Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT The **** Shack

[bdbecker]

I would use the largest sledge hammer I had to try to straighten the top...

When I said "gave it a few whacks" what I really should have said was "beat the snot out of it". It took my dog a half hour before she would come back into the garage. I am content with how it sits now.

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...You might get some woodworking tool lubricant. Lot's of different products for table saw and jointer tops. Protects the metal from rust, promotes easier sliding (for woodworking) and not supposed to affect finishing properties of the wood. Grizzley's is called Slip It.

I used boiled linseed oil on the bottom of mine on the advice of another member. It worked awesome and I will be doing the top as well.

Go to you dollar store and get the spray on anti stick coating [generic pam] and spray that on. Dries to the touch and works as welding anti spatter also. Then still clean with WD and steel wool.
I use this at work. Goes on Clear and then dries black. Use it on my welding table and spray it on any bare steel that is starting to rust. I think Oshpo is about the same stuff

Thanks for the suggestions guys! Maybe I'll swing by The Woodsmith Shop this week and see what they have.

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bdbecker the bench has come up a treat.

Well done..


In regard to the oil issues you could actually do a timber over lay that is removable.


Regards

Great looking work bench. Fantastic score on the metal for the top.
Your project is coming along very well.
walt.

Thank you for the kind words!

 

[Aroberson77]

I really like how the bench came out. I didn't see if you mentioned it but how big is the floor space in your garage? I want to build a big bench in my 20x20 but am afraid I will be losing floor space

 

[bdbecker]

I really like how the bench came out. I didn't see if you mentioned it but how big is the floor space in your garage? I want to build a big bench in my 20x20 but am afraid I will be losing floor space

My garage is 24x24. Arriving at the decision to build such a large bench was really a result of reading through a lot of other people's build threads and observing that guys who don't have a lot of bench space always seem to want more, and guys who do have a lot of bench space always seem to say it was one of the better decisions they made.

Sure, a big workbench may seem like it takes up a lot of space on the surface, but you might end up gaining storage area if you install storage cabinets below and cupboards/shelving above. You can also cheat the dimensions a little - maybe make it 24" deep instead of 30". You may also consider a small bench for day-to-day activities, and have foldaway benches along the entire length of one of your walls for when a big project comes up.

If you haven't already seen it already, check out Jack Olsen's 12-Gauge Garage. He has really made the most of a space very similar to the size of yours.

http://www.12-gaugegarage.com/
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55006&page=1

 

[Aroberson77]

Thank you so much for the suggestions, That is a great point on the extra storage, and the folding bench idea. Now if I can just find a good deal on some steel like you did.

And thanks for the link!! I saw this garage in popular mechanics and was immediately inspired

 

[rmalkow2]

Great garage build and thread updates. It was an interesting read. Like many have said I too enjoy the small working garage threads. It's a great place to share ideas for common use and to learn from each other. You now have a real nice working space and it will improve and adapt over time to fit your needs.
Glad you were able to exit the analysis phase and make it a reality. I suffer the same disease from time to time and can relate.
Love your work bench design. Looking forward to seeing that Ford truck in the future.

 

[sublime68charger]

Greta work so far!

I'm also on a budget build.

I have 3 keys, to make things happen.
Time,
Money,
Ambition.

When I have time to work on the garage, I don't have the ambition or money to buy things to finish it out.
When I have money to spend on the garage, I don't have the time or ambition to put the materials in place.
When I have the ambition to work on the garage. I don't have the money to spend on stuff or the time to work on stuff.

Though I make slow and steady progress. Heck it took me all summer to get the soffit installed and trimmed out.

Any great work and keep up with your updates!

 

[don long]

Hi BD
I just discovered your thread tonite and read through it.
I like the way you present your story with pictures and that large bench is just what i need to start setting up my wood shop I believe It's just about the same size as yours and that box under bench idea is very cleaver. Ill be checking in from time to time to see whats new

Thanks
Don

 

[bdbecker]

I built another couple sets of legs last night and took a few pics along the way. I tried to give a little detail on assembly without going too in depth - let me know if there are any additional questions.

