I enjoy having my laptop computer turned on and beside my
chair when I am watching TV.
If I get
bored I can play card games, check email, and many other time occupying
chores. I had it on top of a large waste basket, but I had to move it to
throw paper in the basket. So I designed
a very light weight but sturdy small table for the laptop to be in a perfect
place and quickly available, but out of the way. I use a wireless keyboard and mouse which
means I can recline and work with my computer.
The design of this table is based on the triangle, the
strongest and most stable geometric shape.
Each of the two vertical legs is joined by mortise and tenon into the
horizontal foot and this is reinforced with an Oak dowel to form a triangle.
The work surface is adjustable for level, 15 o ,
30 o , 45 o , or 60 o , and the support under
the surface also forms a triangle.
Looking at the back
side you will see two pieces form an “X” between the legs which is just two
triangles that overlap.
The front edge of the work surface has two short uprights
instead of a full piece, like a book stand.
This allows you to access the SD card slot or any other feature on your
computer that is located on the front.
The tops of the legs do not extend above the work surface so USB ports,
AC adapter, and DVD access is not a problem.
The weight distribution is focused on the center of gravity for the unit
and because of only two legs, this unit sits firmly on the floor by making
contact with all 4 foot pads.
This design offers very light weight but an impressively
stable unit.
After I chose the wood I had to plane and edge the wood for
the cutting of the stock pieces.
To get started on the structure, I cut the 2 legs, 2 feet,
and 4 foot pads, sizes and dimensions are shown in the table at the end of this
presentation. The leg and the foot are
joined with a mortise and tenon.
Once I pair the two I make marks to show front, back, left
or right. Here you see a dot inside the
mortise and on the side of the tenon which mates the two and reminds me of the
orientation when putting them together. I
dry fit the leg’s tenon with the foot’s mortise. When this is correct, I place two pieces of
tape on the side of the joined pieces. One
from the joint up the leg and the other from the joint along the short part of the
foot, lay a piece of 1/4 inch Oak dowel about 7 inches long on the two joined
pieces and mark the outline of the dowel on the tape.
This gives me the target to set the alignment for my Shopsmith
to the horizontal bore and clamp a board as a fence at the correct angle for
the approximate 45 degree angle to drill.
A small piece of tape placed on the wood fence after the
first piece is drilled will give me the mark for placing the other leg for
drilling the ¼ inch hole. The angle will
change for drilling the feet but the process is the same.
Now is the time to round the top of each leg and drill the
correct side of the top with a 5/16 inch hole, but not all the way
through. Stop the drill about 3/16 inch short
so there is a stop for the dowel to butt against. This is also when I chamfer and sand the
pieces before assembly.
One final dry fit test for each assembly before glue up will
prevent many problems.
I found it easier to put the dowel into the hole in the leg
first and then line it up for the hole in the foot so that it slides in as you
guide the tenon into the mortise. For
the glue up on each assembly, I use a small 3/16 dowel sanded flat on one end
to coat where I need glue in the dowel holes, the mortise, and the tenon. Once they are together with the glue, I
insure the two are perpendicular.
I use a piece of hard board that is the same width as the
wood stock is thick with a 3/16 hole in it as a template.
This will be placed on the underside of the foot and the top
of the foot pad to guide me for the drilling of the 3/16 hole.
Just be careful to remember to flip the hard
board over after drilling the underside of the foot before drilling the top of
the pad.
When I glue the two together I put a short piece of 3/16 dowel in the hole to add strength and alignment, and then clamp.
After about 2 or 3 hours I can lightly sand any marks and
glue squeeze out. This is the best time for
fine sanding touch up and to coat both assemblies with polyurethane.
For the table surface I used a ½ inch pre-primed cabinet
grade plywood about 12 by 16 inches.
Because the edges expose the layers of wood, I add a trim around the
piece with a 3/8 inch wide and 5/8 thick strip that has been put on the table
saw to cut a rabbet 1/8 inch by ½ inch. Now
this trim will align perfectly with the top, have a 1/4 inch wide trim, and
a small 1/8 x 1/8 lip that will extend under the top and
insure the best alignment. On this and
all pieces I will chamfer and sand the long stock before final cut to length so
I have a little extra to choose the best area for the finish part.
To avoid nails I simply apply glue and used my TABLE TOP
(PORTABLE) WORKBENCH for a strong clamp to attach the trim. I cut the corners to a 45 degree before
attaching.
After cutting the trim for the top, I also dimension the
pieces for the horizontal, the "X", the two uprights for the front
edge of the top, and the supports for the top.
I let the trim around the top dry for a couple of hours and
then back to the table saw to cut rabbets in the front edge so I can glue the
uprights in position.
Using a long piece of stock about ¾ thick and 1 ¼ wide, I
set the miter gage to 45 degrees and cut four (4) trapezoids with a 1 inch long
top and almost a 3 ½ inch base. On two (2)
of these I drilled a 5/16 inch hole with the center about 9/16 inch from the top
1 inch edge and centered from side to side.
I stop the drill at a depth of 9/16 inch to leave a thin wall to butt
the dowel against when assembled. This
is the ‘pivot block’.
The other two (2) blocks of the same dimensions are used for the support to the table top. The ‘support block’ has a ¼ inch hole ½ inch from the top, centered side to side, and drilled all the way through. On the table saw I set the height of the blade to 1 inch and the fence should be 3/16 from the blade.
These 4 blocks will be glued to the underside of the top. First I must insure the center of the holes
will be positioned accurately from the front edge. For this I insert a short piece of 5/16 dowel
in the pivot blocks and a 1/4 dowel in
the support blocks. Now I mark on the
underside of the block the end I am going to use as the front of the block.
