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Lets see your workbench

Pucman1

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Joined
Oct 8, 2015
Messages
207
Location
Northern Va
More of what is normally looks like in the middle of sorting car parts....

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No Frills here just wood and pegboard.....

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KnightDriveTV

New member
Joined
Jun 24, 2020
Messages
1
Location
Las Vegas
Hey all,

Love seeing all the great work benches and thought I would share one I just built from almost all scrap wood.

The top is an old counter top a friend gave me and the drawer handles are some old wrenches I had laying around along with some old bolts from my yard art 48 Ford truck.

Enjoy

That bench you built is pretty awesome :rocker:
 

schnutzy

Active member
Joined
Jun 10, 2014
Messages
32
Not the prettiest, but it works. I wouldn't really recommend the T&G planks for a work surface, but given the limitations I had at the time, it worked. Hopefully soon I'll be replacing the work surface, at which point I'll install one of my bench vises as well. d493cf78789f6506e7425decd1f42398.jpg

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 

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16again

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Joined
Nov 25, 2010
Messages
1,919
Location
Boynton Beach, FL.
Completed it this week. Need to install one of the vises and it will be done. For the time being. Lol f316a32f46842e63b5a279fdbb9bd059.jpg


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tarmy

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Joined
May 28, 2014
Messages
4,645
Location
Nor Cal
:lol: Money well spent! These things are super heavy duty. Made assembly very easy. Last bench I used the Simpson Strong Ties. These are much heavier duty.

Your next toy to buy is a good welder to make stuff like that from now on...:rocker:
 

Loose Ctrl

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 21, 2014
Messages
759
Location
Upstate SC
I have been known to stop work and neaten things up. I always take care of my tools and equipment, and put them away promptly after I am done with them.
 

budget76

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 19, 2016
Messages
502
Need to get some pics, but I've gotten on a kick lately in both my woodshop and garage of getting everything off the floor I can. This means cantilevering most of my benches and shelves off the wall, with minimal legs on the floor, some even at angles into the corner of the wall instead of straight down. I hate moving things to sweep or blow out the areas. Also trying to make things on wheels and movable for cleaning too.

One of the garage benches is just 3/4 ply topped. Once done flooring the house I'm probably going to nail down some spare Engineered Hardwood on it just to make it a little nicer to work on.
 

BigBoreFan

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
311
Threw this together in the last few weeks. IMG_1577.jpg

Looks good.

Did the height of the Menards cabinets match the US General boxes, or did you have to modify the Menards cabinet to match?

I'd like to do something similar, maybe use a couple of the Masterforce bottom chests, but I think there is a pretty big difference in height of the cabinets and the chests. I have a 176" wall I want to cover. Maybe I need to visit Harbor Freight and Menards with my tape measure.

How do you like the Meanrds cabinets? My usage would be general storage, not heavy tools and I don't need a bench to pound on, just a work surface.
 

CJseven

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 4, 2007
Messages
344
Location
Southeast Missouri
The bottom “cabinet” isn’t a premade box. I framed out the cabinet my self and just used the Menards doors and a end cap to match the uppers. I cut the two doors to the width I wanted and the end cap was also a large cabinet door cut to the hight I wanted, planning on a single bowl stainless sink in the top. The work surface is 39” high a bit taller then there bottom cabinets, as for durability they seem to be doing just fine for my intended use of a work surface for small parts and such. I have steel tables and such for pounding on.
 

BigBoreFan

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Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
311
The bottom “cabinet” isn’t a premade box. I framed out the cabinet my self and just used the Menards doors and a end cap to match the uppers. I cut the two doors to the width I wanted and the end cap was also a large cabinet door cut to the hight I wanted, planning on a single bowl stainless sink in the top. The work surface is 39” high a bit taller then there bottom cabinets, as for durability they seem to be doing just fine for my intended use of a work surface for small parts and such. I have steel tables and such for pounding on.

thanks for the reply
 
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Spanner

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Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Messages
153
Location
Spain
IMG_3650.jpg
It’s a bit of a mash up of bench’s but I can’t justify ripping out these and replacing them at this moment in time.


Tool Junkie!!!
 

joshhouse

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 28, 2011
Messages
47
Just finished up the bulk of the build on this yesterday. Went from a 35 inch Kobalt top/bottom tool chest to this set-up. The workbench is a 2x4 frame topped off with 5/4” deck planks, then 3/4 ply on top of that (just trying to use up random left-over lumber I already had. I think it’ll do any job I need it to.

Still have some more trim work to do, need to find a way to mount my vise with some kind of “quick disconnect” mechanism so that I can easily remove it when needed (please pass along any ideas!!!), and get to Tractor Supply so I can get a nice rubber mat to cover the surface of the top. Then long-term, I need to paint it, plumb air, and run a PVC line behind the bench so I can hook up a shop vac and just connect the hose to a port behind the bench. Yeah, I know, I shoulda done the air/vacuum when building it, but I’m in a bit of a time-crunch.
 

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joshhouse

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Joined
Apr 28, 2011
Messages
47
^^ have you seen the many variations of trailer-hitch receivers used to make a removable voce mount?

Thank you for the suggestion Black300zx. I think those are really nifty set-ups. Unfortunately, I don’t have the welding skill or equipment to fab something like that out of steel. I guess I could bolt a receiver onto the bench somewhere... food for thought, for sure.

I was thinking maybe I would use some “T-nuts” to mount the vise, then I could remove the bolts when I need the vise gone. The benefit of that would be that the nuts are embedded in the hole, and I don’t have to fiddle with it so much when re-mounting the vise once I’m done with whatever project I need the space for.

