Workbench? To be or not to be?

Re: Workbench?  To be or not to be?

Tony - Memphis

Hmm. Well, I gotta have some kind o f work surface. In my old shop (half of a 2 car garage), my bench was 2x4's and plywood. It was on wheels. Worked out fine for a few years. There are all sorts of designs/ideas out there for mounting casters than can be disengaged easily (using big box lumber and harbor freight casters). I wouldn't hesitate to use what you got. 'Free' is good.

Re: Workbench?  To be or not to be?

Dick Coers

No to wheels. My most used bench has a top that measures 16x30". Face vise on front and holdfast on top. If I need to move it very far, I use a two wheel dolly. Usually it just gets shoved around.

Re: Workbench?  To be or not to be?

Kneale Brownson

How about a surface that's anchored to the wall with hinges and folds down to store and rises to sit on movable legs for use? I used to have something similar in a laundry for a folding table. It had folding corbels to support it when raised. One of your solid core doors would work.

In my tiny shop there is no wall space left.

Re: Workbench?  To be or not to be?

Jack Guzman from Maine

Solid core door and a pair of folding sawhorses should do the job.

Re: Workbench?  To be or not to be?

Hank Knight

My workbench is the most useful thing I have ever built. I can't imagine a woodworking shop without a good bench. My shop is tiny - 17' X 23' in the basement. My workbench takes up a lot of room, but it's room well spent. Build your bench. You won't be sorry.

OK, second question, what makes a good bench?

Barry Irby

For those of you that have and use a bench, what makes a good one? I see ones that have lots of dog holes and all kinds of pins and hooks for the holes. What do you find useful?

Re: OK, second question, what makes a good bench?

C John Hebert

My bench is mobile. I wouldn't have it any other way. I can move it to anywhere in my shop. In the winter...I park my ATV and plow inside so I just move the bench out of the way. My top is white melamine for easy clean up with lacquer thinner and it's just like new again. I've got 2 large draws for hand held power tools that I use most and the bench is great for assembly work. My bench is about 30" x 60" if I remember right, with heavy duty locking rubber casters. The corner posts are 4x4 and the framing is 2x4's. I used regular framing lumber because I wanted it heavy so it wouldn't be all that easy to move around on it's own. I had a woodworking vice on it, and storage bins on the end for fasteners I most often use. I also had a shelf the full length and width for a variety of things like different size drawer slides etc. I could email a couple of pics if your interested

Re: Workbench?  To be or not to be?

Yonak

This is my work surface that works well for me :

I'm lucky enough to have room in my shop for two of them and I can push them together for an enlarged work and layout area. Also, two makes planing boards a lot easier as I can swap places for infeed and outfeed. Also, I do have a small, infrequently used work surface that has a vice.

workbench necessities

Jack Guzman from Maine

Mostly it depends on the kind of work you do but for me a bench needs a few details. First I need to be able to clamp things down so an accesable edge all around is good.. The top of a box would not work for this reason. Dog holes are good but not needed if you use hand clamps. Also there has to be a spot on the top where it is solid enough for downward pressure or pounding such as over a leg. It is also helpful if the top is flat and can be made level. You really need to consider the kinds of work you will be doing on a bench.---Jack

Thanks....One problem is...

Barry Irby

I don't do anything in particular, I do a little of everything. I build some furniture and today I am repairing some (my least favorite part of woodworking.) Soon I will be removing installing windows in my house and rebuilding my deck. Then I may turn a few things.

The idea of a lip for clamping around the edge is a good one, I will use that and a spot to hammer on. I suppose I can install holes anytime I decide.

I have a bench along one end wall, but it is more like a flat surface dedicated to storage of junk and partially finished projects. Under it are four cabinets filled with tools and odds and ends. And my shop vac. I am Eyeballing that setup, but it has been there so long I don't think I can do without it.

Re: Workbench?  To be or not to be?

Barry Irby

That's a good idea. I could make a cart like that and it would go through the door and out of the way. I could also put a wing on one side that folds down for storage and up to act as an assembly table. I have a cart now that sits under the wing of the RAS. The surface is slotted and there is a subtop for a downdraft sanding set up if I hook up my DC to it. The space below is filled with scraps. My packrat gene won't let me be ruthless enough with the scraps.

