Table - Portable Massage Table, Woodworking Plans
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]Portable Massage Table
Construction Plans
Note: Picture is similar design but not exactly this table.
Developed June 1997
Last modified on Monday, February 7, 2005 to add Imperial to Metric
Conversion table
This is a drawing of the table!
Overview
Summary:
This still evolving page provides a complete set of plans to help someone with
good woodworking knowledge, a full set of tools and clamps, and about $235
to build an exceptional, light weight, strong, portable massage table that is
suitable for doing healing treatments and massage. This is not a particularly
difficult project if you stay organized and are careful. It takes about forty
hours of woodworking, finishing, cable making and upholstery to complete.
For those without the tools, skills, or time to build their own table look at my
sponsor and look at both
and at
discount warehouses as
they each sell workable massage tables for under $200 (US). If funds are a
concern, I also found a table you can convert into a massage table for under
$80 (US). Click
or more details. Finally, many are saying this page is an
excellent source of information that helped them buy a better portable massage
table.
Thank You!
When I started this site in 1997 to give thanks to the many in our healing
community who helped me get through my own health challenges I had no
idea how much positive interest it would generate. The interest has been
incredible with many sharing their thanks and improvement suggestions. As
time permits I have used those generous suggestions to help evolve this design
from my early, inefficient efforts into a far better plan that is less expensive,
easier, and faster to build. Moreover, this feedback has provided more
information to help people make a more informed decision when buying a
portable massage table. I sincerely thank all of you who have been so
supportive and hope that you enjoy!
Disclaimer:
This site was built as a gift with no intent to criticize any firm or steal anyone's
work. To a degree, this site reflects the old adage that "No good deed goes
unpunished". Since putting up this site I've been threatened, harassed, and
twice attacked by attorneys.
The first attack was utterly ridiculous. I designed a very nice simple
background for this site of a balloon figure giving a massage. A massage
organization attorney threatened to sue because the web designer for that firm
lifted my background design and they got it registered as their trademark. I
showed the attorney that their design still had my name and date in the created
by field in the image on their site, and they still persisted. My own attorney
explained that I had to locate their web designer, sue them, win a judgment,
then sue the massage association. Roughly $40K and two to five years later I
would again be able to put back on this site the background I designed. He
said there was little to no chance that I could recover anything from the web
designer and zero chance of being able to recover anything but attorney fees
for the second suit from that massage organization. I conceded acknowledging
they found a "legal right" to steal my work.
Next, I was threatened with a lawsuit over patent infringement. The cost to get
a legal opinion nearly took this site down permanently, but a group of patent
attorneys was willing to assist. They found no such patent held by the
complainer. They found all design elements used in this table have been
common woodworking and cable rigging practices for far longer than the
duration of any single patent. There is one table that is similar and patented.
They then explained that patents are issued when someone comes up with a
unique idea or unique design. Because my significant improvements in the
manufacture of the table skirt creates a stronger lighter table, they felt
confident that they could get this design patented for me if I wanted to do so. I
explained I wanted this site to simply be a gift back to the healing community
who helped me so much in my own trials. They assured me that even if this
site was a total copy of a patented table, which it is not, that by law and long
legal precedent I had a right to share the information as all information in the
U.S. Patent Office is public information to share. They also said anyone who
would like to build their own table for their own personal use from these plans
or any other plans they find has a right to do so without paying anyone. If you
want to use this design to make massage tables for sale, they suggest you work
with an attorney to avoid possible patent infringement.
Order Requests:
Many who have seen this site and many who have seen my table and tables
that I helped my students build, have asked me to build them a custom table.
Although I wish I could build a table for all that want one, I must continue to
say no to all requests. I have a bad leg that limits me to at most an hour or two
a week in my shop and far too many higher personal priorities for that limited
time. Moreover, this is my hobby and I do not want to turn it into a business.
