Shop Bench

H

Houston Tactical

Joined
Oct 27, 2006
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73
As I am assembling my shop, one of the main things I need to add is a decent size shop bench. Does anybody have any prints/tip & tricks on how to build one? It seems like this would be a much more cost effective route.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Paul
 
I used 2x4's and 3/4" plywood for mine. My rough carpentry skills were not that good at the time, but it is as solid as a rock. I added peg board for the whole length of the back. Comes in handy. One thing I wish I had added was a shelf under the bench top for storing things off the concrete floor. Maybe even a drawer or 2. Make sure it's level and square. Design it for the space you have, and don't start building until you think it's right for what you need. When you are done, take a picture, because in a couple of weeks you won' be able to see it anymore for all the junk piled on it! :D -Matt-
 
I like metal benches if it's not a built-in counter.

Steel w steel legs is nice for welding/rough work. Aluminum billet table-tops (with aluminum or steel legs) were considered pretty trick for years. Not cheap to build, but sometimes you can find one at auction.

I had some nice wood benches, but they had this affinity for fire that was somewhat inconvenient, considering the sort of work that happens in my shop.
 
I just used 2x4s and 3/4" plywood doubled up on the top for a sturdy surface. I built the frame smaller than the top so I would have an overhang for clamping and doubled up the legs for support. On the back of the work surface I put a piece of 1x12 as a back stop to keep things from rolling off the back and added a 5 foot power strip and a switch to turn off everything on the bench at once. The switch just has an extension cord plugged into one of my shop outlets and I can move the bench if I need to. There is also a shelf underneath to stabilize the legs and to give me a place to store stuff. My newest bench is also covered with 3/16" hardboard for a smooth surface. It's tacked in place with 1/2" staples. I can send you a pic if you're interested. The whole thing took a couple of hours to make and with the wood, screws, powerstrip, and cord, the cost was around $100 ($39 of which was the powerstrip).
 
I decided to have cabinets and work top areas, as well as cubby holes. I had cabinetry priced by Home Depot and Lowes and both were very expensive. I then found out that my neighbor is a carpenter and very generous. He built me an entire shop of cabinets and work benches with drawers for under $3000, out of cabinet grade oak plywood, solid hickory fronts, doors and drawers with 1.5 inch Maple plywood tops! My wife tells everyone that my shop cabinets are nicer than our kitchen cabinets. I have two work benches, one five foot long and one six foot long. Both have drawers down both sides. Along one wall of my shop I have a 16 foot long work top with 6 drawers under it and 6 double door cabinets below (this is similar to heavy duty kitchen cabinets). I also have a 3 foot wide x 8 foot tall x two foot deep cabinets with shelves in it. The last cabinet is my favorite, as it is 3 foot wide x 8 foot tall x 1 foot deep and is divided into 70 little cubby holes for storing handle materials, pins, short pieces of knife steel, knife blanks, patterns, etc.

I am on the road on business, or I'd show some pictures. Basically, if you have a handy carpenter friend, you can get some really nice cabinets inexpensively. He is always bringing someone over to show off his work. I even have picked up a knife customer along the way, as he was showing his cabinets off.
 
60$ in materials will make you a nice sturdy workbench from 2x4s and 2x6s. I made this one in a day with no power tools.

workbench.jpg


It's plenty stable, and massive enough that I bolted down my largest vise to it and it doesnt move a bit.

http://www.tharkis.com/images/vise1-1.jpg

The key to a sturdy bench is, use strong bolts, and not nails, to hold everything together. You'll spend more on nuts and bolts and washers than you will on the actual wood for the project.
 
Justin.Mercier said:
60$ in materials will make you a nice sturdy workbench from 2x4s and 2x6s. I made this one in a day with no power tools.

workbench.jpg


It's plenty stable, and massive enough that I bolted down my largest vise to it and it doesnt move a bit.

http://www.tharkis.com/images/vise1-1.jpg

The key to a sturdy bench is, use strong bolts, and not nails, to hold everything together. You'll spend more on nuts and bolts and washers than you will on the actual wood for the project.
Click to expand...

