work benches... from scratch

[mustanginky]

love this thread, subscribed just to take a look later on!

 

[dittle fart around]

View media item 10146
Here's mine. Built from recycled soccer goal posts. That's the wife playing the part of Vana White. Check out this post for more workbenches

 

[mustanginky]

thanks to this thread, i got off my **** today and made this:

not big at all, however, i have a small garage so it will at least give me a nice space to place things and work.

 

[dittle fart around]

From the look of the can this is a poured on paint job.

 

[peelman]

Sans primer, that might have been the most efficient method...

 

[mustanginky]

From the look of the can this is a poured on paint job.

no i rolled it on, that's just where it ran on the edge of the can when i dumped it into the pan to roll it out. probably not the best paint but i had it at home lol.

 

[wolflrv]

check at Lowe's or probably Home Depot too, for those plastic pourable paint can lids. I use them all the time and have no "messes" or wasted paint. They can be scrubbed clean and reused. Very handy!!

 

[mustanginky]

when i was at lowes getting materials, i didn't think of that. yes i should have gotten one. i had the paint laying around with some spare rollers and the tray and thought to myself, ehh, i'll just throw a coat of paint on it. probably wont last that well anyways.

 

[Brentocool]

 

[ert01]

Here's my progress from last night.

It's 5' x 3' and 34" high made from mostly beetle kill wood. Not exactly the hardest wood out there but cheap and it looks nice (for now).

The legs are 2x6's that were planed down and glued together. A piece of all-thread at the top and bottom of each leg helped clamp it together while the glue dried.

Top is some of the nicer pieces of beetle kill wood I had that I planed down a bit to show the grain more and get a smoother top.

I still need to brace the legs on the long sides... Not sure wether I want to do a little triangular bracing up high on the legs or wether I should continue to wrap the low bracing around and make a shelf on the bottom. I kinda like it without storage for now because it will be much easier to clean around and will attract less clutter.

I think the grain will come out nice once I oil it a bit. Sorry for the cellphone pics

 

[mdbeck1]

...
I still need to brace the legs on the long sides... Not sure wether I want to do a little triangular bracing up high on the legs or wether I should continue to wrap the low bracing around and make a shelf on the bottom. I kinda like it without storage for now because it will be much easier to clean around and will attract less clutter.

I have one that is of a similar style. I wrapped the low bracing all the way around and put a shelf there. Later when I bought a HF scissor cart I found out that I could use the low braces and the scissor cart to move the bench around. Since then I've modified several things to be moved with the scissor cart. It saves my back.

 

[oeyniman]

here is mine
size is about 1200x500mm (i.e.: appr.4' x 1'7,68'')
no, I did not fabricate it ( credit goes to someone long time ago)
But it's definitely built from scratch.

I bought it around 2001 from a sale-out of my once employer HASSIA in Germany, they tore down some old building parts and wanted to get rid of it.
The company was officially found in 1953, two years earlier, they started developing packaging machies as a 2-3 man show.
This bench was made in-house in the early 50's from the looks, colours and the way it is made - so it is about 60 years old by now.
The 'dove-blue' (i.e.: light blue) seems to be the original colour, the 'industrial-green' (very common in the 70's in Germany) was applied at a later time (and will definitely get Jack Olson's approval - I guess).

I love it to bits, as it is as functonal as I wish a bench to be.
comes with 3 wooden drawes, no bearings, just slides
one sided door, holding 5 Tanos systainers at least

I increased the overall hight to suit my own frame ( 1,93m = 6' 3,98'') by drilling threads into it's feet and attaching rubber buffers to level the bench out as well

the thing is heavy as hell and it takes 2 men to carry it away (little step at a time style)

the dark-blue thing is a drawer-like slide with plenty of partitions for 'the little bits and pieces you never know when to come in handy in life'.

 

[buzz4041]

here is a shot just after the build and a recent one.

 

[A**holes Garage]

 

[fergus]

^^^ super nice bench a**hole!

 

[demographic]

Very nice indeed.

 

[A**holes Garage]

^^^ super nice bench a**hole!

Very nice indeed.

 

[oeyniman]

... gotta lov'em
Great job

P.S.: that's a Corvette, right?

 

[A**holes Garage]

... gotta lov'em
Great job

P.S.: that's a Corvette, right?

Thanks, yes

 

[graybeard62]

A thought to consider if your workspace is an attached garage...
Any bench that is attached to a wall for added stability will tranfer the sound from the bench to the wall. So the sound of hammering or grinding will be readily transmitted into the house for all to "enjoy"!

 

[oeyniman]

A thought to consider if your workspace is an attached garage...
Any bench that is attached to a wall for added stability will tranfer the sound from the bench to the wall. So the sound of hammering or grinding will be readily transmitted into the house for all to "enjoy"!

That's not the only reason, I guess.
During my apprenticeship, I've learned that no real workbench is to be bolted on to a wall, no matter what bolt or anker, it will come loose, sooner or later.
But in those days (30 years ago, that is), we used the metal saw and the files a lot - not to be forgotten.

 

[bri0057]

Here is my sort of built from scratch work bench. The cabinets were out of a Hospital and have full ball bearing drawers. CL $100, The top is a solid oak door out of a law firm. CL $25. The vise was a nice garage sale find at $25.

 

[Emery]

Here's mine. It's a simple 2x4 frame with 2x6 legs. Top has 3/4" plywood and is covered with 14 gauge stainless steel.

The cabinet on the bottom came from an old kitchen cabinet that I cut down about 5" to fit and added concrete float handles.

 

[peelman]

Here's mine. It's a simple 2x4 frame with 2x6 legs. Top has 3/4" plywood and is covered with 14 gauge stainless steel.

The cabinet on the bottom came from an old kitchen cabinet that I cut down about 5" to fit and added concrete float handles.

Love it. The float handles look very shop-y, I like that a lot. Really really hoping somebody is in the middle of a kitchen renovation if/when we ever get around to putting up a shop...

Love the Gladiator cabinets too.

 

[williamkwong]

I just spent all morning looking at the photos on all 34 pages

I am going to make my own soon. Just a simple 2x4 design. However, I wanted to use the bottom as a closed cabinet area. For the sake of money, I wanted to do sliding doors using masonite board.

I was wondering what the best railing would be? I have seen prefab plastic ones...but I figure I can cut a groove into a piece of wood and have it slide that way. Any comments?

 

[Jack Olsen]

The railing can be as simple as a 2x4 with some grooves cut in it. Make the top groove taller, so you can lift the door up and install/remove it. Make the grooves a little bit wider than you think you need to allow for any eventual warp in the 2x4.

 

[williamkwong]

Thank you!

 

[CraigP]

I built a bench months ago based on everything I had read here and the input of a good buddy. I need to get some pictures and measurements up for you guys. It's the only fair thing to do.

 

[bazzateer]

For rails for sliding doors you could also laminate several pieces of wood together to create the recesses if you don't have access to a router or similar tool.

 

[srmofo]

The railing can be as simple as a 2x4 with some grooves cut in it. Make the top groove taller, so you can lift the door up and install/remove it. Make the grooves a little bit wider than you think you need to allow for any eventual warp in the 2x4.

I actually attempted it this way the first time but the lumber kept swelling and twisting on me so I had to remove the doors. I have since sourced some of the aluminum and plastic track track for less than $20 from mcmaster. Its not the cheapest solution but the humidity and temperature is all over the place in Ohio.
I havent ordered it yet, but intend to when I finish filling my order of barn door track
I may give it one more shot with some seriously wide grooves and liberal amounts of wax.
edit- page 2881 btw

 

[Jindi]

Hi everyone, I'm a weekend warrior who likes to try and make things in my garage - "try" being the operative word here.

I recently tried to make a workbench after reviewing all of the great designs in this thread. I took a slightly different approach and used 4x6's, notched them out to receive 2x4 stretchers and used bolts to assemble the bench with 3\4" MDF surfaces.

I'm having difficulty with plumbing 1 set of 4x6's and I'm wondering if my deign is simply no good. I really want this to work as I love the look and mobility of the bench but I think I am out of my league here. If you have a moment, please take a look at the photos & let me know if you think this design is flawed.

Next step is to move the legs inside the framed 2x4's which will hopefully add strength.

BTW, I know it's "only" a workbench but I intentionally went overboard and over-engineered it just b\c I can. The whole thing has run me about $110. incl the casters from Rockler which is not too crazy.

Thanks

 

[sscustom]

def some great workbenches here!

 

[mjbdesigns]

Hi everyone, I'm a weekend warrior who likes to try and make things in my garage - "try" being the operative word here.

I recently tried to make a workbench after reviewing all of the great designs in this thread. I took a slightly different approach and used 4x6's, notched them out to receive 2x4 stretchers and used bolts to assemble the bench with 3\4" MDF surfaces.

I'm having difficulty with plumbing 1 set of 4x6's and I'm wondering if my deign is simply no good. I really want this to work as I love the look and mobility of the bench but I think I am out of my league here. If you have a moment, please take a look at the photos & let me know if you think this design is flawed.

Next step is to move the legs inside the framed 2x4's which will hopefully add strength.

BTW, I know it's "only" a workbench but I intentionally went overboard and over-engineered it just b\c I can. The whole thing has run me about $110. incl the casters from Rockler which is not too crazy.


Thanks

Definately has some character and does not look flimsy with those beefy legs.
I tend to over engineer/think things myself and when its all said and done any issues or mistakes I can pick most nobody else can unless I tell them. After a few rounds of Beers I eventually forget about them too and just enjoy the journey.

 

[Jindi]

Definately has some character and does not look flimsy with those beefy legs.
I tend to over engineer/think things myself and when its all said and done any issues or mistakes I can pick most nobody else can unless I tell them. After a few rounds of Beers I eventually forget about them too and just enjoy the journey.

Now that is exactly what my brother always tells me...especially the beer part . Thanks for taking the time to comment.

 

[mdbeck1]

Hi everyone, I'm a weekend warrior who likes to try and make things in my garage - "try" being the operative word here.

I recently tried to make a workbench after reviewing all of the great designs in this thread. I took a slightly different approach and used 4x6's, notched them out to receive 2x4 stretchers and used bolts to assemble the bench with 3\4" MDF surfaces.

I'm having difficulty with plumbing 1 set of 4x6's and I'm wondering if my deign is simply no good. I really want this to work as I love the look and mobility of the bench but I think I am out of my league here. If you have a moment, please take a look at the photos & let me know if you think this design is flawed.

Next step is to move the legs inside the framed 2x4's which will hopefully add strength.

BTW, I know it's "only" a workbench but I intentionally went overboard and over-engineered it just b\c I can. The whole thing has run me about $110. incl the casters from Rockler which is not too crazy.
...

It's looking good. Personally I like the workbench to be totally still while I'm working at it (especially when I'm bending a piece of steel in the vice with a BFH). However a secondary bench might be on rollers. I'd check the capacity of the casters and make sure that they can handle the weight. It wouldn't hurt to make sure that they also lock.

I've also become a big fan of the "receiver hitch" connection for vices, anvils, and lately my bench grinder. That way I can move tools around and out of the way when I'm working on different things.

 

[Courtney]

I found this site while searching for ideas for my workbench shelf (unfortunately, after I was already finish). Signed up initially to view some of the pictures. Now that I'm finish, I figured I'd post mine.

I started the workbench when I first moved in seven years ago:

Pre bench:

Workbench Build:

7 years later, still unfinished:

Shelf Build: (sorry for the cell phone pics!)

I'm still not finished.
I plan on doing fluorescent lighting in the pockets under the shelf, doing bench-top-to-shelf-bottom white board on the wall adjacent of the peg board, and suspending the PC LCD from the bottom of the shelf in the corner, mainly so I can push the keyboard underneath it and get it out of the way. Maybe when I get another kick in another 7 years.

Thanks,
Courtney

 

[iagsxr]

My bench build's somewhere towards the start of this thread. Just recently had time to finish up the pegboard and whatnot;

 

[BEAVO]

courtney wow nice shelf and bench......... i see an ohio plate are you from ohio?

 

[Krokodil]

Nice setup, Courtney!

 

[Courtney]

courtney wow nice shelf and bench......... i see an ohio plate are you from ohio?

Thanks. Yeah. Dayton. I've driven through your area (well, around) a few times when heading to Hocking Hills.

Nice setup, Courtney!

Thanks for the compliments.

Does anyone have any ideas of a paint/treatment/whatever I can apply to achieve that flat black, chemistry lab table look? Stain/absorption protection isn't a requirement, but would be an added plus.

Thanks.