Thread: Workbench Tracks

form ply will do as good a job as any other my workbench is made of it and no problem,just pick good form ply with no blow voids

I don't have a permanent workbench, I just use slabs of MDF, old doors and door packaging boards clamped to a pair of those heavy-duty tripod stands (a cheaper clone of the Triton Superjaws from Masters) ... so I can't install tracks.

Instead, I'm using the Kreg Klamps and just drilling four holes and routing a recess for the plates, reasonably easy to remove and reinstall ... also, the dog clamps with the long bolt

Not as flexible as a track system but works for me for my needs.

McJings track is the cheapest I've found (two profile sizes). Note that is NOT anodised. They are not pre-drilled though, so you need a countersink that will fit into the track to drill them (I use a CS from Lee Valley for that - best and cleanest general purpose CS anyway). It does some very minor damage to the top of the track if you are not spot on with your drilling alignment.

All the different brands have different profiles, so bolt heads that work in one won't necessarily work in another. The ovoid flat washer bolts and nuts are they best way to get around this (and slide better anyway). With those, if they are a little wide you can grind off the sides. McJings also have those in metric sizes.

McJings also have Toggle clamps (not sure of the price) up to huge sizes, but the best Toggle clamps are the Bessey automatic adjustment ones - can clamp different thicknesses without adjusting the clamp. The thickness range is about 20-25mm without adjustment. Those Bessey boys are not cheap though.

Lee Valley have recently released a big range of hold down methods.



Yeah, I've fooled around with t-track a bit

Roger,
I reckon you cant beat holdfasts for holding things down and no tracks required. Would also be a money saver. Mcjing has them for about $15 each.
Particle board flooring will cost less than ply so perhaps that overlayed by the form ply.
A split top design really allows all kinds of clamping options using F or G clamps too.
Have a read through some of the past bench builds I think just about all kinds of benches have been done.
Regards
John

Holdfasts are cheap and the holes can be put anywhere on the benchtop. Additionally there are other types of holdown such as Veritas Wonderdogs that can be used in these holes. You just need to make the top rather thick; I think from memory holdfasts need a minimum of 2 inches to be effective. I'm pretty sure the Veritas website has this information.

If you're going for a composite working surface then again; I agree that a few layers of moisture resistant particle board with formply top and bottom will give you some mass and the required benchtop depth. Then the first job you can do with your new bench is to produce some solid timber edging to go around it to reduce the chances of moisture getting into the layers.

for ideas, you my care to read this catalogue from Lee Valley Lee Valley Tools - Online Catalog

Consider using 19mm form ply for the bench trough area and an overlay of marine ply or a good face quality ply for the working surfaces.

I make a lot of jigs that use toggle clamps, so it should not be too difficult to incorporate a T track into the inner edge of the working surface to take various "carriages" that incorporate toggle clamps as the hold down mechanism. Just be mindfull that the toggle clamp pressure with tend to lift the T track with equal force so the track will need to be screwed down very well. Hold fasts are probably the better option for larger work.

Why not normal ply say from Bunnies 16mm and glue a few sheets together for mass

you could cut to size and place the track during glueup

If your surfaces are thick enough, or you don't need to inset the T-track into ply then take a look at this.
Cheap HD T-Track

The extra depth does have it's pluses and minuses. and standard T-tracl bolts won't work, but you can't argue with the price of $33 for 6m

Sounds like a good idea. Will try it with some test pieces. Many thnaks