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

[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..