Building a workbench

[Pernig]

Hi all,

In the next week or two I will be employing myself in the making of a workbench to live in my shed. I have searched the 'net for some ideas, and while I tend to be fairly competent at DIY, the websites I have come across tend to assume you have a certain amount of prior knowledge, and I am no carpenter! Also I find it's always beneficial to hear people with experience's ideas and thoughts.

OK, so the specifications I have thought of so far are:

Strong enough to mount a vice on, have a tool box live on top and be able to place heavy bike engines (obviously.)
Fits in a 6'6" x 1'1" 1/2 in space.
Is free standing (metal shed so I can't use the wall for extra support, however I can mount to the wooden floor.)
Possibly some shelves or drawers underneath, but I'm not sure how easy this would be or if I could retrofit these later.

So these are the things I want, now for the things I am unsure of:

How high shall I have the table top? I am 6'2" and it will be mainly me using the bench. What is the best height to build it to for ease of use and comfort?
What materials and 'design'? What method should I employ; what kind of wood, how shall I fasten the pieces together for the best strength etc?
As you can see I am limited by the size of the shed, but is just over a foot from the front of the bench to the wall too narrow to be of any real use?

A basic plan of the shed to make things clearer:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/8489259/workbench-diagram.gif
The idea is to have the bench on the right hand side, the left hand side to have a project bike on a lift, and the space in the middle for an 'in active service' bike which will be wheeled out of the shed when I want to do some work. This will obviously be a squeeze but I plan to extend the shed in the direction of the proposed bench in the future by a few feet.

Any thoughts, ideas or tips? The main thing I am unsure of is the construction of the bench itself for the best strength. All advice and criticism welcome.

Thanks in advance.
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H100 Breaking for spares

[G]

I use kitchen worksurface for the bench bit as it's pretty durable.
Just made one the other day and it'd cost all-in a bit under £100 using mostly new materials for a 3.3m bench with shelf above (spent a bit more than that, but could have saved money going a bit thinner or using stuff laying around.)
Going to make a shelf below too and add some lighting underneath the top shelf.
Last one I made maybe five years ago is still going fine, despite having been fully loaded for most of that time.

I'll get a pic on Monday. I just made the frame up, used single screws on all the joints, added a second screw to all. As it was 3.3 wide it was still a bit wobbly, so added some cross braces.
Going to add some upright supports in the middle at some point as the wide girth means there's still a bit of flex.
The previous one I made which was a bit shorter too I think, I put the uprights a bit of the way in so the middle was better supported - that one was entirely bolted to the brick wall at the back too which helped.

[ajbsmirnoff]

A combination of leftover kitchen worktop, 2x4 (or whatever it is in metric) Ikea metal legs, and many screws. Made an L shaped frame, added a bit of cross bracing, carried into the garage, then added legs. Surprising sturdy, lots of space, and a refuge from life outside the garage.

https://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w255/ajbsmirnoff/IMG_3348.jpg

[Vincent]

I'm lucky cos I can get loads of this sort of thing from work, in fact, I've got a ready made set-up with work surface and under cupboards waiting for me to clear out the workshop and install

One thing I will be doing is buying some sheet steel to lay on top of the work surface, (not forgetting to cut a slot out for the vice and drill). Once done, I'll keep the steel coated with a fine layer of oil to stop it rusting.

[Pernig]

These replies have been most helpful so far. Thanks!

[Robby]

My workbenches are old office desks. Heavy, solid and free off the likes of freecycle. For an added bonus you might get one with drawers to keep stuff in. You can never have enough storage space in a garage.

[John933]

I've done a few shed's in my time. The picture below give's you an idea of a the bench I build. It depend's how you want to go about it. I get my wood from palate's from my local industrial estate. break them up, and you will have enough wood to make, any size you want. As for hight. Build it to the hight of the top of you pelvis bone. That's about the right hight to reach under to get any thing out. And high enough so you don't have to bend down to far. You can get angle shelf brackets. To anchor it down, and for any other right angle. This is important. Use screw's and not nail's to put it together. That way you can easily take it apart if you need to change it. A good size screw's are No6. You will need to put a pilot hole before screwing. And a power driver is a good idea. Believe you me, it's not as hard to do a you first think. I can put up a link to an album. When I built my shed last year.

Where are you? I'm in Norfolk. I may be able to help you.
John933


https://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t26/John933/Shed/ShedBuild57.jpg

[Pernig]

[John933]

If you just take on board what I have said. It should be OK.
John933

[fiery tupp]

I allways use pallets & 3/8in - 1/2in plywood for tops / shefs, etc 8 x 4 ft around £20 .

Pallets are dead cheap ( never had to pay for 1 yet ) most places give you them , but they are a fkin PITA to split , bolster chisel , lump hammer & pry bar.

The handiest tools , that will help you no end are , a good battery drill / driver & electric mitre chop saw
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If you can't fix it with a hammer , use your head .

[gixxernutter]

If you buy bike this month then you get a free copy of performance bikes!!

The copy has a article on how to build the bench
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BOOM!

[stevo as b4]

I'm about 1/2 way through building a work bench myself in the garage at the moment. Because it's breeze block wall's i have used 3x2" fixed to the walls with no nails, and big coach screws and rawlplugs. I was going to add 2 legs to give it some support, but have found some really big 300x400mm L-shape steel brackets at a DIY store, that i'll bolt to the wall and to some bits of 3x2 under the work top.

For your project i would say:
1, Kitchen worktop is an ok surface for general purpose use, but avoid the really smooth glossy stuff, its to slippery. If you can get a cheap 38,40 or 50mm worktop or off-cuts to suit your bench size then it's worthwhile. Id never pay full price for a length of domestic worktop as it's too expensive and nice to ruin for a workbench surface. If you can get it cheap or know somewhere that builds kitchens etc then it's worth looking at.

2, Im building my bench with a height of 920mm to the top of the work surface from the floor level. This is so that it clears a water pipe with room to spare. But my other steel workbench is 850mm high, and i don't think i'd want anything lower than that to work comfortably tbh!

3, Consider using building board for a robust work top surface that has decent waterproof properties. I got some 20mm thick stuff from B&Q that is 7ply marine plywood, with a grey painted waterproof coating. It's the kind of thing they use on building sites for shoring up and temporary fencing etc. I got a 2.4m length and had it cut down in half lengthways to 620mm so that i can use 2pieces one on top of the other. This will be like a 40mm worktop, but stronger, much more wear and water resistant and far far cheaper too.

Lastly Robby's idea of trying to source old school/college work bench's or heavy duty desks is a good one, as you can pick up old work bench's cheaply normally, and the old heavy duty wooden benches typically used in schools etc, are very tough and well constructed, far better than any off the shelf modern work bench thats for sure!

[ZRX61]

Usual height is so your elbow is the same distance from the floor as the top of the vice. So measure from your elbow to the floor, subtract the height of the vice & thats how tall the bench should be.
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