Lets see your workbench

[LX-Markham]

So your base cabinets move up and down with the lift? You must only use it when you need parking? Is that correct?

Yes, when in the lifted position the base cabinets actually block the wall wall cabinets. So I use them to store stuff I need infrequently, or stuff I use when lift is down. During the week, for the most part, the lift is up and we use the space for our daily drivers.

That's a neat setup, LX. Looks like you can still get a single car up the center of the lift. Where do you put your tools when the lift is up and you're working underneath a car?

Thanks! Yes, that was the purpose of the whole project: to make room for my Mustang. The extra sides of the double wide lift are bonus. The left side ramp is where I have my tools, compressor, table saw, drill press, etc. So if I'm working under the car, sometimes it's a bit inconvenient to climb back up for a tool.

Wow! I didn't expect that when I looked at your previous workbench photo. Sorta like a movable mezzanine. So if you ever get flooded like Texas has, your tools & red car are in no danger of getting wet, right?

It's exactly like a movable mezzanine
Yes, if we get flooded at least the Mustang and my tools will survive, LOL.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Finally made more progress on my benches. I've actually been using my unfinished bench in the garage for a few small projects and I used my mom's work table to stage the materials today...

Here are my side trim pieces with their box/finger joints cut. I had planned to do dovetails, but after more than an hour yesterday I was nowhere close to getting them to fit together. Threw in the towel and switched to finger joints.

There are more details and progress pics in my garage thread, but here are the side trim pieces after all the joints were routed today:

 

[CoogarXR]

I finally finished my upgraded electronics workbench. The bottom is a nice deep surface for working on large TVs. Two of the famous Lowes Waterloo toolboxes underneath with various electronics emblems on the drawers.

The top is a test fixture of sorts. It has a 19" LCD in the center, with the input jacks connected to the patch plate on the left (there is also a tiny hole where the remote signal passes through). It is flanked by two 4" LCD monitors too. Why? Because I had them in my parts bin, lol. And it's nice to be able to test multiple streams simultaneously. I used plexiglass to cover each of the monitors, with back-painted black trim.

There is a large server power supply inside the cabinet to provide 12v and 5v to the banana jacks (this also provides power to the ancillary video devices). There are 4 4-ohm speakers wired to a terminal plate for testing audio devices. I can pair them up in series or parallel if I need 2 or 8 ohm loads too.

Across the bottom from left-to-right I have a SD-Card video player, it has 4 HDMI ports, a VGA port, a component and composite output too. This provides test videos for when I do burn-in testing on TVs. The second white device is also a SD player but it only has VGA and composite. I use this one for stills and test patterns. Then on the right is a small amplifier that I use to test speakers.

There is a fan on each end of the cabinet to pull air from the nearby AC vent through the cabinet interior for cooling.

I have a couple blank plates in there for future expansion. I might add a variable power supply at some point. The monitor on the back wall is just for security cameras. And of course the trusty Tektronix scope on the right. There is also a PC in the rack to the right (not pictured), but that's what's displaying on the LCD (Will Ferrell's "You're Welcome America")

Total cost for me was about $150. I had all of the parts in my junk bins. The only thing I had to buy was the wood, the two Waterloo boxes, and the AV jack plate.

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics.

 

[tjdux]

I finally finished my upgraded electronics workbench. The bottom is a nice deep surface for working on large TVs. Two of the famous Lowes Waterloo toolboxes underneath with various electronics emblems on the drawers.

The top is a test fixture of sorts. It has a 19" LCD in the center, with the input jacks connected to the patch plate on the left (there is also a tiny hole where the remote signal passes through). It is flanked by two 4" LCD monitors too. Why? Because I had them in my parts bin, lol. And it's nice to be able to test multiple streams simultaneously. I used plexiglass to cover each of the monitors, with back-painted black trim.

There is a large server power supply inside the cabinet to provide 12v and 5v to the banana jacks (this also provides power to the ancillary video devices). There are 4 4-ohm speakers wired to a terminal plate for testing audio devices. I can pair them up in series or parallel if I need 2 or 8 ohm loads too.

Across the bottom from left-to-right I have a SD-Card video player, it has 4 HDMI ports, a VGA port, a component and composite output too. This provides test videos for when I do burn-in testing on TVs. The second white device is also a SD player but it only has VGA and composite. I use this one for stills and test patterns. Then on the right is a small amplifier that I use to test speakers.

There is a fan on each end of the cabinet to pull air from the nearby AC vent through the cabinet interior for cooling.

