Workbench

[ChrisBailey]

Hi,
Planning on building a workbench for the garage. I plan on putting a big air compressor underneath it (200ltr tank).

Basic dimentions would be 1700mm long, 700mm wide, 1050mm high.

I planned on using 40x40x3 angle steel and a 3mm thick cold rolled sheet for the top.
Id put some triangulation in to firm it up.
Having read a few posts, I'm now not sure this would be that strong.
Id use it mostly for automotive, heaviest thing going on it would be maybe a gearbox.
Id also use it for a bit of welding.

Should I be looking for a thicker sheet for the table top?
I cant get any thicker than 3mm in cold rolled.

 

[tom2207]

3mm is too thin in my eyes ,, you could always bung two layers on , personally I would be looking at 8mm , but then again , I do like a bench I can beat things on .

 

[Hitch]

Use box section rather than angle for the frame.

If you arn't using it as a flat bench for fabrictating on, a 3mm sheet with some box underneath would be adequate...but pretty light weight if you plan on banging on it...

 

[Melvyn Best]

A mate of mine had his compressor in his workshop 30 years ago and was draining a fuel tank, the compressor started up and ignited the petrol vapour. I would never put a compressor in a garage now!

 

[Lewis_RX8]

A mate of mine had his compressor in his workshop 30 years ago and was draining a fuel tank, the compressor started up and ignited the petrol vapour. I would never put a compressor in a garage now!

Had a decent amount of petrol vapour in my garage and a comp on standby and never thought about this.

 

[Parm]

3mm is too thin in my eyes ,, you could always bung two layers on , personally I would be looking at 8mm , but then again , I do like a bench I can beat things on .

stick up a few pics of your bench if you dont mind?

after building my outdoor special from freebies I’m tempted to build a “proper work bench”

 

[Tom O]

A mate of mine had his compressor in his workshop 30 years ago and was draining a fuel tank, the compressor started up and ignited the petrol vapour. I would never put a compressor in a garage now!

I’d never drain a fuel tank in the garage in the first place that’s like saying who would think anyone would put a bloody bullit in a gun!

 

[tom2207]

stick up a few pics of your bench if you dont mind?

after building my outdoor special from freebies I’m tempted to build a “proper work bench”

will do ,, its in my friend garage at the moment , im building a new workshop at the moment , ive just run out of space , Im due there on thursday ,
one of my other benches , in a different workshop was made from an old lorry chassis , its a quick way of getting a good solid bench frame , cheaply , or it was then but it did take a fair bit of reinforcing , eventually it got binned as it was only a quick knock up for my stage build project , but as a fast way of bench building dont overlook it ,,, just a thought.
Ive also a set of files for a work bench tab an slot design I think its a 4 x 3 in 12mm from memory , you could do two and join them together if needed ,,, drop me a line and ill send you a copy if thats any use too.

 

[skotl]

My previous bench top was 3mm bent round wood, and it was very springy. I've now got 10mm on it (2m x 1m delivered for £160 from Brundles) and it's a lot better, but still feels quite springy.

In other words, go for as thick a top plate as you can afford (and lift! The above was 157KG).

 

[Spark plug]

3mm is a table top, not a workbench top, my first bench was made from 50x50x3 box and a 6mm top and wasn’t up to the job. The replacement which is holding up very good is 80x80x8mm box and a 12mm top.

 

[ChrisBailey]

What are you doing that requires such thick worktops?
The worst id have to do is lever on the bench with a vise to free off nuts.
If i had to really belt some metal i would probly get an anvil and put it on the floor.

Ive not had to fabricate anything and I doubt i would. It would be from thin sheet metal if i did.

 

[gaz1]

i rather like these

welding table and plasma table

 

[sako243]

As a general purpose work bench I'd get ****** off with all the holes in those.

I bought a set of Elliott drills of Bob and they came with a socking heavy T-slot table to bolt them into. It was a wonderous upgrade but I can honestly say I didn't use the slots in them very often in general usage but don't underestimate the benefits of having a lot of mass behind something. It was so nice being able to whack stuff hard and not worry about the bench moving underneath (and that was in a wooden shed at the time).

Now I've got an 8x4ft surface table and the biggest benefit for me of that is that there are no slots or holes in it so stuff won't fall down in the gaps.

 

[Gragson]

Use box section rather than angle for the frame.

If you arn't using it as a flat bench for fabrictating on, a 3mm sheet with some box underneath would be adequate...but pretty light weight if you plan on banging on it...

I was recently looking at some stock on Brundles for making an additional shelf support on a bench, bit put off by the price and thinking, started looking up pallet racking, I got this stuff £5 per 1.8m locally ebay, dude had loads, used racking is a cheap frame option. Height is a bit of a personal choice but 105cm seems a bit high to me?

 

[ChrisBailey]

Needs to be atleast 100 high to clear the compressor.

Is box section worth the extra cost over angle?
Especially if i triangulate it?

I can get 6m lengths of angle 40x40x3 for 14 pound each

 

[tom2207]

Needs to be atleast 100 high to clear the compressor.

Is box section worth the extra cost over angle?
Especially if i triangulate it?