Background:
As an old engineer, computer nerd, woodworker, Shiatsu Master and Reiki
Master, I have been using massage tables since starting my healing training in
Japan in the fifties. A post surgery infection left me with a bad leg and needing
a portable massage table. Normally I would have just built my own as I have a
full shop and have built fine furniture as gifts for years. Unfortunately, my leg
now limits me to a couple of hours a week in my shop, so I was resigned to
buying a table. Doing healing work is a hobby and I could not justify spending
$800 for a top quality table with accessories. A friend let me use his spare
table giving me time to find my own. I loved that loaner table, but was unable
to find an affordable used one. I was led repeatedly to just building one of my
own but struggled over how long it would take with my bad leg. With
encouragement from friends I decided to build the best I could and share my
efforts on the Internet. My design was done, but my table was far from
finished when my loaner vanished. I had to have a table for an upcoming class.
I bought a table from the firm who made my loaner table. After my purchase
they hired me to do some web work, failed to pay, and stole my efforts forcing
me to take them to court and win a judgment. Worse, an upholstery shop
showed me two failed tables identical to the one I bought proving my new
table was far lesser quality than my original loaner table. Regardless, this just
inspired me to hurry up and build the table I really wanted.
Table Type:
Not one to want to reinvent the wheel, I researched massage table construction
finding an incredible selection of many excellent solutions. Most of the nicest
were stationary tables. One of my favorites was a heavy wooden table that
tilted up turning into an oval mirror making a nice solution for a bedroom.
There also were some nice light solutions including a sixteen-pound table
made from plywood and aluminum and even a twelve-pound table made of
graphite fiber. Such fiber and tubes are now readily available and inexpensive
enough to be an interesting possibility. Although I have the tools and skills to
use aluminum or even graphite fiber, my goal was still to have portability and
a design that others could build, so I limited my search to portable wooden
framed tables.
Table Design:
The best tables share near identical time honored design elements and
construction to make them comfortable for both the one giving and the one
receiving a massage. This is a good balance between cost, weight, strength,
beauty, noise, comfort, portability, and ease of use. All use a centuries old
folding table design where the table skirt hides recessed adjustable height legs
when the table is closed for storage. The tabletops are about 30" wide and
about 76" long with rounded corners to minimize stretching while working on
a client. Most are covered with two or more inches of foam with a built in face
hole and padded table skirts with no protruding hardware. Like my
grandfather's 1900's workbench, most use legs made from two mated pieces
that are stable and easy to adjust with one threaded knob. All use center
support braces with everything held locked firmly in place by strong steel
cables that pull tight as the table is set up. This produces a strong rigid work
surface with near instant setup and takedown without having to engage any
locks, levers, knobs, screws, etc. This same design was used in the twenties to
let airplane wings fold for storage and lock rigid in flight. All remove excess
wood on the supports and legs to minimize weight. All strategically use
padding and plastic washers to avoid squeaks. Elastic pulls the cables out of
the way when closing the table. All woodworking is carefully rounded,
sanded, and finished to protect surfaces and prevent snags. The only part of
these designs that is newer than fifty years is the use of the new soft tough
vinyl that can withstand body oils and acids, is easy to clean, and can be
worked with a standard sewing machine.
Quality:
Long ago I learned the feeling of a good deal passes quickly when you have to
live with poor quality. I always try to spend the few extra dollars to make
something really special that I can enjoy and be proud of for many years. On a
massage table there really is so little that the cost to do a significant upgrade is
tiny. One of my sad discoveries is that many designs, including the one I
bought, cut too many corners. Declining to follow their lead, I upgraded to
furniture quality hardwoods with fine solid brass hardware. I threw out the
commercial skirt designs with poor joints and staples that will come loose in
favor of a single piece laminated plywood arch glued on a thin strong sheet of
Baltic birch plywood. This construction takes a little more work but creates a
much stronger and lighter solution that will last. A friend of mine who owns
an upholstery business said that most lightweight foam only lasts a couple of
years and strongly recommended use of the more expensive commercial
upholstery foam. The small initial cost increase can save hundreds in replacing
foam and upholstery every few years. I also replaced the fancy leg end
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