Planning my work bench

[Spook50]

With 4 weeks left of this deployment I'm planning out my work bench and doing up the list of supplies so I can get all my shopping done in one shot and build the thing the day after I get home (yes I'm that eager to get started).

My plan so far is to frame it with sandwiched 2x4s to make it very sturdy and have the ability to hold alot of weight. There will be a shelf approx. 6" (I might go 8" so I can fit smaller stuff underneath) above the floor, and that and the top will be 1" plywood, with beams running front to back inside the framework to provide extra support. For the top I'm planning on getting a sheet (the overall top will be 36"x72") of 3/16" steel to secure in place so I can weld on it and have protection for the wood underneath.

My question is: what species of wood do you guys recommend for a bench like this? I've heard some say pine and I've heard others say douglas fir, but I don't know enough about the differences between types to competently make up my mind here.

 

[titanpat57]

Being I'm kinda laid up this weekend, I made a pic of all time favorite...if you dabble in Google Sketch Up...pm me and I'll send the file.

It's made out of a solid core 3' x 6'-8" solid core door, 4" x 4" post for legs, 2" x 4"s
and 1/2" doug fir plywood. I made them the same heigth as my tablesaw was

The reasons this is my favorite:

1 You can work on the top, nail or screw into it, patch it with bondo, and if it gets real bad...flip it for a brand new surface. Plus it's nice and heavy to pound on

2 You can use the bottom for tool storage, and it has enough overhang to protect them from whatever youre working on above

3 The sides can be utilized to hang jigs, screws, sawhorses, cords, or any other thing you like to hang.

4 there is space under it slide dolleys or what ever crap you have hanging around

I leave lots of overhang for clamping, and tends to make it a bit top heavy, but after you flip it once and smash your toes...it generaly never happens again..............well.............for most people

 

[fledglingme]

imho work benches should be heavy. my own has a top of lamed 2X4's(standing on edge-makes for a 3.something thick)aprox 3.5ft wide by a full 8ft long allthread thru bolts them together -under that is a frame made out of 4 square lumber- it's a bear to move, but in use-it just dosen't move

 

[Joe_E]

I build a hefty bench in my basement a few years ago. Nice except I just used two pieces of 3/4 ply for the top so it's 4 feet deep. Makes it very hard to reach the back. If I did it again I would do it 3 feet deep.

 

[fsusteve]

I got mine from a cabinet shop going out of business, I couldn't have built anything this sturdy if I tried, I'm gonna will it to my son.

 

[Spook50]

imho work benches should be heavy. my own has a top of lamed 2X4's(standing on edge-makes for a 3.something thick)aprox 3.5ft wide by a full 8ft long allthread thru bolts them together -under that is a frame made out of 4 square lumber- it's a bear to move, but in use-it just dosen't move

I like that idea. Sounds like a helluva lot of lumber to span that top, but it sounds like it'd definitely work well.

Initially my plan was to make the top out of 2x6's laid flat so it'd still be heavy and thick.

 

[D'Animal]

Here is the workbench I put together.

I think I have $60 in it.


Never mind the crap sitting on it.

 

[bkfj40]

My question is: what species of wood do you guys recommend for a bench like this? I've heard some say pine and I've heard others say douglas fir, but I don't know enough about the differences between types to competently make up my mind here.

the reason for the input from the various people on the two types is dependent on where they live. Doug-Fir = west coast ... Southern Yellow Pine = SE

build it sturdy and you will never have to worry about it. there are lots of good ideas here. On my next workbench, I'm going to build a few different surfaces on it. I will probably use a countertop for part of it, a piece of metal in the areas that I'll be welding, and either some chunks of glu-lam beams or 2x4 bolted together with all-thread for another section....

 

[KLF]

You won't be able to weld on a piece of steel sandwiched to a wooden top. You'll eventually set the thing on fire.

You don't want to be welding on your only workbench, you'll get spatter and crap all over everything, and you might set something on fire (rags, misc tools, wood shavings, etc).

