Len’s Torsion Box Assembly Table

Viewer Project -
Added on October 26, 2010

Finish Used: Water based poly and wax

Wood Species: Birch plywood and Alder/Cherry trim

The primary variants from your own video and other viewer projects I’ve seen are :

Designed a rolling open cabinet base using 4 inch poly casters.

Used birch plywood from HD to reduce weight over MDF.

Torsion box spacers alternate for easy brad gun use; assembly of base is entirely with confirmat screws and no glue allowing disassembly if ever desired.

The table is 36 x 72 inches with 32 inch height.

Discussion

David October 26, 2010 12:10 pm

Very nice. Also, that has to be one of the cleanest shops I’ve seen. Though, I’ll admit I’ve only seen about 20 or so. :)

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Bryan Huot October 26, 2010 12:33 pm

That thing would be perfect for a ‘WORKBENCH DERBY’….think overly heavy workbenches on small castors ripping down a hill while you create a plume of shavings leaving the other competitors literaly in your sawdust…..oh the fun that could be had!

Great work on the torsion box, it looks great, seems really functional, and like I said would make a great derby vehicle!

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Sawdust and Steel October 26, 2010 1:22 pm

Very nice.. I have this on my list of “to build”. I will have to borrow your design if you don’t mind.

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Sawdust and Paper scraps October 26, 2010 2:08 pm

Nice! I need to make one and clean up my shop!!!

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David Allred October 26, 2010 2:22 pm

Great Job, looks like a great addition to your shop. I need to build one of these but I just don’t have the room right now to do so.

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Brian October 26, 2010 2:50 pm

Looks good, where’d you get the casters?

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Chad Tennant October 26, 2010 3:07 pm

great idea to make it mobile. Everything in the workshop should be mobile.

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Eric R October 26, 2010 3:18 pm

Great job Len
You’ll get a lot of use out of that!
Thanks Marc.

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Eric Rata October 26, 2010 4:52 pm

Nicely done! I really like the alternate spacers — specifically how they eliminate the need for toenailing. Great job!

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GLenn October 26, 2010 4:53 pm

RE pic #2, now we know why the shop is so clean; He sleeps out there! (mattress in the background…)

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Greg October 26, 2010 5:18 pm

I really like this version of the assembly table. Any idea how far you could span with the top alone. IE I’ve been thinking about building torsion box side tables mounted to the wall for my chop saw with a 6′ long roll out assembly table beneath. Great job!

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Larry Clinton October 26, 2010 7:57 pm

Very nice, Len. I was curious, how good are the brakes on your casters. I’d love to be able to move my workbench around if necessary but I wouldn’t want it to roll at the wrong time. What I have now is just a table with a shelf underneath. It’s plenty sturdy but doesn’t move. Something like you have there would be real good with more organized storage underneath than just a big shelf like I have now.
Thanx for the inspiration!

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Ben October 26, 2010 9:01 pm

I’d be interested to know the engineering differences between the offset torsion style and a regular, lined-up grid style like the one Marc did–are there performance differences? Would a hexagonal pattern have even better performance?

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ejh October 26, 2010 10:33 pm

Nice SR-71 picture.

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Len October 26, 2010 10:55 pm

Thank you folks for the favorable comments. I always clean the shop before photo day! The casters (4 inch polyurethane) were purchased from Timber Woodworking in Mesa, Az. for about $35 for all 4. The 2nd best price I found was Grizzly and after that Rockler. The table stays rock solid stable when the casters are locked due to weight and wheel size / type. The FWW folks were correct about this in Issue #190.

The workbench derby idea sounds interesting…… provided the beer required is also of craft quality and somehow there is a soft landing at the end.

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Len October 26, 2010 11:09 pm

GLenn: Sorry but thats not a mattress, just my old kitchen tablecloth collection over a board & sawhorses for staining and finishing :)
Larry: The brakes are the double lock kind, frinction for rolling and spline feature for sway, and seem to work fine for normal leaning pressure on the table. I haven’t tried to force it to move though as in some sort of collision with another rolling machine.
Ben: A Hex grid would have diminishing return on stiffness vs effort to construct, as long as the “cell size” is the same, i.e. about 8 inch dimension. The resistance to the table bending or sagging comes primarily from the upper and lower skins not being allowed to “shear” or slip horizontally relative to each other due to honeycomb. (My inner engineer talking)

Len

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- Larry Clinton October 27, 2010 3:50 am
  
  Hey Len,
  I was more referring to it moving when you lean against it than anything else so those sound like a winner.
  
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Mike M October 27, 2010 5:49 am

Nicely done! May it serve you for many successfull sawdust making projects!

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Claude Stewart October 27, 2010 6:55 am

I could see that sitting in my shop.

