bench1.jpg

The Heavy Bench

Posted by 141drew Posted onNov 8, 2013 at 10:25 AM and filed under Reviews & Features
Updated onUpdated on May 28, 2021 at 11:37 AM




I love the idea of having a mobile, but very heavy bench for vise work and other activities that require a substantial work surface. And since I’ve been planning a new shop, I’ve been looking around at what others have come up with and stumbled upon the bench above. Genius.

More shots here.


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M

motormitch

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Ryan said:
bench1.jpg


bench2.jpg


I love the idea of having a mobile, but very heavy bench for vise work and other activities ...
To read the rest of this blog entry from The Garage Journal, click here.
Click to expand...

I assume that the jacks are to lift onto the casters for moving under a heavy load?
 
C

cdsvt

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That is AWESOME.

I am going borrow this idea. I have a small-ish shop so having a heavy duty but semi-mobile workstation like this would be great.

I'm tempted to make a sacrificial plywood cover that can be put over this so I could do woodworking on it as well.

Thanks for sharing.
 
I

icecactus

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Wow, REALLY like this bench...the caster lift is slick too, never thought to do it that way.
 
J

Jagmandave

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It only makes sense if you have a) a flat floor b) room to roll it around.

For us poor, small 2 car garage guys, it's a luxury that we can't really use, but I do like the idea and construction.

I have a small metal table I made with a 4" craftsman vise attached, I put wheels on one end so I can roll it around, it serves as my welding and grinding table as it's easy to move in and out of the garage - plus it doesn't take up much space when I'm not using it. You'd be amazed at the things I've built on it...

View media item 24382
 
E

ezzzzzzz

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Great idea! My bench is a heavy rolling unit with a 1/4" steel work top. I'm going to incorporate the jack plates in reverse so I can heave on the vice without it moving around. The wheel locks are not enough.
 
M

MackMan

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Really cool idea! I'm thinking it could be "improved" to only use one jack, but might be difficult if it was loaded really unevenly for some reason.
 
I

icecactus

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Jagmandave said:
It only makes sense if you have a) a flat floor b) room to roll it around.

For us poor, small 2 car garage guys, it's a luxury that we can't really use, but I do like the idea and construction.
Click to expand...

Maybe I am missing something here. Care to elaborate?

The bench has adjustable feet to accommodate the uneven floor.

And for a 2 car, you could pull a car out and use it in the middle of the garage when doing projects...put the casters down and push against a wall when not in use. Thats exactly how i am going to use mine once i build it :bounce:
 
B

BRIANBB

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ezzzzzzz said:
Great idea! My bench is a heavy rolling unit with a 1/4" steel work top. I'm going to incorporate the jack plates in reverse so I can heave on the vice without it moving around. The wheel locks are not enough.
Click to expand...

The wheels are not going anywhere when retracted. The jack is there to lower the wheels when you want to move the table.
 
M

metalhead212121

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Ive been wanting to build something like this for over a year now! I've had sleepless nights trying to figure out how Im going to build this. At least I know its possible now!!! One day I will build this.... Yes I know I have mental problems... :(
 
W

woodrail

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No locking casters?

My luck I would be unknowingly working on an unlevel floor, give the jack the last crank to lift, and have a 4,000lbs table roll into the freshly restored corvette with me holding the jack handle! :)

Great job on the build, looks very professional.
 
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Falcon67

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That would work great for the long and narrow welding/assembly workbench I'd like to build. That design certainly answers the "how ya gonna move that thing" problem. Nice work.
 
G

gricegear

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Illinois
Thats pretty slick. I've been thinking about making a bench that has a flip top design for more tool options. I may have to use this idea. Pretty simple and effective!!
 
T

Thumper68

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I am planning on stealing Steveo's bench design but with 2 HF 44's, now I am going to add the jacks and castors. What a cool idea for a sturdy but still mobile bench.
 
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brianpgriset

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Neat idea. I wanted something similar. I wanted a nice heavy bench that would be on normal feet so it wouldn't budge but still need someway to get it on casters. Everything I've seen has too much hardware and takes up too much space, since I only move the table once in a blue moon. So I came up with this:

75fcfef38d55aaf52dd88180359efa9a_zpse4b39f47.jpg


I frenched in a piece of tube into the frame, then made caster mounts with a piece of solid round to go in the tube. I drilled and tapped a small hole on the top so I can put a screw in to keep them from falling out when I lift it. When the table is rolling the weight of it is enough to keep the casters in place so you really only need the screw when you're lifting it in the air to get the casters in.
 
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N

NHBandit

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woodrail said:
No locking casters?

My luck I would be unknowingly working on an unlevel floor, give the jack the last crank to lift, and have a 4,000lbs table roll into the freshly restored corvette with me holding the jack handle! :)

Great job on the build, looks very professional.
Click to expand...
Sorry but I don't see the need for locking casters since they are only going to be in contact with the floor when you're moving the bench. If your garage floor is that out of level you have other issues. I like it. It's a very creative design. :thumbup:
 
OP
R

Ryan

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Jagmandave said:
It only makes sense if you have a) a flat floor b) room to roll it around.

For us poor, small 2 car garage guys, it's a luxury that we can't really use, but I do like the idea and construction.

I have a small metal table I made with a 4" craftsman vise attached, I put wheels on one end so I can roll it around, it serves as my welding and grinding table as it's easy to move in and out of the garage - plus it doesn't take up much space when I'm not using it. You'd be amazed at the things I've built on it...

