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Witticism pending... |
I was a framer and not a finish carpenter or woodworker but I want to start doing small projects: shadowboxes, small display shelves, etc. My current workbench was left by the previous homeowner and is far too small, attached to the wall, and cobbled together with whatever material was on hand so rather flimsy. I’ve spent time on instructables.com and various image searches. I’m going to build a mobile workbench with a 3’ x 7’ work surface and dedicated mounting points, flush with the bench surface, for my compound miter saw and a table saw to use the bench as an out-feed table/support. I don’t have room to go larger and no plans to have dogs, holdfasts, or wood vises mounted on the ends/sides. For the top I plan to use 2 sheets of 3/4” particle board sealed with polyurethane. Screw the bottom sheet to the frame and then place the top sheet and screw it from the bottom so it could be replaced whenever it gets too beat up. Thoughts? To avoid banging my shins I’m sketching plans for the frame to be either 3” or 6” smaller than the work surface giving me either 1.5 or 3 inches overhang on all sides. Would a 30” x 78” frame make the bench unstable? Go with 33” x 81”? The bottom shelf will also be 2 pieces of 3/4” particle board due to the weight carried: compressor, bench grinder, spindle sander etc. My biggest dilemma is the bottom part of the frame and uprights. I have on hand a couple 4x6 pieces (only long enough to use for the short end), a 4x4 and 6” locking casters. Center the 4x4 like an I-beam or get another and make a rectangular frame supporting both edges of the shelf? I’d notch the 4x6 an inch deep for the 4x4 but not the 4x4 so not sure if it’s still considered a mortise and tenon joint. For the end uprights I see 2 options. One is to run the particle board long and place the uprights on top. How to anchor it to the bottom? The second is to notch the particle board and make a half lap joint with the upright joining directly to the horizontal 4x6. A lag screw from each into the other and the caster would add 2 lag screws into both. If I did this and 2 vs 1 long axis 4x4s are recommended above I would move the 4x4s 3.5” inward from the upright joints. Hopefully my description makes sense. There will be a midpoint shelf but the height will be incorporated to work with the support for whichever table saw I buy. That segues into my having most verything else but I’m missing a small table saw. Which features are necessary and which aren’t? Searching Lowes/Home Depot and setting the price limit at $1000 will it really matter which of the saws I buy? Dewalt has the best warranty but I need to look further into Home Depot’s Lifetime Service Agreement. Feel free to comment on anything I haven’t considered. Thanks, Dan edit to add: lots of package saw deals on the websites. it's hard to figure out how many different saws there are and compare those specs. I'd prefer to have just the saw. the rolling stands are just something else to scrap or shove in a corner of the garage.This message has been edited. Last edited by: KBobAries, I'm not as illiterate as my typos would suggest.☮ | ||
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| Donate Blood, Save a Life!  |
I'm not a fan of particle board work surfaces. While cheaper, it's not as strong as plywood and will never be a smooth working surface no matter how many coats of poly, you put on it. You might consider MDF board for your top layer. We made some desks and tables for our firm some years ago and they turned out really well. Use 1x4s turned flat to add additional stiffness if needed and 1x2s as banding at the perimeter. Rout the top edges at all around to round them off and may it more comfortable on your arms, etc. For you lower shelf, with the weights you've mentioned, add 2x4 at the outside perimeter and at 24" o.c. (spanning the short direction) to keep it from sagging. *** "Aut viam inveniam aut faciam (I will either find a way or make one)." -- Hannibal Barca | |||
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I'll second the notion not to use particle board as the top layer. You can make the top layer out of a few pieces of laminate flooring. It's smooth and won't cost too much for only 3' x 7'. | |||
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| Just because you can, doesn't mean you should |
Shop around on the used sites and also places like Global. I bought a bunch of maple top tables several years ago at an auction with scratched up tops but otherwise sound. A few hours sanding and some polyurethane and they look like new. Even if you buy them new, it may be a lot easier than trying to start from scratch. Example below. https://www.globalindustrial.c...xed-height-1-3-4-top ___________________________ Avoid buying ChiCom/CCP products whenever possible. | |||
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| As Extraordinary as Everyone Else  |
