Thread: Convince Us!

Hi Jo,

I have a single garage which needs to occasionally hold a car but I've still got a reasonable sized bench as it completely knocks down in minutes to be stored against a wall. A 3.5inch thick top allows bench dogs and hold downs.

Its a Moravian Bench and there are free plans on the net. If interested and you can't find anything let me know.

The build itself is pretty easy.

The Portable Moravian Workbench at The Woodwright's School - YouTube

Regards,

Adam

Originally Posted by JoMinney

. . . ., but we are planning to build in a workbench along the entire length of one side which will incorporate a mitre station.

How long is ". . . the entire length of one side"?

I've seen a full length bench along a wall with a gap in it to hold a same height mobile bench that could be wheeled out into the middle of the shed as required. According to the owner it wasn't moved all that often but the times they did they found it really useful.

Originally Posted by JoMinney

Alrighty folks, we're converting our 2 car garage (which only contains one car) to a workshop. We do a bit of everything, not currently a huge amount of hand tool work, and we are progressively working our way around the garage lining all the walls with cleats & holders for all the bits and bobs. A mobile or standalone workbench is not an option (although we do have centipedes that we can use as needed), as we need to be able to put the car in there when we're not using it and there simply isn't enough room, but we are planning to build in a workbench along the entire length of one side which will incorporate a mitre station. We've already decided not to add a full length fence and only have a fixed fence on the mitre station section and would need a fair bit of convincing to change our minds on this bit.

So, here's my question:
What do we do for the benchtop?

So far, we're leaning towards double thickness plywood, with t-track along the length on the left & right of the mitre station. Our plan is to make it so that the top layer can be replaced every few years if it gets really beat up - hence the double thickness.

Problem is that Pinterest/YouTube/Facebook have given us workbench-envy and we're wondering if a better option might be something like holdfast/dog holes... but then we're not sure if that would work in Plywood!

T-Track?

Dogs/holdfast holes?

Plywood vs Hardwood benchtop we can plane down?

We don't foresee doing much in the way of furniture construction so we've already ruled out torsion box as being unnecessary (happy for you to prove me wrong though).

Convince us that there is a better option than what we've planned

So you have little hand tool use then go away from dog holes, though they can i guess be useful holding stuff in place generally, personally i've not missed something i haven't had.

Benchtop - ply is so american..... considering what we pay here in Oz for ply i consider it a waste of money for a benchtop.

3 layers of 16mm MDF (not chipboard), top layer becomes the sacrificial layer, or 3 layers topped with 12mm ply to sacrifice.
Why MDF - it's dense, heavy and quite stable, you can pound on it and quite honestly who gives a toss if the top layer gets beat up... its just mdf.

oh on the fence for the mitre station... don't even bother with it near the saw... it's just not needed and can be a hinderance with any timber that's not straight, mitre track for stop blocks but that's all the is needed, i've watched a few youtube vids now of proponents for a fence remove the fences and just go back to the one on the saw leaving the rest of the mitre station in place.

my own 4.2M long bench against the wall.. bench 4 in the shed will have a hardwood top but honestly if i wasn't using up old tongue and groove it would be a 4 layer mdf top and finished months ago

Mitre saw with flip-up arms saves a lot of space. You can also have a bench on a hinge against a wall, with fold-down legs, to save some width. I built a few of the mobile tool stations from Steve Ramsey, helped.

Originally Posted by Aussiephil

oh on the fence for the mitre station... don't even bother with it near the saw... it's just not needed and can be a hinderance with any timber that's not straight, mitre track for stop blocks but that's all the is needed, i've watched a few youtube vids now of proponents for a fence remove the fences and just go back to the one on the saw leaving the rest of the mitre station in place.

Yup we’ve come to the same conclusion - fence isn’t needed and might get in the way!


No mistakes, only lessons.

Originally Posted by BobL

How long is ". . . the entire length of one side"?

I've seen a full length bench along a wall with a gap in it to hold a same height mobile bench that could be wheeled out into the middle of the shed as required. According to the owner it wasn't moved all that often but the times they did they found it really useful.

That’s an interesting idea! We were planning on having underneath open for mobile “modular” storage - a couple flip top carts for bench top tools like sander and jointer, and some cabinets for storing all our containers that hold screws/washers/nails/drill bits/whatever else fits in little boxes [emoji38]


No mistakes, only lessons.

Hi Jo,

I am firmly of the belief that the whole Mitre Station on a full wall-length bench is more a product of the social media echo chamber than an efficient and practical use of space, let alone a useful general-use bench in a home workshop.

I would not want to be without a stand alone bench which has access on at least two sides, and movable so that it can be an island when required.

If you're not doing hand tool work, don't overthink it at this stage. Just knock up a base of pine framing and stick a surface on top, be it MDF, formply or particleboard. Whichever looks nicest to you. Phil's post above is good advice.

Build a movable cart on which you can mount your drop saw, and if well planned, the bench being the same height as the saw platform, you have outboard support too.

Here is my first bench. MDF frame with a 1200x1700 formply top. It's on wheels so can be moved around as required. Until I started using hand tools it was more than adequate.



And here's my dropsaw on a rolling box, at the same height as my table saw and aforementioned bench. Is is very seldom that I require additional support on the right side, and is simply dealt with be a stool of the correct height.



Just make sure everything is on wheels so that as you figure out what works for you, changing things around is simple.

Anyway, this is but one person's opinion, and hopefully some food for thought.

So right about the miter saw station Lance. Most of us dont have room for that. A metal folding mitersaw stand costs less than a few sheets of ply in any case.
Regards
John

Originally Posted by orraloon

So right about the miter saw station Lance. Most of us dont have room for that. A metal folding mitersaw stand costs less than a few sheets of ply in any case.
Regards
John

My 32kg mitre saw - don't use it that often - lives on a jack up trolley under the left hand wing of my TS.
This type of trolley is not a cheap solution but it is very flexible - including being wheeled up the side of the house and up a ramp into the back of my van and over to my brothers place - he's used it more than I have.
Tuckedaway2.jpg

Dust extraction on these things is best dealt with by a dedicated (large) hood which won't fit in that space so my setup is a compromise.
However, being on a trolley also means I can easily take it outside if I'm going to be doing lots of work with it.