Flea Market Table Designs

Yea, here's an idea... don't use waferboard outdoors... after one rain, it's done.

Nail the 2X4's around the top to form a frame, this will stabilize the table, if the table is very long, you'll need one across the middle. The table should be about 36" (1 meter) tall, so cut 4 2X4's to that length and then nail the legs in the corners, gusset the corners at 45 deg angles back to the original frame and your done.

When making the frame, stand the 2X4's up, that is nail to the 2" side not the 4" side.

Hello Labguy,

Thanks for your suggestions , I believe were thinking along some of the same lines.

Waferboard is another product all together than OSB, but I think you may be thinking of Particle board as the product to fear. It is basically sawdust glued together. OSB on the other hand , is mass of 1" - 4 " long strips of wood, about a business card thickness, then glued, pressed & heated together. I have seen the process it's really neat to see what can be done with engineered wood . My company sells this product & other building materials & has for many years. It is a fine product, for many uses if done correctly; including the table tops if sealed properly with paint, but never with water sealer products. We find people using Thompson's water sealer & the board just de-laminating quickly because of some chemical reaction between the glue & sealer products.

Latex paint works great ! I have personally used painted OSB for many things including building sheathing , left it outside without much touch up at all, for over 5 years of use , with no problems of any kind.

Back to table designs, we were thinking along the A-frame flat top end post designs like a common picnic table has. We built a prototype that's 36" wide at the top & the legs are 36" long, cut on both ends at about a 30 degree angle, opposing each other so it will sit on the ground & be a smooth surface to put a tie board across. Next, we tied the bottom together with another 2 x 4, cut flush with the sides, about 4 inches from ground level. This completes 1 A-frame , so we built another, tied them together with 2, six foot long 2 x 4's & then put 1 across the middle along the middle of the bottom braces for less wobble at the lower level. The OSB rest nicely with a 6" overhang on 2 sides & about a 10" over hang on 2 sides.

Quite neat, if I say so myself. Its strong too, I stood on it - walked all over it & you know we can quickly have the top removed, if desired, for some 5/4 boards for new tops, as it comes available .

I had just hoped to find some other cute designs to build, all though in-expensively, so they would have a nice look for their new business opening. Maybe something with a tent of plastic sheeting, to give shelter from the sun & changing weather & attract eyes from the highway ? Just hoped you guys might have seen some .

Cheers

Bond

Bondjamesbond@rock.com

Yeah, that should do it. Depends on what there is more of..sheet materials or 2 by 4's. I find that spf (spruce /pine/fir) economy studs twist around a lot when used on their own, like as a table leg. Usually if you nail them in pairs to make a 4 by 4, they are pretty stable, even in the changable humidity of a flea market hall.

I personally like to use "found wood", as nailing blocks. Normally a trailer full of it can be got from any lumber yard or roof truss manufacturing facility free of charge. Well, except for paying some kid a few bucks to fill your pick up bed or trailer. Off cuts of two by fours a handspan or two in length are surprisingly handy. The joinery is pretty rough and ready, but when cheap is one of the criteria, well, its hard to beat free materials. Just don't be penny wise and pound foolish....

I once made a bunch of roadside signs from Pallet Skids. Three skids nailed together make an A frame. Drag them out to the highway behind the tractor. Suitable skids are often free. Two of "them" would hold a table I would think.

Hello bondjamesbond@rock.com,

Where does an OSB manufacturer get their raw materials. I'm a C&D recycler who is considering grinding as an option for diverting wood waste from the landfill. It would be interesting to see if there could be some tie. Where are you located?

Bob L

bobL2@comcast.net

Good day Leighbob,

My supplier is J.M. Huber Corp. with plants located all over. The one near us is at Commerce GA. 30529. If I remember correctly, John Wood is the Wood Purcurement Manager at that site. They have a 5 acre wood lot always full and purchase only tree length pine & a few hardwoods to make OSB from. I've sold them wood, last time in Feburary 07, in tree lengths I think they are were paying $25 a ton .

