Lets see your workbench

[mdbeck1]

I added some undershelves to the workbenches. This one and another just like it.

The plan, of course, is to eliminate the clutter on top of the workbench, however the way these things always seem to work out is that it's just double the space for clutter which will expand to fill it all.

Get some plastic tubs that fit on the shelf. Tell yourself that they are drawers for organizing. Then do what everyone else does and put all the stuff from the top in them when you need to work on another project.

Hey, at least all the stuff is together...

 

[hanly2]

finally started putting mine together. Still have some more work to do but its getting there.

 

[Lmiller1708]

finally started putting mine together. Still have some more work to do but its getting there.

I like how you went up with the storage! Just wondering what your height is at your work bench and how much head space you have on top?

 

[hanly2]

The "ceiling" is 7'6" i think the work bench is 38 or so I would have to measure if you need to know exactly.

 

[Lmiller1708]

The "ceiling" is 7'6" i think the work bench is 38 or so I would have to measure if you need to know exactly.

Good enough! Do you have a standard 10 foot ceiling?

 

[hanly2]

No its 12

 

[hanly2]

 

[Wooden Hot Rodder Garage]

 

[Radio Ron w4ron]

The pix is SO small I can't tell much about it.


.

 

[raskal]

 

[rancherbill]

I like this pic a lot. I am doing the same thing in my garage.

There are some tools like drill presses that are not used on a daily basis. Having them portable means they can spend most of their time in less valuable areas of the garage. When needed they can be rolled over to the 'prime real estate' work area.

 

[azcanc]

CHAD TEXAS - Nice ROS9 - Fun playful bike~~~~~~

 

[Radio Ron w4ron]

I like this pic a lot. I am doing the same thing in my garage.

There are some tools like drill presses that are not used on a daily basis. Having them portable means they can spend most of their time in less valuable areas of the garage. When needed they can be rolled over to the 'prime real estate' work area.

That was why I came up with the lazy susan on one of my workbenches,
it holds my belt sander, bench grinder and buffer. I wish it had a bit more
room so I could mount my small drill press on it too.
It works pretty good except that it's kinda hard to turn, I wish I had put better rollers under it, these get clogged with sawdust and it can be a bear
to turn. I put holes for a lock pin to hold it in place when I first built it,
but as hard as it is to turn they're really not needed.


.

 

[Geek]

G'day gents!
I just bought a house with a garage and a separate workshop this past summer up at 8000 feet in the mountains of Colorado. I am still working on getting everything functional but here's a photo or two of the work bench island I threw together. Right now I'm just building things out of whatever scrap I already have laying around until I have time to "do things right".

The east side of the bench is an existing cabinet. Rough lumber frame and then a horse stall matt on top as a work surface (I've been using these for years and they work great for me).

I made it so that my motorcycle lift can be retracted into the bench out of the way when I need more floor space or pulled out when I need more bench space (or need to wrench on one of the motorcycles).

Here you can see it partially pulled out when I needed some more bench space while wiring in the lights

I find the stall matts to be a great general worksurface. I buy two at a time. They last for years (if you don't spill chemicals on them they'll last indefinitely ). I use one on the floor and then when I finally screw up my work surface enough I swap the one from the floor to the bench (the floor one never wears).

Overall I put in about 80,000 lumens of light but I really like having the lowered quad light hanging right over the bench (I have it on steel cables) making the bench a "shadow free" environment.

Now that my workbenches are functional it is time to move on to insulation/drywall/etc.


cheers,
Ed.

p.s. when I need a "more precise" worktop, there is a granite counter top on my toolbox that provides a truer surface.

 

[swissguy]

Made from 4" thick solid wooden doors (220 pounds each) and some ikea cabinets.
Didn't have time to mess it up yet.

<a href="http://s1253.photobucket.com/user/1swissguy/media/Garage/IMG_2702_zpsa4e1121e.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh597/1swissguy/Garage/IMG_2702_zpsa4e1121e.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2702_zpsa4e1121e.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1253.photobucket.com/user/1swissguy/media/Garage/IMG_3153_zpsbe4c6c32.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh597/1swissguy/Garage/IMG_3153_zpsbe4c6c32.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_3153_zpsbe4c6c32.jpg"/></a>

 

[John in OH]

G'day gents!