For the love of everything holy please don’t use particle board. It’s heavy, not very structural and swells with the slightest contact with water.. As another option how about something like this. All you’d have to do is bolt some casters onto it and you’re mobile.. https://www.samsclub.com/p/ult...20?xid=plp_product_1 Or if you want the cats meow check this out for more $ https://www.costco.com/trinity...oduct.100491860.html You can also get butcher block tops from your favorite big box store. ------------------ Eddie Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina | |||
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My workbench is smaller overall than you are describing, but it has some things of similar construction and may be some food for thought. I went 2' x 4'. For one, it fit nicely into the space next to some cabinets. For another, material handling was easier for the top. Because.... The top is 4 sheets of MDF (3x 1/2 thick,1 3/4 inch thick). 2' x 4' rough is easily obtainable at big box. Face glued and then straight router bit with bearing to normalize up the sides. The overall thickness I wanted because I was putting a bench vise on it. The top is a replaceable piece of hard board. All of that MDF makes the table VERY heavy and sturdy. It does not move. The vise is an old Desmond-Stephen W-6 that has to be 60+ years old, salvaged from Dad's old workbench. Of course, the big course screws won't bite into that MDF very well. I drilled in some 1" holes into the MDF (front and bottom) with Forstner bits and epoxied oak dowel pieces into that for the vise to mount into. This is still holding solid for the last 20 years. I edge the rest of the top in some scrap pine to bring it up the front facing surface of the vise. The frame is construction timber. Mostly because I had a bunch of scrap hanging out, a jointer, a planer, and time. The legs are 2x4 that were jointed down, face glued and then shaped down to 2.5"x2.5". The legs are joined together with 2x6, tenoned into the legs, at the top and about a foot from the floor. It isn't a pretty frame, but it is very strong. I've filled the space under the top with heavy ammo crates with nary a creak from the frame. I've got the same overhang as you described, and it's very nice for working room. I do not have casters, which might would change my thinking some. Off hand, I might want to consider those on the outside of the frame for widest stance at the bottom. That's my experience. I'd tend to MDF instead of particle board (unless you're just sitting on a pile of particle board). I used 2x stock on the frame because I had some, but in the time since I don't regret that choice. -- I always prefer reality when I can figure out what it is. JALLEN 10/18/18 https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...610094844#7610094844 | |||
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Here is one I built for my shop. It is a torsion box, so it is dead flat and that's important to me building furniture. I used some leftover 6x6 timbers for the legs and support structure, which is assembled with mortise and tenons and pegs. The two ends of the support structure are connected with a solid sheet of 3/4 inch plywood which makes it extremely stable. I used plywood and some glued up pecan flooring to form the outer rim. The overlapping 3/4 inch plywood grid is glued together then screwed and glued down to the 1-1/4 inch top of laminated MDF. The bottom is a sheet of 3/4 inch plywood glued to the grid. The spaces on the vise end of the bench are filled with solid SYP glued in to make a solid base for the vise. This one is 4' x 8' but you can size it any way you like. This bench is based on a design by James King who is a Youtube woodworker and his how-to videos are excellent.   CMSGT USAF (Retired) Chief of Police (Retired) | |||
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If it is in the budget I highly recommend one of the SAWSTOP saws. They do make portable saws as well as the stationary cabinet saws. They cost a little more but the peace of mind from the safety system and quality of these saws make them worth the money. CMSGT USAF (Retired) Chief of Police (Retired) | |||
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2x4’s for all your structure. Screwed together with 3” screws. It will be strong, last a long time and yet can be disassembled or modified as needed. Plywood for tops and shelves. Old commercial doors will make great bench tops if you can find them. We had a local hospital doing a major overhaul. Threw away 30 or 40 such tops. Whatever you plan on putting on your shelves, double that weight. Call it a safety factor. Chipboard is wasted money. Overbuild it now. Seriously. | |||
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| Witticism pending... |
That's several votes against particle board so live and learn and buy MDF or plywood. 3/4" MDF is the same price as 1/2" ACX plywood.
I hadn't considered smooth. Only considered consistent and flat. Does smooth matter? re: banding. 16ga finish nails ok or smaller brad or pin nailer? Will add 2x4x to plans.
