Shop preparation - Part 5

Leveling the big table  

Once I start assembling the fuselage, I will need to level the structure as precisely as possible, and it would help to start with a leveled table to begin with.

I am sure everyone knows that garage floors are NOT level on purpose. But if you don’t have a garage, this little fact might come as a surprise. The very good reason for slanting the garage floor toward the door, is to promote water exiting the structure, should it ever get in it in the first place.

A common slant is 1” drop (2.5 cm) for every 10’ (3 m). Since my table is 11’ long, I would have to raise the low end 1.1” or so.

I started out with shims, and quickly realized that it was not such a good idea. It takes about 5 shims to arrive to 1.1”, a shaky proposition at best.

Wanting a solid platform for my critical assemblies, I decided to carefully measure and cut some risers, then glued them underneath the legs of the table.

Two 1.17" risers

Risers getting smaller further away from the garage doors

Once I started cutting, I couldn’t stop until the table was level in every direction.

Middle of the table - across

Middle of the table - long way

Right side of the table - across

Left side of the table - across

Middle of the table - diagonal

This process consumed almost half a day, and I even ended  up power-sanding the tip of my left index finger (painful picture mercifully withheld).

I think the new leveled table will be a great help in the future, since most of what I’ll be working on from now on will require to be perfectly horizontal.