Have you thought of pine as a Nursery planting medium. It would sure pay more and if you do not contaminate the pine bark with wood chips with a little re grinding you would have a fine product to sell loose & bagged. The tree grindings could be composted over a few months to provide a 1/2 as good as pine bark medium. Just keep the DAM hard wood totally apart because of Tannins. That kills more plants than I do on my worst gardening days. We use about a tractor trailer load every 3 months & thats 56 yards of twice ground Pine bark "Med Fine" (paying 13.50 a yard delivered about 50 miles 1 way) & we add perlite ourselves for a better nursery bark product for our use.

Hope that helps !

Cheers

Bond

Bondjamesbond@rock.com

1 more thing LeighBob,

You've gotta have a master licensed timber harvester to sell your wood because of the gentelmens agreement between the major wood buyers ( Huber , Gp Etc.) & the Enviromental protester types (from a few years ago). This requires a 2 day class & a $250 fee + test in GA .

Cheers

Bond

bondjamesbond@rock.com

OSB is a good building material, I have made several built in cupboards with it, I usually fill and sand the outside before priming and painting with normal paint. No problem.

Very stable, no warping and the pieces I left outside on purpose got a bit weathered after a year, but were otherwise perfectly serviceable, no delaminating for example!

Lots of DIY stores in Germany use it for building displays......they look good and are very hardwearing!

I relaid the lounge floor a few years ago (you could see in the cellar when I had finished getting rid of the previous flooring!!) and this is the stiffist (have I spelt that right?) flooring material for a given thickness. I used the thickest available and the floor does not move or squeak or anything.....that is how I got to know OSB board.

If I cannot do a job with OSB, then I have a real problem.....that has not hppened upto now!

My father in law sold glassware at many flea markets throughout the US.

When he died, I was given his tables for my work.

They are simple aluminum A frames.I cut some treated plywood 2x4 ft as tops.

Very easy set up and take down.I can have four tables set up in 4 minutes.If it rains I am pulled down and put away in minutes as well.The Aframes are hinged at the top and had 12"cables attached midway down to keep them stable when open.

I can carry two sets of frames and two tops under my arms.Works great to set up cutting tables for my saws/grinders.

I can stack 32 ft of table top and frames 12" out against any wall for storage .

Can you put some photos on CR4 please? - "a picture is worth a 1000 words!"

Hey timetraveler, I am looking for craft tables and have the "A" frames tried to make them, but the legs stick out past the ends of the tables, so you can't place them end to end in a hallway, and when I mount them inward more, they don't fold together to stack. is there any way you can send a photo

For the guy with the recycling idea.

I would use the waste wood for pellet manufacturing.

There is a large market for wood pellets made from saw dust. I doubt the OSB plants would be interested in recycled product however, depending on chip size, the pulp mills may be as they bleach everything.

Your best bet is the pellet idea.

Cheers!

local churches or halls may loan or rent them for a nominal fee

saves having alot of wood to get rid of after the event

You did not say whether or not the legs had to be removable or foldable, for storage and/or transportation, or if they would be left on site between shows or continuously. That would make a big difference in the design. Also, you did not say what quantity of each type of material (OSB and 2x4 lumber) was available to make the 100 tables.

As a former product engineer for a RTA furniture manufacturer I could recommend several design variations based on economic use of the material you have on hand. I am no longer with the company due to economics of manufacturing. The company closed our plant (being the oldest of 4 in North America and having the highest production costs, due primarily to lack of investment in newer equipment!) and made up the difference in capacity with Asian imports.

We primarily used multilayer woodgrain laminate "paper" on particle board or MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard). I would have loved to have OSB to work with but it was considered too expensive for our product! We also did not have the luxury of solid wood studs for structural components and made everything out of board. However, the advantage of this is that stud lumber, being intended for construction primarily, has a rough finish and does not have a nice appearance like the flat engineered boards do. Of course, if you cover the tables with a cloth that is irrelevant.

