Topic: Building a workshop and print finishing table (Read 9564 times)

ThePhotoDude · « **on:** November 25, 2009, 08:11:29 am »

Hey all,

I want to build or buy a finishing table for my small print workshop.

I would like to collate here some ideas on all aspects, what people currently have, ideas how to build or who to buy from (UK) and materials used.
I think I know what I like but it needs to be as functional as possible and utilize any space as my workshop is small and I need all the space I can get.
Any photos of your setups are welcome.

Build or Buy? - I'm not really that great at making carpentry furniture, I would prefer to buy but costs are a consideration and so is size and overall functionality. I have searched the internet but can't find anything.

Requirements:

- 45" x 65" table top (I want to be able to lay a 40" x 60" print flat with no overhang)
- Normal working height (I'm guessing normal height of a dinner table)
- Ability to store lots of paper rolls underneath, some sort of shelving
- Two trays (drawers) - Am thinking about an inch deep x 2 - so I can store temporary prints underneath for uncurling or canvases for drying after coating with varnish. - Needs to fit 40" x 60" print.
- Lighting? I've seen some with beams coming up vertically from the table ends so lighting can be hung across an overhead beam pointing down.

I think that's all I need but any other ideas welcome to make this a functional super table!

For making it myself, the drawers are the hardest part of the design, and what material could be used? I've thought about acrylic or perspex or aluminium sheets (probably flex due to the size or very expensive), or mdf (dust? and flex again).

I will put a Rotatrim trimmer on one edge of the table, so the lighting construct may be a problem.

I would appreciate any help with this, thank you.

Gemmtech · « **Reply #1 on:** November 25, 2009, 08:55:00 am »

I use glass tops and I found a great online supplier, http://www.glasstopsdirect.com/ You can buy some shelves at Ikea, or make them yourself. Drawers are just boxes (though they need to be perfectly square).
You can buy aluminum/laminate drawers at Ikea and put them in boxes or you can buy the entire cabinet at Ikea. I'm a master furniture maker so I make everything myself, but even I can appreciate the cost / quality / availability
of the Ikea stuff.

ThePhotoDude · « **Reply #2 on:** November 25, 2009, 09:10:09 am »

Hi, Thanks for the reply, unfortunately IKEA doesn't have the size table that I am after, also I'm in the UK so would be looking for UK based suppliers if any!

dgberg · « **Reply #3 on:** November 25, 2009, 09:12:12 am »

I have 2 of these that we built in our cabinetry shop. The first thing to address is the height. I would strongly advise against table top height unless you want to get a bad back. Island height 34 1/2 to 36" is the very comfortable working height and is the height we made ours. These are probably a little more high end then you are thinking but we wanted room for all the supplies we have. We have one in the studio and one in my home office. This one is curly cherry and birdseye maple and cost about $3750 to build.

Gemmtech · « **Reply #4 on:** November 25, 2009, 09:44:03 am »

I'm sorry I just noticed you said UK. I wasn't suggesting you get a table from Ikea, but just some boxes and or cabinets. I like glass tops for photography and I personally have a 3/4" thick top 36x72 that works great. I do agree and disagree with Dan, height is something that is personal and adjusted for each individual person. If you are 6'-5" tall you will want a different height than say my daughter who is 4'-11-7/8". There are standards, but they are just guidelines, kitchen countertop height is 36" in America, and it can change a little depending on appliances used, however you don't have any of those concerns so you can have whatever height you want. I'm more comfortable working at a height of 32"-33" and find countertop height just a little too tall because adding a piece of equipment brings the height up too much, but again, it's very personal. You should experiment or do as I did and build it with adjustable legs.

Peter Mellis · « **Reply #5 on:** November 25, 2009, 11:06:16 am »

I have two Ikea kitchen counter cabinets (on legs) that I use in my workspace ( http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/14631607 ). These are very strong and not (in my opinion) bad looking; predominately blonde wood. They are about 70 inches long, but narrower than your requirement; you could make a wider top. Three drawers, two shelves; built to hold kitchen equipment. I use two of them, in an L arrangement. Printer sits on one; the other has a piece of glass on top and is used for laying out prints, matting, etc. If you have the space, two of these set back to back would make a great work area.

neile · « **Reply #6 on:** November 25, 2009, 11:51:13 am »

Agreed on Ikea kitchen cabinets. I bought a set of them to hold my iPF5100. I used actual kitchen cabinets, not a table-style piece like posted above. They have a variety of widths, lots of drawer options, and they don't cost very much in comparison to other solutions. They also had a nice solid piece of countertop to put over the cabinets. Then I hung some track lighting with Solux bulbs above (http://www.solux.net/).

