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Workspace rehab: Workbench

3K views 17 replies 12 participants last post by  DRM 
#1 ·
Anyone who has been to my shop, knows it's a mess. No, really - a complete and utter disaster 90% of the time. I've thrown together assorted pieces over the years for my tool storage and "workbench" area, leaving the latest incarnation looking something like this (as of 3/21/08)...
 

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#2 ·
So last night, I cleaned up enough to walk around and *not* break my neck :laughing: and got to figurin' with a pen, a calculator, a note pad, and a calculator.

What you see is what I came up with. You can see I utilized a few of the pieces already in use - specifically the drawer units and the metal card file cabinet.

I had right at 17' of wall space to work with - from the garage door to the office wall.

Starting at office wall:
-54" long 3 drawer cabinet section
-36" open space
-18" drawer unit
-36" open space
-36" drawer unit
-19" metal card file cabinet

I designed the 36" open areas with those 2 roll around pieces in mind - the stainless crash cart, and the lower section of my roll around tool chest (the upper chest will find a new home on the bench top).

To fit the roll around units under there, and to get a counter up tall enough to where it is actually comfortable to work on - I built pedestals out of 2x8's - bringing the under counter height to 36".

The whole unit will get a single counter top of 3/4" plywood, 24" deep - planning to get that on tomorrow afternoon.
 

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#5 · (Edited)
That is a great idea... and since I already have several thinner sheets of plywood, I think that is what I will do.

Do you have to put your rig on steel rims to fit it under that garage door? It looks kinda low.

But, tis still more than I have at the moment.

:flipoff2:
That is the "back door": a standard 9' wide by 7' tall garage door. The "front door" is a 10'x10' overhead ;)

With 38" SX's on my 4runner, it actually did fit through the back door. Once I finish putting the new 39.5" Pitbulls on it, I guess we'll see if it still does :p
 
#7 ·
Wow, someone with more missmatched junk than me! Mostly free right?

You might want to run some 2x4's or 1x4's under your 3/4 top for more support. Maybe a couple verticals supports in the open areas for the roll around units. You also might tie in a "backsplash" into the back of it. It would be best in front of the posts, that way when you finally score some pegboard to put up above it it'll all blend in perfect.
 
#10 ·
Wow, someone with more missmatched junk than me! Mostly free right?
*all* free - gotta love it :D

You might want to run some 2x4's or 1x4's under your 3/4 top for more support. Maybe a couple verticals supports in the open areas for the roll around units. You also might tie in a "backsplash" into the back of it. It would be best in front of the posts, that way when you finally score some pegboard to put up above it it'll all blend in perfect.
I think I decided to just use the 3/4" finished plywood on top of some 1x3 along the entire perimeter of the top, as well as anywhere the cabinets would touch the top. That should be strong enough for my uses.

As for a backsplash - we'll see what I come up with.


No toe kick for the cabinets?
Doing a toe kick would have required a LOT more work - since the cabinets are supported along existing sides and front I went with the easiest way. Propping the front support back would have left the cabinets unsupported along the entire face. besides, there are still two 36" sections with room to step close, and with a tall workbench, I've found you don't have to get quite so close to lean in when working on stuff.
 
#11 ·
Great job. Just roll out the cabinets and you can comfortably sit and work on a project.

I will skin mine in steel though since I have a second area for woodworking with maple tops.
 
#12 ·
My next project is rehabing a dedicated welding/banging table, so I don't really intend to be beating on this one all that much anyway.
 
#13 · (Edited)



stop by your local kubota dealer and see if they will part with a few packing crates:smokin: heres one i got when i worked at a kubota dealer. i cut it down so it was 24" deep. put in some angle to make a bottom shelf and welded all the seams tight(they are bolted together for shipping). these are the toughest things i've seen. i have put an insane amount of weight on mine. would be a great welding table with a steel top on it.
 
#15 ·
i found an 8' section of melamine counter top with builtin backsplash and bullnose front lip at home depot for $45 a few years back. works great. not super tough, but easy to clean, stuff slides around easy (i use a tool drawer rubber mat where I need nonslip, but its dispoable if needed). i can beat on it pretty good. if i was to work real hard on it, I'd throw some 1/2 or 3/4" under it, but i have another workbench with a 2x3 (on end) top built like butcher block. Its pretty stout!
 
#16 ·
Well, I ended up just using the 3/4" plywood for the counter top by itself. I figure it wasn't worth beefing it up too much - I'll just replace it when the time comes.

I already started cleaning & sorting stuff or else I'd post a picture of the final product :(

On the plus side - I found a TN lotto game card worth $10 :D Gonna pick up some peg board Friday night and install that the length of the bench and get started organizing my tools over the weekend.
 
#17 · (Edited)
i bought some shelves at lowes. they can be used as shelves or as work benches. i'll take some pictures. they are pretty big. they work great. i'm going to buy some more. and then on the tops cover them with sheet metal. they were about $70 per set. they are pretty good construction and pretty cheap in cost.

you can see them in the back of this picture.



ignore the commander. its still being finished. i'm building the winch bumper and there are 32" tires. the lift kit still hasn't showed up.

next year it'll get a SFA!
 
#18 ·
Those are the benches I used to have in this area. Not bad for what they are, but not really what I needed either. I took the top board and cut down a solid wood commercial door to give me a superb work surface on one of mine :D
 
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