With all this shop talk - Tell me about your workbench

So my garage had a workbench already in it when I moved in last year and I don't love it. It goes along the back wall and I would rather have it along the side wall where there is more room for me to be along side the cars. It's also not deep enough, there's not enough space from front to back.

I want to build one, but honestly don't know what direction to go. I want to do something cheap, but I don't want it to be cheap like the current one that's in there.

So what have you guys done for work benches? I'd like to see pics, but a description is cool.

Here's my main one:

Just a Gorilla shelving system, split in two with an extra layer of MDF cut and screwed to the top and overhanging in the back to allow for extra depth and to clear the concrete ledge along the bottom of the garage. I added a Vise to the corner and covered the top in old bath towels to make it easier to clean up and to prevent the top from getting too badly messed up.

I don't have a picture, but my sidewall has a bench/shelf I built using 2x4's for the frame, 1x4's for the dividers/spacers between the plastic tubs I store there and a top made from MDF, screwed to the top. I used MDF that was coated on one side to make it a little easier to keep clean, but its sturdy enough to set a loaded turbo-4-cylinder on it without flinching.

I've got a 12ft section of bowling alley for my top....

I got my hands on some old industrial stair railings. 2x2 and 1x2 tube with 1/4" wall. I cut it up and built a frame for a workbench, about 3' deep if memory serves. A piece of sheet steel (found behind the hayshed at the in-laws) got welded to the top, then I bolted the whole thing to the concrete floor and walls so it is now part of the earth. There are captive nuts on the bottom that let me bolt/unbolt my vise.

I can drop engines on it. I can weld jigs to it then grind them off. Welding magnets stick to it. It can be used for grounding. I can apply enough force to something in the vise to pretty much bend/destroy anything, including actually breaking a 6" vise. It's excellent. Pansy workbenches have no place in my garage.

Nearby is a nice workbench with a wood top that I picked up at Sam's Club. It's mostly used for a flat surface to hold stuff or for electronics work. The big metal beast is the go-to.

Two 8' 2x4s cut into thirds for legs.

Three 8' 2x4s cut into 2' chunks.

Seven 8' 2x4s for the top, five for the bottom shelf.

Three sets of legs, each constructed with an upright front and rear held together with a 2x4 on each side at the top and about a 10" up from the bottom. Seven 2x4s make the 2'x8' top and five should fit in for a shelf on the bottom. Screw or nail together for @$40. Build two and and a sheet of particle board cut in half lengthwise on top for a smoother, replaceable surface.

Two four foot tall shipping crates with a 2x6 ladder frame s rewed to them. 3/4 thick osb top. Ive beat the piss outta it for the last seven years. Never even creaks. I once sat a small block chevy on it. From two feet up when the chain broke.

Next one will have drawers and a metal top.

2x6 construction, reinforced corners for bench vise installation (laminated 2x6's). Three feet deep and 16 feet long. 40 inches tall because I'm tall and don't like bending over to work on things. Cross bars are set on 14" centers. It's strong.

Current top is temporary until I decide what I want on there instead. I've had good luck with sacrificial hardboard.

I once built one from 4x12's and railroad ties for the legs. That one was stout. You could pound on that one pretty good, and it was cheap.

mine is an old music studio soundboard table. Steel, heavy as hell, and very stiff. Then I removed the lower shelf and built a wood workbench on wheels that slides away underneath it (with shelves for big bins of car parts).

My secondary "clean" bench is an old industrial kitchen stainless steel countertop that I just built a wood frame to hold.

main bench (sorry, don't have a close shot for some reason...)

clean bench next to it

The music soundboard table in irish44's garage is essentially what I built, from the looks of it. I never realized you'd get such a solid table from a source like that. The spare wheels and tires for the Grand Cherokee live under mine

4x4s for legs, 2x4s to make a frame around the top, a 2' by 6' piece of wood made from glued-together boards (dunno what the right name for this is) for the top, and a piece of plywood to keep the boxes underneath from sitting on the floor. It's not perfect -- the top split along the glue seam, and one of these days I should add a mid-level shelf to it. Being DIY is nice, though, because that way I could offset the top so that the legs can sit flush against the concrete 'step' at the base of the garage wall, but have the top be flush against the drywall.

This replaced a gorilla rack workbench -- the problem with those is that they aren't sturdy enough to really hold the vise/etc.

I find industrial metal benches on Craigslist all the time, usually from commercial building cleanouts. They usually go for about $100. I'm always on the lookout for stainless restaurant work tables.

My cousin was given a bunch of free brand new kitchen cabinets by someone, basically odds and ends that didn't match or were damaged. He called me up and asked if I wanted any of it. I snagged a tall, skinny end cabinet for my detailing supplies and a long sink under-cabinet that was missing a door and the counter top. I grabbed some heavy plywood, cut it to size, and screwed it to the top. BAM! Work bench.

Woody wrote: I find industrial metal benches on Craigslist all the time, usually from commercial building cleanouts. They usually go for about $100. I'm always on the lookout for stainless restaurant work tables.

