Thread: Quick Workbench for the Stingey on Space - WIP

Good design.

1 complaint. When did Australia adopt the stupid Yankee system of quoting timber size by thickness first then by width.

If you want to do it that way, emigrate to America

Cheer up lad he may be a yank,did you get out of bed in that mood??

Originally Posted by nrb

Cheer up lad he may be a yank,did you get out of bed in that mood??

Being tongue in cheek

Its also the legacy of having been a TAFE teacher with a mixer of nationalities for students

And if he is a yank, then there's no harm educating him in the Oz way....is there.....

Another one to watch.

Originally Posted by rwbuild

Being tongue in cheek

Its also the legacy of having been a TAFE teacher with a mixer of nationalities for students

And if he is a yank, then there's no harm educating him in the Oz way....is there.....

In fact its our duty to beat it into him forcibly and brutally.

Don't worry Ray I am indeed no yank - and I've never been to the US either! However I am surprised you didn't pick up on the use of inches! If it's any consolation when I'm speaking I do say "four by two"...or "ninety by fourty-five" depending on how I feel

Anywho - I wasn't lying when I said this one would be quick! I cut the timber to length with my new toy (dewalt tradesman's mitre saw) and set about building up two identical frames. I drilled the holes through the timber and inserted the carriage bolts. It's about now when I'm thinking "how good would it be to have a workbench to build this workbench on?" The reason being that alignment is quite awkward to get right when you have no table to clamp on.

Now the main legs were cut to length and the side frames joint to them. I had to be careful with the hinge orientation (needing to redo it once ). The side frames need to sit behind the front of the main legs when folded, otherwise the bench top won't be able to fold down - this will become clear with later photos.

If you're wondering why there are only 6 screws in each hinge, that is because a pack of 50 screws doesn't go as far as you'd think

Cheers!

However I am surprised you didn't pick up on the use of inches!

That's probably because you were using a 'ruler instead of a 'rule'......

Originally Posted by JPA

el snipo I'll be using treated pine of the most awful kind because it may very well be moved outside at times.

el snipo

Any questions/comments welcome.
Cheers!

OK how long is it going to be outside for ? (wondering as you are using treated pine, if it is only outside for a day or two then I would not use treated pine)
Will it have a vise attached all the time ? ( wondering about rust etc as rust can make the mechanism hard to slide smoothly)


If you are worried about weathering, I would have used Jarrah as it can be stored outside for long periods of time Cost is not a huge issue if you shop around demolition yards (and Perth where I am from does not have huge amounts of them, plus our building style is not as timber loving as the eastern states we believe in double brick and tile I can still buy 2x4's in Jarrah for $1.75 per m, just have to de nail

Just my 2c inc GST (The forum pointed out these places to me, so I am passing the message on as I am a regular shopper now

Hmm maybe there should be a new section of the forum dedicated to 'woodworking vocabulary and grammar'?!

If you are worried about weathering, I would have used Jarrah as it can be stored outside for long periods of time Cost is not a huge issue if you shop around demolition yards (and Perth where I am from does not have huge amounts of them, plus our building style is not as timber loving as the eastern states we believe in double brick and tile I can still buy 2x4's in Jarrah for $1.75 per m, just have to de nail

I did consider jarrah or any other hardwood that I could 'scavenge' and I did have a quick look around for local tips and demolition yards. But I thought - I might not get exactly what I want (in terms of sizes) and I only had a small car available. In hindsight it may have been a good idea to look a bit harder, as I just noticed you can get 100x45 hardwood for $3.50pm at a demolition yard relatively close

Finished the bench top today, which is a 1.2x0.6m bit of plywood (19mm thick) mounted on top of a simple frame. Trying not to rely on glue at all, the corners are joined with a rebate and some screws. But since end grain isn't great to screw into, I drill a hole through the width of the timber and whack a big dowel in near the end. This gives the screw something a little stronger to anchor too (see first photo). Alternatively, and more easily, you can also screw two shorter lengths of dowel into the thickness of the timber (second photo). Does anyone else think they should also make drill sizes a fraction bigger than some regular sizes?! Say 25.1mm!

Third picture onwards shows the bench top in progress. I had to get quite creative trying to drill 2 sides together whilst trying to keep them dead on 90 degrees! It was slow going - aligning, then clamping, pre-drilling, unclamping, gluing, re-clamping and then finally screwing it.

When the frame was done, the plywood top was simply screwed on. I'll cover the screws over with some putty. Anyone know any good coatings for the bench? Or should I just leave it clean?

Cheers!

I see you are still awaiting replies for the coat of finish for the workbench. I guess the outside question got a few of us thinking as it did me.

What did you end up doing?

Originally Posted by JPA

el snipo
Anyone know any good coatings for the bench? Or should I just leave it clean?

Cheers!

A good coating I am not sure, but I put 2 coats of "Cabothane Clear Oil Based" There is a water based version, but as I wanted the toughest protection I chose the oil based.

I should have given it more coats, but I wanted to use it, if it had of been summer I could have done a lot more coats, but with the cool weather, it takes longer to set, so was very tacky when I should have been doing the next coats..... so it has only 2 so far, I may give it a light sand when it is summer and put another load of coats

With the work it has seen so far, it has light scratches in the finish (from moving wood over the top with sawdust between) dings from saws and chisels.... It looks as good (but used) as the day I finished it

This finish is available in 1 and 4lt containers in the Big Green Shed, I would have preferred a 2lt tin, but I can use it on other projects

Kat.

My apologies, I should have been more specific! I was just looking for a coat for the bench top itself. I have heard a polyurethane can work well so I may give Kat's suggestion a go. Weather protection isn't as big a deal though as it's marine ply!

With the rest of the treated pine I'm going to seal it with whatever I have floating around in the shed. Just so I'm not in contact with it all the time.

I haven't had any time in the last few days, but hopefully can get close to finishing tomorrow

Time to join the 2 leg sections together. First of all I needed to cut out a 140x55 section out of both of the legs. My CMS isn't a slider so I just cut them out with saw and chisel. I think it's time for some new steel because that chisel is well beyond blunt...I found it sitting in my father's tool kit and just as well I didn't go with jarrah, otherwise the chisel would have gone no where!

I wedged the bench top in between the two legs to ensure the legs are properly spaced and parallel. The cross beam was a nice snug fit and I fixed it down with glue and some dirty great big coach screws.

Similarly, I placed a cross beam of 4x2's on the top and bottom of the legs. It's now quite rigid and ready to have the bench top attached The top 4x2 will become the backing of a shelf (rather than the drawers as in the drawing).

Cheers!