Saturday, August 8, 2015

Hovercraft Table For Workbench




A hovercraft table for the workbench will come in handy to move heavy machines around. I think it would be ideal if one had a very large work bench and can have a few floating around. These tables can be made very quickly and are very inexpensive.








   To start I will make the base, two pieces of plywood will be used for this. I used my large wooden caliper to mark the center on a  piece of 3/8" plywood. This will be drilled  to fit the air hose.  



                          

                            Since the board will not fit in the drill press I used my small drill
                           guide block to drill the hole. The block has a v-shape in it and will
                            keep the drill bit straight.




                           For the bottom I used a high density overlay wood panel, these
                           are used for concrete forming, sign making and industrial applications.
                           To drill this hole I used a 1 1/8" forstner bit, this hole will be for the 
                           air to escape.

                           

A 1/4" check valve is screwed into the 3/8' board, I was also able to put a nut on the other end. I did not tap the wood but made sure I used the right size drill bit to give me a very secure fit. It was such a good fit I was able to lift the whole piece with just the hose.



                           The two pieces are glued and clamped together and set aside.
               
                           The next day all I had to do is round the corners with a jigsaw.
                 
                             Just about done.....





                            After I tried it for awhile I thought I would add some tape to the
                            bottom, this will create more of a cushion of air for the hovercraft
                            to glide. It is commercial foam tape with a closed cell, after I
                            applied a strip around the perimeter I tried it agian and it turned out
                            great. I tried it on the floor but it did not work very well on cement
                            so I think I will build a larger one using a leaf blower.
                       

 This is the first one I built but I did not like the way it moved around the bench so I tweaked it a bit         .......


I added a small platform on top, this would help distribute the weight more evenly. After I put the drill press on it took off all over my bench!




See also;

       Cutting perfect grooves                Dust collector arm                Table saw safety stop
                             
                                               

 

     Make a circle cutting jig              Table saw finger board                 Male a tool caddy

                                                  





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