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EAA Work tables

llavalle

Well Known Member
I was just sick of my old work table with folding legs. I decided it was time to change. I was also probably looking for a reason for not working on the tanks :D

I was about to create my own design when I found out about the EAA 1000 tables. They looked sturdy and easy enough to build.

A small trip to "Home Depot Aircraft supply" to pick up lumber, carpenter glue and screws. After a couple of hours, this came out of the shop :

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There not made of shiny aluminum but I think they look nice!

The sanded plywood was not good enough for my taste, I went with a 3/4" maple veneer plywood :D. I used left over from the wing crate (pine board) to create the moulding using a router.

Used a nice gel stain for the finish of the top plywood. I'll add sealer tomorrow to make it more resistant! I'll also need to level them. They are straight but my garage's floor isn't.

Total cost of the project : $130 (Canadian dollars) ~$120 US This includes lumber, screws (almost 300), glue, stain and taxes (around 13% around here).

Total time to build : 4-5h. I had the help of one of my buddy who works as a carpenter. Having the right tools and the knowledge helped a lot!
 
I like the EAA tables. I built mine larger, and used a full sheet of 3/4 MDF for the top. MDF is smooth and flat. I consider the surface to be sacrificial, so I drill and cleco right to it. Also no router edge for better clamping.
 
I made mine longer (7') and put a sheet of 1/2" MDF on top of the 3/4" plywood. It is screwed to the plywood from below and 'captured' by hardwood trim on the outside edges. I can replace the entire top of my bench by removing a few screws and cutting a new piece of MDF.
 
Nice tables!!

Nice looking tables. What size did you make them and where did you get the plans?
 
I probably over-did my main table, but I am glad that I made it four feet wide and twelve feet long using 2X6 and a 3/4" MDF top. It is very flat, level, and allows for plenty of work area.
 
Just got my first one built. Plans does seem to waste a lot of plywood though. Or enough left over to build a third bench.
 
I'm about to build two more, even though I'm near the conclusion of my build. I've found that the tables are like conference rooms at my company. The more you build, the more meetings the bosses will schedule. Only in my case, the more tables I put in the hangar; the more junk I end up putting on them.
 
I'm about to build two more, even though I'm near the conclusion of my build. I've found that the tables are like conference rooms at my company. The more you build, the more meetings the bosses will schedule. Only in my case, the more tables I put in the hangar; the more junk I end up putting on them.


Keeps everything off the floor though, huh.:)
My work benches are the ones that the builders who finished their airplanes in my hangar left behind.:D For free.

Marshall Alexander
RV10 N781DM
 
I have been thinking about adding castors to my tables when I build them. Curious whether others have tried this.
 
I didn't build mine, but have Sears workbenches. I sat them on top of casters and love it. When I'm done they just roll back against the wall and free back up the garage space.

bob
 
I have been thinking about adding castors to my tables when I build them. Curious whether others have tried this.

I haven't started to build an RV yet (don't know when that's going to happen...but that's another story). However, my experience this weekend tiling my bathroom floor demonstrated to me very clearly that I have to put my workbench on castors.

To cut the cement board I used this Black&Decker mini workbench. I was able to place it in the drive way, and that allowed me to walk completely around the board I was cutting, working on it from any angle. This is very helpful, and made life much easier.

If it's helpful when cutting cement board I can only imagine it's going to be even more so when building an RV.

My 2 cents, and definitely not an "apples to apples" comparison. Your mileage may vary.
 
Casters are great!

I also put my workbench on casters, and love it. I'm hopefully going to finish up the workshop in the next three weeks. Picking up some tools and shadowing my tool box next week.

You can read more about my shop and see some pictures here.
 
Wheels have been a nice feature

Here is the LINK to the photo of my final workbench. See my Blog for more photos, and credit to the designer that I copied.

The wheels allowed me to roll the workbench right out to the delivery truck, and load up my kit crate.
 
I built a work table similar to the Chapter 1000 table. However, I did put mine on casters (with locking ones on one end). I also used solid core wood doors for the top. Check with your lumber yard and ask them to call you when they get some damaged ones in. I then got my local HVAC metal shop to bend me a galvanized piece of duct material to cover the door top. Sure makes cleaning up liquid messes easier. I bought a roll of expanded rubber material made to go on work benches, which I cut to fit. It kinda looks like expanded metal. Lets shaving, etc fall through, but provides a "grippy" surface so tools and airplane pieces don't slide around. To clean up, just roll the rubber material back and use a hand broom or paper towel. Lastly, I mounted a medium sized vise on one end and an air hose reel on the other end.
When I was building, I just rolled the table to wherever I needed it. I have since loaned it to my pal, an A&P, and he says that I'm not getting it back (he also says the same thing about my pneumatic rivet squeezer :)
You'll find the work table a great addition to your workshop.
 
Building my table now. Any suggestions on adjustable leg length? The currently heated side of my shops floor is very uneven. I can find the adjustable pads which would be great, but how to have a solid thread for them at the base of a 2x4 has me stumped. (pun intended)
 
I made similar work benches. They have casters - swiveling castors on all four, and at least two of them locking casters that have brakes - help a lot.

