Workbench idea

[dink]

In the new Family Handyman magazine they have a write up on a beautiful workbench

The thing I love about it is...its recessed against the wall

What are your thoughts about workbenches recessed on the wall instead of having legs?

 

[bmwpower]

What do you mean when you say it is recessed? Is it between 2 walls? How is it held up?

 

[Willy Victor]

It's really not recessed, it just doesn't have any legs. The whole thing is screwed to the wall. It's all mounted on a piece of 3/4 plywood. This thing looks more like furniture than a work bench. Way to fancy for me. Check it out in the Family Handyman. Starts on page60.

Willy

 

[mb190sl]

I am thinking about something similar. I want to be able to easily wash/sweep under the bench, and don't want legs. I will have to check out the issue.

 

[Orange72]

Yeah, I have the subscription to this magazine. It gave me an idea of a workbench I'm currently thinking up. I would do more than just screw the worktop supports to the 3/4 plywood. I will be using 2x4 screwed onto the front of that 3/4 and lag screw to the studs. Should help keep it solidly attached to the wall.

 

[Special55]

I also have a subscription and one of the issues earlier this year or late last year had a work station that had a flip down bench. The whole thing was about 12-18 inches deep. It looked like a huge cabinet on the wall and when you opened it up there was a ton of storage and a fold down work bench.

I'm considering something like that in my attached garage once the detached is finished. I want to keep everything portable in the detached.

Rich

 

[thefairlaneman]

Alot of people make the bench wider than they need. It shouldnt be any wider than 24 inches and stronge enough to mount a large vise. Every inch thats not needed in width is just one more inch taken from your valuable floor space. I made mine from 2/4s and used on the counter top the same OSB material that I used on the walls. If I damage it ,its easy to replace or just flip over.Also I used galvanised wood screws for 95% construction of the entire shop.Worth the extra time and exspense I think.

 

[TNToy]

I had a bench that was built just like the one orange72 posted the picture of.

Double up the 2x4s, or find SOME other way to reinforce it. When you pound on an object in the vise, everything hung on the wall fell off of it's nail onto the bench.

Wood studs flex a lot, and your 2-foot-deep bench gives the impact a lot of leverage.

Either don't mount a vise to that bench, reinforce the heck out of the wall... or put a leg directly under the vise. That's what I ended up doing.

 

[Orange72]

TNToy, thanks for sharing your experience with a bench constructed like this. The wall where the bench will be installed shares with the house and is of 2x6 construction. The house is a split level and those 2x6 studs are no more than 5ft tall. Maybe it'll work in my favor. It's already drywalled anyway. I'll see if I need to add a leg under the vise if it comes to that.

 

[Der Bugmeister]

With the wall being shared to the house, I'd be wondering how much extra noise will be heard inside when ypu pound on anything...

 

[Pops]

I'm with Der B, I think the noise will be delivered into the house. During the revamping of my garage, I had plans to build a similar bench. My walls are concrete blocks, so my plans were to use 2" square tubing and a galvanazed top. My biggest concern is mounting it to the blocks.

J.

 

[ZRX61]

If there is drywall or stucco on the wall: Do NOT attach a bench to it if you intend to utilize any kind of inertial adjusting devices against objects on the bench... unless you want to be spackling drywall &/or fixing cracks in stucco well into your retirement...

 

[TNToy]

Ick... what he said. If it's a clean assembly 'shelf' that'll never have a hammer anywhere NEAR it, it'll be fine.

If you intend to mount a vise to it, and it's a drywalled surface, don't even THINK about building it without legs going to the floor. You can still mount the back of it to the wall (I would)... But you can't put the drywall under that kind of compression force and expect it to hold up. You'll end up crushing the drywall between the bottom of the diagonal braces and the wall, even if you run a 2x4 all the way up the back of the bench to distribute the load.

 

[chet]

My house had a bench built like that on a common 2x6 wall between the garage and family room. Needless to say one session of changing u-joints made my wife mad. I built a new 4 legged bench on the opposite wall and used some angle iron clips to secure it to the wall to stop the bench from moving around. I can beat the living hell out of something on this bench and noone heres it in the house.

the design in FHM is purely a shelf.

 

[TNToy]

The design in FHM is purely a shelf.