My thinking is that instead of legs, if you have enough surplus board after making your 100 tops, the "legs" can be solid ends of board, roughly 36x36 square. For styling points you can cut out center sections in semi-circular or parabolic arches, inverted "U" or "V", or even rectangular shapes and it will not affect the strength very much. For portability, these "legs" can be hinged (two "door-type" or one long "piano" hinge) or removable by making slots with two studs sandwiching the top of the end board, drilling all the way through all three boards and using steel clevis pins. In that way the rough studs will not be very visible at all. To protect the bottoms of the legs, and to compensate for any floor unevenness, tap in round nylon furniture glides and inch or two from each side.

Do you really need to be able to walk on the table tops? That may be "overkill". If you need extra strength, a single stud, running the length of the table between the "legs", should provide sufficient bracing. If more strength is required, add a second stud parallel to the first and space them out equally from the center. Originally, we made desktops from 3/4 inch MDF or PB, but found 5/8 MDF to be more than sufficient in most applications, even for home entertainment centers and TV stands. Unfortunately, the bean counters made us go to 1/2 inch on some products and we began to see some sagging under load.

My advice would be to use screwed construction, not nails. Drill through the first board with the same or slightly larger outside diameter of the screw for a clearance hole and use a drill the size of the root diameter (solid section), or slightly smaller, of the screw for attaching to the second board. You should also use flat-top (countersink style) head screws, not round, cap, or button head screws. Also, use the long sheet-metal type screws for engineered wood products. They bite and hold better than conventional wood screws with less splitting. If it can be avoided, do not drill or screw into the ends or edges of your boards. Screws, and nails too, tend to pull out of board edges when using engineered boards. It is better to used blocks made from the studs and drill through the flat side of the boards to secure them to the blocks. If you know how to use them and have access to some at a good price, RTA-style zinc die-cast cams and cam-bolts are another way to make good joints between boards, but these work best if the tables are not moved around much or dissembled once constructed.

The trouble is, these materials are not light weight! Commercial folding legs for table tops are cheap....20 dollars for a set new. Trouble is, screws won't hold in osb. Carriage bolts for folding leg hardware are the way to go. Drill, tap in a carriage bolt, spin on a nut, and presto....lasts for years. But, a hundred tables at 20 bucks a table....I can understand the reluctance.

I designed an A-frame table for farmer's market use some time ago....the A frames were pretty straightforward and stable. Once you set up your shop to make the right cuts, it looks good, professional, and very stable. Imagine if you will two saw horses with your table top laid across the top. 1 by 4's (or 2 by 4's if you have those instead) front and back down the length stiffen the table top, and hold the sawhorses into place. I made them so that a couple of deck screws would hold the tops in place, and after the show, less than one minute per table with a battery powered screwdriver would disassemble them ready for stacking. Advantages .... if sometime in the future you want different table tops, they are easy to change over. Plus the legs are out of the way of people's feet. grin! And if you are planning to sell heavy items (books, watermelons), you can always add another "sawhorse" under the table...good for last minute modifications.)

Other advantages...you can make the basic trestles from found wood...pallets, skids, crates and so forth.

From that basic plan, you can modify it to make slanted tables, tables with a lip to keep things from sliding off, rounded corners, underlapping joins to put two tables together, drop leaves and so forth, all using the basic trestle base.

I could send blueprints but really...do you need 'em? This method worked for me. last I checked on the farmer's market, they are still using the tables I banged out for them 15 years ago. One table I made has four trestles under it...the guy has been selling 50 pound sacks of potatos on it for years, so I guess it works. I recommend deck screws throughout. Easy to get, easy to use, easy to replace.

For "Farmer's Market", yes, A-frames or commercial steel table legs are the way to go. Flea Market is usually different. Usually lighter goods being sold, with few items on display and additional stock under or in back.

Also, 20 dollars is NOT cheap for 100 tables = 2,000 dollars! Author asked for CHEAP design to use existing materials.

Yes, screws won't hold in OSB through edges. That is why screwed construction uses drilled holes through FACE or FLAT side of board, and preferred to go into 2X4 blocks to secure. Example: T-joint of two panels has drilled holes in panel faces with support block made from stud in corner between them.

