just another work bench :)

[johniban]

So i have been having problems trying to make shapes ect up in sheet for my 205 gti restoration project, i have had a bodged vice bolted to my tool box that wiggles about when your bashing about on it.

ive not really had the room for a off the shelf work bench and they all look really flimbsy for the price.

So i decided to make my own.
i havnt got the biggest of garages

So i got on the metal store, and bought £90 / 35kg worth of 40x40x2mm box section
and cut 4 sections of 1500mm lengths for the length of the bench

Then the height was 900mm and what was left over from them cuts became the depth, witch gave me a nice size.

So made up two sides

Then welded one 1500mm cut as the back of the bench
And added a 25x25x2 mm as a brace for the back

 

[johniban]

All welded fully,

nedd to get to work and cut the rest of the material as it came in 6 meter lengths it wont fit in my car all at once

This is where it will sit after i have figured out how to rip that wooden shelf off the wall

 

[johniban]

Tool box will sit next to it with top box on the bottom as it should be.

 

[johniban]

im strugglind for ideas on what to use as the top,
i have plenty steel left over to brace the top for further support, but not sure what wood to use?
then to cover it in a guess 2mm sheet

 

[johniban]

later on i will be adding a roof as such to it, to house a couple of bright work lights

quite pleased with what i got so far, more to follow this weekend

 

[Angusdog]

Nice work and I sympathise with your lack of space. I'm into minis because I can't fit anything else in our garage (and because they're cheap & modifying them is easy). And I still have to push it into the driveway to get things done.

Plywood is strong, dimensionally stable and cheap-ish. I've used meranti ply which is an indonesian hard/medium wood ply and it's stood up to five years constant abuse in my wife's cafe. Do you need to cover it in steel? What about a separate welding table? I'd constantly worry about setting fire to the wood underneath, but someone will be along soon to say that can't happen.

 

[nodeward]

my small welding bench is ply or chipboard (i cant remember which,was just offcuts i had lyin around) with 3mm steel on top never had it catch fire if its just small bits and peices like car panel would have thought it would be fine

 

[gordonendersby]

Its been mentioned in other posts.
Off cuts or shop seconds of kitchen work tops. textured formica type.
If someone is having a new kitchen locally you can often find it in a skip.
Its incredibly tuff.
Ive mounted my vice and grinder to mine.
You can knock the hell of stuff on top of it as its so strong.
Its sealed so easily cleaned and resistant to pretty much all garage chemicals and oils.

Gordon

 

[johniban]

i need it to be metal topped for welding, i dont have the room for another bench and dont see the point in two,
i just need some wood for the top and hen to be covered.

We have pre bought benches at work, they look like they have 1.5 inch slats all glued together and 1.5mm galv steel on top have welder to it before no fire

 

[chunkolini]

I had a 1.6mm steel sheet on top of 1" marine ply for my bench for 4 years.
Worked fine but did lose it's flatness in then end from welding on top of it.
But did the job. I used lots of countersunk screws to hold it down.
Great fun when I came to remove it, as I ground the heads flush with the bench top.
it was very sturdy, I could batter it and jump up and down on it with no problems.