Workbenches

[Steve Etter]

I am considering building another workbench for my shop and since I am in the initial planning stages, I got to wondering what features or sizes you guys particularly like about yours, or would like. For example, a chisel rack or maybe a special area for working on frets. Do you have an area that is carpet covered and another that is not and, if so, what do you use each for? Is there anything that lives on your bench that you would like located somewhere else?

Obviously pictures would be greatly appreciated.

Steve

[Big Joe]

My bench is about 5' long and 30" deep. It is completely covered with carpet. We make our own benches. I just wish I did not have so much junk on it. I want to get or make me a tool box to hold all the tools I need at my disposal all the time but don't like them cluttering my bench. I have tried shelves and boxes, etc but too many hands on the shelve borrowing things. When they bring it back, and they usually do, they just put it on the bench, not where I had it. Then when I have a period of time to spend on the bench I have to spend too much time cleaning it to be able to do work. I would suggest building it large enough to give just that extra bit of space you never realize you need until you need it. Then build shelves or drawers easy to reach to hold all the little stuff you don't think about. I have photos on my website.

[David Newton]

It's funny, but it seems the bigger the bench the more tools clutter it, the "working area" is still the same, just big enough for the instrument. Now, if I had a bigger shop and several work benches...

I don't attach the carpet, it gets so full of chips and dust I'm daily shaking it out (outside).

[Skip Kelley]

Steve, I built my workbench and used a solid door for the top. I don't have carpet on it but, I do use a heavy towel when necessary.

[Mike Black]

To help with the clutter on my bench I bought several magnetic knife/tool strips from my local kitchen store. (they look at you kind of strange when you buy several at once. Do you really have that many knives?)

I have all of my chisels, fret files, screwdrivers, wrenches, scrapers and about anything else you can think of on them.

Here is a picture I found of one on the web.

[Lefty Luthier]

While I have a traditional woodworking bench with vise, tool holders, etc. I have found that I get more done with a simple 4x8 sheet of 3/4" plywood set between two sawhorses and work while sitting to save my old feet. I keep my small specialty tools in a Gerstner walnut tool box in front of me about 2 feet back from the edge and my larger tools behind me on a low set of shelves within easy reach. Benefit of the plywood top is that I don't feel guilty drilling holes to hold things, dripping glue, etc. I have also added a number of dimensional arrays that make it easy to check parts without searching for a drawing. When the sheet gets too grungy, I just sand it clean and start anew. I keep a square of carpet, a 12" piece of 2x2 angle and a heavy maple butcher block handy when needed for certain tasks.

[Nelson Peddycoart]

I bought a rolling tool cart from Harbor Frieght. On it, I keep the tools that I might use at different benches.

I just roll it here and there and have my stuff available.

http://images.harborfreight.com/cpi/photos/06600-06699/06650.gif

[amowry]

It's funny, but it seems the bigger the bench the more tools clutter it, the "working area" is still the same, just big enough for the instrument. Now, if I had a bigger shop and several work benches...

So true!

I have a bad back, so I have my workbench very tall so I don't have to bend over. I think it's around 4 feet. The top is which I like because it's bright and glue doesn't stick to it. It has lots of drawers, which is its best feature.

[pops1]

I have an 8ft workbench, with an 8ft shelf underneath for things to be set to dry or to make way for other projects or just to look at a customers instrument. It will hold at least 3 cellos +. Just added it about 10 yrs ago and don't know how i got along without it

[Steve Etter]

There are some ideas here I really like - especially pops1's shelf. My current bench is carpet covered and, so far, I like that a lot better than finding I forgot to put down padding when I should have. I also particularly like the magnetic strips for some of the hand-tools.

My current bench is not up against a wall. Sometimes this seems quite helpful when handling larger parts or swinging things around, but I really wish I had the wall space for hanging things in easy reach.

Right now, I'm thinking to leave the top of my new bench carpet-free, add a full length lower shelf, and to attach the whole thing to the wall with some peg-board overhead. I think I'll add in a bunch of drawers and some magnetic strips to my existing, free-standing bench and move my vice and manual truing board to the new bench. Once I'm done, my carpeted bench can be used more for shaping and finishing while the hard-top bench can be for gluing, drilling and more rough work.

