Building a Mobile Bench

[Rbcsci]

Someone recently outed me for leaving my drill press and arbor press on the floor in the corner of the garage. The truth was that I don't have any flat surface to put them on. Today, I decided to remedy that by building a steel bench that I could roll around the shop or out into the driveway. I've got this heavy gauge steel top that is rated for like 1000 lbs. Its been leaning against the wall for years.



Combine that with 30 feet of 3" x 1/4" angle iron thats been rusting behind my garage fpr a decade and I think I can make a beefy bench for fabrication work.

 

[Rbcsci]

The angle iron in question has been rusting for a very long time. I think it was scrap when I bought it years ago. I decided that I’d clean it up before I start welding things together. My trusty 6” wire wheel should do the trick.

 

[Rbcsci]

Now the wire wheel is rated at 9,000 RPMs and the angle grinder spins up to 11,000 RPMs. It’s usually not a problem as long as you keep the wheel under load and the RPMs down. Get careless and let it spool up to top speed, however, and you get an immediate painful reminder that you are exceeding the rated speed. These ones didn’t hurt nearly as much as the ones that went through my jeans and into my legs.

 

[Rbcsci]

After an hour of wire brushing, my hands were getting pretty numb and I might have been daydreaming a bit. The trigger was locked and I was holding the angle grinder by the narrow portion near the power cord. As you may have predicted, I caught an edge of the angle iron and the grinder jumped. In the blink of an eye, it was trying to eat my sweatshirt. I let go of it completely, but since the trigger was locked, it kept going like the Tasmanian Devil in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Once it screwed itself to me tightly and stopped flailing around, it was still humming and trying kill me, but I managed to get to the trigger button and cut the power. At that point, we were inextricably knotted together.

 

[Rbcsci]

It took me quite a while to get untangled, but I came out relatively unscathed with a little road rash and a thoroughly stretched sweatshirt.

 

[Rbcsci]

Back to work. I removed all the loose stuff and prepped the pieces for welding,

 

[Rbcsci]

Back into the garage for some welding.

 

[Beau Nugget]

Good project. As a fellow Jeep lover, I’m sorry for the loss of your sweatshirt. Glad you weren’t hurt.

 

[ItsNemo]

LoL someone needs to have their grinder license taken away

 

[Rbcsci]

LoL someone needs to have their grinder license taken away

LMAO! Clearly!

 

[gearhead1]

Now the wire wheel is rated at 9,000 RPMs and the angle grinder spins up to 11,000 RPMs. It’s usually not a problem as long as you keep the wheel under load and the RPMs down. Get careless and let it spool up to top speed, however, and you get an immediate painful reminder that you are exceeding the rated speed. These ones didn’t hurt nearly as much as the ones that went through my jeans and into my legs.

Imagine one of those wires in your chin. Years ago, I had been doing some similar rust removal and a piece hit my chin. I went about my business. 10 days later, my chin was really hurting. Turns out a piece of wire from the brush penetrated my chin so deep you couldn’t see it. Pulled it out with some tweezers and was 5/8” long!

Posting for future reference in hopes that one of the younger guys takes heed and knows to ALWAYS wear eye protection when using wire wheels.

 

[gearhead1]

Very cool project. Not cool to non-garage guys, but I always enjoy doing this type of stuff.

 

[stinkity stoink]

Good entertainment. Unfortunately I can definitely relate to everything that happened to you already. Lol

 

[tarmy]

I got rid of all my wire wheels once I discovered flap discs. I have had similar experiences OP…live and learn. Keep plugging away at that table…

 

[Rbcsci]

I ordered one of these last night…

 

[Rbcsci]

Things are moving along today…

 

[Rbcsci]

I’m still working on shelves and such before I get to paint. It’s going to be HEAVY!

 

[Rbcsci]

I got rid of all my wire wheels once I discovered flap discs. I have had similar experiences OP…live and learn. Keep plugging away at that table…

Yeah…I use flap discs quite a bit and I prefer them over grinding wheels or wire brushes for most things. I just thought I could get it done faster with the 6” wire wheel. I think it might be time to stop wearing a loose sweatshirt when using power tools.

 

[Rbcsci]

Good entertainment. Unfortunately I can definitely relate to everything that happened to you already. Lol

I like to make it entertaining for folks.

