The Bowling Alley workbench build

[Hybridss]

Inspired by two things. GJ and all the great workbench builds...and necessity. I was VERY tired of my Craftsman modular workbenches. I never used them as a work surface since they were way too tall. The drawers were rated at 40 lbs ( had double that in some of them and they were getting a bit precarious to open. And they were 2 six foot benches and not one continuous work surface.

One day I was surfing Craigslist and found a guy selling bowling alleys from a Bowling center that was shutting down near me. $10 a foot is what he was asking. I ended up getting 36 feet of bowling alley for $300. Once I purchased that the ball was rolling

It will be made around 2 of these monsters:





About half of the steel i used was given to me which saved a ton of cost.









Its going to have a few extras. As I was making it..it became more complex. I figure ill build it once and incorporate all the BS that I wanted under the bench. That way I can have one continuous work surface.





A Little grinding and clean up.







Painting with truck bed liner. The piece on the end will mate up with the other part bench and form a very large open square under the bench for storage of things like jack stands and shop vac as well as the ability to belly up to the bench with a rolling bench height seat.



And put back in the shop for the night.


This is one of 2 benches that will be L- shaped. This one is a bit more elaborate. The next one will be simpler. Will update more next week.

Total work surface should be about 22 feet.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Hybridss wow, great work on the bench..

Regards

 

[teamextreme]

Awesome! I'll be watching this as I have about 15 ft of bowling alley in my shop that will be turned into a workbench as soon as the shop expansion is completed. I picked it up from a bowling alley near me that was closing.

 

[Z2V]

WOW, looking good!! Looking forward to seeing finished pics

 

[dirt_dobber]

Great idea. Love it. subscribed!

 

[glider]

This is on my list to do. Thanks for posting. Looking forward to see it completed.

 

[Technologyteacher]

Good idea for building two, Good to have a "Spare"

 

[FJ 432]

Can't wait to see.

 

[ragdoll]

Looks great!

Not to be a jerk, but I wouldn't be using a grinder in sandals.

 

[maxpower_hd]

Looks nice. That will be awesome when it's done. Are those your welding sandals?

 

[Hybridss]

LOL...yes those are specifically my welding sandals. And yes occasionally I spontaneously do the jig in my garage.

Its funny...being from Florida most people wear sandals 90% of the year. When I post pics it never ceases to amaze me the focus is on the sandals...lol.
In these pics I was just touching up a few spots I missed prior to paint with a flap wheel, not a big deal. Any time I have to do heavy welding, heavy cutting, heavy grinding I usually have long work pants and shoes. So Ragdoll you are not being a jerk when reminding others to use appropriate PPE.


As for the benches. I probably have 25 hours of labor into them. I probably have 80-100 to go. Mainly because I still have to strip the bowling alley and re-coat.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Wow, it look nice so far, Congrats on the bowling alley material. I was all excited when I heard that the county had purchased an old bowling alley in the next town over. When I got there the contractor was taking out the lanes in huge chunks. I was told that they were leased and was being trucked back to the company to be leased to another bowling alley. I didn't know that they rented/leased that kind of stuff out. lol. Always learning.
Richard

 

[LXCam]

Looking good!

 

[Cougar]

Subscribed
Looks great.
I also have a couple bowling alley sections planning to use for a work bench.

The outside pic with the grinder, first thing I thought was: He need some boots.

 

[matt_i]

Great job integrating all of the storage cases and hose reel. I am also admiring your hydraulic lift cart. We have one at work and it is the handiest thing.

 

[hobie1dog]

You are the workbench king

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

Ditto on the hydraulic lift cool factor. Much easier to work at the higher elevation . . .

Jim

 

[ragdoll]

LOL...yes those are specifically my welding sandals. And yes occasionally I spontaneously do the jig in my garage.

Its funny...being from Florida most people wear sandals 90% of the year. When I post pics it never ceases to amaze me the focus is on the sandals...lol.
In these pics I was just touching up a few spots I missed prior to paint with a flap wheel, not a big deal. Any time I have to do heavy welding, heavy cutting, heavy grinding I usually have long work pants and shoes. So Ragdoll you are not being a jerk when reminding others to use appropriate PPE.


