The never ending workbench project...

[metalhead212121]

Figured I should show my workbench to you guys. I dont think it will be ever "finished." The vise came from Kirbot and the hutch came from Skyline. When I first got the bench it was way toooooo low for me. Im 6' 6" so all work benchs are small to me. Orginally I went to Home Cheapo and got a piece of 4' x4' trimmed down into 4 13 inch pieces. I had something called bed risers from the Container store you can get them from ebay too. http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10025773&N=&Ntt=bed+extenders

My idea was to stand the 4' by 4' vertical and put the bed extenders on top and then have the bench on top of the bed extenders. IN THEORY it was a good (CHEAP) idea. In reality it was a horrible idea. The bench was very unstable. So the quest was on to find somebody to build a custom set of legs that would slip over the existing legs. It took me forever to find somebody because everybody I found wouldnt deal with the general public. I had 5 holes drilled in leg. First 3 holes from the bottom are my adjustment and the last two are just for added strength. I planned on running 3 grade 8 1/2 bolts and nuts into each leg. Is that overkill? I have no clue. Presently theres only one bolt and nut holding each leg on. Why didnt I run the other two into each leg?? More on that later. I tryed to take a pic so you guys can see the thickness of the new legs. Again.. is the thickness of the new legs overkill?? I have no clue... you guys tell me.

Ive always wanted to learn how to weld and bend pipes on my workbench. Why do I wanna bend pipes?? Probably because Ive watched too many motorcycle building shows on TV. In my opinion the top is way too thin to be comfortable welding on. I can picture slag melting right through the top. Brad54 mentioned having a table top thickness of around 3/8 to 1/2 thick. Anybody wanna take a guess at what thats gonna cost for a top put on?? The dimensions of the top are about 72" by 36." Even if I never weld on the table when I crank down on something in the vise part of the top of the table top starts to "bow" a little. Yes.. that bothers me. Damn thin metal.

On top of wanting a table top put on there I debating where I want to put casters on the bottom of the workbench so its easier to move around. It would be nice to have casters on it so if I want to work outside or move the bench in general I could do it. After seeing a couple garages burn down to the ground I really do like the idea of welding/using a torch inside my garage. As you can see Im pretty jam packed with ****. Something could catch fire and by the time I caught it it would be too late. Any thoughts on adding casters? Ive looked at the Northern tool catalog and they have every caster I could ever want. I figure if I DID put wheels on it Id have to have LOCKING casters. This is the main reason why I havent run the other two bolts into my bench. Adding casters is gonna raise the bench up A LOT. Id rather not have swiss cheese for legs. As it stands right now the hutch weighs... A LOT.. the vise weighs... A LOT.. a metal butcher top would weigh... well you get the idea. I figure if I added casters they'd have to be ready to take some abuse!

Id like to add a light on the inside of my hutch just because the garage is poorly lit. Id also like to add cross bracing to the back and sides of the bench for added strength. Any suggestions on the thickness of metal I should use for cross bracing?

So as you can see its the never ending workbench project. Ive got countless hours and $$$ into bolting the vise down, installing the drawer, bolting down the hutch, installing new legs.

Comments will be greatly appreciated. Questions asking about what everything cost me wont be answered. It was A LOT! Put it that way!

Dan

 

[Steevo]

For casters, you might check Surplus Center:
https://www.surpluscenter.com/home.asp?UID=2009062709354063

They generally have better prices than Northern.

 

[KEH]

Understand about not welding inside. Could you do welding projects outside? 2 ways to do that, 1..have an extension cord for the welder, 2.. buy additional wore to extedn the leads, assuming you have a stick welder. If you get a wire(mig) welder I think all you would need is an heavy extension cord.

to get an idea of costs you sould ask at a steel supply place about cuting out a piece of steel to put on the top of your existing bench. !/4 steel would be adequate. It will be expensive.

The simplest thing to do is to check auction listings and estate sales. Quite often workbenches are for sale there. Sometimes they are industrial benches made if the factory shop with 3/4 steel plate and a vise. Expect to pay for them, but you problem will be solved, except for height problems. If you can weld, raising the legs will be simple.

Concerning your existing bench, I would take the vise off, take it to a welding shop, and have them extend the legs and put casters on if you wish. shouldn't be too expensive and is a quick solution to your problem. Try to get an estimate first before you load up. Have 2 or 3 shops located so after you load the bench you can take it to another place if the price dosen't suit.

KEH

 

[e30bradley]

nice bench. that should last a few lifetimes.

 

[metalhead212121]

very small update....

I shoulda known this right from the beginning... Im starting to see my work bench top bow a little because of the monster vise. Everytime I "crank" on something in the vise I can see the table bow. At first I didnt think too much about it but it seems to be getting worse as time goes by. First time I bolted the vise down I used carriage bolts to hold the vise down. That was dumb on my part. I had to take the vise off a couple times for various reasons and to make a long story short I ended up chiseling/grinding one of the bolts out. The next time I went and got actual grade 8 bolts and nuts BUT cheaped out and got plain jane washers. Believe it or not I can see the washers have bent over time!! I KNOW I need a thick steel plate on top of my bench to prevent the table from bowing... I just dont have the cash right now for something like that. BEFORE I get a plate I really wanna install "X" braces on the sides and back of the bench for strength. If I'm gonna break down and get a plate I'm gonna opt for 1/2". YES I know if I install a 1/2" plate Im gonna need LONGER grade 8 bolts to hold down my vise.

