Simple Plywood Cutting Table / Work Table (Updated)
Intro: Simple Plywood Cutting Table / Work Table (Updated)
After making the Multi-functional Workbench, and a few projects later, I realized that I needed another workbench. The multi-functional workbench worked great, but it's fairly complicated to set-up, also when I was in the middle of the project and the workbench was in use, cutting some more plywood became a hassle.
I never liked to break down plywood on two sawhorses, as it did not quite feel safe for me. So there is a reason to build a simple work table / plywood cutting table. It should be easy set up and takes very small space in the shop.
I never liked to break down plywood on two sawhorses, as it did not quite feel safe for me. So there is a reason to build a simple work table / plywood cutting table. It should be easy set up and takes very small space in the shop.
STEP 1: Material and Hardware
I bought (5) of 8' long 2x4 from home center, and that's all I needed for the table.
I own (2) of the metal folding sawhorses, and I had some scrap lumber screwed on top of them. I also found some left over window latches that I could use to lock the table top to the sawhorses.
First cut (3) of the 2x4 into 48" pieces. Then bundle them together with two clamps to trim them to the final length, in this case 47". Leave them clamping together for next step.
Lay out the notches 12" from each end while they were still clamped together, and (5) of them would be placed 16" from one to the other on two of the 8' long supporting beams.
I own (2) of the metal folding sawhorses, and I had some scrap lumber screwed on top of them. I also found some left over window latches that I could use to lock the table top to the sawhorses.
First cut (3) of the 2x4 into 48" pieces. Then bundle them together with two clamps to trim them to the final length, in this case 47". Leave them clamping together for next step.
Lay out the notches 12" from each end while they were still clamped together, and (5) of them would be placed 16" from one to the other on two of the 8' long supporting beams.
STEP 2: Circular Saw Guide
In order to cut the notches for the lap joints exactly the width of the adjacent 2x4, we have to build some circular saw cutting jigs.
I found some 1/4" hard board about 9" wide and 6' long, and ripped a piece of pine board 2" wide and cut it to 6' long as the straight edge. Placed the pine board about 5.5" from one edge of the hard board, that's a little wider than the measurement from one edge of the base plate of my Makita circular saw to the blade, and screwed it from the bottom side and counter sink the screws.
Then cut the jig into two 3' pieces. Trimmed each of the guide board with the saw, thus the trimmed line would indicate exactly where the saw should cut to.
I found some 1/4" hard board about 9" wide and 6' long, and ripped a piece of pine board 2" wide and cut it to 6' long as the straight edge. Placed the pine board about 5.5" from one edge of the hard board, that's a little wider than the measurement from one edge of the base plate of my Makita circular saw to the blade, and screwed it from the bottom side and counter sink the screws.
Then cut the jig into two 3' pieces. Trimmed each of the guide board with the saw, thus the trimmed line would indicate exactly where the saw should cut to.
STEP 3: Cutting Lap Joints
While the cross support of the table top still clamped together, place one of the saw guide onto the layout line, making sure the trimmed line is on the layout line and square to the 2x4, and clamp it down.
Use two pieces of 2x4 cut off pieces as spacers, and place the other saw guide against them with the trimmed side, clamp it down as well. Now the cut off notch between two trimmed guides will be exactly the width of the 2x4.
Set the cutting depth of the saw to 2 1/4" for the (5) pieces of the cross supports, that's 2" deep notch plus 1/4" of the hard board thickness. Run the saw and cut along one guide, and flip the saw around and cut along the other guide from the opposite direction. Continue to run the saw between two guides a couple more times free handed to waste more material.
Use a hammer or a chisel to remove the rest of the material and smooth out the bottom of the notch with a sharp chisel to show and practice some wood working skill.
Following the same procedure to cut the other side.
The two of the 8' long supporting beams were designed to be notched 1 1/2" deep so that there were more material left for support. Following the same procedure, the only difference would be the depth of the cut was set as 1 3/4", that's 1 1/2 notch depth plus 1/4" hard board thickness.
Use two pieces of 2x4 cut off pieces as spacers, and place the other saw guide against them with the trimmed side, clamp it down as well. Now the cut off notch between two trimmed guides will be exactly the width of the 2x4.
