I've rented an airplane hangar to use as a shop and am setting things up. I need to build a workbench and am not sure on which way to go. The back side will be against a wall and most likely bolted to it. One end will have a good sized vise. I've seen where I can get manufactured legs but I'm not sure what would make the best top. I'm planning for it to be 8 to 10 feet wide, I have pegboard for behind it and could build shelving for frequently used tools and such. I'll be doing car and truck repairs mostly with some fabrication and want a solid bench that I can hammer on without fear. I'm wondering if a combination of wood and steel or all steel would work best?
Sounds like our local airport Steve . As long as the hanger has an aircraft in it they don't mind what else is stored or what ya do with it . I'd say you are on the right track with a wood bench mounted to the wall & laminate the top with 1/8 inch sheet steel . Something else to consider is a heavy floor mount vice if the hanger owner would allow it . https://www.pinterest.com/pin/545005992393125725/ Really like the ability to be able to walk around the vice on repairs & when welding / fabricating . My portable work table gets used more often then the work bench as I can slide it up right beside the project easy . HeavyEquipmentForums Anvil mounted on top of 3 brake drums works good for heavy hitting on stubborn projects . It's semi mobile ... At 400 pounds can slide it around on the concrete floor if need be . We haven't turned it over yet . I reckon a feller could also mount a heavy vice like we did the anvil . http://www.heavytruckforums.com/showthread.php?363-Ccc&p=3830&viewfull=1#post3830
I have both wood and steel benches in my shop, probably use the wood one most, but that's probably because its a little taller than the steel one. Steel for welding, wood one for everything else. I wouldn't use pegboard on the wall, its just not stout enough, the pegs always pull out. I'd stick a sheet of 3/4 plywood up there and drive nails or screws where you want to hang things up. That's what I have and it works great.
Thanks for the tips! Do you think 1/8" plate is heavy enough? I remember seeing a bench somewhere that I thought had 1/8" and was dimpled from hammering. I'm also wondering about how to make the top under it, a couple ideas hit me. I could stand 2x4 or 2x6 on edge and run a few threaded rods through them to clamp them together like a butcher block or another option would be 2 or three layers of 3/4 inch plywood with heavy framing underneath. I want the thing solid! An anvil is on my list of tools but damn they're not cheap!! A good sized one can cost $1000 or more and I'd imagine the shipping would be pretty high too!
The more benches the better , I think you should add a smaller one on wheels, easy to use and move around. I had a friend who has one that is so heavy it took a forklift to move. have fun.
Just depends how rough your going to get with it . Could go 1/4 " with it if your a wild blacksmith I like the idea of the 2x4's on edge . Could even use 4x6 posts . Customer came in Friday evening with a PTO shaft for u joint replacement . Had to get a little wild on it as caps were pretty tight . It was all done off the floor mount vice & anvil . Railroad rail makes a pretty good anvil as well . https://www.spaco.org/Blacksmithing/Anvils/RailAnvils.htm
My workbench I use is a free standing unit I made with 2x4 rectangular tubing legs and 2x3 tubing top frame with gusseting and a 1/2" steel top with a 8" vice on the right corner. I have used, misused and abused it and it won't quit.
What thickness is the tubing? Any feet on the legs?
The tubing was some kind of packing crate I cut up and reused, I seem to remember it was about 3/16" wall or so, not very thick really. I put no feet on it so the tube walls could sort of bite into the floor, it's not a slick floor, float and fresno it looks to be. I'll take a few pics tomorrow and post them.
Schedule 80 pipe or square tube for legs. Stringers mid height around the legs. Square tube is easier to run the stringers. A shelf fitted to the stringers is a great place to store short pieces of metal stock you just do not want to throw away. Plates on the bottom of the legs. 1/4 or 3/8 inch steel for a top 30 inches out from the wall. Make the height to accomodate your most comfortable working height. Mount the vice to a brake drum off of a semi truck. Fairly mobile but won't move around much. plus you have 360 degree access. There is a good video on you tube. Be sure to have a scrap metal bin you can move when full.
Pegboards were a stupid idea promoted by Popular Mechanics and other junk magazines, probably to sell pegs. I had one once, every time I grabbed an item off the pegboard, the peg flew across the shop. I agree with 3/4" plywood. I used ten penny casing nails at a slight angle. The small nail head made it easy to slide the tools off. Pegboard has no use whatsoever, as far as I'm concerned.
