To any and all wise woodworkers with a minute to spare:
I’m an art director with NO experience in woodworking, but I can measure, think things through and I do have some hand skills.
I’ve been desperate for a nice drafting table for years now and have shopped around quite a bit. Haven’t found anything I like and got it into my head to build one. Looked and looked for a plan online, found nothing. After doing numerous photo searches, I’ve come up with a design that I think will work. It works on paper, anyway. That’s why I need some help.
The basic design follows the precedent of many of the wooden drafting tables I’ve run across on the web:
–slotted legs that slide up and down with a handled carriage bolt to adjust height.
–a pivoting table top. this is my own design. it’ll pivot at that top hole in the upper leg, and fix position with a through-bolt that threads into holes in that semi-circular plate. I’ll sink threaded inserts into those holes.
does this thing look like it’ll stand up?
Is it going to be stable?
Still not sure how i should join the feet to the legs, or the crossbars to the legs.
I have limited tools available to me, so the simpler the solution better.
any recommendations on type of stock?
Can i pull this off with a jig saw, circular saw, hand drill, and orbit sander?
It’s a drafting table, so i’d like it to be sturdy and long-lived.
I’ve agonized over this for weeks, driven my wife crazy with my preoccupation.
I’ve psyched myself out so much on this that I’m afraid to get started.
Have I bitten off too much?
Any bits of wisdom would be much appreciated.
Replies
Yes, that design (or something close to it) could be made to work. Here's a few design concerns:
* The height-adjusting scheme depends on bolts staying tight. If they loosen -- perhaps from the wiggling caused by you using the table -- the top collapses on your knees. I'd look for a more positive scheme, maybe like your angle-adjustment scheme.
* You don't specify your materials. I'm guessing plywood for the top, and some sort of solid lumber for the base. Plywood is generally flat, but often is not. Look very carefully for flat material in the store, and/or change the design so that there is some structure which helps to hold the plywood flat.
* The joint where the base's vertical piece meets the arms on the floor is under very high stress. I'd make it using a mortise and tenon joint (which you might should look up), but I don't think your short list of tools is up to that task. Either learn how to do that class of joinery, or make the joint differently. For instance, you could add flying buttresses to the joint to make it stronger.
* The base is going to try to rack. That is, when you look at it from the front, the rectangle you see is going to try to turn into a parallelogram. Good strong joinery (see that mortise and tenon stuff again) will make it sturdy. Or brace it against racking with a piece of wood which crosses the rectangle from corner to corner; structurally, this is the buttress concept slightly recast.
Jamie--
thanks for these.
These were all points of concern for me, but I wasn't sure how to adress them.
I think the height-adjustment could use a rethink.
i had actually shopped around a bit and found a good hardwood dealer in my area.
was looking at Baltic birch or maple. yes, ply for the top and solid for the base pieces.
Do i somehow brace the top to ensure flatness?
yeah, i know what mortise and tenon is, and it scares the crap out of me.
need some practice on scrap before i'd tackle the good stock.
tool recommendations for that?
what's a flying buttress?
The racking concern had popped into my head often enough, but was hoping to avoid a spanning brace like that. i like to stick my feet way out when i draw.
again, thanks.
-b.
Here is a plan from FWW #123 for a drafting table that requires an absolute minimum of tools and woodworking skills: http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/Workshop/WorkshopPDF.aspx?id=2463
thank you sir.
i think i might've run across this one.
the concern for me is the lack of overall height adjustment.
and that i don't have a FWW membership:'
the preview pic looks great though.
My recommendation is to find a project less generic to obsess over. Since computers have taken over design, there's a constant stream of surplus drafting tables. Good places to look would be a factory with a surplus store, used office furniture dealer, or local ads.
No matter what you take on, there's a point where you just have to dive in. If you don't have sufficient tools or skills, you'll acquire them as you go.
Pete
I second what PeteBradley has to say. Drafting tables should be a dime a dozen due to the advent of CAD. You should be able to buy one far better than your design for less than you will pay for materials. It looks to me as if you prepared your sketches with a computer. What use can you possibly have for a drafting table if you can do that?
BTW, I have a ton of very good drafting tools & templates. If you persist in your retrograde pursuit, I am willing to part with most of them.
Cadiddlehopper
cadiddlehopper--
thanks for the attention.
I guess i should've used other terminology here.
i'm looking for a DRAWING table. i don't draft. i sketch, doodle, paint, what have you.
the point of this exercise, i guess, is to get my butt AWAY from the computer.
I spend apalling amounts of my life chained to the thing being "creative" for a living.
i work in advertising.
I need to do something real with my hands again.
I'd looked at surplus and used tables and was hoping for something with a little artisan flair and craftsmanship instead of the typical institutional design.
hence the retrograde pursuit:~
benton,
I love these kind of projects...lots of thinking, lots of threats to a successful outcome...puts me to sleep at night in minutes, helps suppress real issues.
Given your tools, you'll need some serious workarounds. One thought on the M&T at the base is to eliminate the mortice requirement by gluing up two pieces of 3/4" stock with a 1/2" piece in between leaving space for the tenon. However, to prevent racking, you need to think about stretchers on the back side(and maybe the middle) between the feet. You could use dowel instead of M&T on these.
On the other hand....perhaps a taper on your risers would take care of several issues. Stick with me and I'll have this looking like crap in no time...lol
Benton, You have my sympathy. Here is my suggestion for getting out of your rut: Find a local trade school & take a WWing course. If you have a choice of projects, build a WW workbench, not a drafting table. It seems that you need to get away from art a bit. Be certain to learn the hand skills of WWing whether you become very good at them or not. It is a fine feeling to find out how accurately your hands can do things like cut to a line or sink a mortise with simple implements.I sense that you need to channel your creativity away from the impersonal computer to something that is hands-on. WWing attracts you & is probably the most available outlet for your pent-up creativity. Psychologically, you need to succeed at this endeavor, however. At your present level of knowledge & with your present equipment, success is probably far in the future at best. Chatting on a forum isn't likely to help nearly as much as getting in a classroom.I manned a computer using CAD for many years. Before that I did a lot of drafting. Neither activity was as satisfying as coming home to my WWing projects where I could feel the material in my hands. WWing also took more physical effort than punching keys. It made me feel better.I hope that I understand. LOL!!Cadid
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