 

[Rbcsci]

Imagine one of those wires in your chin. Years ago, I had been doing some similar rust removal and a piece hit my chin. I went about my business. 10 days later, my chin was really hurting. Turns out a piece of wire from the brush penetrated my chin so deep you couldn’t see it. Pulled it out with some tweezers and was 5/8” long!

Posting for future reference in hopes that one of the younger guys takes heed and knows to ALWAYS wear eye protection when using wire wheels.

As a young guy, I was not nearly as careful as I should’ve been and learned some painful lessons. These days, eye protection and hearing protection are ALWAYS a must. However, I’m going to upgrade to a full face shield before a cut-off wheel frags and lodges itself in my face. It might be time for a leather apron of some sort too.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Glad you didn't get hurt. I wear a shop apron a lot in the garage. Not only does it keep you clean/provide some protection, it's handy to keep a Sharpie and pen light on your person. This is the one I use:

Park Tool Apron

When using those damn wire cups/wheels you really want a face shield. I also wear my welding sleeves. My favorite face shield:

Uvex Bionic Shield



The struggle is real working in a garage. I have my belt grinder and vise on a mobile 2x3' welding table. I roll it out to the driveway to keep the grinding dust out of the garage. I used it today to prep some tubing/threaded bungs for a custom drag link and then pushed it back inside to weld it all up. Super handy, you'll be glad you did it.

 

[GeoBruin]

I've been digging this thing. It really does accomodate cans and a respirator. For serious rust removal, I wear both along with the shield and my welding sleeves.

Grinder HoodDefault Title

Protect your face while grinding with our durable mask for safety and comfort. Shop now to stay safe on the job with trusted quality gear!

benchmarkabrasives.com

 

[Rbcsci]

So I have this 150lb steel plate that I use as a flat surface for clamping and welding. I'm thinking about incorporating it into this bench as a hinged leaf or something. Unfortunately, it had a really ugly edge where someone had cut it with a torch 50 years ago. Yesterday, I finally got around to squaring it up on the Bridgeport. 24"x30" and 150lbs made this a challenging solo endeavor...



I only have a 32" table and not enough travel, so I had to reposition a couple times and hold my reference line...


Holding it up while clamping and then tapping to get it zero'd...


In the end, I got it square within .050" and called it a win.


Now what to do with it...

 

[tarmy]

Everybody needs a layup table…on wheels.

 

[Slednut]

In the middle of building this 4x4' welding table with retractable casters.

 

[Rbcsci]

In the middle of building this 4x4' welding table with retractable casters.

I was thinking about retractable feet, but nothing nearly as elegant as what you’re doing.

 

[Rbcsci]

Everybody needs a layup table…on wheels.

Now I’m wishing that I had a much larger plate.

 

[Rbcsci]

So I’m trying to lay out an ideal bench for metal work and welding. I’m thinking about mounting two vises at 90 degrees from one another so that I can clamp pieces for welding. Currently, I clamp pieces to a heavy steel plate when I’m going to weld them together. I’m not sure if the 2 vise set up will actually be practical or useful as the pieces will be able to move in the X and Y axes when I’m trying to set something up.

 

[tarmy]

Try these…more versatile…I am talking about receiver hitches…

I put one or more on every table…

 

[andyvh1959]

Hmm,..some great ideas. I have an old fab cart that was actually a body compartment off an old fire truck. I dumpster dove it out when I worked at Pierce Fire Apparatus. Someone then had mounted wheels on it, and its a good height for working on engines. I'm moving it into my new shop soon and I have new caster wheels for it. But I also plan to practice my welding on it to do some other updates:
1. Like the receiver hitch idea, I can mount one of my vises on the receiver tube to locate it as needed, add a threaded side hole to take up the slack in the receiver to the vise tube.
2. Might do two receiver tubes.
3. Plan to install modified credenza style file drawers for slide out access "trays" for heavy power tools and such, clamps, etc
4. May add a top plate with holes sized to fit those wedge/clamp downs common to BD Workmates.
5. Outlets mounted to the cart, so one power cord plugged into the shop wall will power a couple outlets on the cart.
6. Bolts sticking out through the side walls to hold hand tools/wrenches etc at the ready for work on top of the cart.

 

[Rbcsci]

Try these…more versatile…I am talking about receiver hitches…

I put one or more on every table…

You just BLEW my mind! What kind of things do you have mounted on 2” hitch posts? I’m loving this idea!

