Layout/cutting table - what's your favorite surface?

[JAM]

I'm going to build a new, bigger (4'x8') layout and cutting table, and I was wondering what other leatherworkers use (and like) for a surface? If you use plastic - which I'm inclined to do - what kind do you use?

[Drac]

I've got a 33"x58" (marked measuring surface. it's actually slightly larger) self healing cutting mat I got from a jo ann's fabric store. I don't use a head knife so I don't know how it would hold up to those, but works great with a rolling cutter and exacto blades. my table's also low so that I can put a foot down onto a straightedge when I use that for cutting so it doesn't move.

[esantoro]

I've been wanting to share my experience with my choice of tables, but for some reason have been too lazy to start a thread about it.

I like having equipment that can serve multiple purposes. Folding tables work very nicely, though none of them are much good for heavy pounding.

Here's what I have:

2' x 6' laminated dense particle board (melanine ?? and rather heavy) banquet table from staples for about $50 and free shipping. This table seems to take all my mess until needed later.

2' x 4' heavy plastic table from Lifetime, also about $50. This table is topped with a 2' x4' x .5" cutting board from U.S. plastics. I use this table for most of my work. I can put a 50 lbs anvil on it and set Jiffy rivets and cut out 2" oval logos. The only think I cannot do on this table is set the caps on semitubular rivets or peen or roll over the posts, which requires a serious whacking from a heavy steel hammer or mallet (peening, rolling over). Though this folding table is made of heavy plastic, it is very sturdy.

http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_1...me=For+the+Home

These two tables work very nicely.

Now, just yesterday I received the latest addition to my flexible system.

4 folding chairs from Lifetime, very sturdy and comfortable. $120 from K-mart pls about $11 shipping. Try to find free shipping if you can.

http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_1...me=For+the+Home

2 20"x30" folding tables from Lifetime, like large TV trays, but much sturdier. From K-mart at $30 apiece. One of these tables serves to hold stitching projects off the left side of my machine. These tables have three height positions. I wouldn't use these tables for any pounding, but they're good for holding things, gluing, setting stuff up, and prepping.

http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_1...me=For+the+Home

I think Sears also has these tables, though their prices seem higher. Eventually, both K-mart and Sears should have these products on sale and perhaps free shipping. I think I may try to get rid of my heavy 2' x 6' table and replace it with one from Lifetime. For what limited pounding you can do, I'd say the plastic tables from Lifetime serve better than the melanine tables, which are a bit cheaper.

Ed

Edited September 24, 2008 by esantoro

[mulefool]

I have two cutting tables with polyethylene butcher block cutting board surfaces. They are both 4' X 8'. I got the sheets from a plastics place down in Seattle. They are about 3/4 inch thick I believe. the last one I got maybe five years ago and it was about $125 per sheet as I recall. Both my tables are pretty heavy duty. Solid enough I can set rivets and such without too much bounce if I center it over a leg. I really like the plastic. The place where I stand the most gets kind of chewed up over time so eventually I rotate the sheet and then turn it over and rotate it again. Over 25 years I've eventually had to replace one because it just got too chewed up. Somewhere I hear you could take a torch to it to even out the surface again but that sounds like trouble to me. Also the surface I get has a very small kind of pebbly grain to it. I have also seen it smooth but I think the pebble grain would work best.

[daviD A Morris]

I have two cutting tables with polyethylene butcher block cutting board surfaces. They are both 4' X 8'. I got the sheets from a plastics place down in Seattle. They are about 3/4 inch thick I believe. the last one I got maybe five years ago and it was about $125 per sheet as I recall. Both my tables are pretty heavy duty. Solid enough I can set rivets and such without too much bounce if I center it over a leg. I really like the plastic. The place where I stand the most gets kind of chewed up over time so eventually I rotate the sheet and then turn it over and rotate it again. Over 25 years I've eventually had to replace one because it just got too chewed up. Somewhere I hear you could take a torch to it to even out the surface again but that sounds like trouble to me. Also the surface I get has a very small kind of pebbly grain to it. I have also seen it smooth but I think the pebble grain would work best.

I also have the polyethylene cutting board. Bought it from a butcher's supply wholesaler, but the biggest sheet I could get was 6' x 4' and only 3/8" thick. The thickness is ok, but my cutting-out bench is 4' x 8' so 2' of it is not covered . My polyethylene had a smooth finish, works fine, last for years.

My ideal cutting-out bench (which I now have) is an island bench that I can walk all the way around, not built against a wall. Also not too high, just below waist height, that way I can easily reach out into the middle of a side of leather when laid out. The frame is made of heavy chunks of hardwood and braced well, I can not stand to have any bench which is wobbly!

If space was not an issue I would have 2 cutting out benches like this, so that I could have 2 sides laid out at the same time when cutting out for saddles.