With a sanding block I am able to sand the longer block's
front edge to align properly with the other mating block for both pair.
Now I am able to drill a 3/16 hole in each of the blocks by
aligning the template with the front edge of the block.
I place the table top with the bottom side up so I can use
the front edge of the top as my reference to measure to each pair of block's
front edge.
Once the four blocks are in
position, I place tape at the 3 edges to isolate the area for the blocks to be
attached. With the template positioned,
I drill a 3/16 hole about 3/8 inch deep.
Remember with the support blocks you put the thin wall to
the outside and the hole in the pivot blocks face the outside. I have learned the hard way……. Again I must be very careful to be sure to
flip the template in order for the mating holes to be positioned perfectly for
the blocks to be glued.
These holes will allow me to glue the blocks in position with
a 3/16 dowel to join the pieces just like I did for the pads on the bottom of
the feet.
After this has set over night, I very closely inspect the
trim and especially the mitered corners.
Lightly sanded will adjust the trim to a perfect transition from one to the
other at each corner.
I will apply the first coat of polyurethane now, and then I
move on to getting the remaining pieces.
Each leg is custom fitted to allow about 1/16 gap between
the leg and the edge of the table.
This is accomplished by slightly rounding one end of the
dowel and then carefully shaving the
length of the dowel and dry fitting it until the ends are butted against the
stops that were left in the block and the leg.
When this is accomplished I am able to add glue to the hole
in the pivot block and inserting the dowel to dry and be fixed in that
position.
I gave the dowel about an hour for the glue to set. Then with the top upside down and the legs
positioned,
I slip the hole in the leg top onto the corresponding dowel
from the pivot block on both sides. By
holding the two pieces together with one hand I slightly move the foot of the
leg so as to have it parallel with the side of the top.
I round one end of the horizontal piece, then place it in
position,
and mark the other end for the length and a small dot to
show where to drill the hole for the screw to be inserted. This hole is the same diameter as the shaft
of the screw. When this is ready I
place it in position again and with a small pick it can press through the
predrilled hole in the horizontal piece into the leg to mark for the next
holes. These holes are 2 sizes smaller
than the shaft of the screw and only as deep as the screw will extend past the
thickness of the horizontal piece.
The "X" is done in the same manner. These two pieces are cut to length,
chamfered, drilled, and ready to attach.
Before they are attached I position them and place a tooth pick through
the holes in the ends and into the holes in the legs so that I have them ready
to mark for a rabbet to cut where they cross. This will add extra stability to the
structure. I mark the top surface of bottom
piece and the bottom of the top piece.
Then on my table saw I carefully adjust the miter guide for the correct
angle and remove about one-fourth of the thickness.
I add a mark inside the rabbet so I will be sure to place
the two back correctly for the assembly. A small amount of glue is added in the rabbet
before assembly and once the two are screwed into their position, I clamp the
two for the glue to dry.
At this point I also drill a 1/4 hole in one end of the two support
piece. This hole must be positioned with
the center of the hole about 3/8 inch from the end and centered on the piece. This is because when it is assembled within the
rabbet of the support block it will not bind against the bottom of the grove as
I rotate it 180 degrees. Cut this piece
to 12 inches, and round both ends.
Before I drill the other ends I place the two support pieces together
and insert a single piece of 1/4 dowel through both pieces. This will insure the holes in the other end
are equal distance. Now I drill through
both pieces at the same time at the opposite end. This hole is the same diameter as the shaft
of the screws that will go through that piece and into the legs. I place the end of the support piece with the
1/4 hole into the rabbet of the support block, inset a 1/4 dowel that I have
cut to the same length as the thickness of the block. Just before it is fully inserted I add a
small amount of glue around the dowel end, push it in until flush with the
block, and wipe away any squeeze out glue.
I remove the horizontal, the "X", and one leg. This will let me position the remaining leg
on its side. I place a long piece of
tape on the inside of that leg, measure up from the foot 5 inches, and
mark.
That mark will allow me to transfer the tape to the other
leg after I have marked for the holes in the first leg. A line is also drawn on the tape from end to
end to show the center of the leg. Now
by joining the table top with the leg and placing a block under the front trim of
the top,
I am able to use a protractor to position the top
perpendicular to the leg. Carefully I
align the other end of the support piece so that the hole in the end is over
the center line on the tape. I use a
small pick and press the point into the leg to mark where to drill.
Using the protractor I reposition the top to have a 15
degree tilt down and mark the leg for another hole. This is continued for 30, 45, and 60 degrees
tilt. I remove the tape from the first
leg and put it on the inside of the other leg so as to align it with the mark
at 5 inches from the foot. The small
holes in the tape are my guide to press the pick into the second leg. I now drill 5 holes in each leg that are 2
sizes smaller than the screw that will be used.
At this point I join the legs with the top, attach the
horizontal and the "X", and stand the unit in the upright position. I move the top to whatever tilt I feel is
best and set it there by putting the screws through the ends of the support pieces
and into the holes in the inside of the legs.
The screw used to join the support piece with the legs is not screwed
tightly, but rather leave a 1/16 or less space for movement.
This unit is so light that it is easily moved, and sturdy
enough hold anything from a plate of food to a laptop computer. I am including a table of lengths and
dimensions, but you may want to alter the numbers to your own preference.
This unit is for sale on eBay, my username is "stirlingbay".
Thanks for looking and tell your friends.....
Thanks for looking and tell your friends.....
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