Work benches?

[Pumba]

Ok all, I have bought a new house (up sized garage and workshop area) and need to build some new work benches to fill the space and I was wonder what the knowledgeable folk on KB thought were must haves as far as work benches go.

I have got my vice which will need a space as well as my drill press, and toll box's (never been able to afford the bottom roller cabinet for my top and middle box's:no:)

My old workbenches were just chipboard which I always found a bit of a pain in the arse as oil and other fluids would just be soak in, so I am thinking a metal skin of some description will be a goer this time.

So any other things I should think about?

[nadroj]

Hydralic press & bench grinder / wire brush.
If you use a steel benchtop make sure you earth it!

[Winston001]

Personally I'd find a metal bench too noisy and not kind to drills, saw blades, chisels etc. Certainly a thick top is best, even just two layers of 20mm chipboard would do. I painted my top and backboard white which makes it easy to find stuff and brush clean. Keep a hearth brush and shovel on a nail.

Second the grinder/wire brush suggestion, essential IMHO.

[LBD]

If you plan any wood work then timber, either planks or ply...generall softer wood which will bruise before the wood you are working on

If metal work then an aluminum plate 8mm minimum bench is best, 1220 wide sheet folded up to give a 150mm splash back, and folder down at the front for an apron....easy cleaned and softer than any sttel parts you may drop on it.

[Ocean1]

It's one of the few devices where reduced mass is contra-indicated.

Best one I've had was 3" x 2" RHS legs and frame with a 3/4" plate top. When you hit something on that bench it fucking stays hit. When you're undoing a 4" pipe from a socket you don't need to put your foot on the bench to keep it still.

Get the picture?

[Maha]

...a Hammer...:bash:

[Pumba]

Bench grinder/wire brush is going to be a must now that I will have room for one. Also eyeing up a second hand mig but we will see, I have been lead to believe a new washing machine dryer combo is a more important purchase, as I say we will see:mellow:

So solid seems to be the general consensus. Split decision on weather a metal skin is a good idea. I do like the idea of a white top to find all those little bits that seem to go missing.

Hmm now just to sit down and figure out an efficient layout, where to put everything........

[gatch]

Depends what for.. Personally if I had the choice I'd have some heavy plate, like 20mm, as has been said work benches that move around are a right cunt. And solid legs, like 50x75x4 rhs or bigger. Steel benches are mint, if you are looking to fabricate something, you can tack members to the top and grind it flush later. Or you can dump something on top and smash away with your club hammer as you please.

If you are working on ali or wood or similar soft stuff you can always fix some ply to you bench top with some screws. I do this at work with anything that is softer than steel.

But then if I had my way I'd have a couple of lathes, a few mills (boring and vert) and a drill press. Surface grinder, bench grinders, shaper, hob, a few vices, A/C tig/arc, gas plant, compressor etc etc etc. Actually having an equipped shed is the only thing I am looking forward to about owning my own home.. Oh and a bed, bathroom and kitchenette. I'd never leave.

[Bikemad]

beer fridge............ can double as work/toolbench

[Ocean1]

Steel benches are mint, if you are looking to fabricate something, you can tack members to the top and grind it flush later.

My main welding table is 2.4M x 1.8M with a 25mm deck, it's got 12mm taped holes at 200mm spacing. With a handfull of cheap screwed rod I can clamp prety much anything where I want it.


But then if I had my way I'd have a couple of lathes, a few mills (boring and vert) and a drill press. Surface grinder, bench grinders, shaper, hob, a few vices, A/C tig/arc, gas plant, compressor etc etc etc.

I do. Except the shaper and hob, they wouldn't pay for their floorspace nowadays. In fact the vertical bandsaw's on the endangered list, I get sheet / plate stuff cut by either waterjet or laser within 48hrs to much higher tolerances.

[LBD]

beer fridge............ can double as work/toolbench

And you can pop a bearing on the freezer tray to shrink before you drop it in the housing

Beer fridge gets my vote....purely for sound mechanical reasons mind you.

[ducatilover]

I use the floor, a coffee table, a computer desk and my tool box plus various other things that can hold bike parts/dead women.
I have a bench grinder, somewhere. I think. :laugh:

[Grubber]

If your planing on doing work with metal and wood, just have half metal plate top and half wooden top. That's what i did. Need a bit of room to accommodate the length.
Put a shelf under the metal one to put d clamps and all your metal work gear and a shelf under the wood to do the same. I put my bench grinder onto the metal bench as i did with the vice. I also put a wood vice on the wooden bench, as you would, for the same reason.
tons of options really, depending on room etc.

[Dodgyiti]

Personally I like stainless steel because it can be cleaned spotlessly for those surgical like operations.
I have 3 benches, one with a thich
k wooden top, one is an old house sink and large bench made of stainless and was 15 bucks on TM. I use the sink for storing the current pile of bits and soaking parts with a drum under for draining into and I cover the sink with an oven tray when not in use. The third bench is an old stainless mortuary table- the best thing about it is that all the oil and goo drains off the centre into channels along the sides and out one end.