[ChuckBurrows]

For a heavy duty cutting surface that is pretty self-healing try a rubber horse stall mat - I use the flat backside.......they run under $50.00 fora 4' x 6" x 1/2" or 3/4"

[oldgringo]

My goodness those are such great ideas. I really should try some of them. My old ping pong table is a little flimsy - but I can lay out a whole hide and cut on it with one of those soft plastic cutting boards under the leather. But it is a little low. Someday I'm going to have a proper shop.

[ArtS]

I bought a sheet of 1"x24"x48" High-Density Polyethylene(HDPE) cutting pad from Campbell-Bosworth a few years ago. It's held up great! I think it's teh same thing that people use for clicker pads. At the time mine cost about $80.

Art

http://www.campbell-bosworth.com/catalog/p...products_id/444

Here are some other places to buy from.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.a...roduct_id=25020

http://thecuttingboardfactory.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?

[rbrooks]

My lay-out table and work bench are made of 4x4 posts for legs ,frames of 2x6`s. Lay-out table has 3/4 inch plywood top, work bench has 2x6 top.

I went to Oregon Leather, out of Portland Oregon and ordered a 28 by 18 piece of neoprine sole material, actually two of them. On my lay-out table I just leave it loose and use it as circumstance dictates. On my work beench I framed around it with 1/2 inch strip of leather to keep it from moving around.

When I`m cutting, say a set of stirrup straps,I start at the left end of the table and cut for 26 inches or so,reach under the side of leather, slide the mat down and begin cutting again. this is great for a variety of reasons. Try it you`ll like it.

By the way the neoprene only cost me $28.00 two years ago and they sent me enough material for three pads. My first pads lasted somewhere between 25 and 30 years and I`m still using one of the original ones on the lay-out table.

Heres something else that might interest you on work surfaces. I took and old TV from the 60`s or 70`s, one of those console models and took the glass front out of it and put it on my work bench. I framed it in with 1/2 inch leather stripping also. This is an incredible surface for skiving all your leather work can`t be beat. Never dulls your skiving knives.

If you have to buy new glass do not buy safety glass, you can`t skive on it. Buy plain, untreated glass.

Hope I haven`t bored ya! Hope I might of been of some help. Keep toolin!

Rbrooks

[UKRay]

I was fortunate enough to find three ex-library tables on eBay. Each is made from solid oak and measures 6ft x 2ft 6". I have covered one with a 3ft x 7ft High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) cutting board that I purchased from www.partwell.com in the UK. This has been completely successful and I couldn't praise Partwell's service higher. They cut the board to size and delivered it to my door.

In addition, I use standard cheapo (catering quality) HDPE cutting boards under my foot press machines which I use for for punching holes. Once again, no problems there.

I also use 24" x 12" catering style cutting boards for tacking down work that needs to be left to dry. Shoe tacks are plenty sharp enough to work well and the surface can be used over and over without splintering like wood.

[Kevinjohnson]

Last week I bought a new peice a of 3/4'' x 4' x 10' butcher bourd material. It's the same material that goes in packing plants and probably the same stuff some of the others are talking about. This specific material came from a company called Motion Industries, which I believe, is a nation wide company serviceing the packing plant industry. I paid about $280 for the sheet. I would advise against some of the thinner plastic material. I've used a 1/4'' sheet a plastic, pebble grained material for the last three years and have not been satisfied w/ it. For one, it's fairly light and needed to be screwed down to the surface to keep from shifting. After screwing it down, the material had a tendency to expand and contract w/ the temperature leaving waves and ripples that additional fasteners would'nt remedy. The pebble grain also had a tendency to scuff the grain side of wet or cased skirting. I ended up taking a belt sander to the slight pebble finish. I think this cutting material cost $80 or $100 three years ago. As far as the table itself, bigger the better. Mine is made from doubled 2x4's for legs, 2x8's for cross braces, and 7/8'' plywood sheeting for the top and bottom level. I use the bottom level for leather storage. The table is 4'x8' and slightly taller than most. I like to be able to cut without having to bend over to far to see what I'm doing. Because the table is very heavy, I have casters on it which makes it handy to move and sweep under. If I could have done it over again I would have bought the more expensive material to begin with. Finally, like someone else said, position the table where you can access it on all four sides. KJ

[RichardCollmorgen]

Has anyone used formica for a cutting surface?

[SantaFeMarie]

Very old thread, I know, but what is a good height for a cutting out table? I'm currently using a workbench that is kitchen-counter height, or even a little bit more.

[veedub3]

Very old thread, I know, but what is a good height for a cutting out table? I'm currently using a workbench that is kitchen-counter height, or even a little bit more.

The height of the table would depend on how tall you are, and what is most comfortable for you. As an example, a person that is 6"6 would probably want a higher table than a person that's 5"6, so I don't think a one size fit all would be ideal in this case.

Karina

[SantaFeMarie]

Yes, I meant: where should it be relative to the user.

[veedub3]

Yes, I meant: where should it be relative to the user.

