Workbench

[RobP]

With the wife working from her home office full time now she has kicked me to the garage because of all the noise from my leather tooling. So now I needed a workbench. The prices of the nice woodworker benches are astronomical!. So i decided to build my own. Having limited wood working tools i built the base with just a circular saw a wood chisel and a screw gun. For the top I found a maple butcher block 2 inches thick x 96" x 26". It had been discarded because the planer had grabbed it and chewed some pretty deep gouges in it so i got it cheap, After 2 days with a palm sander i got it sanded down pretty acceptable. I used some z clip table fasteners to attach the top. Again I didn't have a biscuit cutter so I just plunge cut the slots with the circular saw.... slapped some Emmits Good Stuff on the top and some white paint on the base. Done. I'm pretty pleased with it. Rob

Edited March 15, 2021 by RobP

[chuck123wapati]

Great job!!! that will definitely hold up.

[toxo]

Looks really good but if you're not gonna screw it to the wall I would defo put some diaganal bracers on the long sides else it won't take long for those joints to loosen up.

[RobP]

toxo please explain. all the lap joints are glued and screwed, Rob

 

[JWheeler331]

Great job. 

[toxo]

2 hours ago, RobP said:

toxo please explain. all the lap joints are glued and screwed, Rob

 

I would have thought it obvious but maybe you don't plan on doing any serious pulling/pushing. The joints aren't even getting any help from the table top because you have them sliding.

[RobP]

The z clips hold and pinch the top pretty tight. The top is not free floating you can't budge it. But it will allow for expansion. Are you suggesting something like x braces between the top and bottom rails? I am contemplating running some planking across the bottom rails as I can always use some shelf space. That too would add to the rigidity. I appreciate your suggestions. More bracing can never be wrong. Like I said I'm not a carpenter. I was an ironworker for 30 yr. I built skyscrapers and bridges. Rob

[Hasbeencowboy]

If you put a piece of 3/4 plywood on the bottom rails , cut it to fit around your legs, and screw it down, you will have a bench that will probably last your life-time.  I have several benches similar to what you have.  I put casters on mine just for ease of moving.  It is a good looking bench and for not being a carpenter, you have done a good job

[chuck123wapati]

12 minutes ago, Hasbeencowboy said:

If you put a piece of 3/4 plywood on the bottom rails , cut it to fit around your legs, and screw it down, you will have a bench that will probably last your life-time.  I have several benches similar to what you have.  I put casters on mine just for ease of moving.  It is a good looking bench and for not being a carpenter, you have done a good job

yes this and you will also have some off ground storage as well as better strength. You can also make the legs rigid enough so you can rebuild your 350 on it by boxing it in with some ply wood on three sides, leave the front open.

[toxo]

2 hours ago, RobP said:

The z clips hold and pinch the top pretty tight. The top is not free floating you can't budge it. But it will allow for expansion. Are you suggesting something like x braces between the top and bottom rails? I am contemplating running some planking across the bottom rails as I can always use some shelf space. That too would add to the rigidity. I appreciate your suggestions. More bracing can never be wrong. Like I said I'm not a carpenter. I was an ironworker for 30 yr. I built skyscrapers and bridges. Rob

There are various ways to brace it. The strongest of course would be a full sheet of ply covering the whole back but that's not an option  if it's gonna be an island. depending on how you see your storage you could put your base shelf in and then run a sheet of ply on top of that down the middle which would give shelving on both sides. Even small diagonals  half way or even two thirds up each leg would help a lot and not impede your shelf space too much.

[RobP]

I think i can live with access from just one side. I'll add a full back and a shelf. Would 1/2" plywood be sufficient enough for a full back or should I go with 3/4" ? Thanks for the help guys. Rob

Edited March 16, 2021 by RobP

[toxo]

1 hour ago, RobP said:

I think i can live with access from just one side. I'll add a full back and a shelf. Would 1/2" plywood be sufficient enough for a full back or should I go with 3/4" ? Thanks for the help guys. Rob

I built a large work table outside my shed and I thought I'd put enough braces in to hold a battleship BUT it has a full size vice on it and has seen some serious pushing and pulling and now it's a bit wobbly along the length.

If you want to go with ply 3/8th is plenty, even 1/4. But if you don't see any  serious action on it just a couple of diagonals from the leg/shelf to the center in 2x2 3x2 4x2 will do the job whatever you have handy. Of course if it's going against the wall, a couple of rawlbolts will do it.

You've done an excellent job Rob, I just wouldn't like to see it loosen up for the sake of a little bit extra.