Our work benches..

[God mode restorations]

Here's mine:
It was already in the shed when we moved in about 3 and a half years ago, all I've added is the bench vice and the clutter . Its getting a bit knackered now, It's about time I made a nice welding benchView attachment 45175

its looking well used there mate....but its still going .......

 

[GrahamGKD]

this is in one of the "bedrooms" in my house

and this is in my garage. Im in the boot of my car working on it

I started out with a workshop in an upstairs bedroom - I had a Myford lathe up there, amongst other things. When I had welding to do I carried the kit (buzzbox) downstairs and did it on the patio!

 

[Fazerruss]

Mines a bit untidy at the moment as I'm on with a big project then my mig blew up. So that's now in pieces.

 

[God mode restorations]

Bad news about your mig....but good ol bench there that will not let ya down ...

 

[outofthefire]

This is one of mine made from Mercedes wagon chassis, i've got 3 and there all covered in *****. I'm just in the process of having a massive tidy up everything I haven't touched for a couple of years is going.

 

[God mode restorations]

looks good..and sturdy...nice...

 

[brightspark]

the best bench ive ever seen was on a farm. it was sat on 2 big 8 foot long h beams then 2x 6 foot crossover ones on top then a 8x6 foot x 3inch steel slab on top of them

 

[Maker]

3 INCHES - Technically its anvil then.
I think a Siegmund table is the best bench ever though.

 

[owas]

4x8' 3x3" frame with a steel grating top, built it as an outdoor table then realised I needed a shed, so I built around it

Its an absolute mess at the min, always tidy up before I start work though, just not after ...

 

[Maker]

4x8' 3x3" frame with a steel grating top, built it as an outdoor table then realised I needed a shed, so I built around it

Its an absolute mess at the min, always tidy up before I start work though, just not after ...

That looks like a plasma cutting table.

 

[mfletch]

Benches should be in a mess it means we're doing something P/S never let the wife tidy up your workshop

 

[fatfranky]

'Made' mine about 20 years ago, it is a recycled glass pallet/stillage thing, it was lying round at work and I was allowed to recycle it.

From memory it is about 2m x 1m, it is one of those frames for carrying materials that are designed for stacking on top of one another, it has 4 uprights which must be about 75mm box section, 4 rails around the bottom which must be about 75x150, and three rails around the top which are just 50x25, leaving one side open for loading.

What I did was cut away all of the internal framing, which was there to carry sheets of glass, then turn the frame upside down, I cut the legs off flush with the bottom (now the top) rails, and then trim the legs to create a suitable (*see below) finished height. As a finishing touch I cut the pyramid shaped feet off the discarded feet and welded them on to the new base.

* problem was I intended to fit 25mm timber top but my mate stepped in and said 'I've got some reclaimed timber you can have for that, but they were 75 mm thick so the bench is now a tad high, so needs the legs cutting down.

If this works, here is a google photo of a similar type of frame

I'll try and get some photos up, I'm not saying it the best or only way to make a workbench but it is robust and best of all, other than the bolts to hold the top down, free.

Regards

 

[Ed.]

Here are a couple of mine, these are old pics as now you would be lucky to see any space on either of them. Have to do a big cleanup everytime I want to use one. The smaller one is 10mm or 12mm thick with a section for plasma cutting, which I finally cut off as I hardly ever used it as such and I needed more room in the shed.The last one is also 10mm plate and you can just barely see i in the background of Pic 2. Unfortunately I dont have a pic of it. That one is just left outside for odd jobs.

The bigger one is 25mm thick and about 1.2m? x 3m long and both of them have very big vises on them.

Cheers

Ed.

 

[owas]

That looks like a plasma cutting table.

Steel grating was all I could afford
but tbh, I think I prefer it, the smaller f clamps fit through the holes and can clamp on any part of the table.

 

[God mode restorations]

'Made' mine about 20 years ago, it is a recycled glass pallet/stillage thing, it was lying round at work and I was allowed to recycle it.

From memory it is about 2m x 1m, it is one of those frames for carrying materials that are designed for stacking on top of one another, it has 4 uprights which must be about 75mm box section, 4 rails around the bottom which must be about 75x150, and three rails around the top which are just 50x25, leaving one side open for loading.

