Ended on 08/22/15

My gunsmith buddy worked on a table of his own make that was all wood. He bored holes through 2x4’s on edge and ran 1” all thread through the stack, glued em and bolted em together then cut off the all thread ends flush on the outside and glued on a last 2x4, screwed it on as a cover.

With 4x4 legs and a plywood shelf at the right height off the floor, the thing is virtually indestructible.

The size you’re talking about here should make it easy to make an extremely solid bench.

Good luck OL... looking forward to seeing this taking shape!

07/25/15 09:30AM. Updated the OP.

If anyone doubts what can be done with wood, look at this guys site: Woodgears

If you build it, and you find that it needs stiffening up, 5/8”* plywood connecting the legs at the back and sides will do wonders. (They could even be 2’ wide and still help massively, if you wanted to maximize the yield from a single sheet.)

Oh, and if the top needs stiffening, a layer of plywood underneath the top would create a crazy stiff torsion box.

  • * ’course, it’ll be labeled 19/32”, just to confuse us home despot shoppers…

Wood is good! It dampens vibration. I have a wood bench my Dad made me 35 + years ago, still in use. I suspect that if Justin builds it, you could park a tank on it with confidence. Dan.

Regarding vibration , what about a rubber mat on top of the table,
so justin doesn’t wake up the neighbors at 4am.

I like wood. Gussets(glued and screwed)are a good idea for stiffening the angle between legs and top on a lighter weight table, as well as adding a shelf below. If the shelf below is too low you can attach cleats under the top for a debris tray. Wood is also compressible though so oversized bolt washers should be added under the correct sized ones.

Wow a hand saw—I couldn’t imagine cutting all that with a handsaw—I’m a carpenter in fact—as far as two lines —if you’re right handed you cut on the right of the line —two lines seems like it would make you cross eyed LOL—I sure could of sent you a skillsaw (circular) I only have around 15 not in use (retired framing/trim contractor) I have woodworking tools—If your table isn’t quite solid enough try boxing 3 sides with plywood or at least put something like a 2x12 tight in between the legs

Can’t wait to see what cool stuff Old Lumens makes !!
BUT ITS NOT PAID FOR YET !!!
if you are reading this please donate to the fund.
every dollar helps. Give 2 dollars. Give 3. Thank you.

Agreed. (another woodworker here) Wrapping the base/legs with plywood will really eliminate racking forces.

My left arm is bigger around than my right one is, now… I’m used to it. I have never used a power saw. You should have seen when I used to cut full sheets of plywood with a hand saw. We used to do that you know, back in the day. Keeps ya young.

Well, bet it ain’t due to sawin’… :party:

you could pour a base from a concrete, should not be expensive, but it will be heavy, and stiff, I like wood, very good material for most things, (even lights, lol) , but for lathe, idk, I mean it will work, but it is not that good for vibrations, something you do not want with lathe, for small wood lathe wood base may work fine, but prbly not for larger metal lathe that need precision, just my 0.02

There’s a reason they call these bench lathe’s, it’s 400 pound machine. I’m likin’ the plan, go for it.

IMHO if you tried bolt it down to a steel table or frame that wasn’t machined flat, you could risk twisting the bed.
Maybe unlikely, but a consideration.

Another thought when OL bolts this baby down, it might be best to not to over tighten the bolts for the same reason.

+1 AND.... That's what shims are for.

Or vibration dampers. Purpose of the link is only to show what kind of gizmo I ment. There are obviously better options to safeguard the peace in the House of O-L. Bolting something down can be a very effective means of transporting sound all over the place. Anti-vibration damper - GDZ-()-1 - RG+ Schwingungstechnik GmbH - mechanical / for machines / industrial

updated one photo in the OP. 07/26/15

I will use the good suggestions about plywood or at least more boards, to bind the legs together. I will also be using adjustable feet. I will have the T nuts and feet coming next week. They will have rubber soles.

As suggested, make a box to make it stiff: cover the back and sides, down to a few inches from the floor, with 18mm (or whatever weird thickness unit you use over there) plywood, screwed and glued with lots of glue between all surfaces touching. Two layers of plywood on top.

It really wouldn’t hurt to sandwich a strip of 1/2” plywood between 2 2x4’s and make the legs 3 2x’s with the strip. The strip of plywood will make 2 2x4’s the same thickness as one is wide, and will add tremendous structural rigidity. We always did that between 2x6’s for window and door headers building a house. :wink:

I also think I’d bolt the legs on with at least 1/4” carriage bolts, instead of screwing them on. Overkill is underrated.