For each section of legs, you'll need three 8' long 2x4's. Following the cut sheet below will result in minimal drop/waste.

View media item 65271
You'll end up with four boards at 38" which set the height of the bench, two boards at 28" which set the depth of the bench, and four boards at 15.5" which fill in the middle layer. These dimensions can be modified to suit your needs.

View media item 65272
Attach a 28" board to two 38" boards. Use a speed square to help ensure that the boards are flush.

View media item 65273
Next, attach the 15.5" boards. I use a pair of quick clamps to hold the boards flush, and give them a few taps with a mallet to ensure its butted against the 28" board.

View media item 65274
Install the second 28" board, followed by the second set of 15.5" boards.

View media item 65277
After the 15.5" and 28" boards have been installed, install the second set of 38" boards. Again, use the quick clamps to keep the boards flush with each other.

View media item 65275
That's pretty much it. I use 3" screws pretty liberally throughout the assembly process. You have to be careful to not go too deep with them, 2.5" would work well. Glue would also make the assembly stronger, but I didn't use it - we'll see if that makes a difference or not.

View media item 65276
Like I said, if there are any specific questions, just ask!

 

[oldironfarmer]

Good walk through, thanks!

Great job! Nice to see you screw up your work!

 

[Aroberson77]

Nice write up, I think Im gonna steal your design for my bench!

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[bdbecker]

Thanks guys! All are welcome to use that design and/or put their own spin on it.

Here's what the legs in the write up were for:

View media item 65284
Another 8' section ready for steel. Hopefully I can find time to cut down and clean up the last sheet tomorrow. I think this section will be great as a desk/task area leaving the big bench free for projects. I think the corner area will be a good spot to stash an air compressor underneath since it won't really work for cart storage. All in all, I am really excited about how this is all coming together!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Just wondering how your new bench top work doing wood work on it??

Top job..

Regards

 

[bdbecker]

It worked well. This was the perfect project to try it on because it didn't really matter if there was any oil transferred onto the boards, but I did not notice this happening at all. The steel really dried up over the week. I can still see it happening I put a fresh coat on the day before, but after a few days, the residue goes away.

 

[1/2 Cup]

It worked well. This was the perfect project to try it on because it didn't really matter if there was any oil transferred onto the boards, but I did not notice this happening at all. The steel really dried up over the week. I can still see it happening I put a fresh coat on the day before, but after a few days, the residue goes away.

That's great as I know you were concerned about it..

 

[walt111]

Is it ok to say nice legs to a fellow male ? I might try to emulate your leg work for my shop if it ever gets built. As in the old TV show kung foo soon grass hopper.
walt

 

[51rider]

Nice job on the garage and on the bench in particular
Have you thought about using a paste wax on the steel instead of oiling? You wouldn't have any worries about transfer issues and should enable easy cleanup too.

Keep up the good work

 

[TMcCay]

BD, See if your Woodsmith store has a product called Slip-IT. It has been around forever and is made for steel tops like tablesaws but will not transfer to you wood. A small can (mine is a pint) last forever. It will stop the rusting of you bench top but things will slide across that steel very easily.

 

[bdbecker]

We'll call it done for now (I know I've said that a few times already).

View media item 65315
All in, the total project cost came in right around $250. That works out to just over $4 per square foot of workbench space. Subtract $80 for steel, cut off wheels, and a new HF grinder to replace the one I smoked during this project and it brings the cost down to $170, or $2.74 per square foot to build a plywood topped version of this bench - not bad, all things considered.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Nice, real nice infact..

On time and under budget, well done..

Regards

 

[LOTW]

Looking good! I too suffer from your same ailments and am working at just digging in and doing it. Keep it up, it's turning into
A great garage!

 

[oldironfarmer]

What a transformation you've made in your garage

Keep up the good work!

 

[bj383ss]

BD,

Just read through your thread. You have come along way and made some great progress. I know you've heard this a 100 times already. I really like your thought process and I too suffer from the same analysis from time to time on projects. I hate doing things twice or a redo but sometimes that's the way it goes if you don't have the time or the money or both.