 

[Rbcsci]

Hmm,..some great ideas. I have an old fab cart that was actually a body compartment off an old fire truck. I dumpster dove it out when I worked at Pierce Fire Apparatus. Someone then had mounted wheels on it, and its a good height for working on engines. I'm moving it into my new shop soon and I have new caster wheels for it. But I also plan to practice my welding on it to do some other updates:
1. Like the receiver hitch idea, I can mount one of my vises on the receiver tube to locate it as needed, add a threaded side hole to take up the slack in the receiver to the vise tube.
2. Might do two receiver tubes.
3. Plan to install modified credenza style file drawers for slide out access "trays" for heavy power tools and such, clamps, etc
4. May add a top plate with holes sized to fit those wedge/clamp downs common to BD Workmates.
5. Outlets mounted to the cart, so one power cord plugged into the shop wall will power a couple outlets on the cart.
6. Bolts sticking out through the side walls to hold hand tools/wrenches etc at the ready for work on top of the cart.

VERY HELPFUL!! You’ve inspired me in a few ways. I’d really like a slide out shelf that can support and store my rotary table when it’s not on the Bridgeport. That thing is a beast to carry around the shop.

 

[tarmy]

You just BLEW my mind! What kind of things do you have mounted on 2” hitch posts? I’m loving this idea!

several types/sizes of vices, extension tubes for long piece work, grinder, gun vice I sold…

 

[Rbcsci]

several types/sizes of vices, extension tubes for long piece work, grinder, gun vice I sold…

So I have about 10 things hanging around the shop that should be mounted on a bench, but I simply don’t have enough bench space and I don’t use them on a weekly basis…vises, pipe vise, grinders, etc. I’m thinking I could mount multiple 2” receivers along the faces of my cart and then store the implements inside the base of the cart when not in use. This is a game changer for me!! Thanks so much!

 

[ItsNemo]

You just BLEW my mind! What kind of things do you have mounted on 2” hitch posts? I’m loving this idea!

Here's what I did on my folding metal bench...vise and bench grinder slip in. I didn't use receiver tubing, just 1.5x0.100 and 1.25x0.100 hot rolled square tube with a welded on bolt to cinch things down. Just make sure you put the weld seam up so it's easier to slide things in. Receiver tube is smoother and better fit but this is cheaper




Oh...and folded, just for more inspiration:

 

[Rbcsci]

Here's what I did on my folding metal bench...vise and bench grinder slip in. I didn't use receiver tubing, just 1.5x0.100 and 1.25x0.100 hot rolled square tube with a welded on bolt to cinch things down. Just make sure you put the weld seam up so it's easier to slide things in. Receiver tube is smoother and better fit but this is cheaper




Oh...and folded, just for more inspiration:

Nice work! I’ve always liked the idea of fold up benches so I could retain some floor space for projects. The smaller tube makes sense too as I won’t be towing 5000lbs with my bench.

 

[andyvh1959]

I bet if you go to a local metals supply company you can get cut off lengths of square tube about a foot long for really good prices.

My fab cart is really deep, so access to the back of the shelves is a hassle. Those credenza style file cabinet drawers could be cut down height wise to more like a tray with a lip around it, then mounted into the fab cart so I can fully extend the tray to access whatever is stored. Many old file cabinets can be bought cheap.

 

[Rbcsci]

I searched around for 2.5” square tubing and the best I could find was about $20/foot for raw steel shipped to my door. We don’t really have many metal supply companies in my area. The 2 that I generally deal with keep very little inventory and only want to sell 24’ lengths. I was just about to pull the trigger on an eBay source when my Google search offered up Harbor Freight. Now I generally don’t frequent that purveyor of “Quality Tools”, but they’re close by, the material was in stock, and I’m not planning to tow more than a vise or bench grinder. I figured that I’d give it a shot. $18 for an 18” length that I’ll chop in half to make 2 mounts. I’m thinking I’ll put 2 mounts on the front of the bench and 1 on each end. We’ll see how it goes.

 

[Monza Harry]

Princess Auto carries a 24" version here in Canada they must source them from an outfit also supplying the American purveyors of “Quality Tools” maybe try Northern Tools (or others ?) for a longer one if needed. Harry
Sorry I can't find an online link for you right now

 

[BetterDays]

LoL someone needs to have their grinder license taken away

Or have a YouTube or TikTok channel and make millions....