[Hoon]

I do electrical work on my work bench too so don't like metal. I just have a 3/4" ply top. If it gets too grubby I can unscrew it, flip it over or replace it as ply is dirt cheap.

If I had the option I would go mostly ply and just metal for my messy area. For intricate stuff I also have a wheeled table which I cover with cloth (I got rolls of t-shirt material)

[imdying]

A mate built his out of 100x100 with 2 layers of 20mm ply as the bench top. With a vice bolted to it, you can fair beat the shite out of things. Hell I could park a Harley on it and it wouldn't budge.

[F5 Dave]

Just paint the wood top & it will wear. In 5 or 10 years buy a new piece of wood & screw it to the top. By the time yer 60 you may need a stepladder. Or you just unscrew some tops.

If you can have a dirty area & a clean bench. A small sturdy bench for drill & grinder (+ essential wire wheel) + vice bolted for sawing; in an easy to sweep corner & the work bench on the other side where there is good light. Stops swarf intruding everything else on the bench. Some shelves by the bench mean less clutter on bench, they tend to shrink with clutter.

Toolboxes are good for the track, but the 'old man' type shadow board is the best. I have a low bench for wheeling a bike on & bought a small table that I place my not often used tools in toolbox upon, then a piece of MDF bolted to the back of it which became a shadowboard. So much easier than rolling draws open & closed. Can decant into toolboxes for the racetrack.

[F5 Dave]

Just have a pic from an old thread of my shadowboard (& old nail on my bike bench)

pic down in post 10. So you can walk behind the tool island, but it could be on a wall.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/66922-Float-like-a-butterfly...?highlight=butterfly

Also my workbench almost visible in background, but not my dirty bench which is in another corner with the lathe & compressor etc.

Also read the tools for motorcyclist thread at the top of this section. Isn't a bad thread if I say so myself.

[dogsnbikes]

, I have been lead to believe a new washing machine dryer combo is a more important purchase, as I say we will see:mellow:


Agree too the washing machine and dryer combo as when they are placed end on end they make a great work bench for the bike:laugh:

245476245477245478

If you can get an old state house bench top and pull the vaneer off, chances are they are hardwood and approx 50mm thick I have two benchs like that and one complete with cupboards......

The missus also got me a telescopic lamp,wall mounted fan and a hydrollic bike hoist:shifty:

Oh a endless chain(chain block) is handy too

[The Lone Rider]

I run a particle board work bench that has it's frame reinforced with 2x4 pieces, and half of the top covered in a sheet of stainless. The other half is the painted board.

Other things you might want to consider - a fire extinguisher, and a volatiles cabinet away from where welding takes place.

I have an extinguisher near the inside of the entry/exit and the cabinet is off to the side away from the welder and bench. It has all the paints, solvents, butane, etc that shouldn't catch sparks or hot swarf.

[Mort]

I built one a couple of years ago....still going well.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/108804-My-bike-bench?highlight=bikebench

[Pumba]

Wow heaps of info. Keep it coming if you have got it.

I picked up a work table for the bike a couple of years ago. Best thing I have ever spent my money on, steel frame on a great set of industrial castors, can be wheeled anywhere I need it.

Yea liking the shadow board Dave. Not a bad idea.

Thinking that timber is the way to go, but will pick up an old stainless sink as well.

Now what height an depth?

[pete-blen]

I have 2 work shops... inside & outside under a roof..
out side ones for grinding/cutting/welding etc..
Inside is the clean one where the lathe & mill sit..
bench tops are a old formica kitchen unit tops
on 100x50 wood frame... 900 high , 600 wide..
600 wide is good.. wide enough to keep pushing
the stuff at the front back to get clean bench space...lol

out side ones real hi-tec...old fridge on its side...
( one of those get round to it projects that yer never get round to)

[Flip]

Mine are simply 5/8 particle board 2.4 long by only 600 wide, with a light 1" angle frame. The back of the board is screwed to the wall and the front leg angles back to the point where the wall and the floor meet. I also have a single 300 mm wide shelf inder the bench. The only thing I do do is mount my big vice on a 3" square RHS leg that takes the stress.

I am a bit of the old white board junkie as well.

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[F5 Dave]

Where are your shadows Phil? Call yourself an engineer? Pah!:laugh:

[Flip]

Once upon a time I couldn't spell it, now I is one.

[wysper]

I was reading the bits about painting the top of the workbench.
Made me think that painting an area on a wooden one with blackboard paint would be useful for making those quick notes about measurements. And if it was metal maybe that whiteboard marking paint stuff for notes too.

Course you would lose the chalk or whiteboard marker so maybe that isn't such a good idea afterall....

[F5 Dave]

ahh, would get greasy straight away. + that stuff is hella expensive for a tin of paint. Have a notebook & a biro.

[gatch]

My main welding table is 2.4M x 1.8M with a 25mm deck, it's got 12mm taped holes at 200mm spacing. With a handfull of cheap screwed rod I can clamp prety much anything where I want it.



