Mobile assembly and outfeed table plans, sized to your space

Parts

Cut list

Kerf 1/8″ included. Every cut runs edge to edge.

Steps

• Tape measure
• Speed square
• Pencil
• Drill/driver
• Clamps
• Safety glasses
• Hearing protection
• Dust mask
• Circular saw and a straight edge (or have the store cut the sheets)
• Hammer
• Table saw or track saw for ripping
• Table saw or track saw for ripping the grid strips
• Brad nailer with 1″ brads
• Small paint roller for glue
• Two straight 2×4s and winding sticks
• Socket or nut driver for the caster lag screws
• Sander, 120 and 180 grit

Underlined words have a short explanation: hover or tap them. All of them are on the glossary page.

1. 1Before you start

   Read every step once, start to finish, before you buy or cut anything. Each step names the parts it uses by letter; the parts list gives their sizes.

   Set up somewhere flat with good light. A pair of sawhorses with a sheet of plywood on top makes a fine work table.

   Wear safety glasses whenever a tool is running, hearing protection for saws, and a dust mask for sanding and for cutting treated wood or sheet goods. Tie back long hair and loose sleeves. Keep children and pets out of the work area.

   • Tip At the store, pick straight boards: hold each one up to your eye and look down its length. Skip boards that bow, twist or have big knots near the ends.
   • Tip Measure twice, cut once. Most mistakes are a misread tape, not a bad cut.

2. 2Cut and label the parts

   Cut every part on the cut list. Cut the longest parts first: if one goes wrong, it can still become a shorter part.

   To mark a cut, hook your tape on the end of the board, make a small V with its point exactly at the measurement, and draw a square line through the point with a speed square. Put an X on the waste side.

   Cut on the waste side of the line, so the blade's kerf (about 1/8″) comes out of the scrap, not your part. Cut sheets with the good face down when using a circular saw: the blade splinters the top face.

   Write each part's letter in pencil on a face that won't show, and stack the parts by letter.

   Sand the faces before assembly while they're flat and easy to reach: 120 grit, then 180.

   ✓ Lay the parts out and count them against the parts list. Measure a few: if one is off by more than 1/16″, recut it now.

   STOP. Let the saw reach full speed before it touches the wood, keep both hands clear of the blade's path, and never reach under a board you're cutting. Support long boards on both sides of the cut so the blade doesn't pinch.

3. 3Build the base case

   Glue the caster pads (G) under one of the base panels (B) first: one in each corner and two at the middle, 1/4″ in from the edges, 4 screws, 1 5/8″, each. That panel is the bottom.

   Stand the sides (A) on the bottom, flush with its ends and front. Glue and drive 1 5/8″ screws up through the bottom into each side every 5″, predrilled.

   Glue the divider (C) upright in the exact middle, 30 15/16″ from the inside of the left side, and screw up through the bottom into it.

   Set the other panel on top as the base top, flush all round, and screw down into the sides and divider every 5″.

   • Tip Predrill and countersink every screw into a plywood edge; edges split if you don't.
   • Tip Clamp a square scrap block inside each corner while screwing to hold the side at 90°.

   ✓ The case's diagonals (corner to corner across the front) are equal within 1/8″, and the sides are 30 15/16″ apart inside each bay.

4. 4Add the shelves and the back

   First glue an edge strip (E) on edge under the front of each shelf (D), flush with the front, and drive 1 5/8″ screws down through the shelf into it every 8″. On edge, the strip makes the shelf several times stiffer.

   Mark the shelf (D) height on the inside of the sides and both faces of the divider: the shelf underside 11 1/4″ above the bottom. Glue and screw through the sides (and toe-screw from below on the divider side) every 5″.

   Lay the case on its front, square it with the diagonals, then glue and screw the back (F) on with 1″ screws every 6″, into the edges of the sides, top, bottom, shelves and divider.

   ✓ Diagonals still equal after the back is on, and the case no longer leans when you push a top corner sideways.

5. 5Mount the casters

   Lay the base on its back. Centre a caster on each pad and mark the holes.

   Drill 5/32″ pilot holes 1″ deep and drive 1/4″ × 1 1/4″ lag screws with a socket, 4 per caster: 24 in all.

   ✓ Every caster swivels and locks, and the base sits level on a flat floor with all casters touching.

6. 6Rip and cut the grid strips

   Rip plywood into 2 1/2″ strips, every one at the same fence setting: the top only comes out flat if every strip is exactly the same height.

   Cut 5 long strips (H) to 72″ and 28 short strips (I) to 8 1/8″. Clamp a stop block to the saw so every short strip is identical.

   ✓ Stand all the strips on edge together on a flat surface and lay a straightedge across them: no strip stands proud.

   STOP. Ripping narrow strips: use a push stick, stand to the side of the blade, and never reach over it. Have the store rip the sheet into 2 1/2″ strips if you don't have a table saw or track saw.

7. 7Glue up the grid on the bottom skin

   The surface you build on decides how flat the top ends up. Lay two long straight 2×4s on the floor (or on sawhorses) and check them with winding sticks; shim until the sticks are parallel, then lay the bottom skin on them.

   Lay the bottom skin (J) on the supports. Glue and brad the outer long strips (H) along both long edges, then the rest evenly, 8 13/16″ apart on centre (0″, 8 13/16″, 17 5/8″, 26 1/2″, 35 5/16″ from the back edge).

   Glue the short strips (I) between the long strips, in rows 11 7/8″ apart on centre, with a row flush at each end. Nail through the long strips into each short one with 2 brads, and tack every strip to the skin with brads driven at a steep angle through its sides every 8″. The brads only hold things while the glue dries; the glue does the real work.

   • Tip Glue sets in about 20 minutes: work in sections, one row of short strips at a time.
   • Tip Stagger the short strips row to row if you like; it doesn't change the strength.

   ✓ Lay a straightedge across the strips in several directions: it touches everywhere. Any strip that sits high gets sanded now, before the top goes on.

8. 8Glue on the top skin

   Roll a thin, even coat of glue on the top edge of every strip with a small paint roller.

   Lay the top skin (K) on, good face up, edges flush, and brad it down along every strip every 6″. Then pile weight on (bags of sand, buckets of water, boxes of tiles) spread over the whole surface, and leave it overnight.

   ✓ Next day, slide a straightedge across the top in every direction and check it with winding sticks: flat within the thickness of a sheet of paper.

   STOP. Don't move it for 24 hours. Lifting a torsion box before the glue cures can lock a twist in for good.

9. 9Fasten the top to the base

   With a helper, set the torsion box on the base, overhanging 4″ on every side. Measure each overhang: equal.

   From inside the base, drive 2 1/2″ screws up through the base top into the long grid strips, 3 per strip. Mark the strip lines on the base top first so each screw hits a strip.

   Ease the top edges and corners with sandpaper. Two coats of wipe-on polyurethane or paste wax make glue drips pop off.

   ✓ The top doesn't shift when you push it. A board slides across it without catching on any edge.

10. 10Finish

    Ease every sharp edge and corner with 120-grit sandpaper so nobody gets a splinter.

    Sand all over with 180 grit, always along the grain (the direction the wood fibres run). Scratches across the grain show through stain.

    Wipe off the dust with a barely damp rag and let it dry.

    Paint, stain or a clear coat (water-based polyurethane is the easiest). Apply thin coats with the grain, let each dry fully, and sand lightly with 220 grit between coats.

    Let it dry for the time on the can before using it.

    • Tip Try your finish on a scrap of the same wood first: stain looks different on every board.