Bench and sheetmetal

[katit]

I'm thinking about making workbench all metal and covering it with sheetmetal. It will be 15 feet long and 2(?) feet deep.

What gauge stainless I should look for? How much $$ something like that will cost me?

It's for sparingly used garage with normal car maintenance. I want bench with vise where I can take things apart, etc..

 

[OccupantRJ]

Just price a sheet of 5 foot by 8 foot Stainless, and you will have a starting point to see if you get sticker shock.

 

[katit]

What gauge metal is common for such a task?

 

[OccupantRJ]

I think 18 gage (.040) should work fine, might could go thinner, depending on whether you will be dropping heavy things on it.

 

[Professur]

unknowable without knowing how you plan on bracing it. You could go with a plywood top, sheathed in thin 22ga sheet metal. If you just want a top that's self supporting with only a perimeter frame, you're going to need to step up to plate. How are you going to fasten it to the frame?

 

[katit]

Well. I'm not going to do heavy banging on it. Just regular work, maybe take axle or pump apart. This kind of stuff. No hammering I think

The way I vision it is having angle iron legs(6 of them 2 supporting middle) and frame on top. Then I will have double-mdf that I want to wrap into sheetmetal.

I want stainless for obvious reasons and I think it looks better then galvanized. I don't want it to get tiniest nicks from stuff dropped but I don't want to pay fo something I don't need either.

So, 20ga sounds right?

 

[shotgunfatcat]

http://www.metalsdepot.com/Cart3/viewCart1.phtml?LimAcc=$LimAcc&aident=

 

[Scout Driver]

I had this top made for $105. It's 10 gauge (1/8").
It's not stainless, but a little scotchbright and WD 40 will keep it looking fresh.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=68658

Scott

 

[Jack Olsen]

Craftsman sells ready-made stainless tops.

 

[katit]

http://www.metalsdepot.com/Cart3/viewCart1.phtml?LimAcc=$LimAcc&aident=

Shipping cost more than materials

 

[katit]

Craftsman sells ready-made stainless tops.

That looks good. Saves me work as well.

 

[Falcon67]

Go find a local commercial AC company. They either form in house sheet metal or have a shop that does. Get with whoever does the forming and they can whip you up something out of galvanized for usually a reasonable price. I did a 26" x 60" bench top with a 4 side fold over lip for $25. In this economy, most shops would welcome a simple job for a few bucks. I build transmissions on it and it's a little banged up from the MDF top under it being a little soft. If you insist on stainless, be prepared to pay big $$$. I went with galvan metal because I knew if I tore it up it would be economical to replace. And I planned to use it, not prep food on it LOL.

 

[Ed T]

We used stainless bench tops in the lab where I used to work. They were 16 ga. and made a a local sheetmetal shop and they were nice, but pricey. Stainless is a brighter surface to work on than galvanized or plain steel, but not relly "stronger". That is it will get dented and scratched as easily as other metal tops gauge-for-gauge. I think I would go for something a bit stiffer and arder than MDF underneath regardless of what you put on top. Two layers of 3/4" plywood or something like that. 24" wide will work, but I like 30" better. Personal taste thing I guess. Plan for the metal top to be removeable so you can replace it if needed. A simple flat piece of metal with an aluminum angle frame all around the edge holding the top down works OK and you dont have to bend anything. Easy to take apart. Might be a bit of a stretch, but IKEA sells some stainless faced MDF panels for kitchen stuff. The stainless is thin, but, as I recall, the price was right.

 

[katit]

Price seems to be right!
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40115532

 

[katit]

Craftsman sells ready-made stainless tops.

Just came home - measured everything again and it looks like 2 of those will be PERFECT. Except that there will be no backsplash. It will work perfect, one will have cutoff for the sink which will allow me to get stainless square sink for garage.

2 feet deep is about what I want, I have slightly wider 2 car garage and this side can have 2 feet but not more. And I plan to park my toolboxes under it which makes more then 2 feet waste of space.

Problem is - there is none that I can see at store. Did anybody see those in person? Do they look like OK quality?

 

[Dragster Racer]

My wife has one of those Ikea tops, and ya know, they are pretty darn nice! Wouldn't survive well in my shop, unless I was a little careful. But pretty sturdy none the less.

 

[katit]

Well, I figured those IKEA ones not much cheaper and what worse - they not really fit nice into my space. 16ft is ideal and I can't make it up from IKEA ones. But I can do 2x 2x8 from craftsman. And I can do coupon on sears site to get it even lower in price.

Now I just need to figure table base. Don't want wood. Will have to figure out how to make it from angle iron.

 

[pst496]

katit, did you ever go this route? I am interested in how the ikea tops are holding up in shop like conditions.