I am really liking the layout you are setting up. The new workbench is going to be amazing. You will be able to have a big project going or several small ones at the same time.

Looking forward to when the truck comes home. That will be a great day for you.

Keep the updates coming very entertaining to follow.

Bret

 

[bdbecker]

First and foremost, thanks again for all the encouragement and suggestions guys! I was going to try and address everyone's comments directly, but it would have been a long post, so I'd make some general statements instead.

The F100... I am really looking forward to getting it down here and in the garage, but you know how life can be sometimes. It feels like only yesterday I was prepping the house for the 4th of July party and now we're getting ready for Thanksgiving!?! What happened to the last 5 months? At this point, I'm not exactly sure that it will make it down here for the winter. Oh well, its in a safe spot. Besides, my Sportster really needs to be freshened up, so that might make for a better winter project while I'm still getting the garage situated.

Concerning the coating on the steel top... while I genuinely appreciate all the suggestions, I suppose I should clarify that I'm not really all that worried about it. If I were only using it for woodworking or light duty tinkering, I would probably put wax, epoxy, or some other product on it. However, since I'm kind of into all sorts of stuff, I don't want to have to worry about something like an oily engine part ruining the wax job on my bench top. What I like about the WD40 route is that if I get it greasy or rusty or whatever, its nothing a little engine cleaner and a wire brush can't fix.

In case anyone is wondering what is next on the agenda, Wife has been asking me to help her get her craft room setup lately. She has been so supportive of me doing all this work in the garage that I really need to make that the next priority. Who knows, maybe she'll get some "BD bench legs" under her craft table! I've also started researching ideas for long stock storage and think I have a pretty decent solution in the works. I can't say when any of this is going to happen with the upcoming holiday season, only that it will happen when it happens, and I'll try to take a few pics along the way.

 

[-Brent-]

I like the rolling cart storage idea. The bench came out well, too. It's a long one. While some of us (me, maybe I'm the only one?) are going smaller on benches... then this beast comes along.

What I genuinely like about this bench is that you don't have all that much money into it and it's nice set-up, too. The score on the steel was huge and lumber, screws and stain are inexpensive. So, you got some serious working real estate for a bargain.

 

[bdbecker]

I finally found the "before" pictures back. I wanted to track these down and get them posted a few days ago when it was my 1 year GJ anniversary, but I was busy trying to finish my workbench (reasonable excuse, right?). These pics were taken last December but I didn't get serious about cleaning up my space until late June. It actually got worse before I finally decided that enough was enough.

View media item 65353
View media item 65352
View media item 65351

 

[-Brent-]

Crazy! You'll never be that guy again.

 

[Hephaestus29]

Between work and getting the house/yard ready for winter, I didn't make a lot of progress on the garage or workbench this last week. We also decided to take a last minute trip to my folks' over the weekend. Can't complain too much because I got to spend all day Saturday pheasant hunting with my Dad. The best part of the day was when we hunted the farm that my Dad grew up on. I'd never had the opportunity to hunt it because the previous owners wouldn't grant permission to anyone. The farm sold a year or two ago and my Dad asked the new owners if we could hunt it and they said no problem. The icing on the cake was that I shot two birds! A great memory, that's for sure...

View media item 65017

With those sunglasses on, I thought you were Hank Williams Jr.
for a minute.

 

[bdbecker]

Crazy! You'll never be that guy again.

A year ago, I never thought I could be one of those "clean garage" guys, but its happening!

With those sunglasses on, I thought you were Hank Williams Jr. for a minute.

Thanks! Now if I could just write some awesome songs and learn to play the guitar....

 

[oldironfarmer]

Thanks! Now if I could just write some awesome songs and learn to play the guitar....[/QUOTE]

There are other traits you could mimic

 

[airmissle]

Nice build! Subscribed.

 

[Vieux]

Great job! Spent a lot of effort, but it was worth it! Subscribed

 

[bj383ss]

That is great progress BD. Just imagine when you compare this year's pic with next years pic. I'm sure it will be even better.

Have a good T-day.

