Best Workshop/Bench Design Concepts

[toddwulf]

OK TBN'ers. I'm pouring my slabs tomorrow so the framing will begin by mid month. What I'm looking for is also your chance to show off your workbench in your garage/shop etc... because I'm looking for ideas on the ultimate setup.

Doesn't matter whether it's simple, elaborate, practical, impractical or job specific. If you don't have pictures, describe what you have (or wish you had). I'm going to take the best design concepts and build mine from scratch.

It'll be in a 3 car garage (Gotta make sure door #3 is high enough for the ROPS) that's 25' deep. The bench wall will have a 5'0x4'0 window in it's center. How high should the bench be? I'm going to plum w/220v but what about 110v plugs - Against the backwall at tabletop height? Where to put the vice for long jobs? Any neat power tool hideaways like for my compound miter saw. Tool (hand and power) storage idea's? How do you store all those nuts/bolts/washers/screws/nails/bulbs/ errata that seems to accumulate through the years and yet you can never find when you need it? I currently use some of those drawer boxes but I'm not terribly happy with them.

So let's see the toy's boy's! Todd in Placerville.

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Todd,
I have a goal to be the only TBN member without a digital camera and so far so good. It wasn't planned this way it just happened.

I have 72 feet of workbenches all built the same. I'll try to describe them.

Height 30", depth 32 inches
Surface Hem/Fir Std or better 2x12's
Front support is, a 4 x4's running parallel to the bench. Front is supported vertically ever 8' by 4x4 to the ground. Back is against the wall and supported by 2x4 and screwed to the wall, The front 4x4 is recessed 8" from the front of the bench. Surface 2x 12's are cut to 32" and run normal to the wall and screwed to the 4x4 front and 2x4 back with 4 1/2 inch wood screws (4 places). The next 18 inches above the bench is 1x4 tongue and grove nailed to the wall. A 2x12 shelf is then above that the length of the bench, supported every 8 ft vertically. Next is a single 1x4 rabbited (sp) to fit, 4x8 sheets of white heavy duty peg board for the length of the bench. Last is tongue and grove 1x4 to the ceiling, first piece again rabbeted to slip over the peg board. I added 3 coats of spar varnish to all the wood surface. My vise is in the mid span of a 26 ft long bench. I wired power at the front and under the bench with the outlet boxes mounted on the 4x4. I use glass jars to hold stuff and stack them wherever I can. I did add drawers underneath on one section but don't like drawers much, never can remember whats in where.

If you followed this your a better man than I./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Good luck on your quest for the ultimate shop bench.
Al

 

[Bird]

This is not a very good picture, but shows the ends where I put two workbenches together. The landscape timbers for legs were cheaper than 4 x 4s, then used 2 x 4s around the perimeter under the top and a single one under the center of the bottom shelves. Both the top and the bottom shelf for each bench came from one 4 x 8 sheet of 3/4" particle board, and it's all put together with 3" countersunk screws. They're solid and heavy and serve my purposes well in the shop. I have a 4" vice mounted on one corner of one of them, and a 6" bench grinder and a 3 ton arbor press mounted on the other. Of course, you would not want to get them wet. Particle board is much smoother, harder, etc. than plywood as long as you keep it dry.

 

[hartsjc]

Here is a little snip-it of a work bench I plan to build. Already have the plans.

/James

 

[s1120]

Bird,
Good idea with the air lines. Looks like it would stop you from having 200ft of air lines all over the floor.

As for the 110/220v lines. I would put in 2 220 plugs. One tucked away in a corner for an air compressor, and one near the center of the shop for a welder. For 110v. Put in as much as you can. You never have too many. Put a lot neer the work bench, but don't forget the rest of the shop.

 

[MikePA]

I don't have a workbench/workshop worthy of a picture, but here are my thoughts.

1. Any need for either a pit or a place for a lift to get under vehicles? You can get some very nice, portable lifts for $4,500.

2. I'd look into the bins that many hardware stores use to display bolts, nuts, nails, etc. My local True Value uses both the bins as well as a carosel/lazy susan.

3. A lockable place to store the more valuable tools, e.g., pneumatic nailers.

4. A place that's easy to use/access for storing fluids you plan on recycling, e.g., used motor oil.

5. Any need to be able to curtain off an area for doing painting? Or will you need a way to segregate the working area of the garage from where the vehicles are parked?

6. Will it get cold enough so that florescent lights wont start easily?

7. A place for fire extinguishers.

8. A place for a parts washer?

 

[MossRoad]

My garage is 24 feet deep. There is a workbench in the middle of the wall with a cutoff saw on it. I have supports on each end, one going to the back wall and another going to the door. It never fails, I get something that is longer than 12 feet to cut and I can't get it to the side of the saw that I want to use. When I get the chance, I'll move the saw bench closer to the door end and get some portable supports so that I can run about 20 feet to the back wall and even longer out the door.

 

[DFB]

A couple of weeks ago I needed to quickly fab a small workbench for the basement here at camp. Home Depot had reinforcing brkts along with screws packaged together for building workbenches or shelving.
You supply your own lumber.

