I'm putting together a bench for my shop. 36" x 16' so two sheets of 3/16 is what I was thinking. The high-tensile stuff is only about $15 more. Any reason not to use it? The surface will be for small diesel engine work, hydraulics etc. It is about to have a tb135 final on it as well as a Kubota d722. Thanks
I think you’ll be disappointed with 3/16” steel, I personally would use 3/8” or more. The thinner steel will be flimsy between the supports. I think there is a bench thread on here somewhere, you should look it up.
A nice thick "formica" top.. like a kitchen counter top.. easy to clean, soft enough to keep parts from getting marred. yet sturdy enough to take a beating.. {I don't know about you, but I've thrown the Mrs up on there quite a few times}..LOL. easy to drill holes in for a vise & what-nots.. in my case, a press, pop-tester & a wire wheel.. & they are inexpensive, come in any length & found just about anywhere.. Just a thought..
I just built a corner work bench and ended up using premade butcher block counter tops from Menards. They were $150 each and I coated them with three coats of polyurethane. These came 25" x 96" which works pretty good. They also had 36"x72". Thick, sturdy and clean easily with the poly finish. And if I get upset about the surface condition, sand and poly again later on. I have to custom make the corner section still, but I'll get to it eventually.
Thanks all! those butcher blocks look sweet but I will be welding etc. and would feel guilty on them. The cabinets i'm covering have formica. I think my two best options (although 1/2 inch sounds great) is A36 hot rolled 3/16 @272 or 4130 cold rolled @286 as long as the fab shop can bend the 4130.
How about something like our standard workbench..? 10mm (3/8") thick mild steel topped with polyurethane.
Wow.. that Butcher Block looks great!! & 25x96 for 150.00!!! Sweet..
I really like that. We just have mild steel 3/8 shop fabricated tables with sheets of rubber covering them I wouldn’t go high tensil strength steel Id just stick with mild steel.
If you're gonna make a steel top bench for welding be sure and have some overhang on the front side to allow for using clamps on the piece your working on.
After a bit more consulting and research I am lowering my expectations. Looks like 1/8" A36 for $140 a sheet. I may tackle a 1/2" welding specific table at a later date. Thanks for all the input
Yeah, like others have said I'd go for thicker if you can... but understand things get pricey quick have you checked out any of the local scrap yards? would be a lot cheaper then at the steel yard... as scrap steel is still pretty low here
Thank you
3/4" AR plate....with a Bullet. Ed
Nice bullet Bumpsteer curious question here.... why'd ya' put the vice so far inland? I've always mounted mine on a corner to keep em' out of the way... never had a need to be in further in.
Ya GOTTA have a place for your coffee cup Ron.. {water ring} Lol..
LOL, I see now the vice is a blocker to protect it.
The vise would be a gut buster mounted on the corner....also do smaller welding jobs on the open end. Ed
You may find this an interesting read. Maybe not. I will post a photo of the finished bench tonight. HeavyEquipmentForums
I had access to really good welding tables in the shops I used to work, either 1/2 or full 1" steel sheet so could weld work directly to them for stability. We then had solid wood top benches for machine work and a few old US of Army Quartermaster Corp thin ga steel benches with drain holes at center for wet oily messy work as transmissions or smaller engines.
I like to use tempered masonite for a bench cover. Screw/glue it down. Throw it away when it gets torn up and replace it. IMO 1/8 steel is to flimsy for a bench unless it is covering 2 x 12's.
Here is my bench waiting for it's top. Old salvage blueprint cabinets. Kinda bummed theres not much lip for clamping. Shopping for my very own bullet to top it with(looks good bumpsteer!!)
Nice ELK.. Lets talk about those lites.. LED? whats the lumens? How many is in there> are you happy w/ them & the amount of lite? How about that FLOOR!! Did you do it yourself?? is it a paint?
I like it, could always add a bench just to clamp to with all that room.
Thanks. I've been building the shop for 2 years. It's 30x40 and 12' walls. 12 four foot LED 2bulb fixtures with 1800 lumen 5k's. I could have gone with 2200 lumen and probably should have but I wired the shelf above the bench for 3 extra fixtures. The floor is epoxy, my first. 100% solids had a 30 min pot life so I used 77% solids with solvent for a longer pot life and easier application.
Alrighty EJ, good info, just what I wanted.. THANKS. Miller> that's just what I did.. scoured Craigs list & found a steel table w/ a vise for 100.00 & another guy w/ 4 or 6 old science class tables.. just to put things on.. grinder on 1, press on another.. pop tester on another.. & ofcourse enough room on all of them for "extra stuff".. {junk to most people}
That’s not extra stuff or junk, is spare parts and cores .
Nice looking shop elkjunkie! Ed
This isn't "tonight" but here are the photos of my finished bench. 1/2 inch plate top, 2 inch pipe legs, 1/4 thick angle iron for the shelf and 11 gauge sheet for the shelf surface.
Nice tinkerer thats stout. That 11 gauge is what I topped mine with. I have some 2" oak slabs that will serve me well for beating on stuff until I put together a real mans table and maybe find an anvil. BTW- hanging the extra fixtures under my shelf sure helped with my lighting.
I really like all those drawers ! The shelf with the lights under them is a good idea to. I'm to dam old to go up a ladder to get my chop saw when I need it tho.
Finally getting around to re-bushing the stick and wedge connector on my mini. My wife said "I knew I'd never see you once you got that shop done." The connector is taking some finesse for pin alignment with the new bushings.
I whipped up a shop table, it hangs on big L brackets made from 6 inch channel iron and through bolted on a concrete wall. The bench top is 1/4 hot rolled with 4 rows of 2x2 10ga steel running underneath longwise to stiffen it up, stitch welded. The bench was built the exact same height as the rolling welding table and as the modified overhead projector cart now work cart so that something can be set flat across a long distance if needed.
Ran it all along the one center wall and added some outlets later. Also filled in the corner with a single sheet that's removable.
Have to get my Shop bench configured now!!
Nice planning on the height! Are those 1/2" redhead anchors? I just put 4 in on a winch base for pulling sewer pumps. I was surprised with their strenth.
Better than redheads. Missed that the first time.
Some nice tables out there. Mine started as 3/16", but it proved too thin. Got it 2nd hand, so no loss. I was able to find a couple of 3/4 plates in some scrap that work very well for one end of it now. They already had several holes drilled and tapped. Come in handy for bolting down jigs and welding fixtures.
Though unconventional, the offset on the one side does come in handy occasionally. My vice location is good for keeping the main work surface clear, but not ideal for larger items. Grinder storage underneath in 4" pvc pipes. But, regarding the jigs I mentioned. Very basic, but effective. There is another piece of angle on the other side of the short piece. They are setup for a 90 deg corner.
The bottoms are 1/2 inch Red Head anchors, the tops are 1/2 inch threaded rod going all the way through the wall, crank that sucker up tight!