Re: What's the best way to sharpen a chisel

Hank Knight

Barry, asking this group what makes a good bench is like asking them what's the best way to sharpen a chisel or a plane iron. You'll get as many answers as there are people who reply. There are some basics, though, and Jack nailed most of them: a flat surface with some way to clamp your work to it. I would add that it needs to be solid. There's little more annoying than having to chase your workbench around your shop while you're working on it, or having it wrack and wiggle while you're trying to apply pressure to your workpiece. I also think it should have a vise or two, especially if you are a tinkerer like I am. Beyond that, it's whatever you want it to be. Size, height, configuration, open frame or cabinets below the top, what it's made of, what finish - if any, all of that stuff is personal preference; and most people are pretty passionate about the choices they made for their bench. I know I am. I researched and studied benches for a long time before I built my bench, and mine suits me perfectly. It might not work for anybody else. My advice is to buy some books or spend some time in the library and online. Make notes of what you like and what would suit the way you work and then design your own bench. There's plenty of material on the subject and I found the research to be almost as much fun as building the bench.

Hank

OH Yeah!?

Barry Irby

Hank, I knew that. I have asked and answered questions here before. That's why I asked. Just in case somebody had an idea I had not thought of. And I am sure they do. Just phishing.

Kind of hoping somebody would say the best thing about my bench is....

Or, the dumbest thing I did on mine was....

Or, I wish I......

I used a solid core door...

Mike Farinella

layed a sheet of hardboard on it (not glued), routed the sides flush, then added hard maple to the perimeter. Almost 20 years old and still going strong. The legs are 4 X 4 and no wheels.

Re: OH Yeah!?

Hank Knight

Sorry, didn't mean to expand on the obvious. Your post sounded like you were starting from scratch. I should have known better.

Re: Since you put it that way....

Hank Knight

One of the best things I did in my bench build was to have some very heavy duty leg levelers fabricated at my local machine shop. I bought some heavy duty machine levelers from MSC Industrial Supply that have 1/2" X 13 studs and 3" neoprene pads. The machine shop fabricated threaded leg caps from solid steel bar stock for the levelers. There are probably less expensive ways to do this, but these are rock solid. They give me about 4" of vertical height adjustability and DO NOT MOVE no matter how hard I push on the bench. My shop floor is pretty uneven, so I was able to level the bench initially without it wracking. I also fiddled with the height for a couple of months after I built the bench until I settled on what was comfortable for me. I haven't moved it since. I've posted this photo here before, but here's what they look like:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/28vssds][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/28vssds]DSCN0391B[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/158680038@N03/]Hank Knight[/url], on Flickr

Re: Workbench?  To be or not to be?

William Duffield

A solid core door has served me just fine as the core for my workbench top. To make it stronger and more useful, I got some 1x6 red oak, ripped it in two, glued it together into 1-1/2" wide x 2-5/8" high beams, drilled "a few" 3/4" dog holes in the edges, and glued and biscuited them (your Domino would work even better than biscuits) to all four edges of the door. In a couple of places, l glued some 3/4" poplar or plywood to the bottom surface for mounting vises and clamping hand screws. I finished it with Watco and have repaired the top surface with danish oil or expoxy several times as needed and I had some left over from another project.

I think you might find that attaching it to the wall with heavy duty gate hinges and fold down legs saves space and may be more convenient. You could hang your bench tools, but not your portable power tools, on the wall behind it. However, clearing everything off of it when you need to fold it out of the way is your problem.

If you plan to use holdfasts to hold work down on the top of the bench, use the dog holes in the oak edging, not any dog holes you might bore out in the field of the door. The veneer and particle board of the door core is not up to the stresses of bashing on holdfasts.

Here is the latest NEW AND IMPROVED idea *LINK*

Keith Newton

After the last contribution I made to someone asking about mobile bases. I designed the kitchen island down at our cabin after my job site workbench, with a few changes. That bench serves as the catch table for the table saw whenever I build cabinets onsite.

It has a 3' x 4' top 35" tall with a long enough overhand for a vice on one end. The fixed wheels are off the end of the bottom of that pair of legs, just touching the floor so when the other end is lifted, the legs come off the floor. The power tool shelf is about 14'' off the floor. On the other end, here is what I would suggest below.

There is more, but I've got to go to a meeting.


https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200631763_200631763?cm_mmc=Google-pla&utm_source=Google_PLA&utm_medium=Trailers%20%2B%20Towing%20%3E%20Trailer%20Jacks%20%3E%20Marine%20%2B%20Swivel%20Jacks&utm_campaign=Ironton&utm_content=44063&gclid=