Neil

bill t. · « **Reply #7 on:** November 25, 2009, 12:06:15 pm »

I use tables made out of 24 to 36 inch wide by 80 inch long unfinished, hollow core doors available at building suppliers in the US. In the unfinished state there are no doorknob cutouts. They can be joined together with metal mending plates (a short length of metal with 4 holes). When one side in marred, flip them over.

For a really cheap worktable they can be placed on the tops of utility tables, the kind with folding legs. That makes a rather low working height that will kill your back if used too much, but at least you have a table.

DanielStone · « **Reply #8 on:** November 25, 2009, 12:39:08 pm »

I wish that I could do this, but while being in school at the moment, I'm still at home with my parents .

a friend, however, has an 11880 which he uses for customer printing(he's a digi tech for a day job, runs a printing/file processing business as a 2nd line of income). He built a table over a weekend with his dad(carpenter) out of 2x4 and 4x4(maybe 6x6) pine. the top he made out of 3/4" cabinet(the gray smooth on the outside stuff) material, smooth, and works very well. he's got a huge(biggest I've seen so far) rotatrim cutter bolted flush to one end of the table.

he had the same dilemna as you, using various types of paper, due to the nature of his business. He decided to use toilet-paper roll holders(you know, the ones that are spring loaded, and bored appropriately sized holes into the legs in order to secure the rolls, so they aren't getting squished by laying down, raither, they hang.

they built some cabinets out of 3/4" plywood, and sanded, primed and painted the whole thing(save the top) with the speckle paint that you would cover your garage floor with. they used the un-textured kind, so it was smooth. the little black,grey and white flecks look nice too.

pretty much everything bolted together with 4" bolts,washers and nuts, so it can be disassembled very easily if need be. weighs approx. 100-150lbs. no sway whatsoever.

-Dan

Rocco Penny · « **Reply #9 on:** November 25, 2009, 05:44:18 pm »

5000 dollar just normlicht graphics table augmented with a 50 inch birchface plywood piece on the end.
I have too much stuff on it to make it too useful.
Searched far and wide for a solution to my bootyfabbed plywood,etc...
Found this on Craigslist for less than the price of the 3 bulbs new.
My dream is a workshop with 5000 feet on the floor, 1000 of that would be for dusty operations, the other 4/5 would include a simple laminate top 60 inches by 144 inches, stiff and dimensionally stable, faced on one side by industrial grade carpet flip it over to reveal a polished scratchproof deck.
Marked with hashmarks and having a straightedge that could be fitted on the side or end.
Hmm such a workshop that would be

abiggs · « **Reply #10 on:** November 25, 2009, 11:10:37 pm »

I posted a long time ago about my love for the IKEA Varde series of kitchen countertops. I am glad they have caught on! I have 2 of their 24x69" units, and I put them back-to-back to create a 4x6 foot work table. I elevated them on casters, which I found on the first floor in their garage storage section.

To make sure that the 2 tables meet up exactly, I bascially cover the combined tables with construction paper and tape them to the underside of the tabletop. I now have a smooth surface that makes it easy for me to work on my matted images. Voila.

By the way, don't you guys find it ironic that in order to build a workbench, one has to actually own a workbench to begin with? Something I thought about when I was into woodworking a while back.

Wayne Fox · « **Reply #11 on:** November 26, 2009, 12:09:01 am »

Quote from: abiggs

By the way, don't you guys find it ironic that in order to build a workbench, one has to actually own a workbench to begin with? Something I thought about when I was into woodworking a while back.

I'm still laughing 20 minutes after reading this ...

Just needing a workbench myself after a flooded downstairs helped in a decision to relocate my work area to a larger room. Thanks for the tip on the Ikea Verde ... looks like just ticket.

abiggs · « **Reply #12 on:** November 26, 2009, 12:13:28 am »

yeah, I worry about and think about worthless things like this.