I have a couple blank plates in there for future expansion. I might add a variable power supply at some point. The monitor on the back wall is just for security cameras. And of course the trusty Tektronix scope on the right. There is also a PC in the rack to the right (not pictured), but that's what's displaying on the LCD (Will Ferrell's "You're Welcome America")

Total cost for me was about $150. I had all of the parts in my junk bins. The only thing I had to buy was the wood, the two Waterloo boxes, and the AV jack plate.

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics.

That's a very nice setup. Really like seeing stuff that's not the average bench purpose on here. Good work. By the way, wanna fix ny tv lol.

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[CoogarXR]

That's a very nice setup. Really like seeing stuff that's not the average bench purpose on here. Good work. By the way, wanna fix ny tv lol.

Thanks! My goal was to clean up the bench and make everything easily accessible. Each of those devices used to clutter up the bench, AC adapters and cables everywhere, etc. Or I'd put them all away to fit a big project on the bench, then have to get them back out, then they're all over the bench again. This way I have a nice clean bench and by default nothing has a "home" on the bench top. Just the keyboard, and I can toss that off to the right if need be. Even the magnifier lamp has a homemade counter-sunk bushing. I can pop that lamp right out and use that bench space too.

But this setup is in the garage, and serves garage duty too. I try to cover it up if I need to do something greasy though. I am going to try to keep the top free of stains as long as I can. Although I have already screwed up and cut into it with a circular saw and also drilled a hole halfway through it . I putty'd and sanded those mistakes so you can't really tell... I'm going to try to keep up, but knowing me, it probably won't stay this spiffy for very long, lol.

I used to be in the business of fixing things for people, but giving free lifetime support got old, lol. So nowadays I just buy broken stuff and fix/flip or part it out. But it's been so nice to have a purpose-built workstation. I have a whole barn full of electronics that need gone through.

 

[Global Express]

A couple of workbench shots from my recently (mostly) completed garage....



<a href="https://ibb.co/fKN95b"><img src="https://preview.ibb.co/hsyhQb/IMG_8035.jpg" alt="IMG_8035" border="0"></a><br /><a target='_blank' href='https://imgbb.com/'>large gif hosting</a><br />

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[astrohip]

I finally finished the workbench area. I had posted the workbench itself in this post
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6678025&postcount=3380

And now I finished the rest of the shop, putting up the pegboard, hanging shop lights, and organizing my tools.

 

[dittle fart around]

A couple of workbench shots from my recently (mostly) completed garage....



<a href="https://ibb.co/fKN95b"><img src="https://preview.ibb.co/hsyhQb/IMG_8035.jpg" alt="IMG_8035" border="0"></a><br /><a target='_blank' href='https://imgbb.com/'>large gif hosting</a><br />

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Wow, if I had a workbench that long I'd have **** all over it. Every horizontal surface in my garage automatically fills up with stuff.



I like your idea of just leaving your wrenches on the bench. Now I understand the length.

 

[LX-Markham]

that's an adorable looking pooch.

 

[Global Express]

Ha! They eventually got organized and she got her own recliner!....


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[R. Deschain]

Holy **** markham, that's super genius territory right there! I flipping luv it.

I agree!!

 

[intillzah]

It's not much, But the price was right:

 

[Cazador23]

Just finished building this

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[Cazador23]

Adjustable feet, quick detach vise, 3/8" top, 3x3 legs. It's stout. These are the feet and nut plates for the legs.

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[Cazador23]

I teach Auto Shop and had my students build these for the school.

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[radio2000]

Just finished building this

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Helluva setup


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[Cazador23]

Thank you radio2000.

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[radio2000]

Adjustable feet, quick detach vise, 3/8" top, 3x3 legs. It's stout. These are the feet and nut plates for the legs.

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Any additional detail on the adjustable feet?



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[Cazador23]

3/4 10 thread 3" jig head machine leveling feet with rubber bottom. Made the nut plates out of 3" x 3/16 strap and tig welded the nut. Not filler rod that's why there is some undercut. If I can find the link I'll post it.

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[Cazador23]

Any additional detail on the adjustable feet?



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3/4 10 thread 3" jig head machine leveling feet with rubber bottom. Made the nut plates out of 3" x 3/16 strap and tig welded the nut. Not filler rod that's why there is some undercut. If I can find the link I'll post it.

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[one9gt]

Any additional detail on the adjustable feet?



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McMaster Carr carries those feet


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[andrewordrew]

My bench was slapped together in a few hours right after I moved in to my house. I've always intended to rebuild / replace it, but it's never a priority. This thread (and Steevo's HF thread) is encouraging me to start fresh. Soon, I hope.




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[andrewordrew]

My bench was slapped together in a few hours right after I moved in to my house. I've always intended to rebuild / replace it, but it's never a priority. This thread (and Steevo's HF thread) is encouraging me to start fresh. Soon, I hope.




