Another HF 44" bench build

[Zelatore]

My turn to join the HF 44" club.

The original plan was to pick up two of these along with the 18" side cabinet and mount them under a bench, doing away with my old Craftsman stuff at the same time. Cash being what it is these days, I only got one and a side cab and kept my old 41" Craftsman.

I've never had a proper bench in this garage. 10 years, and all I've had is this:

This is a picture from a few years ago as the garage is now rather crammed with a boat that makes getting a nice wide shot impossible. It also doesn't show a smaller black Craftsman grip-latch top cabinet that sits on top of the 41" Craftsman.

The problems with this set-up are obvious. First, the lack of any real work space. To the right of the cabinets is a sink, so I've got maybe 12-14" of surface to put 'stuff'. To the left is where I've mounted my vise and grinder along with small parts storage on the wall. Between them there's about 2 1/2' of counter. Additionally, the smaller roll-away doesn't quite fit in the opening (plumbed for a washer-dry, though I don't know why since there's a closet for them upstairs) so it has to go in sideways. That means it's inconvenient as heck to get into, and if I have to put something away in it I usually just toss it on top and think 'I'll get it later'. That of course leads to tons of junk piling up in an already crowded area. The whole thing made me generally not want to spend time in the garage.

 

[Zelatore]

The plan was to tear out the cabinet to the left of the rollers and build a new bench that would span this area at the same height as the existing sink counter. Originally I had planned to build the work surface out of doubled up 3/4" MDF with a hardboard top, but I happened across a nice piece of steel that had been used for a benchtop at an old marina we're selling. I also decided since I wouldn't have much under-bench support I'd go ahead and make the top out of 2x4s glued & screwed (3" screws every 12") into a poor-mans glue-lam. This gives me just over 112" of work surface.

 

[Zelatore]

You can see in the above pics that the starter board is a 2x8 so I get a backsplash of sorts, and that it's lagged to the studs with 3/8" lags. This is not glued as I wanted to be able to remove the bench top should the need arise.

For the ends I through bolted and glued a couple 2x4s and backed them up with scraps of ply I had around for additional reinforcement since the cabinet walls aren't particularly thick ply. On the right side I had to space the 2x4 out a bit to give more room to land the bench due to the existing sink counter.

 

[Zelatore]

You might have noticed a notch cut into the 2x4 about to be installed for the bench top a couple pics earlier. That's because by keeping the Craftsman 41" cabinet I created some extra work for myself. It's a little too tall to fit under the bench if I want to stay flush with the existing sink cabinet. Not to worry, it fits. Just.

And speaking of that cabinet, I figured this was the time to fix some rust that had developed along the bottom of it. I picked up a can of Rustoleum's Regal Red based on a recommendation on the forum planning to just hit the bottom where the rust was. Of course, it wasn't quite that good a match...decent, but it wasn't close enough to blend. So I ended up masking and spraying the whole front of the cabinet. Still need to find a grey/black to match the drawers, but I can pull them out and paint them whenever.

Had I known I was going to paint the whole front, I could have made it match the new HF cabinet, but oh well. I suppose this will be better should I sell the C-man cabinet down the road anyway.

 

[Zelatore]

On to the new HF cabinet.

Everybody here has heard plenty about these things by now, but I might as well go ahead and throw in my 2 cents. For the money, I certainly haven't found anything to match it. That said, don't buy it expecting something that rivals a truck brand. It's sturdier than my old US-made C-man, and much sturdier than any of the current C-man line-up.

Inside, you can see the welds aren't really top-notch but seem to be solid. You can also see areas that didn't get painted.

 

[Zelatore]

Here are a few shots showing the castors and their mountings. Most guys don't get a chance to look at the bottom of these things very well, and since I had it on it's back to pull of the castors anyway I figured I might as well take a pic or two. Some people have complained about the castors, but I didn't have any issues with them. Of course, I don't roll my cabinets around, so what do I know. They do have zerks and are generally heavier built than the Craftsman castors.

The CM castor for comparison (top). No grease zerks. Never a problem over the last 15 (?) years or so that I've had this cabinet, but like I said I rarely roll it anyway. And really, how often would I get down there with a grease gun anyway?

 

[Zelatore]

The one thing I found to complain about on the HF cabinet was the handle. It was flimsy. Even with the cabinet empty, just rolling it across the yard and up a small ramp into my garage man-door I flexed it pretty good. I can only imagine how it would hold up after a few years if you were rolling this thing around loaded regularly. It's made up of a couple pot-metal ends sandwiching a light-gauge pipe and secured with one bolt on each end. The Craftsman cabinet was clearly better in this department with a welded steel piece and 2 bolts on each end.

