Pallet Racking; workbench?

[The Cobbler]

I have a home made workbench that I built about 30 yrs ago, It's been in storage for about 15 yrs. suits my needs just fine, just never got around to taking it home & putting it in my shop.
Anyway, I'm purging a couple of storage units & downsizing the **** I think is valuable/ It's only valuable because I've stored most of it for way too long ! LOL

Today I cut down some pallet rack frames and decided the 36" I cut off would make a good work bench, and I do have some left over 8' & 12' beams. If I decided to go the route of using pallet rack, I could get rid of the work bench.
Pro's/Cons? who uses pallet rack for work bench?

Actually, I just had another thought , use the frames that I cut down for a work bench and a shelf above...

 

[Samh]

I made a work bench out of pallet racking, but didn't cut it down, so I could have a shelf over the top of it

 

[inane2]

I have two pallet rack workbenches in my shop. Bought a load of uprights and beams 2-3 years ago. Uprights were 16’ so I cut them down to 12’. Took the remaining 4’ piece and took it down to around 32-36”. 42” wide so I narrowed them to 30” I believe.

Two 9’ beams on the top and a 9’ beam on the bottom rear, leaves room to get stools in and out. Currently have some left over countertop on each piece but plan this winter to have local metal shop break a sheet of steel for me.

If I had to do it over again, I would have left the extra height for a shelf like you mentioned.

Pros - frame is plenty strong for whatever work surface and load you can throw on it. Easy to disassemble and move if need be. I still have some of the cutoff uprights and beams left, could throw together a temporary work bench in just a few minutes.

Cons - haven’t really ran across any yet, suits my needs just fine.

 

[The Cobbler]

thanks. it's making sense to get rid of the wood bench and use the pallet racking .

 

[lis2323]

Here’s one I made. It’s a six footer. 2x6’s for the top clad with 16 gauge galvanized sheet.

 

[Dustball]

For some ideas- next time you go to a Costco or Sam's Club, take a look at what they use for floor merchandise display such as clothing.

 

[The Cobbler]

and a 12' top made of reclaimed and re-laminated maple from a shuffleboard table...
the glue in the old top is dried out & it's separating. the boards are about 1" ( full) x4" , I would plane the finish off, lay them on edge for a 1" thick top.
I'm liking it.

 

[cvairwerks]

The desk and the workbench in my office at home are made out of pallet racks. I cut a piece of cabinet grade ply to fit in the crossbeams. Quick to set up and easy to move if needed. The racks I used were 77” height and I put a couple sets of beams in as shelving where needed.

 

[rsanter]

I made a work bench out of pallet racking, but didn't cut it down, so I could have a shelf over the top of it

This is what I did

 

[Cryptic1911]

We thought about doing this, but ended up buying a huge cast iron layout table for cheap, so we're gonna build a base for that. Might do some pallet rack benches elsewhere since we have a bunch of cutoffs

 

[amx1041]

I never thought of this, but it's a great idea. It gives me a new idea for my own shop.

 

[wssix99]

Food for thought - not all beams are created equal. The lighter duty ones will have some flex in them. The heavy duty ones are solid, but deeper.

If you use two beams per side, like lis2323 did, then it will be stable. If you only have one beam at the top, (so you could put your legs under, etc.) you would need to bolt the uprights down to the floor.

 

[Jason1972]

Nice and sturdy looking table lis2323. Is that a dentist’s light and swing arm above your workbench?

 

[lis2323]

Nice and sturdy looking table lis2323. Is that a dentist’s light and swing arm above your workbench?

Yes it is. Good eye! It’s half of a double head fixture. I just fabbed new mounts.

Here’s the other half over another bench.




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[crocket468]

Bumping this up, I'm looking at doing the same. Purchased some racking recently, both 8' and 10' beams, Looking at doing a ~24'x16' L shaped work bench in the back corner of the shop.

Has anyone clad the outside of the racks for a more finished look?

 

[nadogail]

I have used pallet beams for fence posts, they are the envy of the neighborhood.

 

[drivesitfar]

Nadogail: any pics of your pallet racking fence that you can share cause sounds like the neighbors like them too?

ALL: good ideas and love the pics!!

 

[blueduck3780]

Yes it is. Good eye! It’s half of a double head fixture. I just fabbed new mounts.

Here’s the other half over another bench.




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Curious what you used to make your worktop (looks like sheetmetal over some board)?

How did you attach the sheet metal/work surface to the pallet racking?

 

[californiamilleghia]

I just put some up with 12 ft crossbeams yesterday .,

12ft crossbeams ones are Heavy , you can move them but they are too long to place them above your head and connect to the uprights ,

I used the 12 ft to cover a small Fiat 600 project and have some storage above it !

I also plan on bolting them together , cheap insurance in earthquake country

at least around here the crossbeams come in 4ft , 8ft, 9ft, 10ft and 12ft length for some reason you cannot get 6ft crossbeams , so I had some made so I could make another 6ft wide "cage" to store another car and have 2 layers of storage above the car,

if you are in a big city watch Craigslist or Offerup for cheap or free ones
on Offerup last week there were 100 crossbeams for $175 !

 

[ddawg16]

For some ideas- next time you go to a Costco or Sam's Club, take a look at what they use for floor merchandise display such as clothing.

I'll take what is in the boxes