I purchased an X-mat system from Woodpeckers a month ago and haven’t used it yet.  There wasn’t a great place for it and I was waiting to build a small clamping table to use it on.  I have a 4 foot section of wall between my garage door and a spigot that would fit a small folding table.  I had a bunch of left over 2X4 stock to use and some plywood.  A while ago I had a small fold-down router table and I figured the same idea would work for the assembly table.

I wanted the table to be 48″ wide by 36″ deep. It ended up being a bit smaller due my existing stock.   I was going to use half lap joints to create the frame work and set plywood panels into rabbets to form the rest of the table top.

Table Frame

Jointed and planed the 2×4 stock.  I cut 3 long pieces to the same length at 47″ and 3 short pieces at 36″.  Then, ripped them down to 3 1/4″ wide and cut half laps out of each end.  I laid out the four perimeter pieces and temporarily clamped them together.  I laid out the two middle sections to mark my half lap locations and cut those on the table saw as well.

Once the glue dried, I used a hand plane to flatten the frame and flush up the joints.  I was quite surprised at how well the joints came out.  They didn’t take much work.

Rabbets for Panels

After everything was flat, I used a router with 1/2″ rabbeting bit to create the recess.  Easy but extremely dusty.

Then, used  a chisel and hammer to square the corners

Crowned Plywood Panels

I measured and cut some 1/2″ plywood to fit into the openings.  The plywood was slightly cupped, but I thought I could clamp it flat.   Wrong!  I ended up having crowned plywood and a very un-flat surface.  I thought a belt sander would take care of it, but that wasn’t enough.  About 20 minutes of planing and it was pretty flat.

Then I hit it with a belt sander again.

Since I want the table to hinge out from the wall, I had to mount a cleat to the wall.  I was able to reuse the one from my router table as well as the hinges and pipe legs.

Finished it with some left over amber shellac that has been collecting dust.  I also added some Kreg Clamp tracks that have been sitting in my cabinet.  The added width of the clamp tracks pushed the X-mat off the back of table.  Oh well.

When the table is not in use, I can unscrew the legs and fold the table down against the wall.  It only juts out 4″ from the wall when folded.