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I also have a 2nd bench I slapped together at the back of the garage. Again: it's inadequate, not well thought out, and constantly covered in some project. Argggh.




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[stack8706]

these are the main two im working with right now

 

[andrewordrew]

these are the main two im working with right now

I like your power strip and tool charger layout. How do you like having cordless power tools on a pegboard? I've often wondered how that works out in the real world.




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[stack8706]

I like your power strip and tool charger layout. How do you like having cordless power tools on a pegboard? I've often wondered how that works out in the real world.




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It works ok I ended up hot glueing the pegs into the wall

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[nitro norm]

My two car (or bike) garage

 

[zmotorsports]

Love this setup Mike! I am going to be fabbing about 50-60 ft of similar bench for multiple parts of my shop as well. We built 18 or so desks for our office using a similar structure in 2" square tube with black onyx tops. Super easy to work with and bulletproof. I was originally thinking butcher block tops for my workbenches but I really like what you've done with plain black steel and may go that direction now.

What (if anything) did you use for a base under the steel top? And where did you get your tool drawers? They fit and look fantastic.

Robmartinson, I am so sorry I missed this question earlier.

Thank you for the comments about my benches.

As for your questions, I used the HF44 toolboxes, five in total, for the drawers and they have worked out well. Under the 10-gauge hot rolled steel tops I have two layers of 3/4" plywood with staggered seams and Liquid Nails spread between the layers. It makes for a VERY solid feeling bench top.

You can see construction pictures of my workbenches in my 50x60x16 Shop/RV Garage build thread linked in my signature. The workbenches are near the end of the thread.

Thanks and again, sorry I missed this post.

 

[wren57]

My poverty Steevo-inspired setup for now:

Working on finding a solid piece of stainless for a top/backsplash. It's about 24x120. I do mostly car stuff so don't need a deep bench (and don't really have room for it, either).

 

[Fishy66]

Nice Fantasy Football belt!

 

[BoilermakerFan]

My two car (or bike) garage

Love the motorcycle work table. Did you fabricate it yourself?

 

[andrewordrew]

My two car (or bike) garage

I really like your bike bench and your clean workbench setup.

I presume you made the lower bench covers. Questions... Do you mind not being able to put feet / knees / legs under the benches while you work? What was your main reason for covering that area - aesthetic? Keep dust n dirt out (does it?)?


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[nitro norm]

andrewordrew, thanks I did build the bike bench, I have limited space so the bench had to perform several tasks, it's way overbuilt for a bike bench with 1/2 inch thick steel top but it can double as my welding bench/frame jig thanks to the leveling feet and attachments I made for it.

The reason for closing the space under the workbench was again due to limited space I needed plenty of dust free, clean and safe storage. The benches where all made from free offcuts of timber and the doors are 1"x 1" square tube with core flute backing

 

[nitro norm]

Boilermakerfan, thanks yes I did fabricate the bike bench, I made it as heavy and rigid as I could afford so as once leveled every thing is plumb and square as I also wanted to use it as a welding bench/frame jig[/ATTACH][/ATTACH]

 

[nitro norm]

Under bench storage before I fitted the cabinet doors

 

[andrewordrew]

Boilermakerfan, thanks yes I did fabricate the bike bench, I made it as heavy and rigid as I could afford so as once leveled every thing is plumb and square as I also wanted to use it as a welding bench/frame jig[/ATTACH][/ATTACH]

Wow! Impressive bench and fixtures. I reckon you know what you're doing there, Sir. The chair in the pics looks like something out of Dr. Frankenstein's lab.

All these pictures encourage me to get to work on my own garage and benches, and to make the best of what I have. It can only get better in my case!


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[radio2000]

My old workbench and new pegboard.
Open to recommendations for a power strip to run the length under the pegboard and possibly some "affordable" cabinets for above.

 

[mv213]

My old workbench and new pegboard.
Open to recommendations for a power strip to run the length under the pegboard and possibly some "affordable" cabinets for above.

I have use Legrand Wiremold (from Home Depot) on a couple of places in my garage to put surface mount outlets where I wanted them. Works great, can be laid out any way you want. I think there’s a picture of it above my workbench in my profile album.

 

[alpinewhite]

My old workbench and new pegboard.
Open to recommendations for a power strip to run the length under the pegboard and possibly some "affordable" cabinets for above.

Just get one or two of these from HF

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Boilermakerfan, thanks yes I did fabricate the bike bench, I made it as heavy and rigid as I could afford so as once leveled every thing is plumb and square as I also wanted to use it as a welding bench/frame jig

Wow! Happen to have formal plans for the bench and jig hardware?