDF and call it good

sorry what I was trying to get feedback on is whether people like having a huge 4x8 table or 2 smaller tables for this type of work.

 

[JohnnyEgo]

Because nearly every tool I own needs to be rolled somewhere when my wife wants to park in the garage, I made a knock-down 4x8 cutting table out of 2x material.  When I needed a bigger table, I just put pieces of cheap plywood on it and screwed them into place.  In that sense, it does everything I want and then some.  However, when it does come time to replace this, I won't go 4x8 again.  It's too wide.  Awkward for clamping material that isn't full length or width.  Takes up a lot of space.  I don't have experience using two smaller tables, but I have been contemplating moving to that approach with some miter stands.

Anyways, the current set-up I've been using for the last 5 or 6 years:

You can get a feel for the limitations I describe when watching my son helping me cut short parts for his desk. This is what prompted me to switch to a sacrificial holey system as a replacement.

 

[cubevandude]

I am making a 5X9 Table made out of three 3X5 tops.  I still have to drill the 20mm holes.  This will allow me to use dogs to keep everything perfectly square.  I've been wanting to make it for a while and the new toughbuilt sawhorses are perfect as you can set it low for cutting and high for working.  It is self squaring once you install all three tops.

 

[sancho57]

[member=57611]treesner[/member]

If ya dont want a portable solution take some 4x4 cut them for the legs, 2x4s for the apron, 2 sheets of MDF for the tops and cut away if ya want put a shelf or some cabinets underneath for storage. You can add dog holes or anything ya want to it.

I suggest got with 4x8 MDF

Simple

 

[mkasdin]

I’m planning on building a MFT top with 80/20 (20/20) extrusion. The top might just end up on two large shop made carts. You can also use a door slab, they are generally flat on (Dewalt) sawhorses and store easily.

 

[nclemmons]

An alternative and inexpensive way to deal with this - make a 2x4 MFT top on a mobile base.  Then buy four 80:20 extrusions and use them as extensions from the table top for holding larger pieces.  I have four 4' MFT extrusions of the 1 1/2" 80:20 material with sacrificial strips screwed on the sides.  Those then are captive with carriage bolts through MFT holes and extend out from the mobile base.  They cantilever out from the top and give very good support. The sacrificial strips are there for any saw cuts through the pieces you are cutting to stay shy of the aluminum rails. 

Works great with plenty of flexibility to go from 4x2 to 4x4 up to almost 4x8.  Inexpensive and flexible, plus mobile.

Food for thought. 

 

[cperren]

My flip top table as shown below has work well in my 3 car garage. - Chris

 

[AnthonyE]

I am actually in the process of designing and building something similar for my shop.  I too am looking for a permanent shop bench, outfeed table, assembly table that doubles as a larger MFT style table.  I am basically going to be building a torsion box top that has 15 series 80/20 that is 4.5" wide bolted to long sides of the table. My design is going to be 3' x 6' and will be using the Dashboard guide rail brackets mounted to the 80/20. The table top will have a bottom sheet of plywood that extends 1.5" past the torsion assembly that the 80/20 will sit on and be bolted to the aprons of the top. This torsion assembly will be topped with an MDF sheet drilled out using the Parf Mark 2 guide system and serve as a large crosscutting station as well. 

I personally didn't want a 4x8 bench just because cross cutting on this size of bench would be awkward and it also would take up too much space.  I figure that this size will still easily support a full sheet of plywood while breaking it down. I will just need to put down a piece of thin insulation when doing my rough cutting so as not to cut the top of the bench prematurely.

I also do not want a portable bench and understand you want to use this bench for other jobs like assemblies and outfeed.

If you do a google search for MFT style outfeed tables you will come up with endless design options.

 

[rjboch]

I guess there are a million ways to build a table. I built a torsion top that measures about 60"x72". I used two quality sheets of 3/4 ply and 2 sheets of MDF from a local shop here in San Diego. For my needs, it's the perfect out-feed table, table for cutting down sheet goods, and assembly table. Importantly, it's flat and solid. Other highlights include: multiple coats of poly to seal top, dog holes (used Festool 20mm boring bit, LR32 plate and track), and adjustable feet. I also constructed one end to eventually hold a router lift and fence.

 

[sancho57]

hey guys I dont want a portable solution I'd like to allocate space in my shop for cutting sheet goods all the time.

So cut up some 4x4s for legs, 2x4 for a apron and cross members set a couple of sheets of MDF on it screww the MDF to the cross members get a sheet of hard foam insulation Oh say  1 1/2"-2" thick set it on the MDF and call it good

@ treesner

For cutting I use te STM1800, How ever I will be setting up a new shop soon. Im looking at different options.
1) jointing my 3 MFTs together for a assembly table/ work table set up my vaccuum use it for domino ing edge banding etc.

2) Building a 4x8 work station and include a miter saw saw station. With storage underneath for systainers for various operations and set 2 of the MFTs up  against the wall as a vac station for edge banding , LR 32, dominoing etc etc

sorry what I was trying to get feedback on is whether people like having a huge 4x8 table or 2 smaller tables for this type of work.

 

[afish]

For what its worth I started with the toughbuilt sawhorses and 2x4 setup and quickly upgraded to a 4x8 MFT style bench/outfeed. Nothing fancy just a sheet of 18mm russian birch ply ripped up screwed together with a MDF top and a parf guide MKII.  It worked well and allowed cross cutting wide panels accurately.  However with the addition of some new rather large equipment it is just to big. So I have started to think of different options.  I'm thinking a couple folding MFT's similar to the chestnut table with a few modifications would be best for my needs. However, they will be mostly used as assembly tables and not used so much for cutting. If you need to do a lot of large repeatable accurate cuts then one big table is probably better.  So it kind of depends on your situation and what you will be using it for. Best suggestion I can give is if your unsure Start with a 4x8 but dont get crazy with 1000 dollars worth of 80/20 just build something cheap and live with it for awhile that way if your needs change or you decide to change something its not a big deal.