Set the cutting depth of the saw to 2 1/4" for the (5) pieces of the cross supports, that's 2" deep notch plus 1/4" of the hard board thickness. Run the saw and cut along one guide, and flip the saw around and cut along the other guide from the opposite direction. Continue to run the saw between two guides a couple more times free handed to waste more material.
Use a hammer or a chisel to remove the rest of the material and smooth out the bottom of the notch with a sharp chisel to show and practice some wood working skill.
Following the same procedure to cut the other side.
The two of the 8' long supporting beams were designed to be notched 1 1/2" deep so that there were more material left for support. Following the same procedure, the only difference would be the depth of the cut was set as 1 3/4", that's 1 1/2 notch depth plus 1/4" hard board thickness.
STEP 4: Completed Assembly
When all the notches were cut, they will be grouped together looking like the first picture. That's all there was to it.
Assembly is easy. Place two long pieces onto the sawhorses, with notches facing up.
place each of the shorter piece onto the longer pieces aligning the notch down and press down, now we created a ladder with lap joints.
Four window latches were used to lock the table top onto the sawhorses. In order to make the latches work, we will need some kind of stop feature on the sawhorses. I used four pieces of the floating tenons (Festool domino), or a piece of board glued at the other side of the 2x4 on the sawhorses will serve the same purpose. If that's still too much trouble, drill four holes on the two cross pieces and use (4) clamps to secure the table top will be a simple solution.
Assembly is easy. Place two long pieces onto the sawhorses, with notches facing up.
place each of the shorter piece onto the longer pieces aligning the notch down and press down, now we created a ladder with lap joints.
Four window latches were used to lock the table top onto the sawhorses. In order to make the latches work, we will need some kind of stop feature on the sawhorses. I used four pieces of the floating tenons (Festool domino), or a piece of board glued at the other side of the 2x4 on the sawhorses will serve the same purpose. If that's still too much trouble, drill four holes on the two cross pieces and use (4) clamps to secure the table top will be a simple solution.
STEP 5: Applications
Some of the applicatins that I've been through, cutting support, as in and out feed support for miter saw and table saw, jig saw support, and some Festool related application with a MFT top clamp on it...
On this table, clamping becomes easy because of its open structure. And it is very solid because of the snug fit lap joint. Place a 4x8 sheet plywood on it, and we have a good size table as well.
Best of all, cost was only $16 (not counting the sawhorses I had) and less than two hours of time; it takes very little space to store in the shop, and less than two minutes to put it together or take it apart.
On this table, clamping becomes easy because of its open structure. And it is very solid because of the snug fit lap joint. Place a 4x8 sheet plywood on it, and we have a good size table as well.
Best of all, cost was only $16 (not counting the sawhorses I had) and less than two hours of time; it takes very little space to store in the shop, and less than two minutes to put it together or take it apart.
STEP 6: Updates
After working with the table for a couple of days, I quickly realized that I would need some surfaces to set my tools, so I decided to create some removable shelves with a 8' long piece leftover 3/4" plywood.
Groves had to be created on the side of the 2x4 as shown, they were 3/4" wide, 3/8" deep and 3/4" from the bottom side, using table saw with dado stack blades. A small hand plane was used to smooth the shape edges of the groves.
Plywood shelves were cut to length and they were all interchangeable at each slot.
Now the table is even more functional. The removable shelves are very convenience to move around while working at different side of the table, and they can be slide off easily and out of the way.
Groves had to be created on the side of the 2x4 as shown, they were 3/4" wide, 3/8" deep and 3/4" from the bottom side, using table saw with dado stack blades. A small hand plane was used to smooth the shape edges of the groves.
Plywood shelves were cut to length and they were all interchangeable at each slot.
Now the table is even more functional. The removable shelves are very convenience to move around while working at different side of the table, and they can be slide off easily and out of the way.
42 Comments
ZuluGunner45A 2 years ago
Good job.
boblong162 3 years ago
Jzbowmannz 3 years ago
Thanks
tv1105 4 years ago
James A.L 9 years ago
To stop cutting into the frames for mine I avoided cutting half way through each beam. I use 2" x 2" piece and notch on 1/2". The leave the beams 1/2" proud on each top and bottom. If I'm cross cutting, I have the 4' beams on top. For ripping I flip the frame over to the 8' side. With my saw blade or route bit no more then 3/8" below the sheet goods I avoid making unintended cuts.
