Cutting Table and Mat Storage Layouts

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Loyalise

Grumbler in Training
Joined
Jan 17, 2002
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New Port Richey, FL
I'd like to build a cutting table with mat storage. I know I've seen topics on this in the past, but (after too many computer crashes) I've lost most of the info I had accumulated. Could someone point me in the right direction for plans? Any information would be greatly appreciated!
 
Ron posted his home-made mat storage system on another forum, but I don't recall which one. Perhaps he can point you to it. It was very functional, and, as I recall, very reasonable to build.
Good luck!
 
Larson Juhl had a very nice book with shop table palns. Ask your Salesman if he could get one for you.
 
The plans I posted were not for a work table with mat storage underneath. In fact, in my shop, the mat storage rack sits on top of a "surplus" workbench and I use the space underneath to store other things.

There is a book, perhaps the one Bob Shirk is talking about, called something like Building Frame Shop Fixtures and Storage. I have a copy buried around here somewhere. I think I got it from Decor. I'm pretty sure it has plans for the type of unit you're talking about. It's a very useful book when I can find it.
 
I built a matting cutting table years ago that I still use and it is very functional. It was one of the featured pieces of equipment in a 5 page article written by Alice Gibson in the Sept. 1993 issue of Decor magazine. Since I had little money to invest in fancy tables, I designed my own for chop saw, joining table, mat table, and a general purpose table which had my oval cutter on one end, my shrink wrap equipment on the other, and glass storage underneath. The storage on each of the tables is noteworthy if you are interested in consolidating everything in one place.

To give you an idea of what I did, my matting table is 4' wide by 8' long. I offset one end so my C&H straight cutter fit flush with the surface of the work table. There is storage in each end of the table with absolutely ALL of the little items that are needed for mat cutting, final fitting, and cleaning stored there. In the mat storage area, which is about 5'long, I have 2 each of all the Artique mats, 2 each of all the Crescent #1500 and #1600 mat boards and at least 1 each of all the Crescent black cores (which I don't use much of anymore), the Moorman Linens and Moorman Suedes, and I still have enough room for a couple of cases of foam core and some of the specialty boards, ie., color cores, a few Bainbridge mats, and some from Miller and Queen City.

Pay attention to comfort. I am 5' 11" tall. I built all of my tables 38" high to accommodate my standing up straight when working at any of them. Being bent over just slightly can give you such a pain by the end of the day. When I moved to the present location I built the work room to fit my tables and simply moved right in and got to work.(Hmmm, 38" high, 4'x8'long, how did he get it in and out of the doors when he moved??)

If you are interested and subscribe to Decor, go to their website and check the archives for the September 1993 issue on pps. 207 to 214. If not, let me know and I will copy the article and mail it to you. (If you are interested.)

FGII
 
Thanks for the quick responses, guys! I'm on my way to Decor to check out the September '93 issue right now. Since budget is a definite issue, I'll read as much available information before proceeding. Thanks again!
 
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Frame Harbor:
This is only a test.
Cornel<hr></blockquote>

A test of what? To see if we can make all the little light bulbs turn yellow? It worked, but let's not make a habit of it, please.

(IMHO, this is what happens when there's no moderator.)
 
Unless you are very pressed for storage space, think twice about storing matboard under a cutting or fitting table. We lived with this situation in our old shop for many years. Yes, it's space efficient, but it's also a pain to bend over to retrieve matboard and you also end up kicking the racks (and matboard) with your toes a lot. Our new shop has double-stacked matboard racks against a wall near the mat cutters.
 
Bearcat, work tables should be built with "toe space". It is a 3 by 4 inch cut out like you see at the bottom of kithen cabinets. Another possible way to handle this is with an extra wide overhang of the top of the work table.
 
I pulled out the Decor Sept. 93 issue with Framerguys cabinet. (I had already marked on the spine of the magazine "good cabinets") I noticed that he did create "toe space". (Man, seems to me that EVERY issue of 1993 was GREAT.)

I love this type of setup, however, I am only 5'2", and that's when I'm standing real tall! So all of my work tables have to be 30" tall or I'm really stretching. Any good ideas out there for "short stuff"? (Besides elevator shoes)

Betty
 
Bob, we had a toe-kicks on our old tables and toes were always kicking the matboard anyway. Also, the more overhang you put on the table top the more "in the dark" you are with the racks and the more difficult it becomes to pull out full sheets. As I said, we lived with under-table matboard racking for years and it worked OK--but now that we've changed, no one in my shop would vote to go back.
 
All of you guys and your ideas are great! Unfortunately, the Decor website doesn't have archived articles available as of yet. They list them, but that's as far as it goes. (Unless I'm missing something, which is always a good possibility.) If someone has a further suggestion for me to try, fire away ... please!
shrug.gif
 
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by bearcat99:
Unless you are very pressed for storage space, think twice about storing matboard under a cutting or fitting table. We lived with this situation in our old shop for many years. Yes, it's space efficient, but it's also a pain to bend over to retrieve matboard and you also end up kicking the racks (and matboard) with your toes a lot. Our new shop has double-stacked matboard racks against a wall near the mat cutters.<hr></blockquote>

Space efficiency is the whole idea behind this design. As far as bending over to get matboard, it takes about as much time as it does to tie your shoe. (I usually squat down, it is good exercise for me.)

