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..................................................--- A Very Versatile Table ---
For our first couple trips we were using a.................
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............plastic container (see arrow) that we stored our dishes and silverware in under the sink as a table in the middle of the cabin floor. We put the wood cover that covers the sink when we aren't using it on top of the container for a table. I normally sit on the port side and work the stove and Ruth is usually on the starboard side preparing things. This worked well and we didn't really see a need, but with the new storage on and above the sink for the dishes, pots & pans and silverware we didn't need the other container under the sink anymore and used it to hold cleaning supplies in. I decided I'd make us a table and after using it we just love it and would not want to be without it.
It only took an hour or so to make and after using it on our 18 day Lake Powell trip we would never want to be without it. I sure hope some of you make one of these and that it works as well for you as it has for us.
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Here is the table folded up. In this mode it takes up very little space and is very light with the top being 3/8 inch good one side plywood finished with stain and then about 5 coats of Defthane Polyurethane Clear Gloss that is rated for exterior floors and is what I've used on most of our projects to this point.
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As you can see the table only has a single leg and two supports that run out the back.
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Dimensions are not critical except for the leg height. The two arms on mine (upper arrows) are 22 inches long and stick out the back 8 3/4 inches. The leg is 20 7/8 inches long and made from a piece of 1 X 6. This is one item I'll be changing, not the length, but what it is made from. I cut too much width off the bottom end and one side of the bottom cracked and came off on our first trip and I had to screw it back on. I'm going to make a new one from some 3/4 inch plywood or another piece of 1 X 6 and then won't taper it in until it is at least 6 inches up from the bottom. The length will stay the same as that is critical to this table working.
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The table top itself is 3/8 good one side plywood that is 15 X 20 inches. The block the arrow is pointing to that is there for the hinge screws is a piece of 1 X 6 that is 5 1/2 X 9, but there again that isn't critical.
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The hinges are some stainless ones I got from the Duckworks that I had laying around.
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The chain is some that I also had lying around from some florescent shop lights that I hadn't used and it is long enough so that the leg goes a little ways past center when down and is not straight up and down. That makes the table steady.
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Now the thing that makes this table so great and why I get so excited about it is that it goes about anywhere in the cabin and is never in the way like a fixed table can be at times. Here it is on the steps and slid out from them, so that someone can still go up or down the steps into or out of the cabin area to the cockpit.
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Here is is pushed back on the steps to make more room in the center of the cabin.
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It will angle either way off of the steps towards one seat or another so that one person or the other can be closer to it to use it or further away if they need the room to maneuver in the small cabin.
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I found that the same height that made it work on the step was also the right height to have it mounted on the sink if you want to free the steps up more and of course it can also swing to any angle when it is on the sink. I would suggest you start with a little longer leg than I have and see how it works on your steps and sink and then cut some off a little at a time until you have it where you want it.
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It also clears our stove when it is attached to the sink and the sink itself is still open to use.
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Here we are eating a meal on it on our first trip using it at Lake Powell. It is extremely stable as most things are that are located by three points and yet.........
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It is so light a child can easily move it anywhere for storage. Make one of these and I'll guarantee you will love it.