 

[Zelatore]

I mentioned that I had picked up an old steel bench top from work. I hit it with a wire wheel on the back side to knock off the chunks and sandblasted the top. It's nothing special, maybe 12 ga. stuff, but it was the right price...free. I hadn't fully decided where to put the new Reed vise I also got from the same property then I noticed this notch cut in the side...

Now, the bench top wasn't even in the same same building as the vise. But clearly they had lived together at some point in the past as it fit right in there. It was somewhat satisfying to reunite them after who knows how many years. I know we've owned that place for about 10 and they've never even been in the same building during that time.

BTW, yes the vise was another freebie. Of course, it didn't look quite like that when I got it.

 

[Zelatore]

And so it's mostly done. I still have to paint (black) and I haven't even begun to organize the tools into the new cabinet. And I need to seal around the edges of the steel top with silicon just to keep moisture/crud out from under it. And I need to clean up the electrical mess. Oh, and I picked up some under counter lights that will go in to provide some decent task lighting. I may only be in my 40's, but my eyes are anything but good!

So, to steal a line- Old and busted:

And the new hotness:

 

[Zelatore]

The next big challenge will be sorting and organizing all the tons of nuts and bolts from the old random storage bins seen above into these. They'll also get a fresh coat of black paint before going to their new home.

BTW, if anybody in NorCal could use some of these cabinets give me a shout. We've got a ton of them and I can get you some for a song.

I've also got to figure out what I'm going to do with my grinder. It had been bolted to my bench on the far left side, but I hate to give up the space to it. I'd prefer to make it free-standing, but for now I'm short on garage space until the (far to) long term boat project clears out.

 

[mad-ass]

This looks great! awesome work. I just picked up the HF 44" here as well during their weekend sales.

 

[dragracer98]

Zelatore,

Congrats on a job well done!! Looks like it was a nice setup before and you have improved on that. Thanks for the review on the HF cabinet. I might have missed it but what is going on with the space between the cabinets. Looks like some sort of small shelving or something. Again, nice job and well thought out.

Randy

 

[Zelatore]

Yes, just some small shelves. I had originally planned to use two of the wider HF cabinets and put a 4x4 post here, but with the extra few inches gained by staying with the CM cabinet I figured I might as well throw a couple of shelves in there. I plan to put my left over steel and aluminum stock there. It's not wide enough for much else, but might as well use the space if I can.

 

[Steevo]

Nice bench project.
It looks like you made good use of the space.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I like the set up and it appears to have more storage area now.

Grinder ? I mounted mine on the wall. . . hang on a minute.

May be this will give you some ideas.

 

[Zelatore]

Thanks for the comments guys. And Steevo, it was your build that finally pushed me over the edge from 'thinking about it' to actually doing it. of course this is nothing compared to that project! Maybe when we move again, hopefully within a year or two I can try something more like what you did.

 

[dipper]

nice install and setup. I am saving some money now to pick up one of these
44" beasts to replace a craftstman roll around base i have now. I don't roll my cabinets
around alot, basicall once or twice a year for cleaning underneath; so i think the HF cabinet will suit me well for the $$$ spent.

 

[akdiesel]

Great work. I like your red cabinets. Not sure if I missed it, but how deep is the bench?

 

[keithh2oskier]

I've also got to figure out what I'm going to do with my grinder. It had been bolted to my bench on the far left side, but I hate to give up the space to it. I'd prefer to make it free-standing, but for now I'm short on garage space until the (far to) long term boat project clears out.

Check out this.

And this.

This is how I currently have my vise mounted but you could probably mount a grinder the same way. I leave my vise in their all the time and because of the way my workbench is situated I need my vise to stick out a bit so its usable. See below. The vise has been upgraded

 

[Nostraquedeo]

Can you do something with all of those wire dangling above the workbench. Other than that, looks a ton better!!!

 

[Zelatore]

Great work. I like your red cabinets. Not sure if I missed it, but how deep is the bench?

The steel top is 23 3/4" deep. That actually works out really well; it butts up against the 2x8 backsplash to come out almost exactly the same depth as the existing sink cabinet.

Since I don't have a planer or table saw, I built the bench top out of standard 2x lumber, which ended up with the steel overhanging the edge by just a bit. I went ahead and added a 1x4 as a facing board which now protrudes about 1/2" past the steel top. I didn't glue this piece on, only screws, so I can remove it easily if I beat it up or just decide I want the steel to be the working edge.

 

[Zelatore]

Can you do something with all of those wire dangling above the workbench. Other than that, looks a ton better!!!

Yes, the wiring is on the to-do list. It's pretty piss-poor right now to be sure.


Also, I should give a thanks to OutlawMWS for the 2x4 bench top suggestion instead of the mdf. He mentioned that he'd done both in the past and had better luck with this technique and it made sense so I went this route.

 

[MegaManny009]

great work i would like to know how to build a vise using trailer hitches