I designed all of my tables with a 3"x 3" toe space and a 3 1/2" table top overhang all the way around each work table. This is more than adequate to keep from kicking any of your mat boards.

I number each board when I get in a new shipment and store them in numerical order in vertical partitions spaced 6" apart so that there is no chance of any of the mats sagging in the bins and becoming curled.

Believe me, I put a great amount of thought into the design of these tables because I knew I would be standing at them for 8 -10 hours a day.

I apologize for the bum lead on the Decor website. I thought they had archives like PFM but I find that they aren't real archives. I wrote to John Taff to see if we can't find a way around this so Grumblers can have access to the article. Otherwise, I may try to scan the article and place it on my website.

Framerguy
 
Thanks Framerguy I have a few benches to build, it would be great to see what you did, I’m a great believer in not reinventing the wheel if I don’t have to.

 
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by bearcat99:
Bob, we had a toe-kicks on our old tables and toes were always kicking the matboard anyway. Also, the more overhang you put on the table top the more "in the dark" you are with the racks and the more difficult it becomes to pull out full sheets. As I said, we lived with under-table matboard racking for years and it worked OK--but now that we've changed, no one in my shop would vote to go back.<hr></blockquote>

Thanks for the input Bearcat, I guess it all boils down to what works best for each individual. I have used my tables for the last 12 years and have had no problems with kicking mat boards or dark areas below the table top. I lit my workrooms with 4 units of 8' long double tube fluorescent fixtures in each room and I have more than adequate lighting to see anywhere in the shop area. Since I built the ceilings 12' tall for vertical moulding storage I needed extra light down at work level. Lighting is most essential to doing quality work and the cost of installing these were minimal to the benefit of having bright work lights.

If I would change anything, I would possibly build the body of my mat table more narrow than what I did. It is about 42" deep and the matboards have a tendency to push in just to the ends of your fingers when the bins are full and it makes retrieving the boards somewhat of a hassle. And the extra 1" overhang on the table top wouldn't hurt anything.

Framerguy

[Addendum] Before anyone jumps my case about the lights, I bought UV sleeves for each of the tubes. I don't know if they work or not but they make me feel good.
 
Framerguy said:
I built a matting cutting table years ago that I still use and it is very functional. It was one of the featured pieces of equipment in a 5 page article written by Alice Gibson in the Sept. 1993 issue of Decor magazine. Since I had little money to invest in fancy tables, I designed my own for chop saw, joining table, mat table, and a general purpose table which had my oval cutter on one end, my shrink wrap equipment on the other, and glass storage underneath. The storage on each of the tables is noteworthy if you are interested in consolidating everything in one place.

To give you an idea of what I did, my matting table is 4' wide by 8' long. I offset one end so my C&H straight cutter fit flush with the surface of the work table. There is storage in each end of the table with absolutely ALL of the little items that are needed for mat cutting, final fitting, and cleaning stored there. In the mat storage area, which is about 5'long, I have 2 each of all the Artique mats, 2 each of all the Crescent #1500 and #1600 mat boards and at least 1 each of all the Crescent black cores (which I don't use much of anymore), the Moorman Linens and Moorman Suedes, and I still have enough room for a couple of cases of foam core and some of the specialty boards, ie., color cores, a few Bainbridge mats, and some from Miller and Queen City.

Pay attention to comfort. I am 5' 11" tall. I built all of my tables 38" high to accommodate my standing up straight when working at any of them. Being bent over just slightly can give you such a pain by the end of the day. When I moved to the present location I built the work room to fit my tables and simply moved right in and got to work.(Hmmm, 38" high, 4'x8'long, how did he get it in and out of the doors when he moved??)

If you are interested and subscribe to Decor, go to their website and check the archives for the September 1993 issue on pps. 207 to 214. If not, let me know and I will copy the article and mail it to you. (If you are interested.)

FGII
Click to expand...
I have been looking for the sept 1993 decor magazine issue but no longer available. Would you be able to copy those pages for me?
thanks
jeff thornton
19030 dreaming river dr
terrace mn 56334
 
13 YEAR OLD THREAD WARNING

Jeff, this is a 13 year old thread and not one single person who participated in it is around any more.
 
Jeff Rodier said:
13 YEAR OLD THREAD WARNING

Jeff, this is a 13 year old thread and not one single person who participated in it is around any more.
Click to expand...
thanks. have been looking for nice designs for building mat cutting tables & mat / foam core storage bins & combo table storage. Not much luck. I can just build something off the top of my head, but would be nice to be able to have some plans.
 
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