instructables

Make an Adjustable-Height Table With a Car Jack

by seamster

This is an adjustable-height table that lifts up and down using an automobile scissor jack.

It works far better than I anticipated, and I love it!

It was made as a craft and hobby table, designed with a few goals in mind:

adjustable height range between 30" and up to about 42"

mobile
top easily removed
sturdy and strong, but relatively lightweight
use up a bunch of scraps from my shop

This table was made to be adjustable on a per-project basis, depending on which height is most comfortable to
work at: for sitting and sewing, standing while building models, soldering, tinkering, etc.

Update: After initially posting this project, I've seen that others have done similar tables with excellent results.
Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKUVgv_iLtM for example, which has a fantastic locking
mechanism built in. So clever!

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Step 1: Overview
The main design challenge with this table was
creating a functional single-point, center lift
mechanism, with four peripheral telescopic legs that
provide smooth lift guidance without sticking or
binding up. I'm pleased with how it all came together.
The table top is lifted by either hand cranking the jack
or using a power drill with a homemade crank rod.
The jack I used has a effective lift range of 11.5
inches.
The table has three easily-set heights: 30", 35.75",
and 41.5".
The jack is used to raise or lower the top surface to
just above the desired height. Support blocks are
then placed in each leg and the top is lowered onto
the supports. Without these blocks in place the jack
Make an Adjustable-Height Table With a Car Jack: Page 2
only supports the table top at the direct center, so
blocks are necessary to remove any wobble or teeter.
When the supports are not in use, they stow inside
little nooks built into the table structure.
Other heights could be achieved with different
support blocks, and the table could be raised even
higher by adding blocks on top of the jack itself. But
for me, these three main heights are perfect for my
needs.
Details are covered in the following steps, and should
be helpful if you're interested in making something
similar.
Thanks for reading along!
Make an Adjustable-Height Table With a Car Jack: Page 3
Step 2: Materials and Tools

I had a bunch of left over oak plywood scraps from previous projects that I wanted to use up.

However in order to make these useful I had to first glue them all up into larger panels. This isn't required of
course, and I'd recommend using new materials if that's an option!

I had an old laminate table top and four casters that I finally had a use for. The table top is 30" by 48".

I purchased one 60" by 60" sheet of 9-ply (9 mm or 3/8") baltic birch plywood (about $35), as well as a cheap
scissor jack from Walmart ($15).

Regarding tools needed, this project relies heavily on two main things:

a table saw with a cross-cut sled

pneumatic brad nailer

Other tools used include: drills and drivers, orbital sander, clamps.

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Step 3: Build Telescoping Legs

The basic structure of the legs were built first. All of
these pieces were cut using my table saw.
The inner and outer portions of each leg are 23" long.
This accounts for the height of my casters, so if you're
making this be sure to adjust leg length according to
your own specific needs.
The outer sleeve portions of each leg are each made but not so much that there is excessive wobble or
of four pieces of 3/4" thick plywood that are 3 1/2"
wide.
These are glued and brad-nailed together, with a
finished outside width of 4 1/4".
The inner leg portions are made in the same manner,
from four pieces that are just a hair under 2" wide,
resulting in a finished outside width of just under 2
3/4".
The first challenge with this project was to build in just
the right amount of wiggle room with the telescoping
legs. I wanted them to slide inside each other easily,
slop.
About a 1/32" total gap on top and side of the inside
leg portions provided what I felt was the right amount
of play.

1. Note the tiny amount of wiggle room. This is about a 1/32" gap on top
and side.

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Step 4: Torsion Box Table Base
The table's base structure is made of two torsion
boxes, or beams, between which the car jack rests.
Torsion boxes are strong and lightweight and easy to
make out of plywood. Plywood provides precision and
stability over time, whereas solid wood would be
prone to expanding and contracting with changes in
environment humidity, etc.
The lower beam is attached securely to the outer leg
sleeve portions, and the upper beam is attached
loosely to the inner leg portions. They are actually
Make an Adjustable-Height Table With a Car Jack: Page 6
attached with paracord and basically hang and "float"
in position. This is covered in detail later, though.
The beams were made with 5 1/2" wide pieces of 3/4"
plywood along with pieces of 4 3/4" wide pieces of
3/8" plywood, and glued and brad-nailed together.
Further measurements and dimensions will depend
on your specific needs, but I'm going to include plenty
of tips and details that should be helpful as we go
along.
 1

1. "wings" are built onto the beams to hold the legs, made from birch
plywood that is glued and brad nailed together. This requires a lot of
careful hands-on planning and precision cuts.

