What's your workbench look like?

[daveinind]

Here are my benches. One is an old work counter from the back of a Subway Restaurant from a friend when he remodeled. It has a formica butcher block top, an old Wilton USA vise I got from a garage sale for $7.00, a 8" piece of railroad rail as a small anvil (also a garage sale find), and an articulating architects light for a task light.

Nothing fancy, but I like it.

 

[sberry]

The set sink is nice. I have changed them out when dirty even, they are so cheap. I usually modify them to take kitchen faucet vs laundry. Didn't screw to the wall but did make a base to raise them and screw legs to it and a screw thru the leg to the sink. This one leans against wall, is plenty strong, the other one I have this way is free standing, with it screwed its good. As I mention you need to slightly modify for single handle kitchen faucet, I believe a hand grinder did it. Nice to be able to use back of hand or elbow, this is a shop feature I would be lost without. No easier way to keep the mess down than being able to wash right on the spot. Paper towels are a saver too.

 

[JMartel]

My $10 workbench. Got the cabinets free from work, and the top is a used solid wood door that I bought from the Habitat for Humanity store for $10. A little construction adhesive and it's good. Put the hole for the doorknob up front so I can just sweep everything through the hole and into a garbage can below.

 

[gmwelder86]

Heres my work area, not much but it kinda works for now.

Here is the old mans area, big into reloading and such

And his old snap on box from when he used to be a honda bike mech. All the metric is snap on as well and most standard, the rest is craftsman.

 

[onesight1]

(been posting my progress builds here:http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125436)

just sharing my bench:

temporarily using tape to hold 2x4's as a resting point for the bottom shelf

this thing is heavy duty!

Top is on: 3/4" cdx

1" hole cut at 12" and 24" marks from both ends of the tabe.
these holes will later be used in assisting the user remove the floating melamine top

and here we are.... finally done (with malmine top)..I figured I would use melamin because 1.) feels nice 2.)nothing really sticks to it 3.) I can simply remove and cut a new one to size after it gets all banged up and needs replaced.

now, I need to coat the bench in sanding sealer, then sand it and paint it "Gloss Smoke Grey" just like the doors and cinderblock.

 

[dittle fart around]

Looks nice you should have that for a very long time. Good job.

 

[dittle fart around]

Took apart my blown VW engine now the top of my workbench is soaked in oil. Something about driving a 30 year old air cooled motor without much oil in it that doesn't work that well.

 

[TEX1]

I made this a few weeks ago. 8'x30" Lean to off the wall for ease of front access. I used 1x6s for the "facia" so I could raise it up a 1/2" from the bench, that way the small items like screws and sockets etc.... don't make it the floor and up under neath something.

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[coffeebean]

here it is after a cleaning

 

[fury9]

this is mine currently a work in progress. Looking for ideas to make the top more durable... pic is from a cell so its not the best quality

 

[dittle fart around]

this is mine currently a work in progress. Looking for ideas to make the top more durable... pic is from a cell so its not the best quality

Tempered Hardboard (the same stuff pegboard is made from) is a great surface. 1/4" thick, easy to replace and cheap. If you want a more permanent solution nothing beats sheet metal. 14 gauge bent down to cover the edges of the plywood and up to form a back splash.

 

[fury9]

I was kinda leaning towards the metal myself

 

[Mikelc10]

This is my first post.., hope I do it correctly.
Here are a few pics of my new work bench. The first pic was the mess that needed to to cleaned up. I still have a little work to do but the major stuff is complete.

 

[fury9]

very nice change, Diggin the built in toolboxes too!

 

[kywildcat]

These are in the shop side of my garage. Holding up very well so far.

 

[Mikelc10]

Thanks fury9! BTW, that's not oil spots in my garage.., I pulled the wet car out before I took the pic.
Any ideas on a vise? Mount it on the bench or maybe some kind of a stand??

 

[fury9]

I would mount it on the bench just use some 3/16 flat stock or angle iron on the underside of the bench and make sure that whatever you decide to use that you use a solid piece for each pair of bolts, I mean don't just use little pieces on each bolt span the two bolts with a solid piece

 

[fury9]

as for a vise many would recommend a wilton but they can be pricey. get something that will suit what you know you will be holding,bashing,smashing,banging,re-shaping on. Wiltons are heavy duty and made in USA, big plus,but I have a palmgren rotary head vise and for the price i couldn't go wrong and I bought mine new.It works for me

 

[JimVonBaden]

Lowes cheapie. I use my motorcycle lift if I need to mess with something heavy, or hammer on it.

Jim

 

[Kevin54]

Here is the old mans area, big into reloading and such

How the heck does he find anything on there

 

[Scuba Steve33]

Nothing special but then again it is my first space and at 22 I don't think I'm doing too bad. Have to make due with what I have for now, the '70 Chevelle is taking up everything!!

My toolbox and most other stuff is on the opposite end. I wish I could have everything together but this works for now. I'm definitely going to build my own workbench eventually, the half shelf top is a decent size but nowhere as big as I'd like.

Yes, that is a branch holding the shop towels but it works flawlessly. Gotta improvise!

 

[mdbeck1]

How the heck does he find anything on there

I'll bet you an e-beer that the "old man" can walk right out there and pick up ANYTHING he's wanting.

Just don't touch anything before you make the bet. He'll probably whoop you.

 

[gtixpress]

Nothing special but then again it is my first space and at 22 I don't think I'm doing too bad. Have to make due with what I have for now, the '70 Chevelle is taking up everything!!

My toolbox and most other stuff is on the opposite end. I wish I could have everything together but this works for now. I'm definitely going to build my own workbench eventually, the half shelf top is a decent size but nowhere as big as I'd like.

