Thanks! I loved your design and wanted to copy it. Cost of the unistrut and bearings was about $150. Instead, I paid ~$10 for some 3/8” aluminum rod. I had two sheets of construction grade 1/2” ply and a few 2x4s already.
Yes, I did look at making it flush. And this was the compromise on two design concerns as well as a buildability factor.
The first design consideration is that using 2x4s, the closest it would get to the wall is 3” without creating an inset in the torsion box for the bars and the wall mount.
The second design element is the two bars reinforce the table position. When flat, the top bar supports the table. When folded the bottom bar is against the table. This enables solid locking in the upright and down positions. It also limits travel so the linkages do not hyper extend and get locked in an over rotated position.
The build consideration to get flush to the wall (minus 2 * 2x4 thickness) is the ground plane would not be able to be the wall. I forget the angle off the top of my head, but the bottom pivot needs yo be away from the wall by a few degrees…Essentially the inverse of the angle the table makes to the wall when upright. Instead of building a wedge on the wall to get the angle required, I decided to use the wall and let the upright position go a little past 90degrees.
Turns out to be a benefit. the bottom is closer to the wall, and the top sticks out more. In my tiny shop, having the bottom in a few inches closer works great for Tetris game that I have to play with table saw, lumber cart, and flip cart planer/oscillating sander.
Net effect is the table bottom is a hair under 5” from the wall (2” over best cast of flush to wall mount) and top is about 12” a bit above my head. Without verifying the geometry, I got lucky by being lazy and not building a wall wedge I designed because I would have had 7-8” gap the entire length if I had.
Hopefully that makes sense.
