Barry, Have you heard about Lars Christensen, he has a Youtube channel with lots of great tips:
Fusion 360 can feel weird but it does a lot, I think it’s worthwhile persevering. Check out his explanation of joints for example.
My Paulk workbench is two sections of 24 by 96 and the top and bottom are 1/2" ply. It’s flat and light enough that I can pick up one section on my own. I envision the unistrut being attached to the long edge but I imagined using two pieces, one U up and one down bolted together, with the wheels running in the channel, overkill?
The wheels won’t run in the channel. They’ll either get caught in the slots, or bounce. My plan is to have it screwed to a piece of 3/4 through the slots. This should give a smooth bearing surface for the wheels to ride on, and if you push the side plates in so they’re just touching the strut, should keep it running straight down the table.
So glad to hear I’m not the only one who does that 
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So jealous I want to do a rebuild. I had a busy few weeks and I just turned down the offer I was working on so maybe now I can get focused and finish some of my projects. I am loving the way that unistrut looks, and it might be very easy to adjust. I need to see if I can find some straight pieces and try it out…and some 10mm belt.
OIC! Very nice. Have you checked, is there enough room under the unistrut for the lower wheel (and bolt head) to clear underneath?
Yea, it just clears. You did make me notice that I need to cut the width of each section by 3/4 inches though. My tubes are cut for a 5 foot table, with the unistrut risers installed the total width would be 5 feet, 1 and a half inches. Which would make them not fit.
Have you guys tried the new auto-squaring technique on the LR?
That reminds me I need to put up the Mini-Rambo firmware edit to make squaring the Lowrider easy.
It should work pretty good. You will need to get some sort of good beginning gcode worked out.
Shoot I didn’t even think about it, we can square the Y axis and level the Z axis…Oh Dang! That will simplify the use of the lowrider, no more pre-tensioning the z axis lead screws.
It was mentioned that 4" was towards the upper limit for a table but what is the thinnest?
Thicker = More stable, thinnest is 1/2" I think depending on your wheel diameter.
I have the 60mm wheels. What do you think about using a Table Tennis table. Official size tables are 60"x108"x3/4" and they are really flat. The y-axis would be perfect for my 63" SS tubes and I could cut close to a full sheet. I could also probably just mount a couple sheets of 3/4" MDF to get a good solid thickness. Only issue may be the sturdiness of the legs.
What are your thoughts?
That might be a really good idea, quality tables are very flat and sturdy, just don’t cut into the surface!
if you wanted the top to be 5x10’ seamless one piece. Some cabinet companiese carry mdf in that size, around $60. Aluminum and HDPE plastic also come stock in that size, but you are talking over $250 for a sheet of either.
Just google “cabinet supplier” your city, your state. This is who I use locally. they charge $58 for a 5x10 MDF sheet 3/4" thick. If you bought two of them and put 1.5" wood spacers between it woudl make a heavy torsion box and take ten minutes to make.
Hi Barry,
I’m looking to build a very similar table and was wondering if there is any chance you would share your excellent Fusion 360 file to save me some time modeling the exact same thing?
Yep, here you go! Check dimensions before cutting! I think I made some adjustments on the fly, and don’t remember what it was.
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Extremely kind of you sir. Hope to return the favor someday. I feel like I just got a new toy!
Yep, they’re fun to play with. Hey, one of my fixes post plans is lowering the unistrut. I’ve actually dropped them twice now, and might go a bit lower still. I thought it would be a good idea to not allow the collet to ever be able to contact the work surface, since that’s how I started my fire, but the original plan is waaaay too high. I think the next lowering will set the unistrut half way up from the table surface, right now mine is about level with the top of the surface and the bottom of the rail. Basically aim for a quarter inch of space between the lowest you can go, and the spoil board. Hopefully this will also keep us from suction holding the router to the work piece.