What I did was cut away all of the internal framing, which was there to carry sheets of glass, then turn the frame upside down, I cut the legs off flush with the bottom (now the top) rails, and then trim the legs to create a suitable (*see below) finished height. As a finishing touch I cut the pyramid shaped feet off the discarded feet and welded them on to the new base.

* problem was I intended to fit 25mm timber top but my mate stepped in and said 'I've got some reclaimed timber you can have for that, but they were 75 mm thick so the bench is now a tad high, so needs the legs cutting down.

If this works, here is a google photo of a similar type of frame

View attachment 45191

I'll try and get some photos up, I'm not saying it the best or only way to make a workbench but it is robust and best of all, other than the bolts to hold the top down, free.

Regards

cool...a good idear that works and done the job....

 

[God mode restorations]

Here are a couple of mine, these are old pics as now you would be lucky to see any space on either of them. Have to do a big cleanup everytime I want to use one. The smaller one is 10mm or 12mm thick with a section for plasma cutting, which I finally cut off as I hardly ever used it as such and I needed more room in the shed.The last one is also 10mm plate and you can just barely see i in the background of Pic 2. Unfortunately I dont have a pic of it. That one is just left outside for odd jobs.

The bigger one is 25mm thick and about 1.2m? x 3m long and both of them have very big vises on them.

Cheers

Ed.View attachment 45193 View attachment 45195

great pics...a couple of good sturdy ol benches there.....nice and flat to.....

 

[God mode restorations]

its great to see a variety of work benches of all sizes..made of all sorts..wood/metal.....and the general fabrication thats involved...it doesn't mater how big..small..new or old...a bench is a bench that serves its perpose well.....great pics people.....

 

[Tiggy_dorset]

This thread has given me the motivation to continue with my welding bench project.

A few more minor adjustments to make:
-Upgrade to larger castors
-Widen the wheelbase slightly for extra stability when raising the leaf
-some catches to stop the struts from lifting the leaf when in its lowered position (held closed by sash clamp at the moment)

6mm plate on top of 12mm MDF. Its surprisingly almost dead flat. need to be sure I dont put too much heat into it.
Udjustable castors for leveling.
Hinge gap is wide enought to allow cutting of sheet with a circular saw.
Legs fold away, held in position by magnets.
Struts I pinched from my old Astra boot lid allow lifting and lowering the leaf with ease.

 

[Maker]

Steel grating was all I could afford
but tbh, I think I prefer it, the smaller f clamps fit through the holes and can clamp on any part of the table.

A piece of 3mm steel on top of steel grating would be very rigid, and cheaper than a thicker piece of steel, although it would take away the ability to clamp anywhere.

This thread has given me the motivation to continue with my welding bench project.

A few more minor adjustments to make:
-Upgrade to larger castors
-Widen the wheelbase slightly for extra stability when raising the leaf
-some catches to stop the struts from lifting the leaf when in its lowered position (held closed by sash clamp at the moment)

6mm plate on top of 12mm MDF. Its surprisingly almost dead flat. need to be sure I dont put too much heat into it.
Udjustable castors for leveling.
Hinge gap is wide enought to allow cutting of sheet with a circular saw.
Legs fold away, held in position by magnets.
Struts I pinched from my old Astra boot lid allow lifting and lowering the leaf with ease.

View attachment 45199 View attachment 45200

That looks perfect for a small workshop, just wondering how sturdy that is, like if your hammering something on it will it move.

 

[Tiggy_dorset]

A piece of 3mm steel on top of steel grating would be very rigid, and cheaper than a thicker piece of steel, although it would take away the ability to clamp anywhere.



That looks perfect for a small workshop, just wondering how sturdy that is, like if your hammering something on it will it move.

I would expect the weakest points would be the castors and the three main hinges (although the hinges are fairly heavy duty). Any Horizontal movement would be down the the ability of the castor brakes. Vertical movement would be down to the the ability of the bolts holding the hinges in place. Any movement there would be down to the size of the clearance holes that the bolts go through.

A lot of bashing may put downward pressure on the castors, so good heavy duty castors are recommended. The ones on there at the moment are a bit weedy for my liking.
there is a hell of a lot of weight in the leaf, hence the feeling to widen the wheelbase.