Take that design, replace the 2 x 4 legs with PT 4 x 4's and put a layer of 3/4 inch marine plywood on top of the boards and you will have the ultimate work bench. Know where that desing came from? My mother, of all people:D She deisnged it and my dad and brother put in over 30 feet of it in the garage and garden shed. It is indestructible and not that expensive. Bolt it to the wall if you can. And don't forget LOTS of pegboard on the walls behind the bench...lol
 
Houston Tactical said:
I like the look of that bench. How sturdy is it for a vise or drill press? If you don't mind it would be great to see pictures of your setup.

While searching for something to build, I found this bench on Northern Tool:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200226224_200226224
Click to expand...

Little piece of friendly advice from someone who wasted some money. If you have a drill press that can sit on a workbench, then you are WRONG!!!! :mad: I have one and it is being donated to my baby brother for his new house. Completely useless for knifemaking. I found a big Chinese 17 inch floor press from Steel City Tools (got it from the Utter Guys on Ebay)that was reasonably priced (around $450) AND, most importantly, has a 6 inch stroke instead of the normal 3 or so. Drills a STRAIGHT hole a hidden tang handle in one shot.:D Bad news is the sucker weighs 230 lbs:eek:
 
jdm61 said:
Little piece of friendly advice from someone who wasted some money. If you have a drill press that can sit on a workbench, then you are WRONG!!!! :mad: I have one and it is being donated to my baby brother for his new house. Completely useless for knifemaking. I found a big Chinese 17 inch floor press from Steel City Tools (got it from the Utter Guys on Ebay)that was reasonably priced (around $450) AND, most importantly, has a 6 inch stroke instead of the normal 3 or so. Drills a STRAIGHT hole a hidden tang handle in one shot.:D Bad news is the sucker weighs 230 lbs:eek:
Click to expand...

This is good advice. Floor-standing models are far more useful. I'm looking to replace my floor-standing 16-inch with one that is variable speed (without fooling with pulleys).
 
JCaswell said:
This is good advice. Floor-standing models are far more useful. I'm looking to replace my floor-standing 16-inch with one that is variable speed (without fooling with pulleys).
Click to expand...
Mine does have the pulley setup, but every other press I found that had a 4 1/2 or longer stroke was a 20 incher and you KNOW what those bad boys cost.....especially the ones made in the US. Steel City has at least one model above mine. Check it out.
 
jdm61 said:
Nice looking, but my KMG would crush that thing. It weighs around 230 by itself
Click to expand...

Do you mind sharing pic with us of what type of worktable you are using? This would help many of us that are starting out...Thanks!
 
I bought 2 pair of steel workbench legs from Global Industrial for 2 benches; 1 30x48 and the other 30x60. Then went to Home Depot and bought 2 sheets of 3/4 mdf and had them cut for me. Total cost wa $100 and I have 2 benches with 1 1/2 mdf tops and full shelves and it took about 3 hours to assemble.
 
I just built one last night. This is more like an island. It is 34" X 40", 36" tall. I got some 2X8's left over from some homes being built in my neighborhood and used some 2" laminated beams 18" wide for the top and 4X4's for the legs. I put 2X4's around the bottom of the legs to keep them square. I've got $25 in materials that I bought. It must weigh 80lbs. I'm going to put a vise on it. It's overkill but most of the material was free.
 
"Little piece of friendly advice from someone who wasted some money. If you have a drill press that can sit on a workbench, then you are WRONG!!!! :mad: I have one and it is being donated to my baby brother for his new house. Completely useless for knifemaking. I found a big Chinese 17 inch floor press from Steel City Tools (got it from the Utter Guys on Ebay)that was reasonably priced (around $450) AND, most importantly, has a 6 inch stroke instead of the normal 3 or so. Drills a STRAIGHT hole a hidden tang handle in one shot.:D Bad news is the sucker weighs 230 lbs"

Care to clarify that a little? As in why is a benchtop drill press completely useless for knifemaking? Outside of hidden tangs (and I can think of at least 3 different ways of doing that without it) what can that bad boy do? (size doesn't always matter ya know?) ;)
 
I have a small shop 12x12 attached to my garage. I have several work areas and work benches. I have one I built with 2x4's and strongtie connectors. You can go to www.strongtie.com. Lowes and Marvins building supply both carry an assortment of connectors and you could build it to your design, which is what I did. I bought a steel rack shelving made by Maxi rack. You can find this at lowes. Item number is 101933. I rack can be assembled in half and i replaced the wood top with thick MDF. sorry I cant post some pics but if drop me a email I can send you some pics. Hope this helps.
James :)
 
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