How was PODAS in Death Valley? Kevin R. and Mark D. told me you attended. Hope you had a great time.

ThePhotoDude · « **Reply #13 on:** November 26, 2009, 03:56:47 pm »

Wow, thatnks all for the answers but I checked out the Varde cabinets on Ikea, flipping heck, these are expensive! No way I can afford 2 of these back to back.
I think I will make something from scratch ... this is gonna get interesting...

Thanks, john

neile · « **Reply #14 on:** November 26, 2009, 08:46:09 pm »

Quote from: ThePhotoDude

Wow, thatnks all for the answers but I checked out the Varde cabinets on Ikea, flipping heck, these are expensive! No way I can afford 2 of these back to back.
I think I will make something from scratch ... this is gonna get interesting...

Thanks, john

John,

You should really check out the other Ikea kitchen cabinets, not the Varde cabinets. They have low-end plain white cabinets that are intended as built-in kitchen cabinets that are much cheaper. I have a 48" wide set that has 8 drawers and a top that cost $500 USD.

Neil

Wayne Fox · « **Reply #15 on:** November 26, 2009, 09:38:57 pm »

Quote from: abiggs

How was PODAS in Death Valley? Kevin R. and Mark D. told me you attended. Hope you had a great time.

Had a fantastic time .... Kevin and team really outdid themselves. All the instructors were terrific. After getting to know Mark, my pocketbook will be a little thinner ... will be investing in an Alpa system as soon as I can sell my Hasselblad gear.

Quote from: ThePhotoDude

Wow, thatnks all for the answers but I checked out the Varde cabinets on Ikea, flipping heck, these are expensive! No way I can afford 2 of these back to back.
I think I will make something from scratch ... this is gonna get interesting...

Thanks, john

I thought for how solid they are built they were pretty reasonable. I might go for two a little shorter, the 69" long ones might take up too much room. They do have some other styles that might be less expensive.

abiggs · « **Reply #16 on:** November 26, 2009, 10:03:32 pm »

I don't thinkg $349 for a solid table with tons of storage space expensive. I call it a saving grace so that I don't have to act like a woodworker and create one myself that would be inferior in build quality. They do have the smaller Varde model that is around 44" wide and is around $299.

Gemmtech · « **Reply #17 on:** November 27, 2009, 12:25:17 am »

Quote from: abiggs

I posted a long time ago about my love for the IKEA Varde series of kitchen countertops. I am glad they have caught on! I have 2 of their 24x69" units, and I put them back-to-back to create a 4x6 foot work table. I elevated them on casters, which I found on the first floor in their garage storage section.

To make sure that the 2 tables meet up exactly, I bascially cover the combined tables with construction paper and tape them to the underside of the tabletop. I now have a smooth surface that makes it easy for me to work on my matted images. Voila.

By the way, don't you guys find it ironic that in order to build a workbench, one has to actually own a workbench to begin with? Something I thought about when I was into woodworking a while back.

Actually if you don't own a "mobile" workbench then you start with the workbench that every home, condo, apartment etc. has, it's called a floor!

The Ikea Varde are very reasonable, I bought the stainless 3 drawer unit several years ago and they are not bad in quality and the price is great. $349.00 is what I charge for 1 door on a cabinet. If you can deal with the "Sheeple" mentality of Ikea you can find some decent stuff in there.

mikev1 · « **Reply #18 on:** November 27, 2009, 12:37:59 am »

You probably can find some cheap stuff on craigslist.

I'm dying for more space myself.

I recently had a flood as well in my basement. Thankfully the water stopped about 4 feet from around a $1000 worth of rolls that were stacked on the floor in the corner. Sure got me thinking though.

Here's an idea I had. Ping Pong table top(already have one in just sitting in the garage) I'm sure you can find a used one for cheap, table legs from Ikea, storage unit from Ikea, there are a number that are designed to fit under a desk.

Not very elegant I know but not very expensive either.

Craig Murphy · « **Reply #19 on:** November 27, 2009, 10:48:00 am »

I'm with Bill T. Hollow core doors are cheap and flat.

Author Topic: Building a workshop and print finishing table (Read 9564 times)