Makes for a very solid assembly./w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

Back at my main place the workbenches (3) are steel framed tables.
1 1/2" round pipe legs with 1/2 nut welded to the bottom for adjustable feet, with 1 1/2" pipe crossbracing, and uses 1 1/2" angle for the rest. Originally all had 3/4" particleboard tops. The tops have seen their better days though. I'm probably gonna replace them with 5/8" OSB.

DFB

 

[Bird]

DFB, besides the two I built (shown in the picture I posted), I also have one that looks exactly like yours. My youngest daughter bought a house several years ago when she was single and built it for her garage. When she got married, she gave it to me. My drill press and belt sander are mounted on it.

 

[hoghead]

"and a 6" bench grinder and a 3 ton arbor press mounted on the other."

Bird
I used to have my bench grinder on a wood bench similar to yours.That all changed when a friend of mine had the same setup and was grinding some iron.He left to go to town and came back to a garage on fire.Hot embers caught his woosd bench on fire and burned down the garage.I immidiately took mine off the wood bench and made a grinder stand on wheels for the grinder.Now just roll it to the job, lock the wheels and grind you little heart out.I will try to post a picture later.

 

[Bird]

Doug, I can certainly understand that happening./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif I've thought about taking mine off and putting it on a steel stand that Tractor Supply Co. has for about $35, but instead, so far, I just try to watch and be careful.

 

[pdxman]

My workbench is not worthy of a picture either until I do a litttle 'houework' around it. But, one thing I can add that I have found helpful: My experience with particle board for a surface hasn't been too good. You can try to keep it dry but over time moisture in the air breaks it down. What I did was I put a thick piece of particle board as an underlayment in the same manner as you would for kithchen countertops. I then took my dimensions for the surface material to a sheetmetal shop and had the heaviest gauge galvanized sheetmetal formed to fit it. In my case, they bent a 1" lip in front so I didn't have an edge to catch things on. I fastened it down the same way you would with formica by using contact cement. So far it has been bulletproof, easy to clean, rust free, and held on tight.

 

[TerryinMD]

One must be careful where you use particleboard. If it is in a moisture prone area, chances are that it will deteriorate over time. To prevent this, you could seal the material with a coat of poly or something similar, then cover the surface with sheet metal or plywood.

Terry

 

[Branch]

I picked up this bench from Sears several years ago for about $100. It has really been great. I've mounted a sander, grinder, and cut-off saw to the rotating center section. To switch between tools you slide the side tables away, pull a pin, then rotate the tool you need up. I put wheels on it so I could roll it outside for messy work or when material was too long for it's normal resting place.
I rarely need even two of the tools at the same time but when I do it only takes 30 seconds to change.

Branch

 

[Knight9]

I don't have a photo of my workbench, but the top is made of 2 pieces of 3/4" plywood. Then on top of that I nailed down a piece of 1/4" hard fibre board. That way when the top gets too gummed up, oily etc...I can just swap out the top 1/4" of hard board. Always looks fresh /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Kevin

 

[P.K. Burke]

Todd:
Here is a workbench that I just finished. It is twelve and a half feet long, 24" deep and 32" high. A friend of mine had a whole bunch of brand new cabinet bases and uppers so I put six of the bases together and set them on a 2x6 frame with the 2x6 on edge. The top is made of 3/4" particle board with a 1/8" tempered masonite on top of that. I had a cabinet shop build the face frame and drawer and door fronts. I built the face frame and doors for the upper cabinet and it turned out fairly good. The upper cabinets are 7' 6" long and 30" high by 18" deep. The only problem with the description of the upper cabinets is that I ain't got no picture. Duh!

 

[Bird]

Terry and pdxman, there is no doubt at all that particle board will deteriorate from moisture. A rustproof metal covering would certainly be better, or even a totally metal workbench, but I built mine nearly 7 years ago right after I bought this place and needed them right now before I bought a lot of the tools I now have.

If you look closely at the picture of mine, you'll see a layer of cardboard on the entire surface that I didn't mention before, and then I also do most of my work on a pretty thick layer of newspapers on top of the cardboard in an attempt to prevent any moisture from water, oil, or grease from getting to the wood. Certainly not the best arrangement, but it's cheap and it's worked for 7 years./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[looch]

I haven't built it yet, but I ordered the video and plan from this site: <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.newyankee.com/GetProduct2.cgi?1201>http://www.newyankee.com/GetProduct2.cgi?1201</A>.

 

[Bird]

I forgot I had this old picture, too, that shows those two workbenches from a distance.

And Mike, at the near end of the workbenches are the ramps I built to run the front wheels onto to change oil in the car (next to the creeper) and just to right of the far end of the benches is my parts washer and then my Cyclone Blaster (glass beads instead of sand in that blasting cabinet).

 

[RobS]

I built Norm's woodworking bench several years ago and have been very happy with it. Not the prettiest thing out there, but very functional.

In my garage I've got a simple homemade bench with 4X4 legs, 2X6 rails and stringers and a 3/4 inch oak faced plywood top. Nearly 20 years since I built it and it's holding up just fine. Again, not too pretty, but very functional /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif