Table Assist

[OVRLNDCBR]

Hi everyone!
The attached pic I found on a thread while reading through the site, however my google'ing skills are lacking for researching. If anyone can help with what the shelf material is that'd be fantastic! Im attempting to knock-up a similar setup on the side of my Ranger.
Cheers

 

[Mrprez]

It looks to me like hardboard. Lowe’s call it “brown wall panel”. Not very weather resistant though. No telling what they call it in your part of the world!

 

[OVRLNDCBR]

It looks to me like hardboard. Lowe’s call it “brown wall panel”. Not very weather resistant though. No telling what they call it in your part of the world!

Thanks mate - Ill start googling the Lowe's terms and seeing if I can match it up over here.

 

[Road]

Hi everyone!
The attached pic I found on a thread while reading through the site, however my google'ing skills are lacking for researching. If anyone can help with what the shelf material is that'd be fantastic! Im attempting to knock-up a similar setup on the side of my Ranger.
Cheers
View attachment 193935

.
Why not ask the person who posted it?

This looks like a piece of plywood painted black, with aluminum angle trim applied via screws into the edge side of the ply and through bolts for the hanger rings. Birch ply will give the smoothest surface.

"Brown wall panel" is masonite (hardboard), usually only 3mm 0r 6mm thickness. It is usually available as regular (generally one side finished, the other rough) or tempered, which has a harder more impervious surface.

If fabbing up your own, I'd use 12mm or 18mm birch ply, primed with an exterior primer and painted with a good exterior paint. Be sure to fill all edge voids with a good caulk before finishing. I would paint the underside as well, and would attach a couple rubber bumpers along the back edge to protect your vehicle.

If you like a clear natural look, simply apply a couple coats of Polycrylic, sanded lightly in between coats. Provides a very smooth, water resistant, clear finish. Plenty durable for outside use if only using the table intermittently. It's what I use on my van floor and side cupboards and it has held up extremely well for years.
.

 

[grubworm]

yeah, @Road nailed it. if you zoom in on the sticker on the angle, you'll see that it's a 3/4" aluminium angle and it covers the edge of the plywood, so the plywood is roughly 3/4" or 18mm. the grain looks to be birch, so yeah...cut a piece of birch plywood the size you want and trim it with the angle and youre good to go. definitely seal the edges like Road mentioned, otherwise liquids will get between the angle and plywood and swell up the ends and it will start delaminating and puffing up around the edges.

 

[Anak]

For sealing the edges of plywood look for a thinned epoxy (viscosity of diesel) with a long cure time (cure time measured in hours, not minutes).

This is the stuff I like: Rot Doctor CPES

The challenge with plywood is that it has end grain on all four edges, and end grain is what soaks up moisture the best. And with moisture, you are looking at everything from liquid water (precipitation) to water vapor (atmospheric humidity). The wood will absorb any of it, and paint is not a good enough barrier for plywood in an exposed location.

One other detail about plywood, make sure you are choosing a plywood made with an exterior grade glue. Some plywood is intended only for interior use. The adhesive used between the layers is different for interior vs exterior plywoods. If you aren't sure, talk to the supplier.

 

[MMc]

There was a guy that made one here for his Toyota in the last 2 months. He used plywood and a similar set up. I treated on the wheel well detail. It’s just ratchet straps and the plywood top. Look up “hanging table” in search. I would put a foam edge on the auto side.

 

[DaleRF]

For sealing the edges of plywood look for a thinned epoxy (viscosity of diesel) with a long cure time (cure time measured in hours, not minutes).

This is the stuff I like: Rot Doctor CPES

The challenge with plywood is that it has end grain on all four edges, and end grain is what soaks up moisture the best. And with moisture, you are looking at everything from liquid water (precipitation) to water vapor (atmospheric humidity). The wood will absorb any of it, and paint is not a good enough barrier for plywood in an exposed location.

One other detail about plywood, make sure you are choosing a plywood made with an exterior grade glue. Some plywood is intended only for interior use. The adhesive used between the layers is different for interior vs exterior plywoods. If you aren't sure, talk to the supplier.

Great Info. Thanks!

 

[Road]

For sealing the edges of plywood look for a thinned epoxy (viscosity of diesel) with a long cure time (cure time measured in hours, not minutes).

This is the stuff I like: Rot Doctor CPES

The challenge with plywood is that it has end grain on all four edges, and end grain is what soaks up moisture the best. And with moisture, you are looking at everything from liquid water (precipitation) to water vapor (atmospheric humidity). The wood will absorb any of it, and paint is not a good enough barrier for plywood in an exposed location.

One other detail about plywood, make sure you are choosing a plywood made with an exterior grade glue. Some plywood is intended only for interior use. The adhesive used between the layers is different for interior vs exterior plywoods. If you aren't sure, talk to the supplier.

.
I agree with sealing the edges properly.

I made exterior signage professionally for decades and found that with the right caulk, primer, and top coat you can create a product that will last 8-10 yrs without fault. I used primarily MDO for ply, which is a medium density overlaid plywood with a phenolic resin coated top surface. Available single or double sided.

Polyseamseal is what I used most for caulking on all types of ply to fill edge voids, coupled with a single coat of Sherwin Williams Chek-Gard as primer, heavier on the edges. Then one, sometimes two depending on color, smooth coats of Ben Moore Gloss Alkyd Impervo made for an impervious sign that lasted many years. I've seen signs I made with this finishing after ten years in direct sun and harsh Maine winters with no delamination.