As for the benches. I probably have 25 hours of labor into them. I probably have 80-100 to go. Mainly because I still have to strip the bowling alley and re-coat.

Thanks, now get back to work and finish this baby!!!

 

[2012Eli3]

Looks great. didn't notice your sandals but did notice the whole wall of slat wall. Where did you get it ?

 

[Hybridss]

This is the space both benches will go in. All the way from the light switches on the left to the garage door rails on the right.

 

[Cougar]

WOW!!!

 

[jimreed2160]

Great project, neighbor. Glad to see others doing shop work in flip flops.

 

[hedgehog]

That thing is huge! But it looks to shaping up to be very functional

 

[36truck]

Cool build. My dad built a 16' bowling alley bench many years ago. He build his own drawers under it. It sits away from the wall so you can work on both side of it. Solid as a rock.

 

[Hybridss]

Good idea for building two, Good to have a "Spare"

LOL...Im a little slow. Missed that the first time around.

 

[Hybridss]

Looks great. didn't notice your sandals but did notice the whole wall of slat wall. Where did you get it ?

Actually some of the Lowes stores carry it. Not all of them do. I had to drive past my usual Lowes to a slightly farther one to pick it up. I am very happy with it and so far its been very very user friendly.

 

[Hybridss]

That thing is huge! But it looks to shaping up to be very functional

Functional is what i am looking for first and foremost. We have decided its very unlikley we will be moving from this house. These benches are likely to be used for the next 20-30 years.

 

[hedgehog]

Subbing so see what she looks like when done

Sent from my SM-T320 using Tapatalk

 

[timbitca]

Can't wait to see the final result, this should be a good one.

 

[Hybridss]

Finished a few more little things before work today. Mounted the air hose reel. Put the beverage cooler in place and got my long storage bins. I just need a retractable cord real to go just in front of the air hose reel and then close out that open space with some expanded metal. Now this weekend I can start on the bowling alley prep. Cut to size, strip and recoat.

 

[1/2 Cup]

AWESOME..

What can I say the picture tell the story..

Regards

 

[hedgehog]

bowling alley, thats funny

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[LXCam]

Maybe you said so elsewhere and I missed it. But why'd ya leave the butcher block top on the tool box?.

 

[Hybridss]

Maybe you said so elsewhere and I missed it. But why'd ya leave the butcher block top on the tool box?.

Good question. I was going to make a post somewhere regarding the new Husky toolboxes. But your post is as good as any to address this. I initially was going to remove it. To remove it you need to take the large top drawer out and get to about 10 screws going to the wood top. The wood top has some nutserts. I removed the top and inspected the wood top and it seems to be a decent piece of wood or composite of whatever it is. But the toolbox metal top underneath is very flimsy. So that is one way Husky saved money was to make the wood top integral to the strength of the box. I just put it back on since this box will be quite loaded. I will paint the edge of the wood with the truck bed liner to match everything else.

So if you want to buy this Husky just beware you will not be removing the top. Or if you do you need to replace it with something rigid. Because the steel underneath is NOT suitable for a work surface.

 

[anuccite]

I too have scored about 20' of bowling alley from a closing place..... We plan to make a bar with some of it, and I will turn the rest into bench tops.

 

[55chevy]

Have any of you guys cut the bowling alley floor yet? I'm thinking that it has a lot of metal in it. No?

 

[PelicanPines]

Let me get this straight... you built a tool box ... with a sizable beer cooler ... You are a god.

 

[nine4gmc]

NICE, real nice!

 

[BBChevro]

I had a bit of a chuckle about the focus on your "welding sandals".

I used to often wear flip flops and shorts while welding (it's a warm climate thing ) - my argument for it was that I could just shake the hot bit out without interrupting the bead.

I got some pretty bad "sunburn" from the welder on the top of my feet one time too many, so I do try to wear the appropriate PPE now.



That's going to be an awesome bench when it's finished.

.

 

[adam728]

Very cool bench. I love the built in small parts storage.