Steve

[IndianaTim]

When I was in college (30 years ago!) every tool in every shop had a place on the floor, on the wall or in a cabinet. You learned where the place was. With up to a dozen people working in the shop at any one time, it was critical that as soon as you were done with a tool, you put it back where it belonged. When everybody did this, the shop worked great.

My current shop has 46' of work surface and a tremendous amount of storage space, as I installed kitchen cabinets throughout. All 46' of work surface is cluttered. Every cabinet is full. I've been trying to get back to that "every tool has its place" philosophy for years. I'm convinced there's a great solution, I just haven't found it!!

Tim

[mandroid]

Was a bikeshop, but an outline of all the tools was drawn around it, on the peg on the wall.

[MikeEdgerton]

There have been a few discussions about this over the years but I can only find a couple of them for some odd reason. They are here (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/search.php?query=workbench&exactname=0&starteronly=0&forumchoice%5B%5D=&prefixchoice%5B%5D=&childforums=1&titleonly=1&searchdate=0&beforeafter=after&do=process). Here's (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?13153-Need-a-work-bench&highlight=work+bench) one more.

[mandolinplucker]

Ideal material to build a workbench from is dense, heavy hardwood. That stuff is expensive and sometimes hard to find. A good alternative is heart pine 2X4s stood up on ends and laminated into a butcher block type bench top. It will be heavy and strong enough to mount vises and fixtures on and ,if your legs are strong, won't move when you plane,saw sand or hammer on it.Regular fir studs are too light and soft.

[pops1]

I used 3/4" plywood,it's 8 ft long, but only 36" deep,with four 2x4's running the length and braced the other direction. The 2x4 closest to me is set back a foot making a small 4" shelf space directly under the bench for small stuff. some are 15 or 20" wide some are only 6' wide and they are divided by 1x4'.The foot of 3/4" plywood that i cut off is secured to the bottom of the braces making the bottom of the small storage space. This made for a strong, cheap bench. the end is braced for a vice and is a stew mac with the single mounting hole so it sets between the leg supports and gives me great strength where the vice is and plenty strong bench elsewhere for not a lot of money.

[MikeEdgerton]

...A good alternative is heart pine 2X4s stood up on ends and laminated into a butcher block type bench top. It will be heavy and strong enough to mount vises and fixtures on and ,if your legs are strong, won't move when you plane,saw sand or hammer on it....

I built mine that way years ago. It weighs a bunch though. You need a sturdy set of legs.

[s1m0n]

...if your legs are strong, won't move when you plane,saw sand or hammer on it.

What will it do if my legs are weak?

[theCOOP]

For bench ideas, keep an eye out for Taunton's and other woodworking magazines at your local news stand. I've bought sever over the last year that have adaptable woodworking bench plans in them. Unfortunately, I did some very basic math in my head and determined any one of them would be too expensive to create :(

[Magnus Geijer]

For me, only the finest is good enough. Custom built with imported wood shelves, composite countertop and steel reinforcements.

That is to say, i slapped it together using three Russian pallets for shelves, with some sort of bakelite-ish top nailed on, and legs made from soft-steel shipping corners. Holds up pretty well, though, and you can't beat the price.

/Magnus

[crazymandolinist]

The best way, IMO, to build a "custom" workbench is to build a table, put some tools on it, and just sort of "adjust" it over the years. Getting one new tool can change the whole layout, so the more adjustable your setup is the better. Nelson I like your cart setup. Another good setup for a larger shop is to have a table in the middle to work on your stuff and then move "you" to be close to the appropriate work station.

[mandolinplucker]

You learn by your mistakes so I have had plenty of opportunities to learn. The first thing I built in my new shop was a 30 ft bench down the wall. I made it with double thickness of particle board with shelves under it. I glued and screwed salvaged tongue and groove oak flooring on top of that. It made a good sturdy built in bench. The mistake was to make it 4 ft deep. I can't reach the wall and the tools stored on the wall because the bench is so wide. The shelves under it are so deep that anything under there gets pushed back to the back and is lost forever. As to the work bench top being heavy. I made mine 6'X30" out of laminated 2x4 red oak. I had to use a boom pole on my tractor to get it from the saw horse to the bench legs. I love it!!!! It has a shoulder vise, end vise, and dog holes every 6" across and down the whole bench. With dogs, clamps, hold downs and the vises I can hold almost anything .

[bmac]

Sometimes with a bit of luck you can scrounge wonderful benches from other trades. I purchased a solid oak bench roughly 2 and1/2 x 6 ft. from an out of business letterpress printing shop. The top is maple roughly 3" thick made of a series of maplebeams bolted together with long bolts running the width of the table. 3 shallow drawers under top with three standard drawers down right side. Can be worked at either standing or sitting on stool as there is leg room under top. It is finished as a piece of furniture so it can be viewed from any angle or in the middle of a room and look like a piece of quality oak furniture. By no means elaborate but quite respectable. It had about 100 years of printing ink impedded into the top and most of the verticals were black as well. but it all cleaned up beautifully. I paid 10 or 15$ for it. The problem was getting it home as it weighs well over 200 lbs.

I have also seen school surplus woodshop work benches go for a song which would be perfect for mando making... Small but very sturdy and in a small apartment or home can be mistaken for a nice piece of funiture.

Also seen some decent ones at used household stores or auctions.

I guess the really important thing is to have a scrounge mentality (and to have an understanding wife).

[Bill Halsey]

Another good scrounge is if you can find an old oak teacher's desk. Dead solid and lots of really handy drawers. These are often available in second-hand furniture shops at quite reasonable prices.

[jim simpson]

One of my work benches is an old table that must have come out of a school. I picked it up at a thrift shop. It has all kind of names and such carved in the top. I put casters on it and can roll it out of the garage for fresh air work. I also have a built in work bench as illustrated. I recently added the instrument hangers on the wall for works in progress.

[JeffD]

I have tried shelves and boxes, etc but too many hands on the shelve borrowing things. When they bring it back, and they usually do, they just put it on the bench, not where I had it. .

I used to work at a radio station, and the station's tools used to get borrowed all the time. Eventually I mixed some paints and came up with a horribly ugly color. Just untouchably horrible. I dipped all the tools (handles only) and tools were hardly ever borrowed again.

[oldwave maker]

5 indoor benches at my shop:
30x60 39" high barnspiked into foot thick adobe wall, 2 swing arm lights and overhead 48" shop fluorescent fixture

30x60 31" high old oak desk, patternmakers vise on corner holds sidebending heater, with mandovise in that vise the top surface of a stationary mandolin for fretwork, bridgefitting, etc, is at 48", 1 swing arm light near the vise, overhead 48" shop fluorescent

30x60 31" high old oak desk, no vise, no lights, no room for work, piled higher and deeper with stuff

32x66 36.5" high, barnspiked to adobe wall, blacksmiths legiron vise is at 44", shooting board with #7 plane is at 39", 1 swingarm light, overhead 48" shop fluorescent

36x60 34" high freestanding, parrot vises on opposite corners, 3 swingarm lights, all upright bass work, layouts, patterns, etc. happens here.

[Doug Edwards]

I have a couple 4' x 30" x 37"h benches I built for $50 each and one free standing 70" x 38" x 38" free standing bench. I recently re-built the free standing bench to raise the height from 28" to the 38". My back feels much better.

[Frank Ford]

I've made and used various benches over the years, and have settled on 30" x 60" as the ideal size because it's too small to attract much clutter. Years ago I got some 3" thick maple butcher table tops and made shop benches from them. While they were solid and nice looking, they were not as useful as my current one.

I don't use carpet for bench pads. Old bath towels are so easy to shake out, wash and throw away when the inevitable superglue spill happens.

Here's my setup:

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Tools/Bench/MyBenchViews/mybench23.jpg

And here's all about how I use it and why I like it:

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Tools/Bench/mybench.html

[MikeEdgerton]

settled on 30" x 60" as the ideal size because it's too small to attract much clutter

Truer words were never spoken, I'm cutting down my bench as soon as I have time. As long as there's extra room I simply find a reason to fill it.