Bret

 

[Cable]

That bench is incredible, really nice job!
I have an old steel desk in my office that I pulled the linoleum off the top to expose the bare steel. I wire brushed a pattern into it and almost immediately it started rusting. I put this stuff on it like three years ago and have had zero rust on it since. http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/krud-kutter/rust-remedies/the-must-for-rust-rust-remover-and-inhibitor

 

[Mason007]

Nice work brutha! That work bench is a beauty. Enjoy the music shout outs as well, saw shakey graves when he was in town with city and color, good show.

 

[bdbecker]

There are other traits you could mimic

Already tried living that kind of life, don't care to go back.
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Nice build! Subscribed.

Thank you!
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Great job! Spent a lot of effort, but it was worth it! Subscribed

I read through some of your build thread over the holiday break, all I can say is wow... you do amazing work!
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That is great progress BD. Just imagine when you compare this year's pic with next years pic. I'm sure it will be even better...

Thank you. Its really bizarre to look back on those old pics. In a few years, I'm sure the place won't be recognizable.
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That bench is incredible, really nice job!
I have an old steel desk in my office that I pulled the linoleum off the top to expose the bare steel. I wire brushed a pattern into it and almost immediately it started rusting. I put this stuff on it like three years ago and have had zero rust on it since. http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/krud-kutter/rust-remedies/the-must-for-rust-rust-remover-and-inhibitor

Thank you! Do you have any pics of the steel after treatment? Did it change the color at all? Was there any residue? The main reason I'm sticking to oil for now is its just simple to touch up when compared to wax or epoxy coatings. If that is just something I could wipe on and forget about, I would be very interested.
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Nice work brutha! That work bench is a beauty. Enjoy the music shout outs as well, saw shakey graves when he was in town with city and color, good show.

Thanks! I would really like to see City and Colour as well, he keeps popping up on my Pandora station.
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Speaking of music... the reason I haven't been posting albums for the last few months is because my darn stereo stopped reading CDs so I've been pretty much stuck to radio stations and Pandora. I tried all the tricks in the book short of taking the thing apart to see what is going on. If its not a simple fix, it'll be time to retire the old girl. While I don't mind radio or streaming services, there's just something about listening to a good album from start to finish that can just completely change your mood.

Dang it... now I have to take the stereo apart tonight and see if I can get it fixed.

 

[Cable]

Thank you! Do you have any pics of the steel after treatment? Did it change the color at all? Was there any residue? The main reason I'm sticking to oil for now is its just simple to touch up when compared to wax or epoxy coatings. If that is just something I could wipe on and forget about, I would be very interested.

Here is a couple pics. Don't mind the mess!

You can see on the close up a ring where I set my coffee, only really rusty spot on it. Dont get me wrong, If you let water sit on it, it will rust, but it seems to keep it clean otherwise. Like I said, it has been a few years since I applied it. If you do decide to go this way, be warned: this stuff STINKS!!

 

[bdbecker]

Here is a couple pics. Don't mind the mess!

Lol... you saw the 'before' pics of my garage, right?

Thanks for the pics! I did some more research on it last night and watched the video on it. I might have to give that a try next spring (they recommend 70+ degree temps for application, we probably won't see that until next April/May).

 

[oldironfarmer]

Old fashioned lacquer works too, or the Rustoleum clear spray. It won't help in high traffic areas, but most of the bench will never really get hard usage. The hard use areas don't rust anyway.

 

[bdbecker]

Why pay $50 for something you can build for $5? Wife wanted a place to hang Christmas stockings that would be out of reach from a curious 1 year old. She's also wanted a coat hook inside our front door. So I made a coat hook last night using some stainless barstock pieces and a 1x pine board I had lying around. Two birds, one stone!

View media item 65521
View media item 65522
Norma Jean (Newfoundland-Labrador mix) always finds the best spot for taking naps. In this case, next to the heater, right in the middle of where I'm trying to work. I love that mutt...

View media item 65523
I also started work on on the first workbench storage cart, more to come on that...

 

[oldironfarmer]

Always a plus to use your garage to do something for the wife

Looks nice, too!