Thread: My Garage Workbench

G'Day Ben,
You are good with the computer and from what I saw on the blog, pretty good with the tools too.
You have a nice array of good tools.
The bench seems small but then you said the garage is small car size.
I like the idea of multifunction with the fancy slotting system, though haven't seen it used.
The 2 sheet of 3/4"ply plus cover of hardboard would be very functional/durable.
You've certainly built your bench very well & strong.
Have a look at dust collection too.
Enjoy your woodwork.
Cheers, crowie

That vice set up has to be the bee's knee's of ideas great work there.

Originally Posted by BenSwayne

I saw this t-slot system somewhere else online and I'm wondering if anyone here has experience with this kind of system or can recommend another style of modular mounting?

This is how my removable vice works on my metal work bench.


One thing worth knowing about any vice is that if they move, even just a whisker, while in use this become very irritating so I added a locking bolt on the corner of the supporting post

I have also since added a steel plate on a support post that fills the gap left by the removed vice - it would be easy enough to do the same with timber.

IN case you are not aware of this, make sure the fixed back jaw of the vice overhangs the edge of the bench otherwise the vice cannot hold anything straight below the bench top.

You have started my mind turning Ben and Bob!! Great posts.

Thanks everyone for your input so far!

crowie: yes, its a little shorter than I'd like because of the garage size. The surface is going to be 35" deep by 70" wide. Where I live in Canada (close to Vancouver, BC) is kind of a real-estate hot zone. We're home to some of the highest cost of living in North America (I'm pretty sure we're in the top 10 most expensive cities including US and Canada). So You pretty much have to put up with a small garage for at least 10 years to build up some home equity. But I'll make the best of the space in the meantime!

As for dust collection, I have a small 5 gallon shop vac with a nice long hose that I can attach to the chop saw. Not perfect, but again right size for the small shop. I'll re-evaluate that when I am actually able to have a table saw and router/router table. Then maybe I'll upgrade.

BTW, general comment: I noticed on some of the other workbench posts on this forum you guys use metric measurements. The funny thing is that Canada IS totally metric, but we have a couple exceptions. One exception is lumber, its still sold with fractional US/Imperial measurements, inches, feet, etc. Almost everything construction related is either from the USA or we sell it to the USA so for some reason we just keep on with the old system. They try to force retailers to label items with metric, but nobody actually uses mm with plywood. So sorry for the inches/feet/gallons I post.

BobL: nice work there! You clearly have a welder and bandsaw though, yes? Add that to the list of tools I don't have.

I will definitely keep the strength/security in mind. And thanks for the reminder about the vise jaw positioning!

Originally Posted by BenSwayne

......
BTW, general comment: I noticed on some of the other workbench posts on this forum you guys use metric measurements. .....

Some members are from Australia and we use metric here to mark out. But you will still get some that prefer to use imperial and that is also fine.

Originally Posted by BenSwayne

BTW, general comment: I noticed on some of the other workbench posts on this forum you guys use metric measurements. The funny thing is that Canada IS totally metric, but we have a couple exceptions. One exception is lumber, its still sold with fractional US/Imperial measurements, inches, feet, etc.

An anomaly for me and a hangover from the imperial era, is that the old method of describing timer is so ingrained that I now descibe timber, for example, as 3m of 6 x 2 (2 x 6 in your corner of the world) .

It looks like your entry to woodworking has got off to a pretty good start. As for space available, it is never big enough! It may be the difference between a shed and a house. At some stage in our lives we may say this house is too big for us now. That never happens with the shed .

Regards
Paul

Alright my aluminum t-slot profile is being ordered today! It'll take at least a week, maybe two to arrive.

So in the meantime, I bought the initial bottom layer of 3/4" plywood which is just resting on the bench (not attached) as it'll eventually be paired up with the top layers and glued/clamped before being fastened to the bench. But having this first layer at least makes it semi-usable in the meantime for other chores.

While not directly "wood working", part of this project has now become to improve the lighting over the workbench. My garage originally had just one lonely light in the center of the ceiling. When I stood in front of my workbench it would cast a big shadow on the workspace which obstructed the light from whatever I was working on. Not so nice. So I decide to mount a couple fluorescent light fixtures directly overhead for a nice bright shadow-less bench surface.


Garage Lights Over Workbench Landscape by Ben Swayne, on Flickr

I used surface mounted plastic wiring raceway because the ceiling joists were running perpendicular to the direction I wanted to run the wires. This was much easier than trying to run wires in the ceiling through joists.

If you're interested here's the start to finish (so far, I might add more lights): My Garage Workbench Fluorescent Lighting Installation