AshokM31 5 years ago
Although that's a great idea to avoid cutting into the frame, I am worried the pieces could cave in and bind the blade causing a dangerous kickback. Especially on the RIP cut it's even more of possibility. I would rather have the frame get chewed up and replace the members.
Jzbowmannz 9 years ago
Great idea. Thanks for sharing!
KraghH 6 years ago
Do you have a thought about using 3 or 4 stringers, rather than 5? 4 doesn't divide as nicely into 8', but it uses one less 2x4. Also, why trim stringers to 47" ? That seems unnecessary. Thanks for a very nice design, I will be building it, bought the lumber today. I also think these 8' 2x4s may be useful as roof rack stringers to help get 4x8 sheets home from the store.
Jzbowmannz 6 years ago
You should be able to space them 18" apart, and have a foot left at each end. My art teacher told me odd numbers had better pleasing appearance than the evens, so that might be the reason I had 5. It's completely random thoughts.
Thanks. Good luck with the build.
Lynn Livingston 7 years ago
I tried making this exactly like the article. However, I ran into trouble because my circular saw will not cut as deep as the notches, and have the motor housing clear the guide you built. So, i went and bought an aluminum guide that is much thinner, and to my surprise (and chagrin since I was foolish not to take careful measurement) it won't clear that guide either when set for 2 1/4" depth of cut. Your picture of the circular saw sitting on the guide looks like the blade isn't set deep enough to cut the notches but I can't really tell. I went to Lowe's today and looked at every circular saw, and every one wouldn't cut this deep without the motor housing also hitting the guide.
I'd sure like to know what saw you have so I can get one. I plan on using this guide a lot, although rarely I guess would I need to cut so deep. Thanks.
Jzbowmannz 7 years ago
I would suggest to make the cut as deep as you can get with guide, and finish the final depth of the cut free handed, the saw kerfs made with guide will give you the right width when you finish the notch.
I was using an old Makita saw.
Another way is to make the guide fence 1/4" thick instead of 3/4", that should get you the depth, as the normal circular saws cutting depth are around 2 3/8" to 2 1/2".
Indywar2 6 years ago
To Lynn and Jzbowmannz,
I ended up using a sliding miter saw (10") to make these cuts and it worked pretty well. Most miter saw have a adjustable depth stop that gets the depth perfect. The other thing I did was move the 2x4 the width of the blade after each cut so there were no kerf to chisel. I started making kerfs as described in the article and was unable to get the exact same depth with everything I chiseled. I used a drywall screw in the grooves as a quick and easy height adjustment. I eliminated all the space when cutting the groves and the results were much better. Thanks for the plans and design.
Rob
Lynn Livingston 7 years ago
Well, I thought I had found a reason to replace my 30yr old circular saw, but alas it dawned on me I could fit the guide to the right side of the saw, and once I did that I was gettin' it done.
The project came out nice and I appreciate the 'ible'; I've got a lot to learn about wood working and no doubt I and others will benefit much.
Thanks.
bucklipe 7 years ago
Also, why not notch the long members to fit over the 2X4 on the sawhorse? I have the sash closures just in case...
I'm building this right now, my next step is to make the slots to hold the shelves.
Thanks for the idea!
bucklipe 7 years ago
I had notched both at 1 3/4 inch and they are all flush.
Jzbowmannz 7 years ago
I think I will add an additional long piece at some point, because I sometimes use my cutting table as a scaffolding when I am working on the house, it will feel better if I have the third long member there.
Enjoy your build. Thanks.
Jzbowmannz 7 years ago
The bracket in the middle is one of the Festool rail brackets that are designed for cross cut plywood panels with track saw.
Thanks.
Ondra78 8 years ago
Great idea. Today I bought the material for construction. Also, I will make one. Thanks.
Ondra78 8 years ago
We have a metric system. Plywood or OSB boards have dimensions of 2.5 x 1.25 m. The dimension of the plank is thus 100x50 mm. They need 2 pieces of length 2.5 m and 5 pieces of length 1.25 m.
Jzbowmannz 8 years ago
I would suggest to cut the notches on two of the 2.5m pieces at only 25mm to 30mm deep, so that they can support more weight.
One time I set this up for me to stand and walk on it while painting the ceiling of a room, it did get a little bit concave because of my weight. My next table will need three longer pieces instead of two.
Thanks, have fun building it.