A new work bench thread!!!

[rsanter]

I have a couple of stainless top metal cabinat type work benches if someone is in need?
drop me a line and lets make a deal.

bob

 

[daddylama]

Looks nice except you have an electric code violation. You need to have a 3'-0" deep unobstructed clear work area immediately in front of electrical panels. Won't be a problem as long as you own and live in the house but an inspector might touch on it if you leave the bench where it is when selling.

even though it's an NEC violation, inspectors here often overlook it because of how many homes locally have been grandfathered... seems like half the houses i see have cabinetry in front of their panel. getting it written off upon isn't much of an issue here, unless the inspector is particularly pissy that day.



out buildings (like my shop), as long as the panel is VISIBLE, they don't much care about anything in front of it.


i'd show pics of my bench, but the termites are eating it faster than i can get my camera...
they have "Glisan 1921" scratched into one of the legs... think they've been here a while. 3x5 legs, partially cantilevered (on a wall that's rotting away), 2x8 top, covered in some 1920s marmoleum, with an IKEA butcher block on top of it. despite the rotting, it handles a beating reasonably well. it's caught on fire twice, though...


edit:
here it is... damn, it's a mess. the whole workshop will start off being organized, then somehow looks like this almost instantly. it's a mix of the area being far too small.... and me being f'ing messy when i work. i USED to be a well organized worker... don't know what the hell happened.

 

[itb76]

Where is the rest of that bug? What year,? You doing resto-custom or what?

Ooh, I see watercooled parts too!

Nice workbenches all. I do know where to begin--insulation & drywall--but there are so many ideas here that deciding on cabinets and a workbench upgrade will be difficult.

 

[itb76]

Here's my setup as it stands now. 1/8" sacrificial hardboard on the workbench, 1/2" Baltic birch on the toolbox to replace the original mdf that was lost. The wooden crate contains a spare 1.8 liter VW short block for the IT car. Ipod was added when the cd player took a dump; there's an XM radio dock next to it.

Unfortunately the table saw in the last photo serves as storage most of the time.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Unfortunately the table saw in the last photo serves as storage most of the time.

Don't worry, you are not alone. I have had my 10" table saw doing double duty as a junk table of sorts for years!

 

[D KRAGER]

Ok i've seen some good ones on here and some that I wouldn't trust to stand on.

It has to be heavey, if you put something in the vise and put 3' pipe wrench on it, you don't want your bench to move.

Mine Top: 3 - 2x12's
legs: 4x4s
2x6 frame
enclosed storage under

may be an overkill, but it would support a car on top of it.

 

[DatacomGuy]

More updates!

 

[hell_fish_65]

http://cgi.ebay.com/COMPLETE-Pharma...ryZ57096QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This one would be cool. All steel, looks solid and could be made to look vintage.

 

[DatacomGuy]

Wow, that would be cool.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Ok i've seen some good ones on here and some that I wouldn't trust to stand on.

It has to be heavey, if you put something in the vise and put 3' pipe wrench on it, you don't want your bench to move.

Mine Top: 3 - 2x12's
legs: 4x4s
2x6 frame
enclosed storage under

may be an overkill, but it would support a car on top of it.

The best way I know to keep your home built bench from moving about while jerkin around aggressively on something clamped in a vise is to begin the construction of the bench by screwing, not nailing a cleat or two to the wall and the backside of the bench you are building. I constucted all my benches this way so I have no problems with benches jiggling and such when I am abusing things in my vises!

 

[NOMAD]

I built two benches with 4x4 legs, 2x4 cross beams and 3/4 ply for one top and kitchen countertop from remodeling on the other. They both have pegboard on the sides just for kicks. i put locking casters on them too so it's nice to be able to roll them around for projects or cleaning.

I converted shelves into cabinets on the walls. I could not make hinged doors due to the garage door track so i made removable panel doors out of tile board so they are basically dry-erase boards for notes or diagrams when I'm working on something.

I still need to paint everything but I'll do that when I paint the whole garage.

I'm also going to make the tables a bit narrower so they fit closer to the wall and give a little more space when the cars are parked inside.

I also have two metal file cabinets that i put casters on so i can roll them around for projects too.

Unfortunately i don't have the "before" pictures anymore.

 

[jackmcmanus21]

Nomad, great idea with the tile board dry erase cabinet "doors". They will come in handy.

 

[BuickFarmer]

Who can tell what my bench top is made out of?

 

[PAToyota]

Who can tell what my bench top is made out of?

Looks like bowling alley lane - same as mine!

 

[NOMAD]

Yep, bowling lane. Pretty cool.
Looks like a monster.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Damned sweet in my opinion, should stand up well to alot of punishment! At least that is what would happen to it in my shop!

 

[348guy]

This is what I'm going to do. http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/3-Drawer-Work-Bench-p/htws79111.htm

I have limited space in my garage and I want a really heavy duty workbench.

 

[C. M. Allen]

Here is mine. Found it near a dumpster. All I did was put castors on it.

Chris

 

[lucasd2002]

Are those the simpson brackets?

I built two benches with 4x4 legs, 2x4 cross beams and 3/4 ply for one top and kitchen countertop from remodeling on the other. They both have pegboard on the sides just for kicks. i put locking casters on them too so it's nice to be able to roll them around for projects or cleaning.

I converted shelves into cabinets on the walls. I could not make hinged doors due to the garage door track so i made removable panel doors out of tile board so they are basically dry-erase boards for notes or diagrams when I'm working on something.

I still need to paint everything but I'll do that when I paint the whole garage.

I'm also going to make the tables a bit narrower so they fit closer to the wall and give a little more space when the cars are parked inside.

I also have two metal file cabinets that i put casters on so i can roll them around for projects too.