Yes, carriage bolts for folding hardware are nice if securing steel-to-steel or if exposed nuts are acceptable. However, long sheet-metal (thread-forming) screws do grip better than decking screws and are often acceptable alternatives for engineered board used in furniture. Also much cheaper to use multiple thread forming screws than nuts-bolts-washers (NBS) and goes together faster with screw-gun than hand-assembly required for NBW.

Flea-market manager could provide a few heavy duty tables at a premium price if required. Part of table rental agreement would be waiver of damages for overloading table and weight limit could be set at reasonable amount that would cover 95 percent or more of sellers.

Maybe I should enter flea market business. Is it lucrative? How much do tables rent for?

I completely dissagree about screws not holding in OSB, you just need to do it right thats all....

Make sure that you screw/drill thru from one side to the other and screw into the middle wood whenever possible. Use more screws than you would in wood.. Do not use small short screws either......longer and thicker is better in lots of ways.....and not just for screwing in OSB!!!

In conclusion I would like to say having used many, many OSB boards that it is about 2000% better than chipboard in all respects. If a really extra strong bond is needed (rarely) use a good quality wood glue to bond awkward shapes and used screws (correctly!) to hold it together while the glue sets and leave the screws in if it doesn't bother you.

Also, use a drill with a countersink for an even better finish....but that is almost then "Fancy-work".

Remember the old adage " After tight comes loose! " Be sensible and use the torque settings on your rechargeable drill when screwing into anything, thats why they were put there in the first place!!!

People will not pay what good glassware is worth nowdays.

I have a true milkglass vase my father in law gave us it worth something I am sure.We also have some true blue cobalt glass,not much value on market unless you know what you have.

Tough business, flea marketing, not much profit structure lot of time spent in the dusty avenues.

The tables I use are a tube in a tube Aframe swingarm with the cables as described above. very light, very portable. I just cut my wood to size the length I want.Good to go.

Hello All,

Really Great Ideas & I Might Be Able To Work Some Of These Into The Mix.

Andy Germany I Don't Know How To Add Pictures To This Forum Perhaps You Can Educate Me. Just Have'nt Had Time To Learn My Way Around Here Yet.

Guest #8 & Leighbob: There Are So Many Big Companies Making Sawdust Pellets I Would Look Into The Nursery Mediums First . At $13.50 A Yard For Just Grinding & Letting It Age A Bit, As Compost, Before Being Ready For The Market Place , You Would Have A Better Chance To Profit Without Any Additional Equipmet Cost.

Guest # 9 The Local Churches Hate This Place Its A Drive In Movie Theatre, Never A Blue Movie Shown There But Still Its A Sinful Old (Just 5 Years) Drive In Theatre and the Flea Market Is A Way To Bring The Locals Out Because They Just Don't Go There. I Guess They Prefer To Go Where No One Know Them. Rental Is Not An Option As You Want Tables Paid Off Quickly & Get To Some Profits. Those Tables Were Building Right Now are $20. Each Including Our Labor. & As To Wood To Get Rid Of Think WOODGAS - Mighty Fine Stuff !

We also Can Double The Length Of Display Space For Them By Spanning The Distance Between Tables With 2 Extra 2 x 4's Between Them Then Just Add A Sheet Of OSB. It Makes Every Other One Just 1.5 Inches Higher Than The Next.

I Like The 50 Pound Sack Of Potato's Thought. That Would Be A Weight Problem; We Could Make A Floating Truss, (Or Sawhorse) To Be Added By Management When Needed. The Manager Will Have To Notify Dealers Of A Weight Limit. Steel Would Work Yes, Or Let Us Build Them A Rammed Earth Set Of Permanent Ends To Put Concrete Tops On - Well , Maybe Later; A Bit Too Pricey I Guess.