I agree with " the more benches the better" idea. There never seems to be enough space to work. I always have several things going and don't like to move one project to do another. Plus space makes for easier work. So we have lots of benches. Most have at least one vise on it. The main bench in the shop is 3x10 with 3/4 steel top covered in fomica. Tons of light above and cabinets on back, a few shelves and mag strips for driver bits, punches etc., vise each end. We don't hammer hard on it. It is strong and flat. Holds most anything. Great for assembly, rebuild work, most anything. Welding/fab bench came from an auction 2-1/2" steel top with 5" square tube legs. One vise, shelves and racks underneath for clamps etc. A few fab jigs live on top. Machine shop has wood benches with replaceable Masonite tops. Wood shop has mostly butcher block benches. A few thoughts. Have more light than you think you need. The bigger the vise the better. Fab/welding benches should be accessible from all sides for ease of work. If you can there are never enough electrical outlets. Compressed air should be available at the bench. Keep as much off the benches as you can - store things away from it. I'll try to get a few pictures on Monday.
3x10 is a great size and makes for a versatile bench. This one is my favorite. 1/4" top. Just heavy enough for most projects.
My main bench is 84" x 34" x 3/4 thick AR plate steel. Legs 2" square tube. Went with the thick top plate (salvage) so I could safely use my mag drill on it. The top is 2 pieces with spacers welded in so you can clamp work down through the slots. It doesn't move around. This was a "honeydoo" project..lol, needed straight holes for casters. Ed
I purchased a steel freestanding workbench from a metal fabricator. It is approx 12ft x 4ft and the top is 3/4" solid steel with beefy legs to match. Probably weighs a couple of tons It's fantastic for hammering anything on or clamping steel to a flat surface for welding or machining. Having a bench which is so solid is a delight to work on and I found a massive vise second hand to go with it. Being freestanding is good as it doesn't rattle the building like a bench attached to a wall and of course you can work on all sides. I can also use my magnetic drill on it anywhere which has been very useful. AusDave
I don't think you had enough drill!! Weld shop at work used 4x4 3/16" wall for legs, 1'2" for top so could weld to them for constructing whatever then grind the tack welds off to remove, average welding table 4x6' some 4'x4' 40-42" off floor. Legs had a 3/4" nut welded on a cap plate and a bolt run in after finished to level. Had conventional benches, 40" height, commercial legs and lower shelf 1/8" skin top, also a couple laminated 2x4 on edge tops on two others all at 8' long, 30" deep
Here is my bench in real world shape .
We made one out of 3'x5' trench plate we had sitting around its 1" thick we used 6" 1/4 wall pipe for legs it makes a good bench to beat on if I get a chance I will take a picture of it this week
I'm like others, in a mechanic/fabricator shop I like a thick steel top, 1/2 to 3/4 range. You can beat it, bang it, wail on it, weld on it, or set a heavy component on it and it says, mehh. Additionally, in my shop with several machines (could also be vehicles/trucks) scattered about, from the mechanic standpoint, I find (and use) a necessary compliment to the work bench is a rolling work cart. I use a simple Rubbermaid cart when working on a machine. At the end of the day I simply roll the cart laden with tools into my secure tool room and lock it up, next day roll the cart back to the project machine, and promptly unload the cart as soon as the project is complete because I swear I'll have damn near half my tool boxes unloaded on that cart and can't find a damn thing because there's so much on it. Beats all I've ever seen, a simple task unloads my tool boxes on that cart. Maybe I need psych evaluation?
Here is a picture of the work bench we built out of a trench plate I didn't get a picture of our beating table we call it
If you have a workshop, you must be knowing the importance of a portable workbench ,it also used to perform multiple tasks,If you need to operate power tools, you should be stationed closer to a power socket. Make sure that the legs of the portable workbench are perfectly located on the surface before you start to work.If you expect to use power tools on your workbench you will have to look for a bench that has features like inbuilt power sockets. You should have a good idea about the amount you are going to spend on a workbench.
I like to use doubled up 3/4" plywood for the top of a bench. I use 4x4's for the legs. 2x6's for a frame under the top. I have put well over 1,000lbs on this setup with out an issue. If you use a wood top for your bench the best piece of advice I can give you is to paint it white. It's very easy to find small clips and springs that fly off on a white bench. As far as pegboard is concerned I love the stuff, but I only use the 1/8" pegboard which is getting hard to find. Most places sell the 1/4" stuff that the pegs don't stay in.
I fully agree that a portable work bench should be electrified. Build in outlets on or above the backsplash and have a power cord permanently wired in on the bench end. Have a hook to hold it rolled up. Just plug it in to a available outlet when you get it rolled to the spot you want to use it. You will have power in the same spot every time and close by.
Here is our workbench. It is sloped to the front and then there is a drip tray around the front and right side that drains in bucket
Nice, I always wore what I worked on at a bench, no drip edge.