Unfortunately i don't have the "before" pictures anymore.

 

[NOMAD]

Home Depot galvanized brackets for decks. A few screws and you're done.

 

[srracer]

My poor-man Lista's

OK, so technically speaking these weren't cheap, but they're a heckuva lot cheaper than the Listas that I wanted to buy.

The top is a nice long workbench that I'll probably eventually change to a laminate because they're easier to clean, but for now the replaceable MDF is cheap and will take a beating.

-Chris

 

[Sack]

Yep, bowling lane. Pretty cool.
Looks like a monster.

For years I've been looking for used bowling alley. Where the heck can one find that.

 

[PAToyota]

For years I've been looking for used bowling alley. Where the heck can one find that.

Bowling alleys...

Seriously, local one was replacing their lanes and had a sign up. Unfortunately, what they were replacing it with was a composite material - so no future replacements...

 

[hell_fish_65]

Ryan, this silver cabinet is something you need and its local. I would get it if I have extra cash this week, but I bought a new carb instead.
http://austin.craigslist.org/fur/612958155.html

 

[boiler7904]

Re: My poor-man Lista's

OK, so technically speaking these weren't cheap, but they're a heckuva lot cheaper than the Listas that I wanted to buy.

The top is a nice long workbench that I'll probably eventually change to a laminate because they're easier to clean, but for now the replaceable MDF is cheap and will take a beating.

-Chris

Nice Cabinets. If I planned on staying in my house longer, I'd go for something like that. Maybe in the next house.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Ryan, this silver cabinet is something you need and its local. I would get it if I have extra cash this week, but I bought a new carb instead.
http://austin.craigslist.org/fur/612958155.html

Not really a particularly rare find in the office furniture world. The price is decent but that kind of furniture can be found easily by checking out a few used office equipment stores. I worked in one years ago and had access to stuff like that for small money all the time!

 

[gorilla]

The workbenches shown in this thread are works of art, I wish I had something as nice. My workbench is a 8" thick x 24" deep x 6' long section of glue lam beam mounted on 4"x4"x .250 thick steel tubing legs. I welded 1/2" thick tabs to the top of the legs and lag screwed them to the glue lam and 6"x6"x.250 plates to the bottom for feet. I tied the back legs and the end legs together with 2"x2"x .187"wall steel tube about 6" from the floor. It took a weekend to build and is now 20 years old and still rock solid.

 

[26TCoupe]

Whipped this one up out of 2X4's and the other one is a very old homemade one my dad bought at an auction a long time ago.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Whipped this one up out of 2X4's and the other one is a very old homemade one my dad bought at an auction a long time ago.

Your bench looks great, but I hope you are going to locate your bench grinder a bit closer to the edge and further from the drill press to accommodate the long stuff you will need to grind!

 

[chad pickens]

This my workbench almost done i need to put som trim strips back on and set the shelves. It is an old library circulation counter. I bought 2 rolls of stainless from ebay and bent it to cover the 1 1/4" top.

 

[DatacomGuy]

Interesting..

 

[e-tek]

Last pic of my other welding work bench, I'm in neither pics

Is this a photo of how NOT to teach a young gun to weld, or is it a photo for how to start a welding fire??

 

[SWells]

Here's a pic of my bench, 11 1/2' long 1/4" plate top.......no fun to move!

 

[e-tek]

Looking at these benches makes me want to scream. I'm jealous of you guys. First, my garage looks like a bomb went off in there, second, I have a kiddo with autism who gets into EVERYTHING, so I can't leave any tools out "on display" if you will, they all have to be locked up, out of sight or he'll hurt himself or burn the house down. I even have to keep the Armor All under lock and key or he'll spray his bike down with it, and the floor gets so slippery that I fall. I shudder to think what he could do with a vise...

OMG Davestloius!!! I have the SAME kid!!!!!!!!
I couldn't stop laughing 'cause it was so true! Last week my kid DID grab the Amrourall and sprayed it in a fan right across: my Challenger nearing paint (worst thing for paint), my freshly waxed Galaxie and the tollbox. I freaked, then cried, then washed it all down. He has his own (plastic) tool kit, but always has to grab the largest screwdriver I own and swing it around menacingly. His first words were: "don't touch the 'vertible' (convertible)" because I said it so many times when he was in the shop - I felt terrible.
So maybe we should start our own thread for keeping tools away and garages safe for the little guys! Actually, I will - look for it!

 

[hell_fish_65]

Here is what I picked up last night. Its a 50's steel kitchen sick cabinet. Gotta love the free section of Craigslist. It will get a steel top.

 

[RWD]

Well here's mine. I got the idea from this board. I'm in the process of moving and all my **** is not put away so it will look better when I'm done. I'm thinking about adding some drawers and maybe some doors under the bench. I also plan on painting it too.

 

[e-tek]

Here's mine - 16 feet long - just need to topper it now - going to use a thick solid core wood door for the half I hammer and beat on and stainless for the half I do mechanicals on. I'd like to put drawers underneath, but not sure how to frame them in. I've gotta study some of the other replies.

 

[Everyday]

I need to take some pics of my setup but I bought three of these from sams club...

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=329601

They have adjustable feet, maple wood top and go together in about 10 minutes. You can also fit a rolling tool chest under them.

 

[Kevin54]

Well since everyone is showing, here is mine. Not much in them other than some 2x's and some cheap doors.

 

[edl]

pretty sweet site here, i just got a link from 'svtperformance.com', where i'm a member. here's a few shots of the cabinet making workbench i recently built for my woodshop. not exactly a garage bench, but its too cold to take pics of my garage benches right now

Kirk - welcome! - are you the guy that built the wooden car ramps that are over at the SVT site? - table is very nice!