Thread: Assistance with work bench build

A diagonal brace top to bottom on the ends will help with the racking

You have lots of squares
But triangles are a stronger shape

If that was my bench I would put a piece of plywood on the back along the intire length screwed and glued.
That will strengthen it right up.

Cheers Matt.

From the original post, I understood the racking to occur front ot back (or back to front) rather than side to side (the OP mentions the blue side is fine, the red side is a problem).

I agree with plywood across the back anyway, but I'd add plywood sides. Triangular bracing will also help/eliminate the problem, it just depends on whether an open or enclosed workbench is required.

It’s interesting that both ends appear to be the same construction but one is tight and one loose. This would seem to indicate that the joints in the right hand end are loose when compared to the ones on the left. Can you see movement in the joints or is it the timber flexing? As it’s now all tied and glued together, the suggestions of diagonal braces or plywood sheets would be the appropriate fix IMO.

Another quick question, you have screwed this together that’s not a problem perfectly good way of doing it.
Did you use one or two screws at each junction it looks like at the red end, the one that is racking you only used one screw?

Cheers Matt,

Just a thought, do you know that the floor is completely flat ?

Rick

Originally Posted by warrick

Just a thought, do you know that the floor is completely flat ?

Rick

AND/OR the legs may not be coplanar. Adjustable-height feet often solve all these problems.

My previous bench was constructed like that. Like the others have said boxing it in with ply or other sheet material(yellow tongue flooring sheets are cheap) will stiffen things up and give you a good bit of storage also.
Regards
John

Depends on whether you want open or closed ends on the bench.

The "easiest" fix -- after you have installed at least one adjustable foot and checked that the bench is level -- will be to glue and screw a 100 to 150 mm wide strip of ply between the legs (use at least 3 screws per side).

A fix that involves slightly more work is to reinforce each corner with a triangular fillet glued and screwed to the legs and cross members. Make the fillets from 3/8 or 1/2 ply (the CD stuff is fine for this) in the shape of a 45 degree right triangle somewhere between 250 x 250 and 300 x 300. The actual size doesn't matter, nor does getting precise 45 degree triangles -- but cutting plywood squares in half diagonally is the easiest way to make the triangles. Recess the triangles into the legs and rails if you want or need a flush surface. When attaching the braces use 2 or 3 screws on each short edge.

As it is just an open frame like that you always get a fair bit of flex .

I feel for it by lifting a leg , like in the red arrow end I try and lift the front leg and see how easy it rises off the ground , then try the red arrow end back leg.
One side usually lifts more easily showing the flex and the other side can be more rigid showing not as much leg coming off the ground but just lifting the whole end up . Both legs .

That's my take on what your saying .

You cant really brace for that in a direct way .
like, if you were to put an X in timber at both ends the bench would be very well braced for forward and back flex.

A back fitted to the bench gives it good left and right bracing and dividing the front up with stiles or rails helps there.

With all that you can still get that twisting shown by a leg lifting though it should be a bit better.

The best thing apart from what I just said would be adding in your bottom, shelves and the bench top itself . The heavier the better with the top .

That will solve the flex.

+Fill it with a Stanley tool collection and see how a front leg lifts then

Rob


Edit .
Or . If your saying the the bench ends are flexing back and forward in the way your arrows point .
Not the whole frame twisting.
Then the joints are moving slightly . That's not so good . The mortise and tenon joint is good at stopping that.

Fix like some of the suggestions above . Or add the X at each end or some cleats and a plywood panel nailed and glued in

Turn the frame 180 and see what happens. If the opposite end has a wobble its in the floor to leg contact.

Good Evening

Firstly, thank you all so much for the replies. I wasn't expecting such a response from the community.

After reading through the suggestions above I spent some time looking at my joints and noticed that I had two loose joints (Attached a photo for reference). The blue boxes indicate where I had some issues.. Consequently I decided to partially dis-assemble the bench and fix the joints. Now the bench is much sturdier on the right hand side. Rookie mistake!

I'm still not completely confident making accurate mitred / beveled cuts, so i'll look to add some ply to the back and sides for extra re-enforcement. I hadn't thought of this earlier.

Again, thank you all for the responses. I've learned a lot and appreciate your patience!

Cheers
Brad

Good to see your’ve fixed the problem. Thanks for the fix feedback - it’s good to know what worked as it helps others.

I too was thinking your floor might not be flat. If that is the issue shim the one side.

Originally Posted by warrick

Just a thought, do you know that the floor is completely flat ?

Rick