Advice needed

[Fatboy]

I've been asked to make a display table to be taken to trade shows. It needs to be sturdy enough to withstand being put up/taken down at around a dozen shows a year and thrown into a garage when not in use but light enough (and simple enough) to be put together by one person. It will have people leaning on it hence the requirement that it is sturdy.

The size is the problem, it needs to have a sturdy 8'x4' top and be able to break down into small enough parts to get into the back of a car! I cut a sheet of 18mm mrmdf into 3 x 800x1220mm sections as being the easies sizes to handle with domino biscuits along the edges to line then up when slid back together. They'll have a felt top stuck on.

I envisaged a set of 3 legs, like these but 1000mm wide, which I have already made. http://www.finewoodworking.com/assets/u ... _5197A.JPG with three rails of 2200mm halp lapped into the tops and a fourth tying the bottom of the leg sets into place. Worked a treat, slot it all into place and it was sturdy enough yet easy to erect and take apart again. Now they say the 2200 rails are too long for the car and can they be halved to make transport easier. I can do that but the legs are only 40mm wide so little room to join two half rails together. I could make the centre leg wider but I've already made a wheeled dolly to transport it all in whioch is snug fit.

Any thoughts how to join the two halfs of the rail together and retain some rigidity? They don't want too much in the way of fittings, just a simple slot together job. All softwood too.

 

[nev]

Dowel or a pair of dowels per joint? maybe steel rod if limited for space?

 

[NazNomad]

Can you join the two halves underneath with recessed hinges somehow (which would be invisible in use)? ... or would they be too heavy joined together?

... or something as simple as this? the centre leg would still support both halves equally well.

 

[custard]

If your Domino's a 700 could you use the new Festool connectors to join the rails in the middle at the half lap? I've not used the flat connector which I think is what you'd need, but the corner connectors are rock solid.

https://www.festool.co.uk/Products/Acce ... SV-SYS-D14

Alternatively a couple of 12mm dowels would do the job, but then you'd need some sort of strap arrangement inset into the top/bottom of the rails to stop them pulling apart or you'd need a way to fasten the jointed rails to the central portion of the top, a screw in insert with a machine screw would probably be best.

http://www.theinsertcompany.com/index.php

Good luck!

 

[dynax]

coming from the model railway side, many baseboards are made from 1200 x 600 modules fixed together with cabinet makers dowels and toggle catches, if you google modular baseboards there are plenty of images showing various construction methods, all lightweight and strong, HTH,

 

[Fatboy]

Thanks guys, very helpful input. Dynax has given me a whole new view of how I should reconstruct the tops replacing the mdf with something lighter.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Good timing - I was about to ask if you'd ever lifted a sheet of 18mm MRMDF.