Thread: Work Bench Material's

I reckon 120 x 120 hardwood (as used in old fencing) should be fine for the legs and any other undercarriage. If you are making a bench to do hand-planing on, or other hand woodworking stuff, those may also make a good top, as well, although planing them and gluing them together will be a big job (as will flattening them afterwards, if you don't glue them together accurately ).

How you are going to use your bench does influence how you fit it out - for instance, I do a lot of hand-powered work and hold pieces being worked on with holdfasts and other devices that rely on being run through holes in the bench surface. In that case, drawers can get in the way of the shanks of the devices being poked through those holes, so I avoided them on my bench.


One suggestion - there are some good books on designing and building your workbench. Christopher Schwarz has written a couple of good uns that will help with deciding what you need in your workbench.

You may find something helpful at the local library (or in Albury). As well, several guys have documented their workbench build in this forum.

Thanks for the reply JMK89 i'll have to look for that book you mention as i find it easier to follow instructions with a book in front of me instead of having to race inside and look on the old pc lol, I mainly want the bench as flat and level as i can get it but strong enough so it wont wobble when i am trying to work on a project on top of it.
It'll be awhile before i get to the stage the majority of you here are at making drawers and stuff but if i start out with a nice solid looking bench i can add to it later like draws and stuff beneath it. Also a ton of info here on the forum i'm still yet to browse thru as well mate.
Mick.

I do a lot of what it sounds like you do (motors, engines, oil and grease etc) on my bench and rather than mangle the top of a nice solid wood bench I made one with a very solid frame with lots of extra cross members and then put an 18mm ply top on it. That way when it gets really "manky" I can easily replace the top.

Here is my bench when it was new. and you can see the strength in the frame.
The timber was all recycled.
Frame.jpg
Here it is with the ply top and some cupboards added
BobsBench2.jpg

10 years on it was very dirty and dented and I though about replacing the top instead I ran a belt sander over it and it came up OK.
Bench.jpg

Thanks for the pic's Bobl that's pretty much what i'd like to make did you make it just out of your head or did you have a plan to go by and can i ask how you stuck the initial top on ?, Like how is it secured to the base.
Mick.

Thanks Mick,

I'm not big on plans, especially for "one of a kind" jobs and when making things out of recycled materials since recycled material rarely come along at the planned length.
I have a rough idea in my mind and then sort of wing it from there )

If I am going to make a few of them I might make a plan so I have something consistent to go by.

Bob's responses are, as usual, very helpful.

It does really depend on what you are going to use the bench for.

For example, I have three different benches:

1. woodwork bench - this is about 2000mm long x 550mm wide and its height is set to the top of my thighs - I use it mainly for planing and dimensioning timber by hand and assembly of parts;
2. joinery bench - this is an old sideboard that I picked up from my parents and it is about 200mm higher than the general workbench - I use it for cutting dovetails and mortices and tenons because it puts the work much closer to my (fading) eyes and at a height that makes it easier for me to cut square on lines; and
3. metalworking bench - this is for all the messy things that need a bench - sharpening on oil stones, cutting or filing metal, etc - in fact, anything that involves oil, grease or metal filings that should not be part of any furniture or would mar the surface of wood.

The joinery bench is a luxury, but I recommend separating timber work from metal work. The two both create wastes that do not mix with the other - oil, grease and metal filings as mentioned should be kept away from wood, and sawdust and shavings should not be anywhere near heated elements (welding, soldering etc).

But in the end, you bench(es) just need(s) to be good for the work you do. Just think out what you need it for and build the least bench that does that and then think about pimping it us later.

Two final suggestions (based on bitter personal experience):

1. just build the "table" that will work for you, then work out what vices and other workholding and other improvements you need to add, based on the situations you find confront you with the work that you do. Your bench will evolve to suit you. If you try to do everything at once, you will end up with a heap of things that get in the way or that you don't use.
2. over-engineer your bench - for every person who complains that their bench is too heavy there are 100 who complain about their bench walking away from them, or shaking or racking when they are using it. Strong and simple and heavy are good.

I base 2 in part on being 'seduced' at an earlier stage to make a torsion box for my bench top, on the basis that this would be lighter and just as stiff as a solid top and this would mean that a less massive undercarriage would be needed to support it. It was OK, but the bench was too light as a consequence - when I planed boards, the bench would start moving across the workshop and chiseling out mortices on the hollow box top was difficult because the workpiece bounced with each blow in sympathy with the hollow box! In the end, I deadened the top by filling it with sand (which made the bench heavier and stopped it moving when I was planing). But that made the top too heavy for the legs and rail structure.

So I made a new bench and put all the weight that my​ bench needs into timber by making the undercarriage massive and putting a thick solid hardwood top on it. I don't say you have to do what I did. But I do say, "think about the forces that your intended operations will put on the bench and make sure that the basic design of the bench will accommodate those forces".

Here endeth the lesson

Thanks Bobl and Jmk Bob i'm not into plans either which is probably my downfall as i usually start off with the best intentions but sumhow get side tracked and what was supposed to be a simple chook house for wifeys chickens turn's into a 3 level penthouse a dog would be proud to live in LOL.
Jmk your right i will need at least three benchs one for woodwork which i would like to be the largest in the centre of my shed another up one end for welding and another L shaped bench near the entry door where i can proudly hang my ten years worth of tool collecting and hoarding paraphernalia i did find a useful link in one of those you provided in my introduction post about pitful's to be wary of for new bench builders and there is just so much info on this whole forum i think i could read it for a year and still not catch all the good point's.
I think i have a fair idea in my head how i'd like the bench laid out along with the shed so now time to take the plunge and actually learn to use all my tools LOL.
Thanks for the assistance fella's it is muchly appreciated.
Mick.