Home made bench.

[Sceadwian]

I'm picking up some plywood this weekend for sheathing the floors in our new house was gonna grab materials for making a work bench as well.

Right now I'm thinking about a 3ft X 8ft board of MDF for the bulk mass of the table with a sheet of tempered hardboard as the actual final top, just gonna use 2x4 lumber as a frame for the table top with cross supports probably a basic wall frame maybe 8 or 16 inches between studs, and then a sheet of bead board on the bottom for additional structural bracing. 2x4 legs with either an X bracing, or a simple cross bracing (with metal brackets) for leg support.

Anyone have any suggestions or critique? I'm thinking it's only gonna be 40-60 dollars for materials and two or three nights of spare time after work for construction.

 

[BrownOut]

I have a table with MDF for the top. The top was made to extend past the frame so that the user can clamp on lights and such. I put an overhead bin that sat on the top where it extended past the frame, and as you can probably guess, the MDF sagged. Now I have the ends propped up with a couple file cabnets.

 

[Neal]

See if you can find and old door, preferably a heavy one like front door or fire rated door from garage to house. Sometimes you can get a real good deal on a damaged one at Home Depot type store. The door is a good solid top for a bench.

 

[Sceadwian]

This will be framed well by 2x4's and the top will be tempered hardboard.. I have a few hollow core doors, but the MDF sheet properly backed with a 2x4 frame and the tempered hardboard, not sure much better for cheaper could be done. The last time I tried to hammer finishing nails into tempered hardboard I bent 1/2 of the nails. the MDF provides raw mass and physical backing, the 2x4 frame provides bulk structural support to the legs, probably gonna used bolts for the legs to allow it to be moved.

 

[Meatball]

For a bench, the thicker the wood, the longer you will end up using it.

 

[tcmtech]

My work benches are 32 inches wide and make a U shape around my work shed. I just used 2" x 4" for the frames and 5/8" plywood for the tops.
The remainder of the plywood was used for the shelf under the benches. 5/8" plywood with 2" x 4" around the perimeter and with 16" centers underneath makes a very solid work bench.

Just my take on a design.

 

[Sceadwian]

16 inch centers it is. Maybe I'll used plywood instead of MDF but I'm still gonna use tempered hardboard for the top, it's only 8 bucks for a 4x8 sheet and the stuff is damn near bullet proof its also smooth as glass.

The way our basement is layed out it's gonna be against one wall, as I think about it though a single 8 foot long bench is a bit much, 2 3x4 benches would probably be more practical.

tcmtech, what height are your benchtops off the ground?

 

[Reloadron]

I did a similar project years ago. However I used 3/4" plywood for the working surface and added a riser for equipment like bench DMMs, scopes and so on. I framed with 2X4 but when all was said and done it lacked good support so I doubled up on the 2X4 legs. If I had it to do again I would have used 4X4 for the legs. Beyond that, the 2X4 framing was fine and again I went with 3/4" plywood for my surfaces. That old bench is still doing fine in an unused upstairs bedroom.

Ron

 

[gabeNC]

I made one too but laminated some 'shower board' onto the top with contact cement. Nice smooooooth surface.

 

[tcmtech]

tcmtech, what height are your benchtops off the ground?

I am 6 foot 3 inches so I made them a comfortable hight for me to work with when standing or sitting.

Thats the hight you should go for as well being you are the one who will be using them the most.

Stand by your kitchen counter top and decide if its too high or too low and go from there.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Back in the sixties I uses to mess around with a friend on a farm, building and riding motorbikes etc.

He had an old hen shed (a BIG! shed), which had a soil floor.

We obtained some old railway sleepers, dug four deep holes in the floor, and sank floor full length sleepers in the holes, with enough sticking out to support the bench top. We then used pieces of other sleepers to make the top of the bench, to which we bolted a huge old blacksmiths vice.

It was the only bench/vice I've ever seen that you could use a full sized sledge hammer on, and nothing moved

 

[Sceadwian]

I always love that kind of massive overbuilding, I mean if you got the materials why not right? I'd laugh my ass off if a dozer came in some years later and tryed to plow the thing over and wrecked their dozer instead =) I imagine buried railroad sleepers wouldn't have a lot of give. I've often wished I could get my hands on something like a road plate, now that'd make a nice bench top. I've run across a few welding tables that look like they were made with road plates.