It never ends....

 

[metalhead212121]

another slight update.... Finally got a chance to drill the other two holes in 3 out of the 4 legs on my work bench. Im gonna have to pull my bench out more to drill the last two holes because the last leg is the leg in the corner of my garage (tight spot). Once I drill the last two holes my next project will be putting "x" braces on the back and sides of the bench for strength. Im starting to wonder if all the bracing I want to add will be enough to hold the weight of a 1/2" steel plate. I snapped a couple pics so you guys can get a good look at what I did to raise my bench up.

As far as adding "x" braces I have a couple questions. Im wondering how thick the metal should be and also wondering where I should make the holes on the legs. Should I drill through both legs for the bracing or should I drill holes as high and low as possible? I know that last sentence may be somewhat confusing. Hopefully you guys understand what Im talking about. If you guys are wondering if the 3 holes I drilled in each leg are accurate I can tell you that I had a machine shop drill the holes in the legs for me. After that I glued a couple pieces of wood together and slipped it into the legs that I had made. From there I drilled holes into the wood so that I had a template for drilling the rest of the holes into the existing (old) legs. It worked out pretty well. My template may not be a 100% perfect but it did the job. If/when I add additional bracing I'll be sure to make another template out of wood or metal so that I dont have a bench that looks like swiss cheese.

 

[metalhead212121]

not sure if anyone is still interested in this thread or not.... I woke up one day and decided to add the "x" bracing. Wasnt sure what size I should go with so I opted for "bigger is better." The "x" braces are 3/16" thick and are 3" tall. The horizontal plate is 3/16" thick as well. Im not an engineer but I'd like to think what I did made my bench more solid. If the "x" braces did nothing I CAN tell you the horizontal plate made a BIG difference. BEFORE I put that horizontal plate in the back the bench I could rock the bench back and forth and you could see the bench sway back and forth. Now its solid as a rock.

Im still dreaming of putting a steel plate on top of my bench. Still wondering if the bench can handle a steel plate.... The guys I deal with at the place where I buy my steel from say that a 3/8" steel plate would be fine/overkill. I still think 3/8" is thin.... But I'm a big believer in bigger is better. I still have to prime and paint the "x" braces. I just wanted to give you guys an idea on how my progress was going.

Positive or negative comments are welcomed. Please go easy on me...

Stay tuned...

 

[gahrajmahal]

Hey metalhead,
I just came across your post today and my first thought is why you are still trying to adapt a bench to do something that is requiring you to completely change it. Might I suggest you locate the nearest metal scrap yard in your city. Here in Cincinnati, we have Hirschberg steel. You can go through their soon to be hauled off pile and pay per pound for steel, aluminum etc. Pennies on the dollar compared for new steel. I like the message board, http://www.shopfloortalk.com For welding and metalworking ideas. They have loads of welding table posts and benders etc.
I would have started over with 4x4 I-beams since you are wanting something to do such heavy work. Keep posting, we are interested in your progress.

 

[Outlawmws]

Unless you are dead set on a metal top, get 2X4's, glue and screw them together on edge and MAKE a beefy top. you can use a 2x6 or 2 X 8 for the rear most board and use that extra as a cleat to attach the top to the wall for super stability.

If you use the 2X8, you can also leave a backslash so nothing is likely to roll off the back and fall behind.

The 2X4 base top can be skinned over in metal, Masonite, just about anything, or you can do what I did and use a kitchen Formica counter top with a back splash built in.

Mine's been taking abuse, including a Parker vise on the corner that has seem a lot of heavy use, and is still in good shape after 25 years.

 

[metalhead212121]

gahrajmahal- Hindsight is always 20/20. I agree that should have started with with 4 I-beams for legs. When I first made changes to my work bench getting my bench the hight that I wanted it was (at the time) a big undertaking. I never had any experience with buying metal or scrap yards. As I stated earlier in this thread it took me forever to find a place to make those legs for me... One thing led to another and well here I am.

Fortunatly the bench itself was free. The hutch I paid very little for (fits perfectly) (Thanks Skyline). The vise cost me a good "couple bucks." (Thanks Kirbot). Id say I paid out a little over $300 in metal for the legs and "x" braces.

I will admit it is a fight (in my head) to keep throwing time and money into this bench. We'll see what happens.

Thanks as always for your insight Outlaw. I really want a steel plate because I want to learn how to weld. Im JAMMED up as far as space goes so I couldnt afford (space wise) to get another table for welding.

Stay tuned...

 

[Outlawmws]

I made my welding bench portable by converting an old 3 drawer tool box to a welding bench. 1/2" plate on top, a folding shelf on the left with a small vise on it (grounded to the 1/2" plate) and a cabinet on the right with the mini MIG sitting on top of that. Moves wherever I need it, and roles out of the way...