FHM has workbench plans now? When does Maxim's new Garage Organization article come out?

( www.fhm.com )

 

[wrigh003]

My house had a bench built like that on a common 2x6 wall between the garage and family room. Needless to say one session of changing u-joints made my wife mad. I built a new 4 legged bench on the opposite wall and used some angle iron clips to secure it to the wall to stop the bench from moving around. I can beat the living hell out of something on this bench and noone heres it in the house.

the design in FHM is purely a shelf.

Yeah, but it's a nice shelf. IMHO, it's more along the lines of a nice bench to sit at and do ________ non-dirty/greasy task. For instance, if your hobby was working on models or building some small/fiddly thing, the bench would work pretty well for that. I am thinking about building one in our basement, since it'll transition from a project-car hole to a living space as I finish it out and add more/better access from our house.

My workbench is 2' by 4', built out of 2x4's and covered in MDF so I don't have to worry about it- this one I WOULD worry about, it's more garage furniture than work area.

 

[burger]

why wouldn't you want to have legs on a workbench? i'm half drunk and they still seem pretty logical to me.

 

[wrigh003]

why wouldn't you want to have legs on a workbench? i'm half drunk and they still seem pretty logical to me.

In theory you could sweep under it easier, I guess. I'll try to see if I can find it tonight and post up a picture of the thing. It's pretty neat, but not that useful to most folks that post on here. The tools they show with it were a miter saw, a benchtop table saw, etc., and it features a built-in shop-vac dust collector thing. I think this one's pointed more at the light-duty woodworker instead of the "let me throw this transmission u pon there and rebuild it" kind of guy.

 

[BoCRon]

Here's a pic of the bench from the magazine. Sorry for the quality, I had to scan it.
I really like it and am keeping the article with the plans for a "someday" project. I won't do the dust collection part since my husband has his own woodworking shop in the basement.
Annette

 

[PAToyota]

That is slick looking. That's the current FHM? Might have to pick it up.

Do they say how they did the lighting? Just bent plastic sheets in there?

 

[MyDomain]

That is in Family Handyman. The lights are bent sheets over flourescent tubes. Just saw it at Weis

 

[bmwpower]

Wouldn't the vise be more useful mounted on the front instead of the side?

 

[MyDomain]

It's a woodworker thing, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bench_dog

 

[Down Under Bloke]

With the wall being shared to the house, I'd be wondering how much extra noise will be heard inside when ypu pound on anything...

If the bench is fixed to, or hanging of the wall the answer is easy, ALL OF IT.

A simple way to find if it would be a problem: Wait for a quite time when everyone in the house is relaxing, then go into the garage pickup your favourite hammer and just start banging on the wall. Count how many times you hit the wall before something happens; never hit anything on your proposed bench more than that in 24 hours.

PS: Secure all firearms before attempting the above test

DOH I thought I was at the end, but was only halfway through the thread

 

[dboat]

FHM has workbench plans now? When does Maxim's new Garage Organization article come out?

( www.fhm.com )

I would like to see that issue!!

Dana

 

[Mattlt]

If the bench is fixed to, or hanging of the wall the answer is easy, ALL OF IT.

A simple way to find if it would be a problem: Wait for a quite time when everyone in the house is relaxing, then go into the garage pickup your favourite hammer and just start banging on the wall. Count how many times you hit the wall before something happens; never hit anything on your proposed bench more than that in 24 hours.

PS: Secure all firearms before attempting the above test

DOH I thought I was at the end, but was only halfway through the thread

Also, make sure there are no precious family heirlooms hanging on the wall opposite the garage wall. Sure as can be, they WILL be on the floor before long. Don't ask me how I know this.

 

[PAToyota]

Also, make sure there are no precious family heirlooms hanging on the wall opposite the garage wall.

Hmmm... Sounds sort of similar to my experience the other evening. I had a stack of plywood leaned up against a cabinet. On top of the cabinet was my drill index. I was hammering away when there is this crash. The plywood was heavy enough that the continued vibration was just enough to be the last straw and the plywood pushed the cabinet over and the drill index went onto the floor. Spent about twenty minutes looking at all the little numbers to get everything back in the proper order. Still have to sit down with a micrometer to get all the little ones in the proper holes...