1. Not attached to the legs at this point.. Just test fitting and making plans.
2. You might notice that the outer sleeves are about 1/4" longer than the
inner portions. I didn't mention this before just to simplify directions. The
outer sleeves will have a portion cut off, so I planned a little extra to make
up for the kerf loss. If you're reading this, it might make a difference to you,
but most people just look at photos and bypass the details! ; )

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Step 5: Add Casters, Mock Up Lower Beam Height

At this point, the outer leg sleeves had a 5 1/2"
portion cut off using the cross-cut sled on the table
saw. These portions will later be firmly attached to the
upper beam, with the inner leg portions attached
loosely within.
The casters were attached to the outer legs now, and
the lower beam was test-fit to decide on the
necessary height to attach it to these outer legs.
This height location depends on the collapsed height
of the car jack, as well as the desired lowest-height of
the table itself, along with a few other factors such as
the thickness of the table top.
Mocking all of this up and making a few sketches and
taking key measurements is very important!

Step 6: Leg Bosses

To mount the legs to the lower beam, I added a plywood boss (< explanation) to each leg.

These were glued and screwed precisely to each leg with the help of a little scrap wood jig.

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Step 7: Assemble Lower Beam/Leg Structure

With the help of the bosses added in the last step, the legs were easy to affix to the lower beam in perfect position.

Legs were glued, brad-nailed, and screwed in place as shown in the photos. This is a surprisingly light-weight but
rigid structure. I was very happy with it!

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Step 8: Upper Beam Structure, Part 1

This is where things get a little tricky.
The top beam structure needed to precisely fit into the possible.
lower structure, so the legs do not bind up at all as it
is raised and lowered.
To do this, the upper structure could not be built
separately - it needed to be built into the existing
lower structure, using it as a guide, in order to ensure
that they mated together precisely.
The first step was to lock the upper pieces of the
outer leg portions to each other as precisely as
Everything was put into place inverted on my
worktable, and pieces of birch plywood were added
as shown, first with glue, brad nails, and then
screwed into counter sunk holes.

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Step 9: Upper Beam Structure, Part 2

The table structure was turned right-side up, and the beam portion was created by fitting it into place, piece by
piece.

Each piece was carefully measured, cut, and added using glue, clamps, brand nails, and screws. With the main
pieces attached to create the upper beam portion, it was removed from the structure and additional pieces of birch
plywood were added to complete it.

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Step 10: Add Paracord to Inner Legs

The inner leg pieces had pieces of paracord added so they could be tied to the upper beam structure.

On the top side of the upper beam structure holes were drilled and counter-bored, directly above the tops of the
inner legs. The inner legs were tied in place, loose enough to allow them to wiggle freely within the upper portions
of the outer leg sleeves.

Make an Adjustable-Height Table With a Car Jack: Page 12

Step 11: Test It!

It worked.

After all the planning and building, there's that moment of truth that's really exciting . . and terrifying.

For this project at least, it was a happy moment of truth and not a "back to the drawing board" realization!

Make an Adjustable-Height Table With a Car Jack: Page 13

Step 12: Finish It

I had a pile of paint samples in my cupboard, and hand.

decided to mix them all together and see what I
ended up with.
I was pleasantly satisfied with this purple-ish color,
and as a shade of my favorite color, figured it was
perfect for my new table.
The table parts were disassembled and painted by
After the paint was dry I lightly hand-sanded
everything with 220 grit sandpaper, and gave the
pieces a few coats of semi-gloss spray lacquer.
The inner leg pieces were buffed with superfine steel
wool and waxed with furniture wax.

Make an Adjustable-Height Table With a Car Jack: Page 14

Step 13: Make Supports

Eight support brackets were made from scrap plywood.

These are 5 1/2" inches tall, made from 3 1/2" wide scraps and were glued and brad-nailed together and finished
to match the rest of the table.

Make an Adjustable-Height Table With a Car Jack: Page 15

Step 14: Add Jack and Pressure Plate

The jack was screwed to center of the lower beam, and a scrap piece of aluminum was added to the middle
underside of the upper beam to act as a pressure and wear plate.

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Step 15: Add Bumpers and Cleats

I used pieces of an old 1/4" thick rubber mudflap to
create bumpers to add to the upper beam structure as
well as each support block. These bumpers make
everything stick together and avoid any vibration or
chatter when I'm using the table for things like
sewing.
I also added little cleats to the underside of the table
top to make locating it to the same precise location on
the base easy if I ever have to take it off. The table
top is attached the the base structure with four small
screws.

Make an Adjustable-Height Table With a Car Jack: Page 17

Step 16: That's It!

I really love this table so far. I've used it for a couple small sewing projects at the lowest setting, as well as for
some standing sewing machine tinkering at the middle height. It's exactly what I needed, and I was able to use up
a bunch of scraps from my workshop to make it.

Thanks for reading along. Thoughts, tips, questions are always encouraged, and if you make something similar be
sure to leave a photo in the comments!

