Thank you. I will keep my eye out for your write up.
Here's a quick description:
The table is two pieces of cherry, jointed and glued. At the ends, I cut two 1" tenons that fit into a 1 1/4" mortise on the 3" wide endcaps. These breadboard ends keep it from warping and holds it flat. (Total table dimensions: 43" by 15" by 3/4" thick)
Once the table was built, I pulled the panel off the back door. I used a set of trim removal tools, but it's not really necessary. Just remember that, in addition to the perimeter pieces, there is a screw behind the strap in the cargo net (top panel in the picture below). Once you remove that, it's just muscling the panel off. Take the upper trim (around the window) off first. That makes it easier.
I measured up from the bottom of the door enough to clear the load floor and screwed in some basic cabinet hinges from Home Depot. Nothing fancy for the moment, but its enough to hold 30 lbs.
Once the hinges were mounted, I folded the table against the panel and marked and drilled holes for the support lines from where I wanted the lines to hit the table.
I then cut slots in the wood that were tight enough to hold the paracord on friction. I fed the paracord through the panel and melted the end to create a ball on the end. Using the friction in the slots, I could try out different lengths until the table folded open to where I wanted. I then just cut the end and melted that into a ball, also.
It's a simple design, but has been good enough to cook on, hold object in the back of my truck when I'm digging through looking for things, or for random trailhead repairs. When I close it up, I simply loop the top of the paracord line through the slots and the friction holds the table up. Not my finest woodworking, but it was a quick and dirty solution with scraps. My plan is to make some drawers to match.
However! When driving anything other than pavement, the paracord does slip and the table rattles like a mutha. I'm working on that. I am thinking I'll put a hasp on the table to let me lock it up when I'm doing anything more than commuting. Otherwise, the only change I'd make is to pull the panel again and put a bar on the frame of the door so that the hinges and paracord had something more solid to mount to. I would like to be able to put my 5 gallon water jug on there someday, but today is not that day.
)
