Good Morning to All,
I am in the process of building a new shop and when complete, I would like to built a large ADJUSTABLE HEIGHT assembly table. I don’t want to spend a couple thousand dollars on a hydraulic lift. Does anyone out there have any ideas on an economic way to make the height of the table adjustable? Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Dale
Replies
Threaded rods in the legs would allow for some height adjustment or build the legs so that they are telescopic and use pins to adjust leg height.
Scott C. Frankland
Scott's WOODWORKING Website
"He who has the most tools may not win the race of life but he will sure make his wife look like a good catch when she goes to move on."
Good morning
how much height are you talking about? (In inches or feet)
how about using three-quarter inch pipe clamps on each corner?
Or how about using a veneer press screw? (You can buy one of those up to 12 inches long.)
It all depends on what you are thinking of as far as the amount of weight and size of the table for assembly goes.
Good luck.
I think this has been covered before in the archives. One way is to get some large threaded rod and sprockets and bicycle chain. Similar to many planers and drum sanders for table height adjustment. Weld a pair of nuts to some plate steel for each leg. You might also check out used material handling places. Scissor lift table can be gotten for around $500 give or take. Commercial ergonomic lift kits are available that use hydraulic cylinders on each leg with a hand crank pump for around a $1,000. I'm not saying you should spend that kind of money but you might find it interesting as to how many different ways there are to do this. Hargor Freight and Northern Tools have some lift tables that are around $500. You can buy threaded rod at places like mcmaster.com or even cheaper at http://www.wttool.com Consider using acme threaded rod like you find on vises and such. You can buy it in 3,6 or 12 ft pieces and nuts are available too. http://wttool.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=4024-0190&Category_Code=
Some metal supply houses sell square tubing that is can sleeve inside another tubing. I have also seen some with holes. You can then use a spring loaded pin to adjust to the correct height and "locK" it into place. This is a manual method, but it will work. I believe that McMaster-Carr sells this product. I think thet there website is http://www.mcmaster.com
I just found it in their online catalogue on page 1494(I think) and it's called
Steel Nestable Square Tubing
Edited 5/1/2004 4:20 pm ET by migraine
I've seen hydraulic tables for waaaayyyyyyyy less than a couple thousand bucks. Don't have catalogs here at work, but do at home. I think they start at $300 give or take. I'm thinking one would be good for both assembly and for infeed support with sheet goods.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Forestgirl,
If you could find the catalogs with the hydraulic lifts at a reasonable price I sure would appreciate knowing about them. If they have a web site that would also help. Thanks.
Dale
Hi Dale, Rick beat me to (I'm on West Coast time). I'm sure Harbor Freight was the first place I saw one. JC Whitney also has one:http://www.jcwhitney.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=5930&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&storeId=10101
If you go this route, please let us know how it works!!!! I can envision it lifting a number of sheets of plywood with ease.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Dale, some suggestions,
put a piano stool mechanism in each corner $37.50 ea from Lee Valley, 6in of travel (double them up to get 12in) – may be too light duty for an assembly table.
build the table low and use an auto floor jack and blocks to increase the height to what you need.
put a screw bottle jack or lead screw in each corner, http://www.powerjacks.com/default2.htm is an industrial supplier, but your local auto parts store probably has what you need – this is probably the cheapest option
buy 2 Lee Valley twin crew vises, mount them vertically either end of the table as part of the support frame, connect them with a single chain – the whole table will go up and down with the turn of one handle – a bit pricey to my mind
Ian
How about a graduated set of blocks to put under the table legs. Four each of 12", 6", 3", and 1-1/2" blocks gives you a range of 22-1/2" in 1-1/2" increments. Put dimples on the bottoms of the blocks and interlocking bumps on the tops so they won't slide around when stacked.
Get you a 3/0 hollow core interior luan door, hit it with some poly or lacquer on both sides, so glue won't stick, and set it on two adjustable saw horses. Put two lengthwise for long face frames. Put some dowels in one and holes in the other to keep them flush.
The door is about $30, the horses are about $20 a pair for steel, and you've probably got poly or lacquer lying around.
You can fold the horses up and lean your door(s) aginst the wall. They also work great for assembly of large cases directly on the floor.
Used these for years in the shop, and on site.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=41145
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&langId=-1&catalogId=4006970&PHOTOS=on&productId=200054674&categoryId=0
Here's one for $99 from Northern Tool. I buy a fair amount from Northern Tool as a purchasing agent for my company and the service is good. Start collecting catalogs and not just woodworking catalogs. Metalworking like MSC and especially Enco and http://www.wttool.com are valuable. Most are online but sometimes it's easier to search through a catalog as some web catalog search engines aren't as good
100 wall square tubing will allow the next smallest size to slide into it and it is fairly snug. ie 1 3/4 square tubing will fit inside 2in 100 wall square tubing. There is about $ 30. CDN worth of material, it would probably cost more for the freight if I made them for you. Use a 2 in piece for the top of the leg with one hole near the bottom for a pin. the bottom piece is 1 3/4 with a series of holes to get what ever height you require. I would also drill a hole in the upper leg to permit a weld nut to be attached with a bolt to hold the inside piece from any sideways movement. Are you near the great lakes.
Roscoe
Roscoe, no I don't live near the great lakes, I live in northern California.
Thanks to all of you for your help. there are some good ideas and sources here.
Dale
None of those tables are very big, are they? I'd be tempted to get the cheapest one and use it as a "lifting base" for a big assembly table that had adjustable legs in all four corners. It would eliminate the hassle of lifting each corner individually when using things likes jacks.
How'z it in NoCal?? An old Davisite here -- spent 21 years in that little college town. forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
funny you should ask- the latest issue (june '04) of Woodwork magazine has an article on an awesome unit. it uses an industrial scissor lift and has a number of great features. definitely check it out before you build anything.
the issue is probably still on newsstands. they don't seem to have a website so you'll have to splurge the $5 or so for a copy.
m
Dale: If you have access to back issues of "Shop Notes", you might look at issue #30, page 4. It features an adjustable height assembly / finishing table.
Bill Clemmons
Great discussion and ideas going here, this place is cool. For $99 to $300 for the links above you 'almost' can't beat it. Considering materials and time, buying something complete is almost to much to pass up.
But, I throw out one more idea anyway.
Unistrut Telespar Systems, should be available anywhere the commercial constuction industry exists.
http://www.unistrut.com/product/telespar.html
Enjoy, Roy
I've been seeing several adds for motorcycle/ATV lifts at about $99. From the pictures I've seen, it looks like one could possibly modify one of these to serve as an adjustable base under a work bench. After all, they are already adjustable bases for working on motorcycles or ATVs.
Just a thought.
4DThinker
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