Yes, that is a branch holding the shop towels but it works flawlessly. Gotta improvise!

I had the same shelves for my first bench as well. The only difference is that I used some 2x4s and made a bench top. That way I could pound on things and not damage the cheap fiber-board that it comes with.

 

[Jack Olsen]

I'm going to post an update. I recently got rid of the bench you see in this picture:

It was a tool box with a solid-core door on the top of it.

In its place, I wanted a bench with more storage (since the toolbox was only 18" deep, and left space behind it) and also to have a comfortable place to sit while working on smaller stuff.

I made the new bench out of a taller set of drawers that I chopped in half and added one false front where I put my air hose reel.

Here is the donor cabinet:

And here are some pictures from the transformation:

I re-painted and then had the chair re-upholstered for it. This is where it started:

In the process of building the bench, I also added a vise and replaced my old drill press. Here's the vise:

The drill press started out like this:

And ended up like this:

At the end of the whole deal, this is what it came out like:

 

[JimVonBaden]

I'm no leg humper, but damn Jack, that is nice!

Jim

 

[Scuba Steve33]

I had the same shelves for my first bench as well. The only difference is that I used some 2x4s and made a bench top. That way I could pound on things and not damage the cheap fiber-board that it comes with.

I was going to do something like that. I have a table with fold out legs that's pretty sturdy and can take a thrashing that I pull out if I need to do heavy work. Hopefully soon I'll have my own full built bench. For right now it gets the job done.

 

[mrbreezeet1]

I'm no leg humper, but damn Jack, that is nice!

Jim

yeah, it's beautiful.

 

[MeridianCreek]

3/4" steel top for fabricating. Receiver tubing in the corners for mounting tools (planishing hammer, shrinkers, beverly shear, vise, etc). It weight about 600 lbs





Any more pics of the drawer? Is that a custom design?

 

[MaxxDog]

Jack,

Is there a separate thread somewhere on the drill press refurb?

 

[Mmfh]

Nice Job Jack! That is one hell of a upgrade, nice upgrade on the drill press as well! I didn't read about what you used for the new work surface, looks like maybe a solid core door? Is it the same door as you used before?

The old picture showed a metal wrap around the edge of that table top, is that just steel that you bent to fit the door edge?

Again, nice work!

Mm

 

[crowesnest]

Here is a few pics of my workbench

 

[Jack Olsen]

I'm no leg humper, but damn Jack, that is nice!

Jim

yeah, it's beautiful.

Thank you very much.

Jack,

Is there a separate thread somewhere on the drill press refurb?

No. I just painted it and buffed out the metal parts. And re-wired it. And added a different kind of switch. And a new handle.

Maybe I should have done a thread on it?

Most of the details are in my main garage thread, starting right about here.

Nice Job Jack! That is one hell of a upgrade, nice upgrade on the drill press as well! I didn't read about what you used for the new work surface, looks like maybe a solid core door? Is it the same door as you used before?

The old picture showed a metal wrap around the edge of that table top, is that just steel that you bent to fit the door edge?

Again, nice work!

Mm

Thanks. I sold the solid core-door with the old tool box. For this bench, I sprung for a piece of Oak butcher block at Ikea. I knew I wanted to give a shape the edge of this bench so the chair wouldn't be sticking out and tripping me and also so I wouldn't be hitting a corner every time I leaned over to the Craftsman tool box stack. So the solid core door wasn't going to work for that -- it would have exposed the heart of the thing, which was basically particle board.

 

[Kevin54]

I just finished this up yesterday so I could mount my small lathe to it. I added some HF rollers to the bottom. I also mounted my vise that hasn't been mounted to a bench for years. I was going to use Masonite for the top but then figured if things were going to be bolted down, then I couldn't swap it out too easy, so I picked up two packages or laminate flooring. Easy to wipe off. And if I do any dirty work, I can toss the Masonite on top to do it. BTW....the table is 4'x8' so I didn't have to rip anything down other than cut the ends off of the flooring,

 

[Wingnut65]

Kevin, I love that workbench. That top is almost too nice to work on. I will seriously consider wood flooring for a work surface. Congrats. Nice lathe, too. Hoping to get the motor for mine fixed today.

 

[DoyleDee]

Jack, why red??? your shop looks so cool and old school/high tech that the green went so well.

Kevin, how's the shoulder?

 

[Plump]

It's a complete mess due to some drywalling and rewiring that I'm doing....not that's it's ever real clean.

This is the first bench I built when I bought my house. It's funny when you need to build something to build everything else. I would change a few things about it but a sold core door top makes it plenty strong, lagged into the wall studs to keep it stable.

I've got a lightweight bench on the adjacent wall for small projects, food line, junk.


Also a "bar" island that we watch games around, prep food, and hang out at. It's also my de facto cutting table for larger pieces since it's usually pretty clean and I can get something large actually on it! It's a mess since I'm doing some work in my kitchen right now. Excuses, excuses!

 

[mrbreezeet1]

Here is a few pics of my workbench

Is that a Logan Lathe?

 

[crowesnest]

No Mrbreezeet1 it is a Clausing 12x36 Quick change gearbox

 

[crowesnest]

Kevin Like the bench alot and that is a nice lathe you have there.

 

[crowesnest]

Jack like the way the bench turned out. Also hoping to pick up a rockwell drill press that is like the one you just done. It is on craigslist and i am going to look at in the next few days when we both could set it up. Dont think $65.00 is bad for it. Has some rust but not something that will not clean up. And i will say it again you have done a great job on everthing in your gargage. Scott