The solid core door is a great solution, but a new one is $200+. I don't know about where you are, but a lot of the local Habitat for Humanity chapters run a separate enterprise as a fundraiser called ReStore. They primarily sell slightly used construction materials, stuff that got carefully removed prior to renovations. I was in our local store the other day and they had a HUGE stack of them, in very good shape, for $20 each. They were cored and mortised, but that can be carefully sliced off.

 

[Spook50]

You won't be able to weld on a piece of steel sandwiched to a wooden top. You'll eventually set the thing on fire.

You don't want to be welding on your only workbench, you'll get spatter and crap all over everything, and you might set something on fire (rags, misc tools, wood shavings, etc).

The solid core door is a great solution, but a new one is $200+. I don't know about where you are, but a lot of the local Habitat for Humanity chapters run a separate enterprise as a fundraiser called ReStore. They primarily sell slightly used construction materials, stuff that got carefully removed prior to renovations. I was in our local store the other day and they had a HUGE stack of them, in very good shape, for $20 each. They were cored and mortised, but that can be carefully sliced off.

Honestly I'd love to have a dedicated welding table, but I honestly just don't have the space for it. I don't want to use my workbench as a dedicated welding table, for exactly the reasons you cited, but with no other surface to work on, I'd like to be able to use it for smaller projects like seat brackets and similar sized stuff.

 

[fledglingme]

i weld on my bench quite a lot. i have a peice of sheet steel about 1/8th inch aprox 3'square. most of the time i place three/four fire bricks on the bench and then the sheet steel. nice thing about this approch is that the welding is now a bit higher- i find that the elevated work surface makes welding a tad easyer , at least for me. there will be some splatter that singes the wood- but hell, it's a work bench not furniture! i keep telling myself that, if it ever approches the point where i feel the need to dress it up, i'll just plane the surface down a bit. 20 years in use( and one household move) and i haven't felt the need to do anything more than just use it !!!

 

[nat]

I have multiple work surfaces.

5000lb elevating table = welding bench

welded metal frame with a wood top = wood working bench

old drafting table = place to set up small parts, sketch or design parts

 

[2mbb]

Here are the plans for a couple of work benches I made for my basement. The one pictured has drawers using full-extension side-mounted slides and wire baskets purchased at The Container Store. I used a hollow core door for the top, which was less expensive, but also cheaper. I made a similar stand for my table saw with heights of the table and the bench top being the same.

The full size bench uses seven 2x4x8' and one sheet of 3/4" plywood. It's held together with a little wood glue, some wood screws and lots of Kreg face screws using the Kreg jig jr.

Not shown in the plans, I screwed some peg board to the outside of the legs on each end.

Sorry for the messy bench. I still haven't cleaned up from my last project.

 

[madinal]

Spook50,
The type of wood really doesn't matter but don't get it at a big box hardware store. Go to a real lumber yard and get knot free straight grain wood. the big box stuff has knot holes and twists and will warp your work.

Oh, and thanks for your service,

 

[fj40charles]

Here is the workbench I put together.

I think I have $60 in it.


Never mind the crap sitting on it.

Very nice Dan. I like the vise on the left. Looks like a old Wilton.

 

[calstyl2]

All dirt cheap and very heavy duty.

 

[Spook50]

Finally got it built about a month ago. Cost just over $100 in lumber and supplies (plus the 12" compound miter, but the bench just gave me an excuse to buy it ASAP). All doubled-up 2x4s, plank top and every joint glued & screwed. Where screws needed to go in parallel to the grain on "inside" pieces, I used 3/8" x 6" lag screws. It's solid as a damn rock. Very simple overall design but it's perfect for me. Built it taller than most since I hate bending over a work surface. This lets me stand up straight and have all my work at a comfortable height.

Couple pics:

Hung the cabinets at the same time too to gain a little extra storage space

And just to show off how burly the top is. This sum'bitch is HEAVY

Just in case anyone's curious, that poster is a real-deal (not reproduction) Communist propaganda poster from the USSR in the early 50's. I have a second, larger one too. Got both in Kyrgyzstan during my first deployment there.

 

[agomez]

nice..

 

[beaufort-fj60]

spook, if you own that house... put in more sockets.... way more sockets

 

[Chang-kuao-lo]

plain old hardwood door makes a pretty good bench top.