"STL" You Ask :"Do you really need to be able to walk on the table tops? That may be "overkill". " Well That's 1 Of The Ways I Got My Nick Name Of Bond "Over-Kill Licensed To Overkil" The Tables Will Be In Place All The Time - Its A Great Advertising View Daily So People Wil Get The Idea Theres A Flea Market There. And Should You Enter The Flea Market Business ? , Well Is The Property In A Good Location ? Flea Market Spaces In NE. Georgia Are $5.00 Each. If You Need A Table Add An Extra $5 Per Table-Per Day. & If All Else Fails One Could Have Employees Display Your Merchandise & $ell $ell $ell Hell, If It Works-Why Not ! You Might Even Buy Out Those 1 Time Yard Sellers, At Days End, For A Song & A Drink, Shaken Not Stirred Of Course.

Yusef1 : "Draw Blue Prints" ? Masu Would Scream At Us Both For Building A Mouse To Government Specs ! Deck Screws: Yep, For The Tops But #16 Nails Are The Quick Way , Its Nail Gun Work & You Can Bet - I Never Leave Home Without My Gun(s) !

TT. : Don't Know Much About Glass Ware, But I Do Go To A Antique Auction & Have Seen Those Knowledgeable Of The Items On The Stand Bid Hundreds Of Dollars On Things I Never Knew Were Worth Anything. My Friend Loves White House Vinegar Jars, He Has Thousands Of Dollars Tied Up In Those Darned Things. Each To Their Own !

Please Keep Those Ideas Coming We Got To Build More Tables ; They Now Want 500 !

Cherrs

Bond

Bondjamesbond@rock.com

Sorry, if all you have is a half inch of osb...half inch screws will not hold. You have to drill and bolt. I have a dozen busted tables out back to prove that half inch screws will not hold folding leg hardware into plywood, and I can guarantee that if they don't hold in ply, they surely won't hold in OSB. Any screw in sheet material must anchor into underlying wood. Then it works great!

500 tables is a lot. I might try a Parson's table set up.... but you won't get them to fold. With some design tweaking, you "might" get them to stack. From two 4 by 8 foot sheets...

a) rip two six inch strips off all four sides. You will now have a 3 foot by seven foot table top.

b) cut a pair of 3 foot by 3 foot squares. These will be attached to the ends to act as legs.

c) use pieces of timber to make the joints solid.

c) cut the six inch pieces you trimmed off the ends so that they will make diagonal stiffeners. You should be able to get four diagonal braces from the six inch pieces you trimmed off the ends.

d) The long 8 foot by six inch pieces you trimmed off the sides of the table top...they will be used down the length of the table to stiffen it. These go on edge, so you will need to install "nailing blocks" to mount them correctly. Not that you should really put nails in them....deck screws work better, and are in my opinon are pretty quick when you have a power screwdriver.

If you have the time, jigsaw the front stiffener into a fancy pattern, and maybe something on the bottom of the "legs" to help them stand on irregular surfaces better. Otherwise just leave it and go onto the next one.

With a circular saw, and screw gun, I could make six of these per hour. A table saw and a helper or two, I could go faster.

There you go. A good, long lasting solid table made from two sheets of plywood or osb, and about 20 feet of economy grade lumber or off cuts from found wood. And ready for the weekend. Well, NEXT weekend maybe.

Yusef1,

Don't Want Em To Fold

Don't Want Em To Stack

Just Want Em To Stand For A While

And Hold The Merchandise

So I Can Build Em Some More To Put In The Back

Oh And Screws, We Got Plenty Of Long Screws

Cherrs

Bond

Bondjamesbond@rock.com

Mr. Bond,

I understand so you don't want the Em person (short for Emily, or your pet name for "M"?) to fold or stack. You only want her to stand for while and hold the "merchandise" (codeword for the Crown Jewels?) so you can build her some more of something to put behind her. Oh, you randy bugger! It seems you want her for sex! Plenty of long sex, is that right? Won't Pussy Galore be jealous? What will Miss Moneypenney think?

Hmmm, must see just what Q branch can come up with for that!

When answering the Blog, if you look at the bar over the text there is a little green camera, click on it and just make sure you know exactly where the picture is that you want to use!!