I do. Except the shaper and hob, they wouldn't pay for their floorspace nowadays. In fact the vertical bandsaw's on the endangered list, I get sheet / plate stuff cut by either waterjet or laser within 48hrs to much higher tolerances.

Our hob is running at least monthly. I used it last year to generate a gear with 800odd OD (2DP) ? As for the shaper is it hardly touched, been used 3 times in 4 years I've been at work. For cutting keys more than 20mm wide in a hub. Ha and our bandsaw more often than not is used to cut ply wood or plastic.

[clint640]

Good points above. Solid is good. Bolt the bastard down. I have a long wooden bench, I'm about to put a steel top on one end for welding & to provide a nice flat surface.

Not too thick along the front is also good - you want to be able to clamp stuff to it easily. Put the vice where the best natural light is if you can. Paint the wall behind the bench a light colour.

I'm also planning getting some old kitchen cabinets to go underneath for extra tool storage. (I am a tool addict & since I got my own shed the tools have been multiplying quite steadily...) I have a few files, hacksaw, hammers etc on the wall behind the vice but try to keep most other tools shut away so I can spray a little sawdust or swarf around without it getting in everything.

Cheers
Clint

[Winston001]

I'm also planning getting some old kitchen cabinets to go underneath for extra tool storage. .



Yeah? I like space under the bench especially for awkward shapes which have to fit in the vice at odd angles. I keep sawhorses and the chainsaw underneath which are easy to move.

[F5 Dave]

. . .and the compressor of course

[clint640]

Yeah? I like space under the bench especially for awkward shapes which have to fit in the vice at odd angles. I keep sawhorses and the chainsaw underneath which are easy to move.

I find that the stuff I have stored under the main work area on the bench always gets covered in dust & crap so I reckon cupboards & drawers are the go there. Good point on leaving some clearance under the vice though.

Another good idea if you have the space is to have one solid built in section of bench with the vice on it, then another section at the same width & height that is a table on casters or skids that can be pulled out for jobs you need to get right around, sawing panels etc.

Yet another point to consider if building in a bench is to make sure you have hotpoints in the right places, & pipe some compressed air in to convenient locations.

Cheers
Clint

[Winston001]

An old vacuum cleaner is the bees knees for cleaning up dust, swarf, and those small screws you'll never be able to find anyway. :D

[clint640]

An old vacuum cleaner is the bees knees :D

Totally! Especially when you are using the same area for different stuff. Store the vac plugged in & within it's hose length of your vice & main work area. I actually got a cheap wet/dry shop vac that I occasionally use in the shack as well, but it lives in the shed.

Cheers
Clint

[spanner spinner]

I have set up a few workshops for myself and friends, a plywood top (7 ply or greater at least 15mm thick)is the best option I have come across BUT I allways paint them with concrete floor paint as it's hard wearing and it's easy to clean up liquid spills. If you can weld go talk to your local bike shop as some bikes come supplied in sturdy metal crates which are easly cut down into a frame that can be bolted to the floor. Don't forget to put in some decent lighting above the bench as working in your own shadow loses it's charm real fast.

[geoffm]

I have several benches. One is a woodwork bench on lockable castors. The main work bench is a welded steel one with a painted 30mm MDF top and cupboards underneath. It must weigh a couple of hundred kg but never moves
The welding bench in the forge is welded steel with a steel top, and I have a portable on as well at home.
Mount the compressor out of the way (outside under cover, or in the rafters) and have a pull out air hose. Very handy, and getting the compressor out of the way reduces noise, and saves space.

Make racking (or look for cheap pallet racking) to make the most of your storage space.

A useful thing is a piece of box section bolted or set into the floor as a socket. You can use it for freestanding tools like tyre changes, vices and pipe benders that need to be fixed down, have access on all sides but you don't want their permanently.

Get a belt sander and horizontal bandsaw - very handy. Buy several cheap angle grinders - one for each wheel type (flap sander disk, grinder, cutting wheel)
If you want to use a welder, come and see me.

Geoff

[F5 Dave]

horizontal bandsaw, hmm, had to look it up, look great, but out of reach for most people I'm sure. I've coveted a couple of friends old style hacksaw machines, but they are huge & take forever.

[Pumba]

Right thought it was about time I got back to this thread.

Cheers for all the advice, since moving a month or so ago things have been coming together rather slowly, but I have got one bench up and in place (drill press is just temporary mounted)

Still a bit to do as far as the organisation goes but as you can see I have plenty of space to play in, I also have a very wide single garage which the room in the pics come off, as well as more space under the house which I have plans for.:yes:

Also good news, the house next door is under construction, which has meant an awesome supply of timber off cuts including large amounts of plywood:2thumbsup: so I should have enough solid materials to build some more benches.

Also thrown in a photo of my bike work bench, just so you can see it,

[Pumba]

Photos under the house (like you a haven't seen something similar before:facepalm:)