Shopsmith Forums

A lot of people will buy the Smart Table kit at $65, http://eurekazone.com/content/smart-table-top-kit, and build their own base.

I built mine on top of a Harbor Freight motorcycle lift. I can pull sheet goods off my utility trailer right onto the smart table, raise it up several inches, and cut them down at a more comfortable height in my driveway. Link to picture http://tracksawforum.com/showthread.php?t=862.

Roy

Both the commercial version and the home made version would seem to function equally well for purpose of breaking down sheet goods with a circular saw I can't see where one would be more functional than the other when used for that purpose.

The homemade version may be a little more portable since the frame for the home made version can just sit on some knock down saw horses and doesn't need the ply surface below the frame to mount the hardware and frame to like on the commercial version. A piece of ply the size of the one shown in the post for the commercial version would add weight but not necessarily functionality.

If used as a work table, I think the weight advantage again goes to the home made version since if you throw a solid surface on top of the frame to make a work surface you are carrying only one piece of ply -- the top; the commercial one has a solid surface below, then a framework, then would need a second solid surface on top.

I could see the open framework (no bottom) on the home made being useful for other tasks as well, since it gives more unfettered access from below since there's no solid bottom to limit the size of a tool you want to introduce from the bottom, like a drill, or screwdriver if you need to get to the middle of something. Or for that matter you are less obstructed from above if you wanted to use a hand saw -- a jig saw or a hole saw to cut a shape out of the middle as opposed to an edge, since there's no "bottom" to interfere with a tool introduced from the top. This admittedly may not be something one does often, or at all, so it may not be a significant advantage for the home made version or a significant limitation on the commercial version.

I think the homemade 2" x 4" version in the first post has all sorts of things going for it including as an assembly table and even as mentioned, a food table at large family gatherings.
I had originally planned on using two 3' x 5' metal office desk I have, mounted back to back on a wood base with good casters. There are 2 problems with that. One is that I planned to use all of the desk drawers for storage but I don't really want that kind of storage. Second and perhaps most important is that it would consume too much space even in a good sized shop. Add that to the propensity of "stuff" to quickly accumulate on flat surfaces in my shop and... I'm not sure I could even buy the right size casters with a 3 ton capacity.


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