Laminate sounds interesting. Relatively inexpensive. 1 sheet of 3/4" MDF with !2mm laminate on top? If I banded it I'd have to rip the banding to width. Wouldn't want the bottom side below the MDF. Think that would make a natural grip and pulling to move the bench would loosen it prematurely. Same ? as above: Shorter 16ga finish nails or smaller to nail the banding to the laminate edges?
Thank you for the links but this is something I want to build. I'm not as illiterate as my typos would suggest.☮ | |||
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I know they are a bit more expensive but I second the Saw Stop saw. It adds that extra piece of mind for safety. | |||
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| Witticism pending... |
I'm not as illiterate as my typos would suggest.☮ | |||
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| Witticism pending... |
Hayes, That's a good looking bench but beyond me at the moment. I don't have a pocket screw jig or sufficient clamps to put a torsion box together. I do like your solid frame and I'm going to do something similar to the vertical plywood piece running vertically down the middle. Have to fit it around the compressor and other tools. I looked at the Sawstop website and Home Depot and their smallest unit is about my max. I couldn't find any info if they have a dado set for the saw. Regarding the brake, I noticed they sell replacements. Is it a one time use item that would need replacing if triggered? What happens if it senses other soft materials besides skin?
Definitely. I'm not as illiterate as my typos would suggest.☮ | |||
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My reloading bench is built from 2x4's and Simpson Strong Ties. I built the lower shelf out of 3/4" ply and the bench work surface is 2 sheets of 3/4" ply glued and screwed together from the bottom. The frame got about 3 coats of sanding sealer and the work surface and lower shelf has about 4 coats of varnish. "If you’re a leader, you lead the way. Not just on the easy ones; you take the tough ones too…” – MAJ Richard D. Winters (1918-2011), E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil... Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 5:20,24 | |||
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These are good benches. I have a couple in service at work, and one in my own garage. God bless America. | |||
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My top is a piece of 3/4 AC plywood that I ripped lengthwise, doubled, and cut down to 7’ x 2.5’. Both A sides are facing out in case I ever want to flip it but it’s been in hard use for almost 10 years and all I’ve done is sand it once and it’s fine. The frame is doubled 2x4 for the legs and single for everything else. The only thing I’d do differently if I built it again would be to leave a good 3-4 inch overhang on the top so clamping things was easier. I do t have casters but kind of wish I did. | |||
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If you trigger the brake, it needs to be replaced. The blade is also likely to be destroyed. You can use a dado set, but it requires a different brake cartridge. The brake senses when the blade is grounded through your skin (or something moist between the blade and table surface). I’ve never triggered it in 7 years of ownership. | |||
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| A day late, and a dollar short  |
vthoky, do you think the 48" long bench shown here would hold up, and work well with a progressive reloading press mounted to it? ____________________________ NRA Life Member, Annual Member GOA, MGO Annual Member | |||
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One additional input or consideration would be the height you settle on. When I built my workbench 35+ years ago, I followed the advice of an article in Fine Woodworking by noted woodworking craftsman, Michael Fortune. He recommended a taller bench to avoid bending over excessively. I recall the rule of thumb was to have the height closer to where your elbows are when your arms hang down. For me, at 6’1”, I ended up with an overall height at 39”, a couple of inches below my elbows. At this height , with a heavy bench, I don’t have any problems using a bench plane, which should present the most difficult hand tool task for me, anyway. My bench is approximately 2’ x 4’ x 39”. All red oak, legs are 3-1/2” square with bolted, tenoned stretchers, with the top loose on large doweled location pins. The top is glued up 1-3/4” wide red oak strips (3/4”-78” thick). I’d second the suggestion about getting a pre-made maple top. Plenty of sources out there. Also the OP might google Lost Art Press or Vic Tesolin, both talk a good bit about effective workbenches designed and built from construction lumber. Bill Gullette | |||
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Do you have a brad nailer? When I built the table top for my CNC machine, I used glue and a brad nailer to build the torsion box. My build process was similar to: How to build a torsion box assembly table. It's dead flat and very heavy. | |||
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