Workbench Planning

[markie*mark0]

looking for some help from woodworking guru's on designing and build methods for a heavy duty workbench im building soon.

I'd rather invest some time and effort into a good method rather than sticking it together with a million screws !

 

[WULF]

I made mine with a 4"x2" graded softwood frame,half lapped joints, glued and screws,i had some deal planks 1 1/2" thick so used those for the top.

 

[JAG009]

looking for some help from woodworking guru's on designing and build methods for a heavy duty workbench im building soon.

I'd rather invest some time and effort into a good method rather than sticking it together with a million screws !

Is it a joiners bench you are looking to make ? And can you follow plans ?


Jason

 

[Stew]

This any good for you?

www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?59569-Easy-build-Bench

 

[dwardo]

Kitchen worktops that are marked or are seconds are a great cheap way of getting a good solid work bench. Ask your local kitchen or DIY type place.
I supported the legs and posts with screws, gorilla glue and raw plugs. Not budged an inch in 5 years of beating.

 

[ged]

looking for some help from woodworking guru's on designing and build methods for a heavy duty workbench im building soon.

I'd rather invest some time and effort into a good method rather than sticking it together with a million screws !

How about welded steel? I have a couple made that way and they don't get any more solid than that, but if it has to be wood then you can get some really good deals from schools and colleges that are getting rid of the old solid woodworking benches.

You haven't said what you'll be using it for, it makes a big difference. Will you want to mount a vice on it? What sort? Will you be using planes, saws, drills, clamps, power tools etc. etc.? You might want to design parts of the bench with those things in mind.

Will the bench be in a shed, garage or its own special space? You might want to think about how you will handle the occasional very long piece of work. A hole in the wall? Move the bench?

 

[markie*mark0]

not specifically a joiners bench, its going in my garage/workshop, L shape accross the side / back ,but it'll be used for wood/metal/mechanic work. yeah i can follow plans but not sure what joins are best for the corner of the L so to speak

 

[lub0]

I went through this phase a year ago, looking for plans for a simple sturdy bench, don't even bother, there are none! I realised the only way to do it is it just go ahead and do it... bolt the thing together and be done with it.
I spent 6 months scavaging the materials from skips and dumps around my area and it turned out just right, albeit the pine planks that form the tabletop have slight gaps between them, but I bought a large workhorse of a plane to level it all off to a smooth finish.. had to sharpen the blade to a razor to do it mind.

 

[bushwacker bob]

I would mortice and tennon the main structure for maximum strength but the method Stew linked to is pretty good too, with bolts on the corners.

 

[ged]

not specifically a joiners bench, its going in my garage/workshop, L shape accross the side / back ,but it'll be used for wood/metal/mechanic work. yeah i can follow plans but not sure what joins are best for the corner of the L so to speak

What construction is the garage/workshop? If it's brick or concrete block then you could use rawlplugs or rawlbolts to fix a couple of substantial horizontal timbers to the walls and rely on them for most of the solidity. Then you'd only need two legs, or maybe three if you want one at the inside corner of the L. If it's a concrete or other substantial floor the legs could be fixed to the floor for extra rigidity.

 

[sandbender]

looking for some help from woodworking guru's on designing and build methods for a heavy duty workbench im building soon.

I'd rather invest some time and effort into a good method rather than sticking it together with a million screws !

Try a google search for "Building a 'Roubo' style workbench", that'll bring up some ideas.

http://www.badaxetoolworks.com/my-roubo-work-bench.html

http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/56999/build-a-hybrid-roubo-workbench

 

[santaman2000]

I think for the L shape in the corber I'd just go for 2 separate straight benches pushed together. Might not be the perfect L shape but definitely more versatile if you decide to re-arrange it.

 

[markie*mark0]

Thanks for the ideas fella's

i should have explained a little more, here is a very crude plan of the garage floor plan

The garage is made out of prefab concrete panels and i'm looking to workbench down all of a 24ft side and a 6ft length of one end.

the yellow square is a steel welding bench very heavy, the two maroon are snap on chests full of auto tool's, the grey square will be a motorbike ramp/lift and the blue area will be shelfing storage.

The green area is what im looking to bench

 

[crosslandkelly]

That's a hell of a bench Hope you post some pics when done. Cheers

 

[Samon]

haha, I made one from an old desk top. I couldn't find a saw at the time (truth be told I cut it up to make some throwing knives when rather drunk the night before..) so I used a drill to do the majority of the cutting then kicked the pieces in half and nailed and glued the rest together.. it was funny at the time but it's still standing strong.

If I had more room I'd go for a bigger one and do it right but for my miniscule work space it does the job

 

[WULF]

haha, I made one from an old desk top. I couldn't find a saw at the time (truth be told I cut it up to make some throwing knives when rather drunk the night before..) so I used a drill to do the majority of the cutting then kicked the pieces in half and nailed and glued the rest together.. it was funny at the time but it's still standing strong.

If I had more room I'd go for a bigger one and do it right but for my miniscule work space it does the job

Brute force construction eh mate like your style

 

[markie*mark0]

looking for plans for a simple sturdy bench, don't even bother, there are none!

I think you're right there buddy, all the plans want fee's before they let you see anything !

 

[santaman2000]

I think you're right there buddy, all the plans want fee's before they let you see anything !

Not really: www.workbenchdesign.net/rplansfree.html

Especially like the video on this one: www.finewoodworking.com/workbench

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

My teacher's bench is like the one in the video here http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/56999/build-a-hybrid-roubo-workbench it's a Swedish brand with softwood top. The main thing is it's so heavy and stable, it doesn't move when mortise chiselling and it's big enough for large work, especially cramping up work.

Obviously I lay out all my tools in order when doing demos so it could be a bit smaller. The kids benches have a well down the middel to stop tools rolling off etc, theses are handy.

Also the long faced vices are very handy for gluing up work or planing long pieces of timber etc.

PS I'm a techy teacher as my day job.

 

[British Red]

The one thing I know is they are never bleeding big enough!

I am setting up a new one right now. Vice is bolted down but thats it. Everything else is going onto sheets of marine ply which can be clamped in place when needed...

16 foot long is just not enough for permanently setting up my gear.... <sigh>. Mind you I do have odd items on my workbench!