I recently added diagonal braces to the sides and back of my metal workbench (sheet metal, bolted-together type) and the increase in rigidity was amazing. I knew the wobbling top was because of a lack of rigidity (as the bench was weighed down significantly) and the solution to it but had been putting it off for a while. Finally did it and I wish I'd done it sooner.
I used steel banding with turnbuckles so I could lightly preload the straps once the bench was level on all four legs on the non-flat concrete floor.
I also put carriage bolts into the holes in the feet of the bench (tightened on with nuts on the back) so the legs make firm contact in the centers of the wood blocks that they sit on, which seems like a good way to do it to me.
I am perplexed why all commercial benches and even shelving don't come with diagonal braces. For such small extra mass (material) they completely transform a workbench.
Hopefully more people will realize how important structural bracing is (think water towers, bridges, power poles etc) and put special emphasis on it in their workbench builds, instead of focusing solely on super heavy legs, which often don't contribute even a fraction of the stiffness that a very light strip of material does in the form of a diagonal brace.
I hope this helps somebody figure out why their bench top wobbles back and forth every time they are doing something as light as hand sanding.
I'd like to see other peoples' workbench braces and what they think of doing this to benches.
I used steel banding with turnbuckles so I could lightly preload the straps once the bench was level on all four legs on the non-flat concrete floor.
I also put carriage bolts into the holes in the feet of the bench (tightened on with nuts on the back) so the legs make firm contact in the centers of the wood blocks that they sit on, which seems like a good way to do it to me.
I am perplexed why all commercial benches and even shelving don't come with diagonal braces. For such small extra mass (material) they completely transform a workbench.
Hopefully more people will realize how important structural bracing is (think water towers, bridges, power poles etc) and put special emphasis on it in their workbench builds, instead of focusing solely on super heavy legs, which often don't contribute even a fraction of the stiffness that a very light strip of material does in the form of a diagonal brace.
I hope this helps somebody figure out why their bench top wobbles back and forth every time they are doing something as light as hand sanding.
I'd like to see other peoples' workbench braces and what they think of doing this to benches.
Last edited: