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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
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    Default My workbench. Cheap n easy

    So I was little bit bored this evening. So I thought I might have a play with SketchUP. This is a great program once I got the hang of the controls..I am used to AutoCAD 2000.

    Anyway, I designed my cheap n easy workbench in SketchUP. the materials list is as follows.

    - 2 sheets of 18 MDF (2400x1200x18) approx 40bux/sheet = 80bux
    -10 Lengths of Merch Pine (2400x70x35) approx 3bux/length = 30bux
    - Approximately 120 screws, I dunno? 10bux?
    - Some Glue
    - And some sealer for the MDF top and shelf (free, find something in the shed.)

    All up about 120bux.

    I decided to use nothing but halving/housing joints, because there easy and they locate the timbers nicely when assembling. You wont need any fancy tools, a circular saw, a drill/driver and maybe a hammer and chisel and thats it.

    I am going to machine all the timbers down to 69x34 just for consistancy's sake...merch really is bad sometimes.
    Make the 4 leg/cross brace sections first, screw the rails on, and then slide the shelf in, pop the top on and wham bam! ya done

    Here is a pic. enjoy!
    workbench 28-01-2015 70mm Merch.jpg

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
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    Perth
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    Default

    I guess to some extent it depends on what you plan to do on it but your design is perhaps more suited to a cupboard or kitchen rather than a woodwork bench.

    The main issues you may wish to consider are;

    The legs are on the thin side, I'd be looking at double the cross section or preferably even bigger
    There's no where substantial to attach any sort of vice.
    The light weight nature of the frame and design means the likelihood of racking is higher.
    Chipboard edges on the top will wear poorly. A budget way around this is to add a hardwood edge but I would suggest recessing the chipboard into a wooden frame using a front of about 35 x 150 mm which will give you something to attach a vice against.

    With benches there is an advantage of being able to retighten joints periodically so a simple pull bolt design like this may be something to consider.
    Even in pine these joints can work very well and kept tight as a drum.
    My workbench. Cheap n easy-thruboltjount-jpg
    If you want to get fancy the nut can be replaced with a segment of aluminium rod with a thread made into the side. There are also commercially available inserts that provide better purchase than a simple nut.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  4. #3
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    Default

    Although I did not draw it in, I plan to attach 12mm mdf to the back length. It gives me somewhere to store things like my clamps, rulers, chisels etc, and it will also prevent racking in that direction. If I find that it wobbles across the width of the bench, I will do the same thing, add mdf side bracing.

    I have thought about a vice. If needed I can simply add a few blocks of timber under the table top to attach the vice. I dont have any plans at current to install any sort of vice as I cant recall a moment when I wished I had one. I can easily recall wanting and using metalworking vices alot, but without hand jointing boards or handcutting dovetails on boxes, is there really a need for a vice?

    My primary use for the bench will be making coffee tables. So tabletop glueups, and mortice n tenon joinery. The biggest use will be as a platform to support the tabletops while sanding with ROS and for applying finishes.

  5. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kuffy View Post
    Although I did not draw it in, I plan to attach 12mm mdf to the back length. It gives me somewhere to store things like my clamps, rulers, chisels etc, and it will also prevent racking in that direction..
    That won't help the frame which is where the racking will occur.

    I have thought about a vice. If needed I can simply add a few blocks of timber under the table top to attach the vice..
    Unless the top is something like 30 (or preferably 50) mm thick then a few pieces of wood under the MDF is not really going to give a strong enough base to attach a decent size vice.

    I dont have any plans at current to install any sort of vice as I cant recall a moment when I wished I had one. I can easily recall wanting and using metalworking vices alot, but without hand jointing boards or handcutting dovetails on boxes, is there really a need for a vice?
    I have 3 Wood work vices and 4 metal work vices and consider them the most important tools in my shed.
    Apart from being able to hold things firmly while something is done to it, WW vices together with a strong bench with dog holes can act like a giant fixed clamping arrangement - once you use one this way your'e unlikely to go back to other ways of working.

    My primary use for the bench will be making coffee tables. So tabletop glueups, and mortice n tenon joinery.
    All perfect jobs for vice to assist with.

    I just think it would be a shame to put a lot of effort and money into a bench that can't really have a vice added to it later.

  6. #5
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    well i got the frame built between errands that needed running. Its square and the right size, and best of all it looks just like the picture i detailed. I added some adjustable feet...and lucky I did, the front face nearest the camera is sitting high off the concrete, there is a bump in the concrete in the middle of the bench...

    It is very very light, I can pick it up with one arm. but once I get couple sheets of MDF on it it should weigh around the 100kg mark +500kgs of rubbish stored on the shelf after the first week.

    20150129_174207[1].jpg

  7. #6
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    The finished product after about roughly 8 hours of work. To the best of my ability, I believe the top surface to be flat within 1.2mm. the top surface is slightly concave across the front edge 2400 lengthways, measured using a straight piece of MDF 500mm wide freshly ripped on the sliding table side of panel saw. It is stable, pounding the top with a fist feels quite solid, and the work surface itself is perfectly square as i use the edges as a reference for many things. It is not so heavy that I cant move it around the garage to clean under it, nor is it too light that it just moves across the floor when i lean against it.

    here is a pic. I havent finished the top with any sealer, and the top is only screwed down to aid easy replacement if the need arises.

    20150130_150322[1].jpg

  8. #7
    Sam50 Guest

    Default

    Looks great.

    Where did you get the merch pine from? I can't see 2400 merch on bunnings for $3.

  9. #8
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    http://www.bunnings.com.au/70-x-35mm...-pine_p0030122 $3.05/length.

    Just type in 'merch' and a range of sizes and lengths will show up. There is no guarantee that your green shed will have any merch, I had to go to 3 sheds in the area before I found some. Nobody had any 90x35 at all, and only one had half a pack left of 6000x70x35 and about 3/4 pack of 2400x70x35. Be picky about which lengths you pick up, rummage through the pack to find the good ones, because the bad ones are barely good enough to get a single 425 noggin out of the 2.4 length.

  10. #9
    Sam50 Guest

    Default

    Ah right. I like yours because the sides are flat. My bunnings has the rounded edges ones with the ribbed sides, but I don't like using them.

    I will investigate a bit closer at my local

    Quote Originally Posted by Kuffy View Post
    http://www.bunnings.com.au/70-x-35mm...-pine_p0030122 $3.05/length.

    Just type in 'merch' and a range of sizes and lengths will show up. There is no guarantee that your green shed will have any merch, I had to go to 3 sheds in the area before I found some. Nobody had any 90x35 at all, and only one had half a pack left of 6000x70x35 and about 3/4 pack of 2400x70x35. Be picky about which lengths you pick up, rummage through the pack to find the good ones, because the bad ones are barely good enough to get a single 425 noggin out of the 2.4 length.

  11. #10
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    The timber I used has rounded edges. I cant remember a pack of merch, mgp10, 12 or 15 that was just square dressed without roundovers. U can get the rougher head stuff 'ribbed sides' or you can get straight knife stuff. There isnt much of a difference other than aestetics.

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
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    Default

    For what you are making, coffee tables it looks like a good assembly table / work bench

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