Like this? http://denver.craigslist.org/bfs/4683277283.html

4X4s for all legs and top bracing, also have both legs boxed and a brace half way up on the back but kept the front open for compressor, jack, and vacuum storage, I used 3/4" plywood top, topped it with vinyl shower lining and trimed in aluminum edging, I used framing brackets for a house to tie it together and black walmart spraypaint on the legs...I have a separate welding cart/table.

I'd tell you all about my 6 workbenches, but I haven't seen them in several years, since they're piled so full of crap.

I have a lot of workbenches, but one is my favorite by far.

It is about 4'x6' and ROLLS (But not too well, which is important).

The top is made of 2x6 laid flat with plywood over it.

Underneath is a large shelf where I keep all my bench power tools.

One end has built into it an old 8 drawer drawer unit for hand tools.

It has 2 vices in the top- a metalworking one and a flush wood one with bench dogs.

It is big enough to do large layouts, and heavy enough to sit still. I have to work a little to move it around.

It is the same height as my table saw, and several other workbenches in my shop.

I can reconfigure my shop based on where I put the bench. I have electric cords and air drops hanging from the ceiling, so they are accessible wherever the bench is.

That is too big a bench for most people's shops, but mobile is the absolute best thing about it. Same idea could be scaled down a bit.

My new shop is not going to have any benches.

I'm going to have a small, rolling work table and that's it.

I'm a slob and any horizontal work surface simply becomes piled with crap.

Maybe working with less will force me to work clean and put crap away.

My ideal shop would have benches that slam down flush with the wall when I shut the door.

My workbench is a stainless steel commercial kitchen prep table. I increased the height approx. 10" using exhaust tube and muffler clamps (I am tall 6' 4"). I will try to get a pic tonight. It even has a lower shelf where I can keep oil, coolant, WD40, etc.

It is great. I picked it up from work (a college) for a $10 donation to the student food bank.

Keith Tanner wrote:

Woody wrote: I find industrial metal benches on Craigslist all the time, usually from commercial building cleanouts. They usually go for about $100. I'm always on the lookout for stainless restaurant work tables.

Like this? http://denver.craigslist.org/bfs/4683277283.html

Were you searching Craigslist for "Holy Grail"?

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

Here is mine built from an old waterbed, salvaged fenceposts and some 2x4s. 6 foot wide, 38" tall and 32" deep. Great for standing, had to notch the rail for leg clearance while sitting. I have added a vise on one end and articulating arm light on the other.

The left side has been changed with extension cord access from the end and a trash can on the shelf. Got a shelf on the lower right also.

While I dream of all the fun bench stuff I could do...casters, pegboard, outlets, drawers etc... it has performed great as is for 3 car projects, couple of mowers, winch, battery chargers, and some electric motor work. Evolution in progress! I do want better lighting, maybe a better top.

I have shorter tables but somehow they accumulate stuff while this one remains a WORK bench.

Bruce

This is the third time I've built workbenches for a garage and I incorporated some lessons learned:

1) Made it 30" deep. 24" is a more efficient use of materials (1/2 of a sheet of plywood), but the small savings on materials are quickly forgotten once you realize the back of the workbench is filling up with crap and leaving you little workspace.

2) Previously I used 1/8" of hardboard as a sacrificial layer. This time I used a slab of Melamine. The hardboard was OK, but harder to clean and it tended to soak up stuff. It also required a lot of screws to make it lay flat. The downside of the white melamine is that it shows dirt, though it resists most chemicals. Still, it is relatively cheap and I can flip it once before I have to replace it. It is free floating in the top supported by two layers of 3/4" plywood with holes that allow me to push the top up and off from the bottom.

3) The frame is basically the same as previous workbenches-- all 2'x4' construction with the legs sistered. I can put an engine block on it, which was the design goal.

4) This is the first one I've painted. Makes it look more finished, but the paint does chip and damage. I imagine I'll slap more paint on it about the time I flip the melamine top.

5) Building drawers is a big project and beyond my woodworking skills. Instead, I bought the red tool chests from Northern Tool and measured out the shelf to fit them. They were on sale for less than $40 apiece, though they are cheaply made, they are OK for holding adhesives, drill bits, some tools, supplies, etc.

I'm thinking it would be fun to have some threads in the Build Thread forum that are basically shop tours. Not full on Grosh rebuilds, just "here are the problems I was given and how I solved them to build my shop". Which is maybe what the current Classic Motorsports contest is hoping to get, but more in-depth.

In reply to Basil Exposition:

Nice!

Its a pig-stye:

but I've tried to make the most of the space, the lazy susan tool solution works pretty well. Mounting the parts bins to the wall helped remove clutter from the bench top. Added a paper towel holder, safety kit and nytril gloves. Wife gave me a bunch of left over blue cotton towels from her work (surgery department) which are excellent and they would otherwise be tossed at the end of a surgery.

I really need to get rid of a bunch of junk, sort the left over hardware into bins and focus more on putting tools and stuff away where it belongs.