How to make a wedging table?

As much as I would love to buy this sturdy, simple wedging table from Bailey Ceramic Supply, I don't have $770 to shell out. I don't even have $50, but I would at least be willing to put $50 on my credit card to make something right now. I'm always afraid I'll piss off the neighbors or even my roommates when I'm making a racket slamming clay onto the unsturdy, loud table I have, and the wire wedging process would go so much smoother if I had a wire attached to the table.

I'm thinking of building one from 100% wood, thinking that will be the cheapest and easiest, but honestly I haven't a clue. I would prefer to not have one made with plaster because I would hate to have small bits of plaster come off into the clay over time. Any advice is welcome. What do you use for a wedging table?

The new home studio

I bought a wheel several weeks ago and finally got around to using it today. Although the only thing I have to show for it is a large lump of wet clay, it was good to get in the studio again. The home studio! It's beginning to feel like more than just a laundry room with a wheel in it:


What I love about a home studio:

1. I can listen to the music I want on Pandora.com instead the repetitive shit they play on FM radio. (Please excuse the language... I just want to make my feelings for the radio obvious. It blows.)

2. I can fix myself a cuppa tea as frequently as I like. Is 6 servings of green tea in one day excessive?

3. I can have my lunch break whenever I'm ready. (The guild is closed 12 - 1 PM.)

4. I don't have to pay $4 for a bus ride and overhear socially retarded people talking about guns, drugs, sex, or other things that I won't want to overhear.

5. On cold, windy days like today I don't have to leave the house to be productive.

6. When I flop as many pots as I did today I don't feel quite as bad because no one is watching me...

I realized the reason my pots were so terribly off-center in the first half of my day is that I was being lazy in wedging the clay. I was taught to first wire-wedge, then spiral wedge, and I don't have a handy wire firmly attached to a cement wedging table. So I skipped the wire and quickly spiraled my clay on the slick table top I had available. I realized that wouldn't get me far, so I gave in and used my ordinary wire tool. I discovered a nice little shortcut though... after each cut with the wire I set it straight on the table and slammed the clay back onto it to make the slicing easier:


Two things I need to look into for the studio: a wedging table and a throwing stool. Do you have any suggestions?