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Jeff October 27, 2010 7:59 am

Len – I won’t show you photos of my shop! Nice work and I wish I had the room you have as well as the clean floor.

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chris k October 27, 2010 8:47 am

You did a great job and it looks very sturdy. It should give you a long time of use.

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Kevin Ross October 27, 2010 9:22 am

Looks awesome man. That project is one that is on the list of ToDo’s for me!!!

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Gary October 27, 2010 9:39 am

Very nice torsion box assembly table. I wonder about the lower portion sagging in the middle because it is spanning 76″.

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Len October 27, 2010 11:53 am

Gary: The bottom panel is actually about 68 inch long and is a single thickness of 3/4 ply. I was initially concerned about sag also but the “center vertical web” that runs the full length as 1 piece provides excellent stiffness, with a little help from the 4.5 inch high rails running parallel on either side at the bottom. The center web is securely screwed to the bottom panel and will not allow it to bend end to end. It would permit diagonal warping however as you roll across an uneven floor and 1 corner wants to droop or elevate relative to the other three. This warping gets minimized by firmly attaching the base to the torsion box top section. Overall it ends up being pretty solid.

Len

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- Gary October 28, 2010 6:34 am
  
  Good. Looks very nice as well as functional.
  
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Justin October 27, 2010 1:59 pm

Great job! Bet you will enjoy that for years to come!

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Simon October 28, 2010 3:55 am

Aaahh the torsion box the cause of my epiphany – nice example

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Drew October 28, 2010 11:31 am

cool table! I’ll build one like that someday…

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Patricia Tuttle October 28, 2010 11:43 am

This is awesome … how many hours did it take to complete?

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Len October 28, 2010 10:46 pm

Patricia: I’m sorry but I didn’t keep track of my hours. It was relatively fast because all joints in the case were just butt joints, no dados, thanks to the heavy duty Confirmat screws used for joining. They are great in stopping pullout in plywood /MDF / etc and also have a thick neck to carry shear loads across the joint, hence no dado needed. The other time saver was the brad gun, I used this project as an excuse to buy one and I enjoyed the speed it allowed for glue-up assemblys.

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scott October 29, 2010 2:01 am

Looks good.

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Charlie October 29, 2010 1:30 pm

Excellent look and practical with the wheels etc. Has anyone done this type application but added a vacumn unit so that you would have an assembly table with the benefit of the vacumn? Could it be done by adding large diameter holes to each of the off-set deviders and of course in the top?

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nateswoodworks October 29, 2010 6:14 pm

Your bench looks great, lots of projects in it’s future.
Nate

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Rex October 29, 2010 6:38 pm

Very nice, I need to make something like this to make concrete counter tops for the new kitchen we are putting in. It has to be sturdy and level. This should do the trick. Then I can use it for all my other woodworking projects.

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Jim October 29, 2010 8:36 pm

Great job Len. I’ve used the alternate box assembly in the past and it works & holds up just fine. I love wheels. 95% of my shop is on wheels. Been using the Woodcraft brand. Your assembly looks great. :-)

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MICHAEL DENNY October 30, 2010 7:45 am

Great simple sturdy design. I see it as a great addition to any shop that does not have an assembly table. Let me know where the race will be held! I’m thinking about a 6 hp engine on mine.

Mike

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Dino October 30, 2010 8:49 am

Like the casters and how they’re attached. Also like the rounded corners. In my tight garage shop I’m always tripping over stuff and kicking corners. I like the torsion box idea too. I’m putting this on my to-make list.

Thanks

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Jim Crockett October 30, 2010 9:46 am

Very nice workbench that should serve you well for many years. Like some of the other responders, I wondered how well secured the bench was with the wheels locked. Sounds like you have tested and found it to be very secure.

Great job!

Jim

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Rob Cottle November 4, 2010 9:55 am

I has many others would love to have a torsion box portable work bench in a clean shop. I like the idea of the casters, I plan on making everything in my shop portable because of size. Great work and this will be on my todo list.

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R.A. November 20, 2012 1:11 pm

OK..I’m a beginner, got a fairly complete shop but I do need a better work/assembly table..I’ve never heard of a “torsion table”. Can someone explain that for me please?
Thanks.

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- thewoodwhisperer November 20, 2012 2:06 pm
  
  Check this out: http://www.thewoodwhisperer.co.....rsion-box/
  
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  - R.A. November 20, 2012 2:38 pm
    
    Thanks Marc. Great video. Love this site!
    
    Reply
shotgunn October 3, 2013 6:06 am

Hello Len,

Great looking table! What type of clear coat did you use on the hardboard top?

Thanx,

shotgunn

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- Len October 8, 2013 6:23 pm
  
  Shotgunn – The hardboard top is only covered with a heavy coat of Johnson’s paste wax, renewable whenever needed.
  
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Len’s Torsion Box Assembly Table

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