Thread: Advice for outdoor workbench

Originally Posted by Robot

Christos - Agree, my tools will have to be taken inside and not kept under the bench. Ive got a good storage tool bag for the moment at least but I'll eventually get something else to avoid all the rummaging.

My eldest daughter is doing a fairly involved renovation at home. She got sick and tired of having to go out to her shed for tools or having tools stacked in the corner when she couldn't be bothered taking them back outside at the end of the day.

She bought one of the Fatmax rolling toolboxes such as [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Consumer-Storage-020800R-Station/dp/B000V29B7K"]THIS[/ame] one.
I'm blown away by just how much that sucker holds.
Might be of some interest to you.

Yeah, that is the kind of thing I'm after. Most importantly aside from being reasonably portable is that you can easily grab most things whilst you are working away because you aren't putting the tools back in on top of the tool you are going to want in a couple of minutes.

Christos is so right = the outdoor bench becomes almost a disposable item. Not hard to accept. Make a couple from freight pallets, the economy is pleasing. You need some bolt holes in new places - blast away (who cares?) THEN, with little expense you can decide what you want for features in a better one.

50mm pine? Not worth the money = far too much expectation for movement (cupping, warping, twisting.) I'd make a sandwich of 2 x 25mm.
I do stone carving outdoors on a freight pallet bench.I am swinging a 30oz/900g hammer into rakes and point tools. Wash off the frass with the garden hose and go again. I don't care for a bench with a pristine varnish gloss finish that I can't bear to put a ding into. No wobbles, mate.

Originally Posted by Robot

[*]Workholding, I've ordered some Gramercy holdfasts. Expensive initially (didn't seem expensive when internet shopping after getting home from pub) .They should give me a lot of flexibility immediately so I don't rush a descision on other more 'permanent' purchases like vises.

Not that I have any, but don't holdfasts really require a thick bench top (80mm plus) to grip? Perhaps I am wrong.

I'd also steer clear of treated pine for the top - it will be fine for the base. I certainly wouldn't want to be touching the treated pine top regularly. That stuff'l kill you. Plus it stinks and warps and twists. I left some out in the sun for an hour once and came back and it looked like a big, green, unappetising twistie.

Look for a couple of old, solid core doors to use instead. Or some old recycled timber or old desk or ...

Trav

R

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

Christos is so right = the outdoor bench becomes almost a disposable item. Not hard to accept. Make a couple from freight pallets, the economy is pleasing. You need some bolt holes in new places - blast away (who cares?) THEN, with little expense you can decide what you want for features in a better one.

50mm pine? Not worth the money = far too much expectation for movement (cupping, warping, twisting.) I'd make a sandwich of 2 x 25mm.
I do stone carving outdoors on a freight pallet bench.I am swinging a 30oz/900g hammer into rakes and point tools. Wash off the frass with the garden hose and go again. I don't care for a bench with a pristine varnish gloss finish that I can't bear to put a ding into. No wobbles, mate.

with respect, you're a carver
Furniture makers need a flat bench as a reference surface, do carvers?

My concern with a bench made from packing crates or kept outside in the weather, is keepingb the top flat.

Originally Posted by Grandad-5

.....She bought one of the Fatmax rolling toolboxes such as THIS one......

At one stage the big green shed has these.

The gramercy holdfasts require 1 & 3/4 inch think bench top. Google tells me that is 44.45mm
However, i don't know whether they'd work better in a even thicker benchtop or not.

ian: thank you. Astute observation about the need for a reference surface.
For carvings, I need flat but not so accurate as for your demands.
Might have to measure a line "up" from the bench all around a block. I find my carvings to be sort of fluid in that I can afford small errors which do go un noticed.
For the things like my Ravens, a centerline is critical to sustain left-right symmetry.
As fast as it gets carved off in places, must be replaced until near the very end of the process. Most of the time, I can get it right by laying the carving on its side and measure up from the bench.
For my elementary dabblings into furniture, I drew a grid of perpendicular lines on the lid of my deep-freezer. Helps a lot.

Originally Posted by Robot

The gramercy holdfasts require 1 & 3/4 inch think bench top. Google tells me that is 44.45mm
However, i don't know whether they'd work better in a even thicker benchtop or not.

thicker is better
at minimum thickness, hardwood is better than soft pine -- holdfasts work by jamming themselves into the sides of their hole.

I use QuickGrips as cheaper and easier (in my opinion) to use than holdfasts. Work fine through dogholes in 25mm thick assembly bench.

Fair Winds

Graeme