View media item 24382
Click to expand...

Says the guy with a jag in his garage!

Funny though, I'm building a small shop right now... and the flexibility in a small shop is what makes me like this so much.
 
J

jesse72

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Jagmandave said:
It only makes sense if you have a) a flat floor b) room to roll it around.

For us poor, small 2 car garage guys, it's a luxury that we can't really use, but I do like the idea and construction.

I have a small metal table I made with a 4" craftsman vise attached, I put wheels on one end so I can roll it around, it serves as my welding and grinding table as it's easy to move in and out of the garage - plus it doesn't take up much space when I'm not using it. You'd be amazed at the things I've built on it...

View media item 24382
Click to expand...

Dude, isn't what your saying a complete contradiction? Or maybe I read it wrong, and if so then I'm sorry to bust your balls. But the OP is showing us a bench that can roll around for use anywhere in the garage and then put away for easy storage out of the way (ideal for a small space). And then the bench that you showed is basically the same thing except a little smaller but serves the exact same purpose. The OP never said he had a huge garage at all either, so I just don't get it.

OP: thanks for sharing the bench design, for a guy with a small 2 car garage I think its a great idea
 
1

1938flatty

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Mine is not as pretty but does the trick. The legs next to each wheel hold the wheel just far enough off the ground to make it stay put. Retract by lifting pedal with my foot and were rolling again.
 

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W

woodrail

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NHBandit said:
Sorry but I don't see the need for locking casters since they are only going to be in contact with the floor when you're moving the bench. If your garage floor is that out of level you have other issues. I like it. It's a very creative design. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

If you knew the issues I have you would understand!

But on topic, I love the bench. I don't have a steel top bench. I'd love one like this.
 
Z

Zeppe807

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I too like the idea on how to have the lifting mechanism built in. It is a simple, tough, & inexpensive idea. :beer:

In my case, due the cost limitation I put on myself, I went with a pivoting caster held in place with a bolt, and the lifting is provided by my floor jack. I needed it mobile and built my cabinet around the table size.



I have $30 into it, only because the casters I had were not big enough for the 1500lbs.

You Have a Great table!


Joe Zeppe :beer:
 
B

brucer

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I seen a nice welding table built using a couple scissor jacks to lift it on the casters. They had the two scissor jacks on each end connected with sprockets and a chain and you used one hand crank to lift the table.. It was a real nice table..
 
F

flippin

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NUTTSGT said:
I like the idea of the jacks with casters and a heavy duty design. All nice and strong looking but the adjustable feet that they put on it look really small.
Click to expand...


The design is incredible, really ingenious, nicely done. This will be perfect for a massively built table that requires frequent moving. I suspect that a great set of dollies and a floor jack would suffice if the table doesn't need to move that often. But there is no doubt that I will be building one (or 3) stealing this brilliant design in the very near future. Small bottle jacks are so inexpensive that to incorporate them permanently in each table is very easy. I suspect that the more you use this table that it's usefulness will only increase. It in itself it can be used as a giant table height dolly

I also questioned the strength and stability of the adjustable feet. If the objective is to be able to beat on whatever this table can hold, the adjustable feet may prove to be the Achilles Heel of this otherwise inspiring design.

To incorporate adjustable feet suggest that there must have been a requirement to level the table on uneven floors. In recognition of that a suggestion to improve the stability would be to manufacture your own adjustable feet. I have done so many times using 3/4" bolts and hockey pucks for feet. Leave it to the Canuck to recommend hockey pucks in the garage, but they work exceptionally well. They are incredibly stable and provide great vibration and sound dampening. My compressors and a variety of other machines have had their adjustable feet replaced with hockey pucks.

Counterbore a hole in the hockey puck to accept the 3/4" bolt, and finish off the opposite side with a fender washer and nut. The design is extremely durable and will withstand huge loads, but it will add significant height to whatever it is supporting (approx 2") which should be considered in the table height.

Again wonderful design and certainly no disrespect intended with the suggestion for beefier feet. You had me at "heavy". Thanks for sharing.
 
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A

alpinewhite

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Ryan said:
bench2.jpg
Click to expand...
What wall thickness is the movable horizontal piece? I imagine it'd have to be at least 3/16" to prevent it from bending out of shape.

Are the bottle jacks permanently fastened or just put in as-needed?

Thumper68 said:
I am planning on stealing Steveo's bench design but with 2 HF 44's, now I am going to add the jacks and castors. What a cool idea for a sturdy but still mobile bench.
Click to expand...
Aren't you concerned that the unsupported middle section may break when jacked up?
 
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OP
R

Ryan

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Zeppe807 said:
I too like the idea on how to have the lifting mechanism built in. It is a simple, tough, & inexpensive idea. :beer:

In my case, due the cost limitation I put on myself, I went with a pivoting caster held in place with a bolt, and the lifting is provided by my floor jack. I needed it mobile and built my cabinet around the table size.



I have $30 into it, only because the casters I had were not big enough for the 1500lbs.

You Have a Great table!


Joe Zeppe :beer:
Click to expand...

Smart idea to paint the corners red...
 
B

bmwpower

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Love it. The only improvement I'd like to see (it's minor!) is if you could add a foot pump instead of the bottle jack. But sometimes simplicity is best.
 
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