Jeffeb3 Low Rider Table v2

The vertical end is a good spot to store something big/bulky, but light for the times you do use it, it would be easy to move but would not lose the storage.

(foam is from the large boxes of flat parts Dan ships me) I use it all the time.

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Most likely the lunchbox planer will end up there. It’s not light, but just two handles and the weight is low, so it isn’t hard to move.

The bottom board(s) are pretty big. The part that may not be obvious is that there are three cross members that connect to those. They support the wheels and then support the “side” pieces of plywood.

The drawer slides would need to be 32" long, which wouldn’t be cheap. I expect to empty this DC once per project at the most.

Yeah not really a big deal.

I am interested to see more vertical/ end milling!! I am keeping an eye on this. I need to build myself a metal table so I am sure to steal some of these ideas.

I guess what I am thinking now is, could I replace every 2x4 with 1x3, or I have a bunch of plywood scrap that is 3/4"x about 3" x a few feet long. I wonder if I would regret making it out of that instead of the 2x4.

It might be just as good. There are a few places where I might want to double them up (the beam behind the clamp, and the spots where the casters are mounted).

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It is one of those workbenches that does not get abused. If you gain a bit of extra room and save some money, you could just use the nice expensive stuff on the face!!

Hey, parameteric cad FTW

It looks almost the same, but just knowing those are plywood makes me think:

  1. This is more intentional/higher brow design. Even though it is basically the same thing.
  2. Joining or planing the end of plywood sucks. So it would be tricky to get the beams to line up right.

1-2x4’s do scream…I slapped this together. Although they make a super beefy table real easy. I have a 2x4 table out back with a vise on it. I beat that one up.
2-cnc some fancy puzzle piece joints?

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If I remove the torsion top, then it looks an awful lot like a torsion top with the 3/4" ply in there :slight_smile: A few more pieces, and it is probably the same, and that chops off 4" off the top. I would need rails then… I think it would be harder to build, but I would appreciate it more without the double top.

Or, I could still just use two sheets on top. That is probably just fine.

This is like pair programming, but for CAD :slight_smile:

I don’t think the torsion is need on anything less than full sheet size. Mine is 2x3’s with a thick mdf surface…just sitting on a table. I can literally pick it up.

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Painting the edge makes it look super fancy

All my dirty secrets are out now…

When I do start working on a new LR. I intend to make it fit on current tables, like I did with the Zen. No promises but I really do not want people to have to rebuild anything. If you do want to update to the LR2, I know a guy that has great prices, but if you do wait, you have to promise to build the next one as soon as it is out of beta. I do want to do a crazy redesign, but I kind of just want to do a quick update. So maybe a LR2.5 is in order.

This is a very old photo of my shop (the last time it was clean, I think). These boxes (in front of the window, to the right) are made from 3/4" plywood. One chunk on the top, one on the bottom, and then simple frames (3" wide, held together with pocket screws). I ended up breaking a bunch of them down, because I made 4 of them and they took up a bunch of room. But they are rock solid and geez, they are 10 years old now. They are not as wide. 24", I think. So that will make a big difference, but they are really very sturdy, even with screws into the end grain of the plywood. Doubling up the frames and making a half lap joint will make it a lot stronger.

In the picture of the DC, that box on the left is the same one, where I clamped the scrap to measure height.

I am liking this idea. I think the thing will be more elegant, less bulky, and still very sturdy.

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Shoot compared to what the kitchen cabinets are made of and they hold a lot of weight in plates and cups, hanging from the back panel of them. I think the current design is nice and plenty strong/rigid.

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Nice… a real shop that appears not to share space with a car!

Jeff… I really don’t want to see you get stuck with the can. Would you please do a quick mock up to be sure you can get that out? I really like doing such things in cad as well, but that diagram looks really tight… tight enough to warrant a dry run I think.

Kitchen uppers cheat though… they are bolted to the studs from the top. So the boxes never take any big shear loading. Same with lowers… most are bolted to the wall. Free standing furniture otoh, has to handle the shear. Not saying Jeff’s lap joints won’t get by, but it does look like a weak link. Just some knee braces there would help and not get too much in the way (45 bracing at top of legs).

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I won’t get the can stuck. If I can’t put it in, I won’t be able to get it out. I have a smaller one too, but I am 99% sure it will fit in 33.5". The hose is a little flexible too, and I have a wall of tools right behind this bench. I am just worried it will be annoying enough that I won’t check to see if it is full. Because I know me.

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Maybe @forcerouge could print you some for super cheap?

I built my table out of 2x4s (I got for free) and it is way overkill! I like your current plan. Seems light and functional.

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In my opinion, the easiest way to make sure that the vacuum cleaner can be taken out would be to create a removable opening on the top plate. Just a big square door that you open to take out the vacuum from the top whenever you need. Only needs to be a little bit wider than the diameter of this thing. It can be bolted down the rest of the time to make sure it doesn’t move while still sitting flush.

This way you can even fully enclose the vacuum cleaner to further reduce noise and improve looks (with some openings at strategic places to keep it cool of course).

The rest of the design seems nice, I don’t see any problem with it. Don’t worry about height, IMO, the higher the better. All my workbenches are really high (43 inches) and its a pleasure to work on them.

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