Overall I put in about 80,000 lumens of light but I really like having the lowered quad light hanging right over the bench (I have it on steel cables) making the bench a "shadow free" environment.

cheers,
Ed.

Ed, How about a pic or two of the cable set-up for adjusting your light height?

 

[jesse72]

That is a great idea and execution, I have been thinking of trying something like that for a buffer and a grinder (more of a rectangle) but yours is awesome. Thanks for sharing!

That was why I came up with the lazy susan on one of my workbenches,
it holds my belt sander, bench grinder and buffer. I wish it had a bit more
room so I could mount my small drill press on it too.
It works pretty good except that it's kinda hard to turn, I wish I had put better rollers under it, these get clogged with sawdust and it can be a bear
to turn. I put holes for a lock pin to hold it in place when I first built it,
but as hard as it is to turn they're really not needed.


.

 

[Geek]

Ed, How about a pic or two of the cable set-up for adjusting your light height?

Hi John,

The cable I used I found at HD:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt...-Security-Cable-803182/203958878?N=5yc1vZc288

...and it turns out it was the perfect length hanging from my 12 foot high trusses (literally looped around and through itself).

On the rare occasion I want to raise the light out of the way, I create a loop in the wire and clip it with a clamp at the height I want.

Nothing fancy (yet) as I consider my entire shop setup "temporary" at this point (until I get windows, insulation, drywall, etc installed)

cheers,
Ed

edit: p.s. I wired the lights up with 4 light switches. 3 of them turn on/off the pairs of overheads and then the 4th switch just turns on/off the lowered island's light.

 

[Geek]

Finally got mine finished up or nearly so last night. The top is 4x douglas fir beams, machined into a nice flat work surface. The base is old science lab cabinets bolted together and repainted. Everything was sourced from craigslist.

How do you like the "L" shaped bench?

Your photo got me to thinking. I currently have a wall bench and a seperate island, but perhaps I should do a "t-shape".

If I run benches down the 24 foot wall and have my "island" T-into the wall bench like you have there, it would give me two distinct work areas. Maybe one for an ongoing motorcycle build project and then the other for maintenance projects.

hmmmmmmm...

 

[Geek]

quote:

Are you happy with the height? How deep did you make the "loft" ? It looks like maybe 8 foot but it is difficult to tell with lens distortion.

I was considering doing exactly this. I have 12 foot to the truss (16 to the center) and on 1/3 of my shop I was thinking of putting a storage area at 9 foot (giving 2+ feet above) as I often work with 8 foot long materials.

I was going to run two levels of shelves - allowing things like plywood to lay flat on the lower and then long stock like 2x4s and 80/20 above.

I keep debating on whether I want more space or less space up above.

 

[n2ocamaro]

Here is mine. The two upper cabinets and the large base cabinet are metal kitchen cabinets from the 50's that I refinished. The small cabinet on the left end is a bathroom vanity that we ended up not needing for the house reno so I reinforced it and added a 3/4" plywood top and base with casters on the bottom. I can pull it out and I use it for a miter saw stand when needed. I have added wrench handles to the base cabinet since the photo was taken.

Also has a hitch mount for my vice and grinder.

 

[Rewind97]

I like that hitch mount idea!!!! Very cool!!

 

[PWB666]

Just finished the bench, mural and a tool rail against the wall coming this weekend. Got the skin from a security door for free which will go over the bench.

 

[hanly2]

I havent been doing much out there besides putting the shop together, but I like the heiht I have under the loft. 71/2 feet is plenty for me. The loft is 8x12 built with 2x8s.

 

[jesse72]

Great work and nice bench! If you don't mind, how did you attach/mount the receiver under the work bench? I am interested in doing pretty much the same exact thing on my wood bench. Thanks!