1. The jack is only used to raise and lower the table top, so the jack doesn't
actually hold the weight in daily use.

How much room do you have for legs under your desk ?

The open area is 13" deep from the table edge to the cross beams, 29" wide and 29" high at table's
lowest setting. It's just fine for sitting and working - I use it everyday and have no complaints.
Nice build but I'm not a fan of the Jack being visible as it is really ugly. I'm sure there are several
ways to hide this by boxing it in.
When you build one, be sure to box yours in so you don't have to look at it! : )

This is awesome! Well done!

Very nice Job, I can see many uses for this! :{)

Thanks for this interesting instructables. I will try this next weekend.

What a great idea. I't build one if I had a place to store it when not in use.
This is a really good idea. I like the electric adjustable table modification that PhantasticOne
suggests.
This idea in 80/20 would be great! Thanks for the idea, I will be buolding one.
Great idea! I have one that I built the same way. The only differences are that I used metal pins to
hold the legs at different heights and I used a 12V electric scissor jack that I had bought for one of
my cars. I have a small charger and an AGM battery to power the jack that I have mounted under
the table top. The jack came with an attached remote with up and down buttons that I mounted on
the front of the table.

Make an Adjustable-Height Table With a Car Jack: Page 18

 Very cool, that sounds like a great setup. If you're willing to snap a photo or two, I'd really love to
see it!
Genial idea!! Solo le agregaría un electromotor pequeño para sustituir el taladro y así controlar la
altura de forma mas cómoda y autonómica. Gracias por esta buenísima idea!!
---------
(Great idea!! I would only add a small electric motor to replace the drill and thus control the height
more comfortably and autonomously. Thanks for this great idea!!!)
Thank you! A built-in permanent motor would be a great upgrade, for sure! : )

Good idea about the sleeved boxes, I'm going to try that.

One question - instead of support blocks, could you drill holes at the desired heights and then
insert a bolt to keep the table at the desired height? This would remove the need to have different
support blocks for different heights and just use the same bolt at whatever height had been drilled.

Excellent question - I considered a lot of options for securing and stabilizing the table top once it
was at the desired height, including a hole/pin method just as you're describing.

I think is a good idea and might be a good option. You see similar things done on commercial
products (like easy-up/popup shade tents and similar). It seemed like it would require a bit more
planning and finesse to make that sort of system.

So in the end I went with block support because I only really needed three heights, and it seems
like the simplest build method to get the degree of precision I'd be satisfied with.
What a great idea. I have a similar project in mind, using 2 hydraulic adjustable height stools as a
base. Like in a doctor's office. They're already on wheels. Adjusting both bases to the same heght
could be a challenge. Using your block approach might solve that issue. Thanks for sharing.
ANY PLANS FOR THIS TABLE?
THANKS
Hi! This instructable is the plan. Measurements are noted in the steps, but certain lengths like
those for two main beams depend on a person's specific needs.
Great design I've been trying to noodle through a similar project for a brewing table. This gives me
some great ideas. All I need to add is a tipping top to make spent grain removal easier.
I really love this and will have to make one. My first use for this will be to aid in putting a really
heavy air conditioner into a window. From there, I can see a multitude of uses .

Thanks for sharing !

wow what an awesome build, thanks for the post

Very nice solution to a problem. I like how you upgrade the tables to fit your needs. Smart....

OK, I love it, man! Dialing the table up and down with the car jack is brilliant. Thanks for sharing!

Nice work. I've thought about a similar use for a scissor jack for an adjustable router table.

Can you help me understand why you added the stop blocks? Scissor jacks by design aren't prone
to move from the postion where they're stopped. So it seems that the stop blocks are superfluous.
The table top won't move up or down if the supports are left out, but the top has a little bit of play
around the outside edges . . too much wiggle for a useful work surface.
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The support blocks remove any wobble and transfer all the table top weight through the legs
directly to the floor, so it's rock solid just like a normal table at whatever height you set it at.
I like it! I've seen cordless drills for as low as $25 (maybe even less) on eBay, so if someone needs
to raise their table frequently, this could be a viable option.(School workshop for example)
Recently someone threw out a motorized adjustable bed on the curb and I got a pretty nice linear
actuator out of it. Remote controlled! :)
Hey Sam,
Think I'll be making one of those, really good idea.
Wish my shed was as clean tidy as yours.
Hey, thank you! I hope you make one, and figure out some improvements along the way. I think
there's plenty of room for alternate approaches to simplify the process.

Yes, there are moments of tidiness in my shop, but it's often a mess! ; )
Wow! This is super impressive and beats the ugly plastic one I have in my home office. Love love
love it! :)
Thanks! I saw an adjustable table at Costco for a few hundred bucks and figured, I can make
something out of junk to work the same way! But about midway through, I was questioning if this
was really worth the trouble.. I think so, I guess! : )

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