James Bond,

What size tabletop do you want, 3 x 6 ft. or what?

What size is your full 5/8 OSB panel?

How many 16 ft. studs are available?

OK, no folding, no stacking, and sturdy enough to sit on? Any other requirements not already mentioned?

The way I see it you are going to go out and spend a ton of money on labor and material to build something you can go to Sam's club and buy ready made that will fold and store better!

Hello to all....getting my feet wet here for my first post because, so far, this about all I can handle (compared to the other pretty serious topics on this site).

Actually, I think Dr.Tom is just tired of building stuff!

Dr.Tom,

Perhaps you want to support the Walmarts & Sams Clubs of the world, but we will not shop there ever. Ever ! If tables were $1 we would not shop there. All I know is (with in this community) everyone wants them to close and go away, as they are not good for the small business communities economy, they don't pay a fair wage to their help and make ghost towns out of what was once a thriving area. It's not a price war we seeking, just an honest living and with these people and the Chineese as competition we do not have the opportunity. China buys this world every day with Walmarts proceeds. They have put more businesses out of business than I can count and Sams Club & Walmart are the dark stored bain of America's shopping experience .

What our clients ask us for is 4' x 8' tables, that stay in 1 piece for long periods of time , made not of particle board or to fold and always ready to use daily; so the cheap Walmart/Sams Club tables are not what they ask for at all. They 1st ask for 100 tables ( now 500) built from painted 5/8 OSB & some treated 2 x 4 x 16 . So we ask for design ideas along this line, that would be sturdy & attractive while in-expensive too.

I hope this clears up the question and we ask for your design ideas.

Thank You

Bond

bondjamesbond@rock.com

Saw a good table this week made from black abs plastic pipe and standard abs plastic elbow and tee fittings. Totally waterproof, and quite sturdy. Nice and light, easy to move around. The top was a sort of grill pattern since it was designed to hold suitcases and boxes, but I suppose you could bolt a table top to it. This would probably lend itself to high speed production since it is just a matter of cutting the plastic and glueing the pieces into the elbows. The corner elbow pieces seem very sturdy. I suppose some diagonal braces would not be too difficult to figure out....they DO make the tee fittings with an angle to them after all.

Nice sturdy waterproof table supports.

The ones I saw were used by the customs people at the NY-Ontario border. Their requirements were that they had to be easy to drag around, not hold any snow or ice or water, be waterproof, hold a suitcase off the ground, last forever, be easy to clean and I think this design meets these specs.

So simple, even a caveman could understand it!

Did you or would you take a picture for us all please?

Remember "A picture saves a 1000 words"!

I can do in less than a thousand words. Don't need a picture. Don't have a picture...grin!

Two rectangles (2 meters by 1 meter,) made of 1.25 dia. abs pipe, solvent joined at their corners by standard abs plastic 90 degree pipe elbows. These rectangles will become the front and back sides of the table. One long side will be on the ground, the other long side will support the table top. The short sides will stand upright, and will become the legs.

The rectangles are held about a meter apart by 4 stretcher bars (made of the same pipe) secured by tee fittings to the short sides, spaced a handspan from both the ground and from the top.

Diagonal braces are possible to install by using 45 degree tee fittings in the long sides with an appropriate extra piece of pipe IF the assembly needs further stiffening.

Boards can now be laid on the top stretchers to form a table top, or sheet material can be screwed into the top of the long sides of the rectangles. Pilot holes might be in order to prevent cracking.

There, how was that? Do I get the tech writing job?

Yeah you got the job!!

Many thanks.

(The English language now has a new saying:- 'a 1000 words paints a Picture'?)

:)

Try here for table legs.

http://www.angelfire.com/biz/shadecanopies/tablelegs.html

You guys are over-thinking this........ Unless the tables are being left outdoor indefinitely, two sawhorses, a cheap hollow-core door and a plastic tarp stapled on will work just fine until the flea market owner turns enough profit to invest in folding tables (which he will ultimately want). The tarp should be large enough to allow it to drape over one side. That way it can be flipped up and over in the event of rain.