intro myselft and outdoor workbench

**nukang** · 9th February 2007, 11:57 PM

greetings to all,
I have been lurking for a while and now if I may I decide to stay. It all started when I said to my wife its cheaper to fix and make stuff rather than getting them from ikea. and from there it's like a ping pong between carbatec-ebay-bunnings-mitre10. then comes the chinese powertools, jap saws, swedish chisels, shellac from geelong, etc ... I ended up piling my unit home with stuff that belongs to a shed. okay, enough about my tragic life on to the workbench.
I have so far managed to use the saw horses and a stool as workbenches

. But now as I need to use drawknives (for jap saw re-handle) I guess it's time for a real workbench with vise (building a shavehorse is not an option, yet!) problem is, the workbench has to be put on the backyard outside. questions: will treated pine be okay or are there any other cost effective hardwood alternatives? then what finish to make it last outdoors?

TIA

**joe greiner** · 10th February 2007, 12:30 AM

I had an "open air" shed at my previous home. PITA moving tools in and out. Best to avoid contact with the ground, even with treated wood; concrete patio likely best, but if not available at least put legs on individual pavers. I found a tarp provided adequate "finish."

Joe

**billrule** · 10th February 2007, 12:42 AM

Virtually the only thing that you can reliably leave outside.(treated pine, I mean). Don't forget to address the issue of making it heavy enough to be really stable, or allow for the addition of ballast somewhere.
You might take note of the way a vise will come apart so you can take the front half inside when not being used?

**nukang** · 10th February 2007, 12:58 AM

should've said earlier, fortunately my backyard is paved with clay bricks. also, I'm not planning to move the bench in and out. so for ballast i might bolt it to the garden edging. I'm not so sure at many things at this point; but thanks for pointing these out... much appreciated.

so far it's treated pine. I've fungishield on my mind - do I need it or jump straight to something else?

**ozwinner** · 10th February 2007, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by nukang

I've fungishield on my mind -

Sounds painful.

Al

**bsrlee** · 11th February 2007, 01:40 AM

My current workbench is a treated pine one - H3 grade treatment - that has stood outside for about 6 years now. Glued with with AV Syntec (sp?) polyurethane glue and Gorilla glue - the Gorilla glue started to fail after a few months outside & the AV Syntec is still going strong. Also used lots of long galvanised square drive decking screws (Pauls Mid City Hardware, Sydney). A rough coat of K-Mart green fence paint everywhere but the top which is bare timber (and doesn't shed paint pigment on to jobs). Mostly 2x4's with 2x8's for the front & back aprons - I can get to both sides of the bench.

For a vise I drilled a series of 20mm(3/4") holes about 75mm (3") apart in the top and apron & use a Veritas Wonder Pup set (round brass dog & a screw mounted in another steel dog).

I painted all cut surfaces with a CCA mix made from a powder I bought at Bunnies, and I soaked the legs in a bowl of the stuff for a while before assembly - no rot or termites.

**nukang** · 11th February 2007, 03:20 PM

brslee: do you normally cover the bench? thx for the tips. great stuff

i'll keep av syntec and galvanized bolts then.

ozwinner: I've got it in my right eye once. I thought safety glasses just for power tools ...

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