Also: do you get any wobble/play in the vise or grinder since there is usually a little play in a receiver hitch? Thanks again

Here is mine. The two upper cabinets and the large base cabinet are metal kitchen cabinets from the 50's that I refinished. The small cabinet on the left end is a bathroom vanity that we ended up not needing for the house reno so I reinforced it and added a 3/4" plywood top and base with casters on the bottom. I can pull it out and I use it for a miter saw stand when needed. I have added wrench handles to the base cabinet since the photo was taken.

Also has a hitch mount for my vice and grinder.

 

[MyHybridBurnsGasandTires]

Great work and nice bench! If you don't mind, how did you attach/mount the receiver under the work bench? I am interested in doing pretty much the same exact thing on my wood bench. Thanks!

Also: do you get any wobble/play in the vise or grinder since there is usually a little play in a receiver hitch? Thanks again

see this for question #2:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=188794

 

[panhandle461]

Tagged


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[jesse72]

Thanks!!

see this for question #2:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=188794

 

[n2ocamaro]

Great work and nice bench! If you don't mind, how did you attach/mount the receiver under the work bench? I am interested in doing pretty much the same exact thing on my wood bench. Thanks!

Also: do you get any wobble/play in the vise or grinder since there is usually a little play in a receiver hitch? Thanks again

The receiver tube is sandwiched between two 2x4s with 2 3/8" bolts going through the 2x4s and receiver tube. I used a Bosch oscillating tool to cut a square opening in the face 2x4 in the front of the bench. There is a little wobble but I plan to weld a nut on the tube for a bolt to tighten it down like referenced in the post above. I have the same set up on my welding table, only the receiver tube is welded on.

 

[jesse72]

Awesome thanks! I looks great

 

[Fastfish]

Just installed and mounted vise.

 

[theyardy11]

Man so many inspirations, I have a workbench but you guys wont be able to see it, it's located in the back right corner. I'm in the process of cleaning up my garage and installing cabinets so I can get all that **** off of my project. Hopefully after thanksgiving I can post a finished picture.

 

[90zcar]

What is that dash for?^^^^^


Sent from my iPhone 5s using Tapatalk

 

[TwoBytes]

VERY COOL!

Four generations involved in the making of this workbench. What a great family heirloom. You'll have have the honor of passing it along to your "helper" and his family in the future.

Thanks rrud, I hadn't actually thought of it like that before, but I like it a lot, a "four generations workbench", that's fantastic!

 

[TwoBytes]

Great bench, and great pics of your helper. Super cute.

Thanks OJ!

 

[NakeDiesel]

Here is my new main workbench that I put together over the last few weeks. It's a 20' bench made out of square tubing, angle iron and a plywood top with 3 44" harbor freight tool boxes built into it and a section for drills/power tools and a section for air tools with 2 shelves on the end.

Design plan

End clamp storage

Top stained and sealed black with 2 valved coiled air lines

Opposite end view where the shelves are. Still need to cut out the shelves out of some scrap diamond plate I had left over from my race truck

Air tool storage on sliders for easy access and 50' hose reel

Corded and battery tool storage with a slide out drawer on the bottom

View with the tool boxes

Labeling tool storage

This is my other workbench in the shop, it's 5' x 3' made out of square tubing with a 3/8" plate top. It now has a drill press mounted on one corner, and a 4" vice on the opposite corner. It's on wheels for easy maneuvering in the shop

 

[theyardy11]

90ZCar the dash is for a 1993 240SX. The original was cracked so instead of just renewing it I am making a modern looking one with parts from different nissan vehicles. I have vids on youtube (240sx dash prep).

 

[jmarkwolf]

Posted these pics in another thread also, but now I'm fishing for ideas for a top surface.

Am building this new bench for my new shop, using 4x4, 2x6, and 2 layers of 3/4in oak ply, measureing 8ft long, 32in wide, 33in tall.

To keep the edges from getting destroyed over time, I'm thinking maybe aluminum angle or oak trim around the perimeter, then a top surface of 1/8in masonite or something.

Any ideas gratefully received.

 

[Crown Imperial]

 

[Colin HD]

Love to do one of those fancy Panoramic type photos.