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Work shop / garage bench ideas
mk85 - 25/4/16 at 11:43 AM

Am going to build my workshop bench and looking for ideas and seeing what other people have done.

Would anyone like to share pictures of theres please.

thanks

z2000 - 25/4/16 at 11:57 AM

I used pallet racking to make a very heavy duty workbench. It's fairly cheap to pick up and then you can either use wooden boards or pallets to build a top and shelves underneath. I'll try and dig out a photo if I can.

Matt21 - 25/4/16 at 11:58 AM

http://locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/8/viewthread.php?tid=203669

nick205 - 25/4/16 at 02:33 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Matt21
http://locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/8/viewthread.php?tid=203669



That's what I was going to do!

Just built mine with a frame of 4" x 2" timber I had to hand and a 2m sheet of kitchen worktop from Wickes @ £31.50.

Flat and stable and cheap as chips.

tims31 - 25/4/16 at 02:41 PM

Made mine and the draw unit from two sheets of 50mm plywood and the frame for the draws and other end of bench with 50x100mm timber, cost about £80 all in. Draw unit bolted to the wall and the top fixed to the draws and the frame on the end, very solid.

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[Edited on 25/4/16 by tims31]

nick205 - 25/4/16 at 02:54 PM

Nice work and liking the shelves as well. You can't beat a good shelf for storing stuff

ETA...by chance I put a shelf up over the weekend designed to hold the kids cycle helmets and removing them from the garage floor.

[Edited on 25/4/16 by nick205]

Slimy38 - 25/4/16 at 04:05 PM

I went to Wickes and bought two double kitchen cupboards that were pretty beaten up so got them for a few quid, then a length of wood for a worktop that was similarly bashed and similarly cheap. It does the job perfectly, and the dents and scratches are now so numerous I don't know what were there to start and what have been added by me!

joneh - 25/4/16 at 06:57 PM

Yup I used an old kitchen too

mark chandler - 25/4/16 at 08:19 PM

Make heavy, bolt to the wall and floor then stick on a big vice

I made one from scaffold planks, cost £5 each for some old ones which I braced, glued and bolted together on a welded scaffold tube base, bit ugly but very very strong.

One in my current garage is 1" tube frame, 2" angle frame around the top with 38mm chipboard let in to this.

I added some steel around where the vice bolts, the whole thing is bolted to the floor and wall, useful for welding as the earth clip just sits on the angle and having a strong angle surrond is useful to bash stuff on.

DanP - 25/4/16 at 11:34 PM

There is a nice style of homemade bench here that wraps around a tool chest:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=126086&highlight=toolboxes+workbench&page=3

Made my own here with some pre cut steel sections (just gave metal supermarkets my dimensions) that I welded up and painted:
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/750x/98/c1/3b/98c13b6b017b1d1d3332ecccc45ec0f6.jpg
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/750x/45/c7/d2/45c7d2a2356b757d51bba41071ecdd03.jpg

Cheers,
Dan

[Edited on 25/4/16 by DanP]

Bluemoon - 26/4/16 at 06:38 AM

quote:
Originally posted by DanP
There is a nice style of homemade bench here that wraps around a tool chest:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=126086&highlight=toolboxes+workbench&page=3

Made my own here with some pre cut steel sections (just gave metal supermarkets my dimensions) that I welded up and painted:
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/750x/98/c1/3b/98c13b6b017b1d1d3332ecccc45ec0f6.jpg
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/750x/45/c7/d2/45c7d2a2356b757d51bba41071ecdd03.jpg

Cheers,
Dan

[Edited on 25/4/16 by DanP]


Nice, wish mine looked like that, don't have the time to keep it tidy can't see my work bench'; colour scheme is smart.

CNC looks interesting, kit or home brew?

DanP - 26/4/16 at 07:16 AM

Hi,

Thanks, you should see it right now, mess everywhere and engine on the floor! Got the bank holiday to get it tidy and get the kit back on the road!

The cnc plasma is a kit from the US called a Torch-mate, the Lathe (and now Mill) are Wabeco units with factory fitted manual and CNC controls with the electronics and software replaced with Mach3 and Gecko-drives.


Cheers,
Dan

dhutch - 26/4/16 at 09:17 PM

Dad build his bench, and its a cracker.

3*3 for the legs, and 3ft spacing, with 2*3 going front to back to make frames, top one of which is half-lapped in so the downward force acts directly on the leg not via the bolts (could likely have used large woodscrews these days), bottom one supports shelving, diagonal bracing comes from 5mm ply nailed to the frames and to the back. It then has stout angle brackets securing it to the wall all round.

For the top I would just inch plywood or the like which with something to stiffen the edge is likely enough for most jobs, if you are going to be a lot of hammering (woodwork) then its worth the spend to put a piece of 2*8 down the front edge which also gives you something to screw a woodwork vice up to and a metalwork vice down to.

There are some over-kill examples, but if its work working on, much better that than it wobbling at all.


Daniel