Harbor Freight 60" Wood WorkBench - Yay or Nay??

[Missing Links]

I've been looking to upgrade the workbench to something a bit more conducive to my work, but I need to stay within a fairly tight budget. I came across the Harbor Freight workbench and was curious as to how good it really was for the price? It seems to be nearly exactly what I had in mind for a workbench - size, material, construction, features, etc. I realize a lot of what they sell is budget goods, so I'm not expecting a ton, but it seems very well built for the price. The reviews on the HF site are actually quite good for the Bench, but I wanted to get some more opinions that may not be so bias.

Any experience with this particular HF work bench? It seems as if several other retailers carry it as well, many for a much higher price.

http://www.harborfreight.com/60-inch-workbench-93454.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/workbench-with-4-drawers-60-hardwood-69054.html

Thanks!

PS, My apologies if this has been covered in other threads. I tried to find any other previous threads that discussed this, but I came up pretty short. Perhaps Im not using the right key words?

 

[YNOT2K]

i was at HF yesterday and looked at this bench. it looks very well made and the price is certainly right - go for it!

 

[PKAero]

i was at HF yesterday and looked at this bench. it looks very well made and the price is certainly right - go for it!

Purchased one about 2 wks ago for $139. One of the best $139 I have spent. Very stout, but not "post and beam" grade. Made from your typical Asia hardwood.

 

[alpine5575]

I am thinking about getting one when I get my garage finished this summer. They look pretty nice.

 

[BRIANBB]

Just build one out of locally(U.S.) harvested hardwood. Add on a Vise(U.S. made) and you are good to go. Probably will cost about the same and you can tell people you made it yourself.

 

[ringneck]

I have one. For the money spent I suppose it isn't bad. However, I probably wouldn't do it again. I should have built my own, but was trying to save time due to an overload of projects.

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

I have one. For the money spent I suppose it isn't bad. However, I probably wouldn't do it again. I should have built my own, but was trying to save time due to an overload of projects.

I agree to this sentiment exactly. I just didn't have the time or cash to build my own. I did beef up the one I bought from horrible freight however by adding a layer of wood to the underside of the bench and by adding a tray to the back of the bench.

For what you are buying it really isn't a bad bench but for a truest type wood worker it is definitely **** and I am somewhat embarrassed to own it!

Here is a not so great picture that shows the back of the bench where the tray I added is located and also some shelves I added to the back side to hold some power tools...

 

[Voi]

A friend of mine got one from a HF parking lot sale for a ridiculously cheap price. He said for the price he's happy to have it but probably wouldn't do it again. He does both leather work and light wood working on it and he says it just moves around too much so he pretty much uses it to layout his tools now and does the work elsewhere.

He did say it's nice looking and that he may re-purpose it for his living room.

 

[bigdav160]

A handtool woodworker would not look twice at that bench. It is not substantial enough. The drawer glides **** terribly.

However, I purchased two, a while back, @ $99 each. Bolted together, side by side, they make a handy, decent looking, assembly table.

 

[rquackenbush]

A friend of mine uses one as an entertainment center as has been happy with it in that capacity. Actual woodworking use? I wouldn't. If you're going to spend the money, just go ahead and build one that will stand up to so more usage.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Everything looks to be screwed together on flat surfaces. Not being "post/beam" or mortise/tenon or having any rabbets or dados I would think it compromise some structural strength.

Granted, it's a nice looking piece but"m one for wanting to build it better myself, I like to "overbuild" stuff.

 

[BlackdogGS]

I just bought one to use as a reloading bench in my basement. It will be fine for what I bought it for. One complaint is the drawers don't pull out far enough. For the heavy work I have a 600 pound steel bench in my garage.

 

[19Vert64]

Bought one a few years ago and use it for cleaning guns after a range visit, works well


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Kaizen]

op depending on what kind of tools you have (planer/jointer) take a look at using 2x material. here's an example. while not a hardwood it would get you by until you could replace it with a hardwood one.
around here buying hardwood to make one would easily cost 3x what the hf one is. there are some videos also on bracing the hf one to make it more post and beam.

 

[My Old Tools]

A usual it depends on what you are going to use it for. As a table to set stuff on its probably fine. The end vise is just barely ok. Mine had a front vise that was terrible. If you try to do something like clamp down a board to hand plane it, it will rack badly and it isn't heavy enough to stay in place. I replace mine with a 1000# Ulmia. It sold quickly on CL for $100 however.

 

[PSYKO_Inc]

I bought one a couple weeks ago off CL for $45. Seems nice enough for the price. Previous owner used it for a reloading bench. It went straight into the storage unit for now since I'm moving next month, but once I get settled in I'll be mounting a vise to it and putting it to work.

 

[lieutenant]

I use one very lightly, mainly as a place to sit in the garage. My real work station is a Gladiator.

 

[Bigbandguy]

I have one that I picked up in a tent sale when I built my small workshop. I have a table top band saw on one end and use the other for small assembly etc. Its fine for what it is and looks nice. The size doesn't overwhelm my 12 x 16 workshop.

A friend of mine bought two of them which he set up back to back as an outfeed table for his table saw. It turned out to be a nice setup.

 

[John in OH]

I've occasionally toyed with the idea of getting one of these HF benches for woodworking. They look to be a reasonably good place to "start", but would probably need to be substantially reinforced for stability and to keep them from racking when doing jobs like hand planing etc. Perhaps a sheet of 3/4" plywood attached to the back side would give more stability. Also, a tray as Tim the Tool Man above (post #7) added would be necessary.

The vise looks like a joke and it would probably be necessary to get a much better pair of wood vises (one to replace the original end vise and a second for a side mount).

But, as I said, the bench would be a nice place to start and you could improve with upgrades from there. With the 20% coupon the bench is probably a decent purchase.

I agree that the search function of this site definitely *****.

 

[zendriver]

I purchased one for EXW to do her jewelry work on, w small drill press,which it does a great job.

Solid and the drawers work fine.

If someone was doing ******** woodworking, they would want a larger workbench, IMO.

Fine for the money.

 

[cheechi]

I look at it every time I'm in the store or every time I see the coupons in the ad paper. I want one as I like the style, but I don't want one as I'd either rather put the money into Sjobergs, or build my own, or generally get something more than what it is.

What it is is a decent looking table that would look and work really well with a few home & office design styles. It's one of those classic HF 'I should have bought x instead' items. But even knowing that I will continue to kind of want it and look for excuses to get one.