Hi,
Does anyone on here have any plans for a good solid workbench? The bench will be fixed in my outhouse (3m x 3m) and will go along one 3m long wall. It will be used for all types of DIY jobs and will have an engineers vice attached to it so it needs to be strong. I was thinking of making the frame out of 4x2 and using 18mm ply as the top - though I am open to suggestions and interesting ideas!
TIA
Gerry
|Hi, | |Does anyone on here have any plans for a good solid workbench? The bench |will be fixed in my outhouse (3m x 3m) and will go along one 3m long |wall. It will be used for all types of DIY jobs and will have an |engineers vice attached to it so it needs to be strong. I was thinking |of making the frame out of 4x2 and using 18mm ply as the top - though I |am open to suggestions and interesting ideas!
B&Q have quite good flat pack wooden workbenches at about GBP 40. I assembled mine with wood glue as well as the screws provided. Then glued and screwed ply on the back and sides which made it really strong. Then doors on the front made a really useful bench.
I made mine out of re-claimed timber from an old house being demolished - using 4x2 joists for the frame and 6x1 (non-t&g) floorboards for the top.
The frame is bolted to walls on 3 sides, so it only has one leg - very near to where the vice is mounted.
I made frames of discarded CLS timber ( 38mm x 89mm, slightly under 4x2 ) which is nicely finished with rounded edges.
I designed the frame for a bench depth of 600mm, and a finished working height of 900mm, after comparing the working height of several benches I have used. I found 1100 too high for lifting heavy stuff on and off, and
900 just about right. Some people may find that a bit low, and prefer 1000. Each to their own.These were placed at 1m spacing, ( 5 in total, 4m long bench ) with long strips of the same timber at the front and rear at the top, to maintain the spacing and provide support for the surface. This frame was screwed to the back wall and the floor.
For a surface, I used 2 thicknesses of 18mm WBP ply glued together, topped with a thin sheet of MDF tacked town which can be replaced when it starts to look tashed. ( A single sheet of ply can be cut lengthways to give 2 sheets which can be further trimmed to 600mm ) This was finished with whatever spare varnish I had laying around.
Then I used a strip of hardwood along the front to tidy up the exposed edge of the ply.
The frames also have additional front-rear struts at around a foot from the ground, providing support for a full-length shelf of single thickness 18mm ply.
If the bench is going to get light use, a single thickness of ply may be good enough for the top, but with the vice you mention, I'd go with double thickness myself.
I made frames of discarded CLS timber ( 38mm x 89mm, slightly under 4x2 ) which is nicely finished with rounded edges.
I designed the frame for a bench depth of 600mm, and a finished working height of 900mm, after comparing the working height of several benches I have used. I found 1100 too high for lifting heavy stuff on and off, and
900 just about right. Some people may find that a bit low, and prefer 1000. Each to their own.These were placed at 1m spacing, ( 5 in total, 4m long bench ) with long strips of the same timber at the front and rear at the top, to maintain the spacing and provide support for the surface. This frame was screwed to the back wall and the floor.
For a surface, I used 2 thicknesses of 18mm WBP ply glued together, topped with a thin sheet of MDF tacked town which can be replaced when it starts to look tashed. ( A single sheet of ply can be cut lengthways to give 2 sheets which can be further trimmed to 600mm ) This was finished with whatever spare varnish I had laying around.
Then I used a strip of hardwood along the front to tidy up the exposed edge of the ply.
The frames also have additional front-rear struts at around a foot from the ground, providing support for a full-length shelf of single thickness 18mm ply.
If the bench is going to get light use, a single thickness of ply may be good enough for the top, but with the vice you mention, I'd go with double thickness myself.
I built mine in a corner of a brick-built garage using 2"x4" floor-joists as battens along the walls and a 4"x4" fencepost bolted to the floor with a MetPost flange at the open corner, supporting a frame made of similar 4"x4", with a section of kitchen worktop on top of that, then my dad's old steel 6" vice sited right over the leg and bolted through everything. That's not going anywhere.
Everything else in the garage is Spur shelving, including a reasonable-sized table next to the workbench (braced to the wall with a ratchet tie-down), which can be adusted to most convenient standing or sitting height and comes out completely if I need side-access to the vice.
Finally, a nice coat of blue garden-furniture paint on all woodwork & MDF. Then pile on a load of junk over every surface which means I haven't actually used the workbench for at least a year.
Hope that helps, Al.
My bench is made of 2"x2" angle iron with a 3" thick ply top covered in vinyl. It has a triangulated mounting for a vice and a nice cupboard and drawers. It weighs a "ton" and cost me a fiver at an auction, plus a case of lager for the van driver who brought it to my house. Unless you're desperate to build one yourself, hie to your local auction house and see what they have - mine (Peacocks of Bedford) regularly has the contents of small engineering & carpentry businesses for sale. (Sadly).
Thanks to all who replied for your ideas!
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rec.woodworking
They have sites for showing of their bits&pieces. ;-)
I made five, about 20 years ago, using 9" x 2" joinery quality timber for the top, on 4" x 4" legs, with 4" x 2" bracing. The top was also fixed to the wall with angle brackets. If I didn't need to take them down for the space, they would certainly last another 20 years.
Colin Bignell
Don't build it along a wall. Build it so you can get around three sides of it. Much easier to move around the bench that move the object you are sanding, painting, building etc.
Now thats a workbench but does it get used. ;-)
I reckon he's a retired Surgeon. lol
Found this one. ;-)
The message from "The3rd Earl Of Derby" contains these words:
Mine's a bit similar. Legs are 4" fenceposts that were sold as damaged ones and picked up for a nominal sum. The worktop is a kitchen worktop, sold cheap because it was deeply scratched in several places. It's supported by fence posts running the entire length. I've screwed a plywood facing on it as I imagine it's probably a little kinder to the drills that come through work and into the work surface. The vice is quite a big one and gets a load of abuse, so there's some re-inforcement below it's mounting points, but I suspect that I was being overly cautious.
All the bits are held together with big bolts courtesy of Messrs Screwfix.
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