Lets see your workbench

[Sunnfjordingen]

This is my third one.
The first one was about 12 feet, the second about 9, but I always ended up with a big pile of junk on both sides and just a 2-3 feet of space around the vise to work on..., so now it's just about 5 and I use the extra space around the car. Still need to organize my tools....

 

[sofob0909]

Re: Simple workbench for assemby and light repair

I don't do metal work or heavy fabrication, and so my shop and workbench are set up for assembly, servicing, and light repair. The workbench to the left is an off-the-shelf unit and has an aluminum top.

This pales in comparison to the really serious benches shown in this thread. I do have a sturdy, wood workbench that I built about 20 years ago. It is in a shed in the yard, and that that is where I do heavy filing, cutting, pounding. I will take a photo of it to show you.

Best,

Andy

Where did you get that lift? I am looking for a "shorty" 2 post lift for my new garage

 

[Burgerkong]

Re: Simple workbench for assemby and light repair

Where did you get that lift? I am looking for a "shorty" 2 post lift for my new garage

He's using a MaxJax.

 

[mdkingsley]

Holy moly Andy do you do surgery in that garage?

 

[goodboy]

here's mine...still a work in progress...

 

[Rockuf8]

Very very nice goodboy.

 

[Rigpig]

Goodboy, nice clean looking bench! nice work.

 

[patent pending]

I like simple yet solid benches like this. Hardest part for me is finding solid, straight lumber to build them.

I just made a bench out of 2x4's I got from tearing down a neighbors shed, and this was the main problem with the build. The short pieces werent too bad, but when I went to use the longer ones for the top, they were all over the place. Ended up using ratchet straps to pull them together and screw them down. Still not a perfectly even work surface, but its just gonna get beat on so I'm ok with it.

 

[goodboy]

Goodboy, nice clean looking bench! nice work.

Very very nice goodboy.

Thanks... It'smy ffirst attempt at building something... I had some vague ideas... Like the steel top, a 2'' overhang on the top and bottom and the rest just fell into place. Really wanted to build new drawers... But it was a bit beyond my abilities... Might try to tackle that one next year.

 

[mdkingsley]

Very nice goodboy, I wish I had built mine with a little less depth, it is hard to reach the back of it and stuff just collects there.

 

[Knuckles]

Great site, great subject; you want benches, I got benches! These are all in their natural states, and I am using this opportunity to shame myself into cleaning up around here! I've more benches to put on here, and eventually I will post pics where you can actually see bench tops.....

 

[Knuckles]

So... here's the rest of them....

 

[mdkingsley]

Knuckles you definintly need a clean up day or 30, I will make it easy and come pick up all the welding clamps. Well your in Canada so you will have to ship them. Good luck on your quest

 

[djjsr]

At some point you can accumulate so much junk on your workbench that it's no longer a workbench. It's just a big shelf.

 

[Knuckles]

Yeah Buddy! I've been on an acquisition phase, past 8-9 years..... but life circumstances forced a move into a twenty by twenty four during this time, from a larger shop that I'd had for the 15 years previous; for now, I use my benches for storage, cleaning one or two off as I need them. Case in point: My welding bench; 42"x30" x 1" plate. I needed to work on a bike frame yesterday, so it got the nod; Fully indexible welding fixture makes it ideal for welding anywhere I need to on a frame!
P.s: After 3 years of living with these cramped quarters, I start tomorrow, breaking ground for a 40x50 shop

 

[Knuckles]

@ Mitchell: Thank you for your generous offer, but I'm going to suffer with all these welding clamps a l'il longer; I will of course let you know if I change my mind!

 

[bww_mnm]

here's mine...still a work in progress...

are the doors sliding well?

 

[J king]

Here's mine all cleaned up for graduation party yesterday.Had the garage for backup if weather was bad.Weather was bad..



I have found that the bigger the bench the more junk gets piled on.This one is a good size now.

 

[Scuderia-F1]

Here's mine all cleaned up for graduation party yesterday.Had the garage for backup if weather was bad.Weather was bad..



I have found that the bigger the bench the more junk gets piled on.This one is a good size now.

Great looking bench!

 

[J king]

"Great looking bench"

Thanks. It's never clean like this. it was a good chance to get a pic.

 

[goodboy]

are the doors sliding well?

the doors slide really well...
I bought a handful of 4' bypassing door track kits. they are the plastic kits not the aluminum ones which were a bit too expensive for me. the track kits come with plastic pegs that get installed on the bottom of the doors so they slide really well.

heres an updated picture... still have to find the right kind of moulding to go at the bottom of the sliding doors over the 3\4plywood

 

[Knuckles]

I promised pictures of bench tops, as they happened; here's bench #2: I use it for "light" fab work.... The toggle clamps and small vice are extremely useful as third hands! 1/4" checker plate top gives small parts a fighting chance of NOT rolling onto the floor.... as are all my benches, this is made from "re purposed" steel! Metalworking air tools are kept close by on used quick couplers. Test lights and a bike lift to the left, persuaders to the right. Cheap cordless band saw has been useful way more times than you would expect! Most of my bar clamps, vice grip clamps, and quick clamps hang off this bench.

 

[Knuckles]

I'll try to clean off another bench, no promises.... the excavator arrives tomorrow to start prepping the site for a bigger shop.