Another feature is that I have removeable tops. I make them to size, and screw 2x4 sections to the bottom that fit snugly in the table's frame. One of the tables has 2x6 top rails on top of 1/2" plywood, spaced a 2x4 apart, and laying flat. I use this one mostly for woodworking, and the top is sacrificial. I use a circular saw on the wood on top and can cut right into the rails.

The other tables have melamine faced particle board. Nice smooth clean finish.

I personally like about a 37" table top, but make yours to fit you.

David Paule
 
It's not the height I'm worried about as much as being able to adjust the pads at the bottom of each leg so one leg isn't off the ground on my uneven floor.
 
Pound a T-nut into the bottom of each leg, having first drilled the clearance hole for the nut extra-deep. Screw a standard cap screw (or furniture glide) into each and you've got adjustable glides. (OR, if your floor isn't terrible, you only need to do this on one leg as the other 3 will define a plane. Obviously would need to cut the adjustable leg a tad shorter to allow room for the screw, etc.)
 
Here are mine.

The one in the foreground is 6' x 2' with an MDF work surface, overhanging the frame on all sides by 3 inches for clamping ability. I put some sacrificial MDF on top of that surface to drill and cleco through.

The one in the background is 6' x 2', with a non-overhanging surface. I added two additional shelves to that one, which are really handy for storing airplane parts.

4 locking casters on both tables. (Which move around a little if I am really banging on something.)

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I offer my working bench as food for thought. Main structure is admittedly overly heavy for working (These airframe parts are very light, so any ancillary surfaces can be of very light construction. Folding banquet tables also work great!). Drop leaf has proven itself very handy.
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bench 022.jpg

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I offer my working bench as food for thought. Main structure is admittedly overly heavy for working (These airframe parts are very light, so any ancillary surfaces can be of very light construction. Folding banquet tables also work great!). Drop leaf has proven itself very handy.
bench 022.jpg


Wow, nice.

Brings back memories of the hours of kneeling on the floor, pounding my C-frame with a hammer, dimpling those big skins ... OOooh, my achin' back!

Nicely done, sir. :) Almost enough to make me want to start another plane ...

Almost.
 
Pound a T-nut into the bottom of each leg, having first drilled the clearance hole for the nut extra-deep. Screw a standard cap screw (or furniture glide) into each and you've got adjustable glides. (OR, if your floor isn't terrible, you only need to do this on one leg as the other 3 will define a plane. Obviously would need to cut the adjustable leg a tad shorter to allow room for the screw, etc.)

for simplicity's sake just go to lowes or home despot and get a pack of door shims, or someone that has wood shingles and shim the legs with those. screw leveling threads sounds a bit like overkill with very little payback to me.
 
It's not the height I'm worried about as much as being able to adjust the pads at the bottom of each leg so one leg isn't off the ground on my uneven floor.
Is it an option to pour some levelling compound in your shop and smooth out the floor? I looked into ways to level my benches, but in the end I went with simple and just used shims. This way I don't lose the heavy load-bearing capability of those 4x4 legs. Mind you, my tables don't move too much so it's not that much of an issue to shim them... If you were rolling them around a lot I could see that would become a nuisance.
 
Just got my first one built. Plans does seem to waste a lot of plywood though. Or enough left over to build a third bench.

I did just that -- I built a third bench out of the leftover material. The only difference is that the third bench has a seam down the middle.

I built them to the original EAA-1000 plans, and am glad I did. I can combine them either end-to-end or side-to-side to make a bigger benchtop, if needed, and I can position them to fit around the project when necessary.

For me, three benches is just right in a 2 1/2 car garage, with the wings in a cradle, the empennage stored flat to the ceiling, and working on the fuselage.

I did not build them on casters, but I have not seen a real need to do so -- they're not difficult to move around when necessay. I have had to shim them occasionally to account for my unlevel cement garage floor.

The only thing I would do different... I added an electrical outlet to each bench, and I don't think I've ever used one. I've always just used an extension cord.

I suggest building them before you even start the project, as I did. You will appreciate how versatile and sturdy they are.
 
Thanks Karl! Very easy, and it looks like it'll hold up. Took 20 minutes to install. I'm also putting on the retractable wheels at both ends from another thread: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1184434145?bclid=1184431670&bctid=59403176001
The new shop has nice floors, but no insulation or heat yet, so things will move there this Summer. Your tables look awesome! I was searching for pictures of C Frames in the tables, but hadn't found any before yours. Do you prefer using it in the table?

Rob, My floors are REALLY bad. Cracks 1-2" wide and it slopes to meet 2 drains. I tried cleaning, concrete primer, and crack repair but it just breaks up into tiny pieces. I've had contractors look at it, but they said the only thing that could be done is to pour another floor over the top of the current one, but it would probably break eventually as well.
 
Doug - I hear you about the floor. My hangar is the same, i'm just going to build-in fixed benches there rather than have movable ones. Regarding the retractable wheels, note that you really only need wheels on one end... Once they're extended you can lift the other end and the bench moves really easily. None of mine have wheels but I have seen this done on other benches and it makes more sense to me than having four wheels...

If you expect to move them much, better make whatever levelling adjustment mechanism you come up with really easy to use... Every time you retract the wheels the bench will need levelling. Just something to keep in mind... :)
 
If you expect to move them much, better make whatever levelling adjustment mechanism you come up with really easy to use... Every time you retract the wheels the bench will need levelling. Just something to keep in mind... :)

wood shims! super fast :)
 
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