In all honesty, I probably won’t ever remove the vise, but I like to have options, haha. Traditional nuts and bolts would work fine, there’s just very little clearance to get my fingers up under the top to thread the nuts on, then get a wrench in there to get counter torque when tightening the bolts.
 

Black300zx

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Apr 8, 2019
Messages
781
Location
Elkton, Md
Thank you for the suggestion Black300zx. I think those are really nifty set-ups. Unfortunately, I don’t have the welding skill or equipment to fab something like that out of steel. I guess I could bolt a receiver onto the bench somewhere... food for thought, for sure.

I was thinking maybe I would use some “T-nuts” to mount the vise, then I could remove the bolts when I need the vise gone. The benefit of that would be that the nuts are embedded in the hole, and I don’t have to fiddle with it so much when re-mounting the vise once I’m done with whatever project I need the space for.

In all honesty, I probably won’t ever remove the vise, but I like to have options, haha. Traditional nuts and bolts would work fine, there’s just very little clearance to get my fingers up under the top to thread the nuts on, then get a wrench in there to get counter torque when tightening the bolts.

I'm in the same situation. I think I'm going to use the hex drive threaded inserts that they make for wood:

Everbilt 1/4 in.-20 tpi Solid Brass Wood Insert Nut (2-Pack)
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbil...Brass-Wood-Insert-Nut-2-Pack-818798/204806598

I always have issues with t-nuts falling out of their hole over time
 

67CarGuy

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Joined
Feb 6, 2008
Messages
763
Location
Outside Boston, MA
Man, this is an awesome time machine! It's taken me a few weeks off-and-on to read my way through this entire thread, and there's a wealth of great ideas and spectacular execution here. Yes, many of us have "simple" benches of 2x4s and plywood (like yours truly!), but some of you have taken this to an art form!

I'll get some photos of mine up in a bit... thanks all!
 

m6z

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Joined
Sep 13, 2019
Messages
2,325
Location
Missouri
What are these called?
 

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Dan in Pasadena

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Feb 18, 2009
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13,103
Location
Pasadena, CA
IMG_3650.jpg
It’s a bit of a mash up of bench’s but I can’t justify ripping out these and replacing them at this moment in time.


Tool Junkie!!!

A mash up works if it works for you!

May I suggest something? Paint the base of the wood bench in a dark red to match the other two benches and it'll look less like a "mash up" and more like a planned set up.
 

simnil

Active member
Joined
Jun 22, 2020
Messages
43
Location
Sweden
Hi all. First post for me!

Thought I'd share some pics of my monster of a bench =)
I was fortunate to be able to buy it, (for scrap value), from work when they refurbished the part of the factory where it had been standing since the day it was made, (was probably made in-house in the 70's)

Table top is a 2x1m 40mm thick steel plate, legs are 100x100x6mm square tubes and the "ribs" are 16mm strips of steel plate. Estimated weight is roughly 800kg. Unsurprisingly it has not been necessary to bolt it down to make it stand still :bounce:
 

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jollygreengiant

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Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Messages
2,354
Location
Ontario, Canada
I just finished putting this together on the weekend. This my very first workbench, and after working out of a too short storage shed for years, and for the last few months out of a wheelbarrow, it feels awesome to finally have a real workbench!

The frame is made from 2x4's, while the bottom shelf and the top is made from 2-1/4" x 7-1/2" by 12' hardwood planks. All the lumber is from salvaged sources, either from around my property or from work, so the only thing I had to pay for was some screws. :thumbup:

The planks do have a slight curve to them, so some day I'll likely take a hand planer to them and then paint them so it doesn't look like christmas lol.
 

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smackey05

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Joined
Oct 21, 2009
Messages
792
Location
Massachusetts
Here's my basement workbench. Mainly use for small car projects and bike maintenance.
 

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67CarGuy

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Feb 6, 2008
Messages
763
Location
Outside Boston, MA
As promised, here's my humble workspace. Basement workshop. It's been cleaned up a bit since this photo, but it doesn't really feel like it... This is more room than I have in my garage, too...:(
 

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mc4life27

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 2, 2014
Messages
404
I'm in the same situation. I think I'm going to use the hex drive threaded inserts that they make for wood:

Everbilt1/4 in.-20 tpi Solid Brass Wood Insert Nut (2-Pack)
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbil...Brass-Wood-Insert-Nut-2-Pack-818798/204806598

I always have issues with t-nuts falling out of their hole over time



Depending o. The size of your vise and what your doing with it but I would never use 1/4 nuts and bolts to bolt down and type of vise I would be using. I try and use at least 3/8 if not 7/16 but perfect 1/2. But I’m also using the little mountable hitch receiver


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Spanner

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Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Messages
153
Location
Spain
A mash up works if it works for you!



May I suggest something? Paint the base of the wood bench in a dark red to match the other two benches and it'll look less like a "mash up" and more like a planned set up.



Cheers, I have some downtime coming over the next couple of months so I will have a go at that.


Tool Junkie!!!
 

Black300zx

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Joined
Apr 8, 2019
Messages
781
Location
Elkton, Md
Depending o. The size of your vise and what your doing with it but I would never use 1/4 nuts and bolts to bolt down and type of vise I would be using. I try and use at least 3/8 if not 7/16 but perfect 1/2. But I’m also using the little mountable hitch receiver


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

1/4in just happened to be the first link that I found for that type of insert. Yes, choose the correct size for your vise:)
 
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