Work Table, finished

Hi Everyone,
Well I finished the table and it came out great. Here are the photos:

First I made the frame. I attached the brackets to the legs and screwed all of them down:

These particular brackets utilize self tapping screws which means that you don't have to pre-drill the holes that the screws go into. A huge time and hand saver. So I got my cordless drill out and started drilling away:

Here is one completed leg with the upper and lower bracket in place. I made four of these:

Here is a side shot of one of the brackets. They form a box and the legs and the railings slip inside and are screwed in place. This results in a very strong frame:

The next step involves attaching the side rails to the legs. Here you see that I've clamped everything together so it doesn't move while I'm drilling and I've also checked to see that the inside angles and the outside angles are all 90 degrees or in other words, the table frame is square: 

I assembled both ends of the table and then I attached and screwed on the long rails. And again, the whole thing is clamped together:

Here is a photo of the completed frame:

Now we're on the home stretch. The bottom shelf goes on first. The corners have to be notched to accommodate the legs and I used my trusty sabre saw for that:

It fits! Yes!!!

Lastly, I put on the top and screwed it down. Voila! Houston, we have lift off! This is the finished work table. It's heavy and strong and it should hold up well in the work shop. 

Between the cold and some arthritis, I am in considerable pain at the moment so I'm going to give my hands a rest and stop typing. 

Next week, after I've recovered, we're going to begin work on the salad bowl out of poplar. As my friend doesn't read this blog and isn't on Facebook, she won't know that I'm making this and it can be a big surprise on her wedding day. I love surprises. 

So I'm going to go and get something hot to drink and let my joints recover. Thanks for dropping by the wood shop and I'll see you soon.

VW