 

[smanches]

I built almost the exact same benches you're talking about for my workshop. 2x4 frames, 3/4 AB plywood for the top and bottom shelf (wanted a good clean smooth surface.) 96" x 32" x 34" tall (if I remember the height.) Very solid and heavy so I don't have to worry about them collapsing at all. 96" x 32" allows you to build two benches out of three peices of plywood. I used the two 16" wide pieces on one of the bottom shelves.

 

[Sceadwian]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica][SIZE=-1]We've used a lot of methods to determine the best height for a bench. But one simple method seems to give the best results. Just measure the distance from the floor to the crease on the inside of your wrist. When I did this, the measurement was 34". So that's the height I used on my bench[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica][SIZE=-1]
Good enough for me, might be a problem if my wife needs to use it though =( She's a full hand shorter than me.

I think I'm gonna start with two 48 inch long, 36 inch deep benches. I'll have enough plywood left over for a back shelf if I want, and if the space isn't enough I'll go TCMtech's route and use those as endcaps and put a 96x36 inch bench against the wall at a later date, I think that would just about fill up the quarter of the basement that my benches will be allowed in.

Gotta get some painters plastic for a dust curtain and some box fans and filters so I don't get sawdust on the laundry =)
[/SIZE][/FONT]

 

[Sceadwian]

I think my last major question about the bench is how I should go about afixing the hardboard to the plywood. I don't want a bench that bounces and makes noise, contact cement was mentioned however I don't know what kind of weight you have to put on the top in order to ensure a good bond, the other thing is that I'd like to be able to remove the hardboard at a later time if it becomes damaged and simply replace it with a new one for a clean bench top.

I'm gonna ask at home depot what kind of adhesive would provide a decent bond and I can use screws at the four corners, just need to make sure I'm not gonna wreck the plywood if I pull up the tempered board.

 

[BrownOut]

I'd just use screws throughout. I'd use the kind that were orignally made for drywall, but used everywhere now, and long enough to sinc into the frame an inch or so. With their tapered head, the'll tend to countersinc theirselves in the soft fiberboard, for an even top surface to put you finish layer on.

On second thought, you'll probably want to make counter sinc holes so the fiber board won't get inadvertently damaged.

 

[Sceadwian]

Yeah, I already knew the tempered board would require counter sinking, like I said this stuff bends finishing nails. I'm trying to avoid a lot of surface defects though. I think a light contact cement and a screw on each corner will work out okay.

 

[BrownOut]

I was talking about fixing the MDF to the frame ( misread the question ). I guess we're using plywood now. I wouldn't use screws in the tempered board. Cement should work by itself. If you use contact cement, the parts must be aligned perfectly before making contact. It is recommended that wax paper be used between the components, and removed carefully once alignment is achieved.

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

My bench that I did when i was about 12 and still have basically fits that design. I used a comfy sit with stool/stand height. It was 3' x 8'. Framed in 2x 4's. Topped with Masonite and fastened with 2 screws on the front ends.

About 3' up is a 1' Wide shelf. On the right hand side, there is 2' x 1' of basically wasted space closed in. Initially, I had a breaker there for the bench, but removed it.

I did put a double gang 4 switches there. On the front of the bench embedded in the 2x 4's are 4 duplex outlets controlled by one switch each. In hind sight, you need some overhead hanging cords too. You can, and I have, pulled soldering irons off the bench with my foot. There is also a switch for the bench light.

There is also a shelf about 6" high and goes from about 2' to 6' from right to left. The end of the left hand side of the bence has a drawer tool chest. The shelf has an outlet strip behind it.

A basic problem is rack mounted test equipment that's long. I have a 10 A, 0-30 V power supply on the top shelf at the extreme left.

In the back of the main bench there is also an outlet strip under the shelf. On top of that shelf is a Variac with an isolation transformer elsewhere.

There are furring strips on the wall and a plywood backer board installed.

I left 2' on the right hand side where I boxed it in below. It was supposed to be a fileing drawer. I did make a drawer, but it hasn't moved in years.

Under the bench is a space heater controlled by a conventional 24 VAC thermostat.
It basically lacks room for large pieces of test equipment. The scope can take up a large area of the bench.

Lighting is florescent tubes with an aluminum foil reflector mounted to the joists.

And there was a telephone.

 

[bryan1]

The work benchs I made at work are 2.4x1.2 metres and the frame is 100x100mm RHS with the top being 20mm plate. I can hammer all day with a 14lb hammer if I liked and the bench would take anything I throw at it. The guys at the front reckon if there was an air raid they would all come out to the workshop and hide under the benchs. The heaviest gearbox I've had on a bench weighted in about 5 ton.

Cheers Bryan