Yet another Harbor Freight 44" and side cab workbench / desk

[markeric]

Hi guys,

Been lurking here off and on for several years. Haven't posted much, but have learned a ton and have enjoyed stealing an idea or two over the years. Been working on getting my one car garage shop set up and decided to go the route that many others have in using HF boxes as the foundation for a workbench. My setup is a little different as I needed more of a hybrid workbench / desk, so I went with building leveling feet instead of a welded frame. I plan on using brackets on the boxes to hold the top on, along with a ledger board underneath screwed to the wall studs. I acquired two Craftsman 8' stainless steel workbench tops when they were being clearanced out. I dont have the tops installed yet as Ive just finished the 44" cabinet and a separate 18" side cab. Here is what I've come up with so far. As can be seen, I don't have 18" side cab feet painted yet

 

[NUTTSGT]

Looking pretty damn nice. Somebody is going to ask so it might as well be me....

Leveling feet, where did you get them ?

Keep up the good work.

 

[ptgarcia]

Looking good. I so want to do this one day.

 

[markeric]

Hey Eric,

J.W. Winco. They are damn expensive, but all stainless. All the other hardware is stainless as well except the Zinc bolts which I just reused from the casters

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EI2315M/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[rburke65]

Looking really nice !

 

[Lelandwelds]

Cheapest would be rivet nut with carriage bolt. Add another nut for a jam nut.

https://rivetsinstock.bmobilized.co...et-nuts-threaded-inserts/ribbed-l-series.html

 

[andrewordrew]

They're $14/each, that's not too bad considering the high quality, strength, and only having to mess with it once.

Well done Sir. The boxes & arrangement of the feet is nice. Looking forward to seeing more.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NUTTSGT]

Hey Eric,

J.W. Winco. They are damn expensive, but all stainless. All the other hardware is stainless as well except the Zinc bolts which I just reused from the casters

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EI2315M/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Thanks.

Not a bad price and you're paying for the investment up front at the beginning of the project. A year or two down the road and you forget about what the cost is.

 

[bgarrett]

I would go with stainless carriage bolts and jam nuts too.

 

[markeric]

I like those rivet nuts. I should have spent more time researching how to handle the blind threaded hole. If my welding stuff wasnt packed away in the shed I would have just welded a nut on the other side. The T nuts I used are designed for wood and I had to use #4 machine screws to hold them on. Pain in the **** installing those. Agreed there are cheaper ways to do this. Carriage bolts would work, but I like the vulcanized rubber on these leveling feet and they swivel a few degrees which helps on uneven floors

 

[xyster101]

Hey Eric,

J.W. Winco. They are damn expensive, but all stainless. All the other hardware is stainless as well except the Zinc bolts which I just reused from the casters

What is the purpose of spending the extra for stainless? Your garage flood a lot? I figure once they are set, they will be that way forever.

I do like what you have done. I just put my tool box on the floor with no wheels and built over it. It is a bit short for me, feet would have been a nice thing to do.

 

[PelicanPines]

Nice... can't wait to see final product... nice finishing skills. Too many just hack the setup and don't care what it looks like... you did it professionally ...

Possible NIFTY award ...

 

[Richard Cranium]

looks nice so far, waiting to see it set up.

 

[Firstram]

Love the feet!

 

[markeric]

Hey Guys

Thanks for the kind words. So had some time to get back to this. My first pass didn't work out so well. My garage slab slopes down from front to back requiring jacking the levelers up quite a bit on whatever cabinet is on the left hand side of the arrangement. This means that the levelers end up 2" to 2.5" and there was some detectable wobble. This is coming from the T nuts. I should have gotten the weldable nuts, but I was trying to avoid dragging my welder out since everything is in storage. I broke down and dug it out last night and I'm welding nuts to the undersides of the brackets and ditching the T nuts. A little repainting and I should be back in business

 

[NUTTSGT]

No big deal man, you live and you learn. Sometimes you can make all the plans you want but none work as well as putting things in motion.

 

[markeric]

Made some more progress this weekend. The welded nuts on the rear side of my brackets made for a much less wobble prone setup. I added some birch plywood to the tops and counter sunk the bolt heads. Other modifications to the boxes, removed the badges, removed the aluminum drawer pulls (stolen from another member), I also don't like the rubber detents on slides on these boxes as its difficult to gently open and close the drawers. On mine I took them out and took a razor and trimmed the top and bottom and then reinstalled them.
Next comes the rear brackets and the front feet

 

[phy6]

Looks great!! Totally different look with the aluminum trim removed.