Even this would be potential overkill for the OP's table, which is not going to be exposed to the elements and temp swings of nature 24/7/365. I would have no problem at all making a table like this for camp use out of good birch cabinet ply and sealing it with a couple coats of clear or a simple primer/top coat after caulking edge voids.
.

 

[OVRLNDCBR]

.
Why not ask the person who posted it?

This looks like a piece of plywood painted black, with aluminum angle trim applied via screws into the edge side of the ply and through bolts for the hanger rings. Birch ply will give the smoothest surface.

"Brown wall panel" is masonite (hardboard), usually only 3mm 0r 6mm thickness. It is usually available as regular (generally one side finished, the other rough) or tempered, which has a harder more impervious surface.

If fabbing up your own, I'd use 12mm or 18mm birch ply, primed with an exterior primer and painted with a good exterior paint. Be sure to fill all edge voids with a good caulk before finishing. I would paint the underside as well, and would attach a couple rubber bumpers along the back edge to protect your vehicle.

If you like a clear natural look, simply apply a couple coats of Polycrylic, sanded lightly in between coats. Provides a very smooth, water resistant, clear finish. Plenty durable for outside use if only using the table intermittently. It's what I use on my van floor and side cupboards and it has held up extremely well for years.
.

Agree - I tried looking for the post again so I could ask the POC, nil joy with that so thought I'd post.
Thanks for info, Im heading to the hardware store today so I'll add the exterior paint and primer to the list.

 

[Road]

Agree - I tried looking for the post again so I could ask the POC, nil joy with that so thought I'd post.
Thanks for info, Im heading to the hardware store today so I'll add the exterior paint and primer to the list.

.
Cool, hope it works the way you want. Post up the results!

I've been thinking of making a locking holder for my traction boards to attach to the side of my vehicle when back country (perhaps removable for the highway), which will double as flip down work surface/table area. It's an idea I am boldly stealing from 4xoverland as seen on a Ronny Dalh's Modified vid years ago (29 min mark).

I'm always tinkering in camp with some kind of project and having another work surface is always handy, especially if away from the trailer.

I also have a couple sets of 30" interlocking table rails I'm going to play with for removable table/work surfaces. The image there is terrible, though the cross section looks like this, for anyone interested:



As it shows, one length mounts to the surface where you want a table, the other mounts to the edge of whatever you're using as table. Then you can lift the table up to remove, reverse to put back. I'm sure I'd add adjustable leg or two to further support for heavier loads, or have cables with hooks that go up to the van's gutter.
.

 

[OVRLNDCBR]

For sealing the edges of plywood look for a thinned epoxy (viscosity of diesel) with a long cure time (cure time measured in hours, not minutes).

This is the stuff I like: Rot Doctor CPES

The challenge with plywood is that it has end grain on all four edges, and end grain is what soaks up moisture the best. And with moisture, you are looking at everything from liquid water (precipitation) to water vapor (atmospheric humidity). The wood will absorb any of it, and paint is not a good enough barrier for plywood in an exposed location.

One other detail about plywood, make sure you are choosing a plywood made with an exterior grade glue. Some plywood is intended only for interior use. The adhesive used between the layers is different for interior vs exterior plywoods. If you aren't sure, talk to the supplier.

Wow that Red Doc CPES looks excellent! Thanks for the hot tips

 

[OVRLNDCBR]

.
Cool, hope it works the way you want. Post up the results!

I've been thinking of making a locking holder for my traction boards to attach to the side of my vehicle when back country (perhaps removable for the highway), which will double as flip down work surface/table area. It's an idea I am boldly stealing from 4xoverland as seen on a Ronny Dalh's Modified vid years ago (29 min mark).

I'm always tinkering in camp with some kind of project and having another work surface is always handy, especially if away from the trailer.

I also have a couple sets of 30" interlocking table rails I'm going to play with for removable table/work surfaces. The image there is terrible, though the cross section looks like this, for anyone interested:

View attachment 193973

As it shows, one length mounts to the surface where you want a table, the other mounts to the edge of whatever you're using as table. Then you can lift the table up to remove, reverse to put back. I'm sure I'd add adjustable leg or two to further support for heavier loads, or have cables with hooks that go up to the van's gutter.
.

Will post once she's knocked up. Hopefully Ill have time and a finished product before heading up to Fraser Island in a week.
That table and maxtrax combo is a fantastic idea! Something like that would work really well side mounted to a trailer or over-tub rack setup. Extra work surfaces to tinker on are always handy to have, and even better if it can be combined with another use to save space.

 

[grubworm]

Im heading to the hardware store today

y'all should have some good plywood to work with. for whatever reason, Australia has the BEST wood working tools. i use Vicmarc tools for turning and they're made in Australia and Kelton Industries makes an awesome bowl coring system in NZ. some of the really good wood finishes also come from Australia. i'd do a trip down there just to check out your hardware and lumber stores

 

[DaleRF]

Agree - I tried looking for the post again so I could ask the POC, nil joy with that so thought I'd post.
Thanks for info, Im heading to the hardware store today so I'll add the exterior paint and primer to the list.

Good Luck!

 

[OVRLNDCBR]

y'all should have some good plywood to work with. for whatever reason, Australia has the BEST wood working tools. i use Vicmarc tools for turning and they're made in Australia and Kelton Industries makes an awesome bowl coring system in NZ. some of the really good wood finishes also come from Australia. i'd do a trip down there just to check out your hardware and lumber stores

Our hardware stores have an almost cult like following down here. Everyone knows about a trip to Bunnings on a Saturday morning for a snag in bread w/ sauce and onion
Interesting to know our tools of the trade stack up well against other countries - if you're ever in Aus I'll take you to Bunnings on a Saturday