Well I changed directions on this project, ended up making it all steel. I built a bench 8 feet by 2 feet and used 3 x 3 x 3/16 square tubing for the legs. Top crossmembers are 2 x 4 x 1/8 and lower crossmembers are 2 x 2 x 1/8. I put a 3/8 steel plate on top. The thing is rock solid!! I plan to build another bench to hold a benchtop drill press and bench grinder, I think wood will be good enough for that.
NICE.. Steve.. For those that drop things all the time, might I suggest.. Going to the dollar store or the wifes kitchen cupboard & snagging a cookie sheet.. Remove your vise & sandwich the cs between the vise & the table.. MAKE SURE it doesn't interfere w/ the handle.. & bolt everything back down.. Saw a "butter finger" mechanic do that once.. Beats crawling around on the floor.. AND it catches drippings..
Nice bench Steve ! You probably know this, but if you mount a vice with the inside jaw close to the edge of a workbench you will be able to clamp things in it in a vertical position down past the bench top. I have found it to be quite handy to rest long pieces on the floor when using my vices. Another thing I have is a vice mounted in the middle of my bench and another on the RH end. It is real handy to cradle and clamp a pipe in a level position.
Home shop/garage is separate from house, has electric and heat but no running water. Bench in home shop, where I for the most part just work on small engines and motorcycles and such, is made out of 2X6's ripped in half and then stood on edge. Glued together with three 3/8 inch allthread rods clamping the stack. Kind of a butcher block look to it. Finished off with clear polyurethane I had left over from some old project. Off to the left end is a 24X24 plastic wash tub: And mounted up near ceiling is a plastic 55 gallon drum. I have a plastic pipe that goes down inside the drum and up over the top then down to a valve just above the wash tub. A couple time a year I hook up the garden hose to the valve by the tub and fill the 55 gallon drum. When barrel is full shut off the valve and remove garden hose. When I need some water to wash up turn valve on and water is drawn out of barrel by siphon action. I went this route to avoid concerns of putting a hole in drum and having a leak. Drain from tub is also very high tech! Five gallon bucket on a set of casters, when it get full, hopefully be for it over flows, roll it out and dump out in the yard! Guess I better check as I don't think it has been dumped lately!
khansen ; That is really a neat set-up. No pipes to freeze is a bonus ! Well, maybe a short easy to fix one.
Plus no pump or wiring, just run the hose over once in awhile to "recharge the system. Have considered running the drain out through the side of the garage to eliminate the five gallon drain pail. If I do would put a trap in the line to prevent a cold draft coming up the drain in winter. One other thing I have thought about for a few years is installing some kind of solar panel on the back side of the garage to see if it would help save of propane for the heat. Would be happy if I could keep temps up to about 45-50 degrees most of the time.
Nice work bench Steve, we added steel drawers to our workbench, simple to build, we just had a steel shop bend up the drawer, then welded in the front and back, welded a short angle iron to the front for a pull, then used angle irons welded to the bench to use as drawer slides, done this same thing for my service truck. Below the drawers we added steel sheets to have a shelf to lay larger things on as well, we move them around the shop with a skid steer and pallet fork when we need to, otherwise they are set near a wall. The last smaller more portable work benches we made out of angle iron, then bolted the steel top on, in case later we decided the make them longer, that way we change out the top and use the old top for plate steel on whatever project comes along, it also makes it nice to just flip the top over and have a new smooth side to work with again, mainly the table we use for welding, then once its cut or splattered up too much, we just unbolt the top and put a new sheet back on. I've used 1/4 inch for most tops. The absolute ideal workbench I've ever seen was about 30 years ago now, the Railroad had a plate welded up and cut square out of railroad rails turned upside down, welded side by side, it was 10-12 foot square and set up on wooden ties cribbed up. The railroad was done with it and gave it to the farmer who's land they were using to park stuff on when they were working in the area, they even delivered it to him, set it up on a slab of cement he had behind his house, then he built a shed next to it, then put a lean over the plate and made himself a shop in the lean. The last I saw it was 20 years ago, when he farm was sold, have no idea if its still there or whatever happened to it, but thought I'd mention it as an oddity more than a practical workbench, as they say, you can go overkill on a workbench.
Here is a used welding bench that I bought from a guy who was going out of business, that I happened to get wind of. It has bottom casters which can be overridded with thread down pads to keep it stationary when required. Top is 1-1/2 plate with slots cut in it for clamping down & the vise can be moved from side to side on slides that can be tighened up once slid to where you want it. Finally, the legs adjust for height with pins that can go in whatever hole is selected. Kind of a nice find I thought!
That is a nice bench. I could do with one like it. Currently I have problems with my bench moving when I get really physical with stuff in the vice which tends to annoy me. Graham