That's what I thought you meant and the answer is still the same. The height of the table should be what is comfortable for you. There is no right or wrong way here. I am just short of 5'7 and the tables I purchased are 30" high, but the table I built myself, is 34" high. It is comfortable for me to cut on either one. There is not set or defined height, it simply is what is comfortable for you.

Karina

[SantaFeMarie]

OK, then: I would like to know what heights people find comfortable so that I can decide how to change my set up; given that I do not have an adjustable table I have to make a judgement call about what to change it to and I would value other people's input about what works for them.

[veedub3]

I would value other people's input about what works for them.

So basically you are telling me to kick rocks because you don't like the answers I have given you. You are seriously over thinking this and making it harder on yourself. You asking that question is like asking leather workers what's the best leather in the world to use. You ask 10 different people and you will probably get 10 different answers, and their answer might just be the best for them. As for the table height, there is no right or wrong answer. You said you are working on a workbench that is the height of the kitchen table. Is that too high for you? If so then you now you need a lower table, if it is too low then you know you need a higher one. How hard is that to figure out? Take out a measure tape and measure it. But you know what, I am getting off this merry-go-round now and let others give you there opinion since that's what you are after anyway.

Good Luck!

Karina

[SantaFeMarie]

Wow, am I really being that unreasonable? I want a lower table. I don't have the ability to experiment with different heights. So I want to hear the the opinions of other people about what works for them and why. I will then process all that information and make a decision and what I am going to do.

I like asking 10 different people and getting 10 different answers.

Until tonight I had thought this was a very friendly place what was suitable for doing just that.

[papaw]

I am 5' 11" table is 35" works for me

[oltoot]

Let's be clear, I'm not suggesting anything just sharing some experience that I hope some would find historically interesting.

In the long ago, someone noticed that the lumber from monocotyledonous trees (cottonwood, aspen) had different properties than pine or hardwoods. It didn't tend to splinter as much when subjected to the stresses of things like the blows and slices associated with a lot of industrial uses. The passing years and changing supply chains led to the replacement of wood surfaces with metal for a lot of things and cottonwood lumber was becoming scarce. In the West, it hung on a little longer and it was still the favored material for truck beds in the early oil fields (thankfully, there is still some available to my treemaker) End of history lesson. Now then for some time into the 20th century, aspen was a favored material for cutting surfaces and there was a company (I don't remember who or where) that made and sold cutting boards of aspen. I was raised on it for cutting and a cottonwood log for punching and pouted a little when I couldn't get them anymore. As the last one I had had been sanded down to it's last gasp, I had the good fortune to move to a place that still had a sawmill nearby that cut large cottonwood and aspen planks for truck beds. I went for a visit and got to talking to the owner who was getting old and told me that it was getting harder and harder to get the kind of logs he needed for large planks and that his kids were talking about taking the business into the paneling business and weren't even going to mess with cottonwood or try to get the big aspen trees anymore (that has happened btw). Anyway that scared me enough that I ordered a small truckload of 4X14 planks, took them home, stickered and air dried them for a year, made some cutting boards, kept some, traded some, made some other kinds of tables and soldiered on. Now here I am, 70+ and the one I'm using still is about 2 3/4 " thick after a few sandings and I have one left. Now then if I were starting out and didn't have all that history weighing me down I would be using one of the poly sheets used in butcher shops on a 2x4 surface for most of my work (round knife, edgers, etc) The cottonwood log got left behind a few moves ago and I punch on a thicker poly piece over a metal backer. Skiving on a piece of thick, colored glass from an old countertop. That's the old guy's stuff.

[Russ]

I would suggest that a comfortable cutting table is the height where you would place your hands flat on a surface in front of you while you are standing straight. So if you can find a table or a way to measure that, that would be a good height. Make sure you aren't leaning forward when you do your measurement. You WILL be leaning forward a little when you cut and do your layouts, but the standing straight method seems to work very well.

This "measurement" was discussed at length at one of the classes at the Southwest Leather Show in Prescott (and in the bar at the reception after ) and the general consensus was this is a good method.

And no, SantaFeMarie, your questions aren't unreasonable. Please don't let a combative answer spoil you on the site. It happens, unfortunately.

Russ

Wow, am I really being that unreasonable? I want a lower table. I don't have the ability to experiment with different heights. So I want to hear the the opinions of other people about what works for them and why. I will then process all that information and make a decision and what I am going to do.

I like asking 10 different people and getting 10 different answers.

Until tonight I had thought this was a very friendly place what was suitable for doing just that.

[eglideride]

I just built a cutting table a couple of months ago. 2X4 and 2X6 construction.screwed, glued and doweled at the major joints.

36" wide 72" long...38" high (mounted on 4 lockable swivel castors).

(your dining room table is probably 30" tall- kitchen counter top around 36" and a kitchen bar is usually around 40"/41"- for reference)

1/2' plywood for the top base- then regular 1/8" hardboard screwed (screws are flush with the surface) to that. I intend to trim the edges in the near future. I also plan on buying a very large - self healing cutting mat to work on...I am really enjoying having a dedicated space for layout and cutting..