# Rolling Laundry/Folding Table



## nephron (Dec 29, 2011)

my first major project...my wife needed a mobile folding table for the laundry room, which can also double for the kids to work on. Didn't have to be beautiful, just functional, so I figured I would learn a little and make it myself. a little helpful advice (and tools) from my father.

started with a bit of scrap poplar lumber and only had to buy a little bit more.
got a little help joining the top

I wanted a natural looking top, so followed the instructions from the American Woodworker magazine (make poplar look pretty) to get presentable results. photos of the before/after wood bleach (oxalic acid) step.

after clamp up, to make sure the laundry baskets fit. they did thank goodness.

after some white paint, and adding the rolling casters, it finally made it indoors to the laundry room. after wasting a lot of time thinking about how to fasten the casters, I just drilled holes in the legs and screwed them in with the 1" stems. works well, and I think it should be fine since I used 2"x2" posts and it wont bear much weight. tried to find a threaded metal insert to epoxy in place, but couldn't find one.

In the end I'm happy with the product and it works well.


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## roofner (Aug 1, 2010)

Where's the pictures?


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## nephron (Dec 29, 2011)

sorry, first post too. I thought photos uploaded the first time.
I'll try again.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

I would also be happy with that result, Matt.

Welcome to the forum.


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## Web Shepherd (Feb 8, 2012)

Nice job, Matt ~ The white paint on your cart matches the white molding and doors in your laundry. Tell us more about how you attached the top to the frame.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

I am certain you earned extra brownie points for this project. Just be sure to share the brownies with your assistant! :dance3:


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## pretender74 (May 27, 2011)

Nicely done.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

That looks like a first class job to me Matt. As a matter of interest, being a great believer in biscuit joints, I've always suggested that cutting the slots with no measuring involved, only freehand pencil marks was child's play!


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## nephron (Dec 29, 2011)

thanks for the comments, all.
Top is secured to the apron using table top fasteners (also from Rockler, item 34215), just in case it expands some. I wasn't sure this was necessary since I've sealed/painted it and it will be indoors, but it makes sense and was also the easiest way to do it.

also I did all the frame with mortise/tenons 1/2" wide and 1/2" deep, so that I could learn to do this and use my grandfathers mortising machine. first time to do this, so they aren't the cleanest, but they were tight and any imperfections are hidden. I did glue, clamp, and the added a staple through the tenon at the joints. maybe that is a bad idea to add the staples, I don't know?


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## nephron (Dec 29, 2011)

agree. first time that i've used it myself, and it was pretty foolproof. enough so that I let my son do it and he has some ownership of the project.


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## stanzee (Dec 9, 2010)

nephron said:


> my first major project...my wife needed a mobile folding table for the laundry room, which can also double for the kids to work on. Didn't have to be beautiful, just functional, so I figured I would learn a little and make it myself. a little helpful advice (and tools) from my father.
> 
> started with a bit of scrap poplar lumber and only had to buy a little bit more.
> got a little help joining the top
> ...


Did you think of using hex nuts, counterbored and epoxied in? It still could be done if you wish to add the stability and reliability.


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## nephron (Dec 29, 2011)

stanzee said:


> Did you think of using hex nuts, counterbored and epoxied in? It still could be done if you wish to add the stability and reliability.


That is a good idea, thanks. I had been trying to find a long threaded insert to match the length of the posts, but I couldn't. and it is probably overkill.
I think it is going to be just fine, but I will use that if it develops any play.


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## Camero68 (Jun 27, 2012)

That is a great work output. You should be proud.


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## 57759 (Apr 8, 2011)

Those kinds of projects are just great and believe me besides looking nice that one is going to get used a bunch.

In the past I've attended lots of small family estate auctions and I finally figured out why I never saw anything like that at the auctions.

Well, it finally dawned on me. The family motto was *"keep the best and sell the rest"*.


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## TRBaker (Jul 5, 2012)

If that was your first project, then I guess we have a lot of neat stuff to look forward to in the future. Great job.


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi, Matt.

Welcome to this little corner.

Very nice top. Can you please give some detail about the wood bleaching process?

Enjoy woodworking.


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## nephron (Dec 29, 2011)

*bleaching/staining the poplar top*



papasombre said:


> Hi, Matt.
> 
> Welcome to this little corner.
> 
> ...


Thanks Alexis. I learned a bit about why woodworkers don't like to use poplar, unless they are going to paint it.

I made this out of salvaged poplar lumber that my grandfather had in his basement. Once I got the top clamped and glued, I decided the grain looked pretty nice and might actually look good stained. But since it was poplar it had quite a bit of green in it. When I was looking for staining techniques, I came across the American Woodworking article online (Make poplar look pretty). This site won't allow me to post a link yet (because my account is new), but google it and you'll find it (May 24, 2012 by Kevin Southwick).

I didn't do all the steps exactly as in the article, but pretty close. the most helpful was to 'bleach' the green out of the poplar with wood bleach (oxalic acid). I learned it is the active ingredient in most deck cleaning solutions, but I wasn't sure if I could use one of them to get the same effect. It comes as granules, and I found it at a neat mom & pop hardware store...Home Depot and Lowes didn't have it. just dissolve some in warm water and wipe on with a rag, let it set for a few minutes, wipe with a wet rag, then let dry. repeat if necessary. The top immediately changed from light green to brown. a little bit of green came back after it dried. There's still just a hint of green in a couple of spots, but I think it looks just fine.

Also since poplar doesn't stain evenly, I used the stain reducer as recommended in the article. I couldn't find the exact product the article recommended but I found something similar at the store. I just did one application and then stained. I was still worried that there was some splotching after I stained it, but I went ahead and carried on anyway. After drying, sanding lightly, and a few coats of polyurethane, it looked a lot better. 

I'll post a closeup photo of the top later so you can see the imperfections a little better. The main imperfections in it have less to do with staining; they are due to a few sanding marks I didn't quite get out, and the stain made them more noticable. I bet the experienced woodworkers here will cringe, but I had used a power belt sander after clamp up, rather than doing it by hand. I'll use hand sanding in the future. _More importantly, I'll post here before I try something new so I can get some advice._

the nice thing is that I could easily change this top out to a new one if I ever got the urge. Maybe a walnut top would look nice.


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## Damper (Aug 29, 2012)

A really great job


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi, Matt.

Thanks a lot for the data. I´ll try to find the article to apply it in some of my projects.

Best regards!!!


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