 

[Radio Ron w4ron]

Here's a couple pix of one of my work benches. I originally built this from 2 solid core commercial grade doors. I decided I didn't need it to that long so I cut it down so I could put in some shelves and have room for my drill press. The bench is 3' deep and it turned out that all the space at the back of the bench was just wasted if I mounted my belt sanded or grinder on the front edge, I had a brainstorm one day and decided to use a piece of the other door and make a big lazy susan turn table. It was kind of tough to get the big round piece cut perfectly round but I finally got it done, I found some ball rollers at HF, I used an Forstner bit to cut the recessed holes for the roller balls, then mounted the belt sander bench grinder and buffer on it, Now all that space at the back of the bench isn't wasted. When I need to use a tool I just turn the table around.
I happen to have a drop pin that I used to lock the table in place, if needed.
I screwed a big lag screw into the edge that hits one of the studs to keep the table from turning past 360 degrees.

You'll notice quickly that this isn't a pretty show garage, this is just a workshop and I'm not interested in making it a show place. It's just a place to work.
My show garage is the one where my radio collection is kept.

 

[akdiesel]

the doors slide really well...
I bought a handful of 4' bypassing door track kits. they are the plastic kits not the aluminum ones which were a bit too expensive for me. the track kits come with plastic pegs that get installed on the bottom of the doors so they slide really well.

heres an updated picture... still have to find the right kind of moulding to go at the bottom of the sliding doors over the 3\4plywood

goodboy

The bench looks great. Nice design.

 

[bford]

where do you guys get your solid slabs of wood for top of your benches? I know I can get a solid core door slab in HD or Lowes but where where else do you guys find them?

 

[ewils35]

Lumber yards might have them.

fat fingered text from phone using tapatalk

 

[mdkingsley]

Radio Ron thats a great idea!

 

[Always_Thinkin]

where do you guys get your solid slabs of wood for top of your benches? I know I can get a solid core door slab in HD or Lowes but where where else do you guys find them?

You can find them on Craigslist. Search "solid core door" or "solid door". Some times you will find an apartment complex or buisness doing a renovation. Remember the doors will have a hole for a door knob and get the widest door you can.

 

[Kevin54]

where do you guys get your solid slabs of wood for top of your benches? I know I can get a solid core door slab in HD or Lowes but where where else do you guys find them?

You can find them on Craigslist. Search "solid core door" or "solid door". Some times you will find an apartment complex or buisness doing a renovation. Remember the doors will have a hole for a door knob and get the widest door you can.

Yep. Search for them under the "Materials" section or the "General" section of CL.

 

[Kevin54]

Knuckles....I am assuming by everything you have in there that you are a welder maybe?

And lets see a pic of the Continental. What is it....'63?

 

[mcmlvif100]

where do you guys get your solid slabs of wood for top of your benches? I know I can get a solid core door slab in HD or Lowes but where where else do you guys find them?

You can find them on Craigslist. Search "solid core door" or "solid door". Some times you will find an apartment complex or buisness doing a renovation. Remember the doors will have a hole for a door knob and get the widest door you can.

Yep. Search for them under the "Materials" section or the "General" section of CL.

Sometimes you can find them at Habitat For Humanity ReStores. I just bought 5 solid core doors including one that is 93" tall for a total of $25. A local university had donated 100+ doors and the ReStore sold them all for $5 each.

The only problem with the ReStore is that it's a bit like garage sales -- you never know what you will find so you have to check in fairly regularly. Fortunately for me, the nearest one is just a couple of miles from my house and on my way home from work.

 

[Michael W]

Here is a picture of my basement workbench that I built about 20 years ago from plans in the Nov/Dec '93 issue of Family Handyman. It's one of the few projects that I've finished The bench is simple to build and is rock solid. It consists of dividers constructed from a 2x4 and plywood sandwich tied together by an upper and lower 2x band. The basic architecture is very configurable by simply adjusting the spacing on the dividers and building in whatever features are desired.

I've got a scan of the plans if anyone is interested. Just email me.

 

[bford]

Thanks for the reply guys. I forgot to mention about CL too. I've been checking there too but couldn't really find one in my area. I'll check my local Habitat for Humanity ReStores.

 

[Kevin54]

Here is a picture of my basement workbench that I built about 20 years ago from plans in the Nov/Dec '93 issue of Family Handyman. It's one of the few projects that I've finished The bench is simple to build and is rock solid. It consists of dividers constructed from a 2x4 and plywood sandwich tied together by an upper and lower 2x band. The basic architecture is very configurable by simply adjusting the spacing on the dividers and building in whatever features are desired.

I've got a scan of the plans if anyone is interested. Just email me.

Michael....Welcome to Garage Journal. Nice first post Although I'm sure we have a rule somewhere that if you make a first post and include pictures, that it HAS to be more than one. I'm fairly certain it says somewhere that we needs to see pics of the entire shop and not just one specific item of topic. Maybe is says that somewhere If not, it should

Again, WELCOME We hope to see more of you on here. And nice work area that you have. Cleaner than a lot of hospitals

 

[WarrenJ]

P/U'ed my solid core from a job site. There was construction going on and I asked the construction supervisor if they had any solid core. A couple of day later, he said this *** off my site I need the room. Didn't take long to load in the truck.

 

[cheechi]

I had a brainstorm one day and decided to use a piece of the other door and make a big lazy susan turn table.

Do you have any issues with them being too close to each other? I have found in the past having a grinder and sander too close to each other, you get a part that wants more space off to the side than you can give it.

 

[Radio Ron w4ron]

Talk about a thread being resurected. Here is mine. I posted it on one of the other forums but here looks like a better place for it.

It is still a work in progress. I will post some more pictures as I get it closer to completion.

I like your roll around cart.
I have one in my shop and it gets used more than any of my other
benches.

 

[Radio Ron w4ron]

Mine is basicly 2 parts. built the first section* and didn't want the legs to touch the floor,

Now this looks like a workshop and not an operating room.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Yep. Search for them under the "Materials" section or the "General" section of CL.

Damn, I never searched the "materials" section of CL.