I can get 6m lengths of angle 40x40x3 for 14 pound each

3mm angle isnt heavy at all ,, better with channel but its one of those things thicker top and channel and you need less triangulation , so quicker build trade off is cost , but you only build one once ,,, well usually.
Id not be putting a compressor under the bench I work on either ,, noisy and just in the way , even if you had to mount your compressor on castors and move it out of the way from time to time.

 

[Parm]

will do ,, its in my friend garage at the moment , im building a new workshop at the moment , ive just run out of space , Im due there on thursday ,
one of my other benches , in a different workshop was made from an old lorry chassis , its a quick way of getting a good solid bench frame , cheaply , or it was then but it did take a fair bit of reinforcing , eventually it got binned as it was only a quick knock up for my stage build project , but as a fast way of bench building dont overlook it ,,, just a thought.
Ive also a set of files for a work bench tab an slot design I think its a 4 x 3 in 12mm from memory , you could do two and join them together if needed ,,, drop me a line and ill send you a copy if thats any use too.

so my man

how do you do all this all this multitude of work your always on about?

judging by all you have said I expected you to have a finely fettled workshop

that I could have taken some hints n tips from as a bodger

 

[tom2207]

so my man

how do you do all this all this multitude of work your always on about?

judging by all you have said I expected you to have a finely fettled workshop

that I could have taken some hints n tips from as a bodger

I work in a variety of places , depending on what im doing is depending on where I am , My garage is too small , I piped sixt feet of stream last year , to build my new workshop , but im still missing a couple of pipes , and the guys up the road were not delivering concrete , hence the hold up ,,
I work a bit of the time at a friends farm , and thats where i have a sixty by forty shed , if I want it , thats where I built the three mobile stages , two for a local company , and one for me , the next place I work is just a bit further down the road , thats where my bench is at the moment , that venue is a non franchised land rover specialist , usual three ramp set up , two two posters and a third four poster with wheel free that I usually use for land rover body work , that covers the main usual locations , however , the guy I drive heavy recovery for has a set of industrial units , roughly 120 x 30 feet , with welders folder and guillotine thats where I usually do the lorry restorations , and some of the heavier fab if I need space , handy as he has a 91 ton hiab ,and a forklift , I dont do much heavy stuff any more as I dont really have the time, or the inclination.
Im intending just to stick with smaller stuff and work in my own workshop in the future . keeping a set of grinders , welding gear and the likes and most importantly a radio in each of three places keeps it handy as i dont really like lugging kit from place to place.
There are a couple of private tractor restoration guys I do bits for too but that again is walk in with gloves a mask and my hands .
Dont forget I weld these days as a side income , I also work part time as an opticians tech. So with it all explained I hope you can see how its all juggled about , and how it works out that some days its tractors , land rovers , car / lorry restorations , or some of the other daft things I seem to end up doing. Round these parts I tend to be the guy you call after every one else either cant or wont do it , and that suits me fine as I do like to have some time for other things too. I was also self employed for a long time but that involved a totally different set of skills , mostly in the entertainment industry which at the moment is non existent , but it did give me the opportunity to be able to pick my jobs now , I initially retired at 35 , and since then Ive done pretty much what ever interests me , no need to actually do anything at all , but if your used to working its hard to stop. Hope that fills in a few gaps for you. Ive turned a lot of corners and theres a lot missed out of that brief summary as to whats done where and for who.
t

 

[Parm]

I work in a variety of places , depending on what im doing is depending on where I am , My garage is too small , I piped sixt feet of stream last year , to build my new workshop , but im still missing a couple of pipes , and the guys up the road were not delivering concrete , hence the hold up ,,
I work a bit of the time at a friends farm , and thats where i have a sixty by forty shed , if I want it , thats where I built the three mobile stages , two for a local company , and one for me , the next place I work is just a bit further down the road , thats where my bench is at the moment , that venue is a non franchised land rover specialist , usual three ramp set up , two two posters and a third four poster with wheel free that I usually use for land rover body work , that covers the main usual locations , however , the guy I drive heavy recovery for has a set of industrial units , roughly 120 x 30 feet , with welders folder and guillotine thats where I usually do the lorry restorations , and some of the heavier fab if I need space , handy as he has a 91 ton hiab ,and a forklift , I dont do much heavy stuff any more as I dont really have the time, or the inclination.
Im intending just to stick with smaller stuff and work in my own workshop in the future . keeping a set of grinders , welding gear and the likes and most importantly a radio in each of three places keeps it handy as i dont really like lugging kit from place to place.
There are a couple of private tractor restoration guys I do bits for too but that again is walk in with gloves a mask and my hands .
Dont forget I weld these days as a side income , I also work part time as an opticians tech. So with it all explained I hope you can see how its all juggled about , and how it works out that some days its tractors , land rovers , car / lorry restorations , or some of the other daft things I seem to end up doing. Round these parts I tend to be the guy you call after every one else either cant or wont do it , and that suits me fine as I do like to have some time for other things too. I was also self employed for a long time but that involved a totally different set of skills , mostly in the entertainment industry which at the moment is non existent , but it did give me the opportunity to be able to pick my jobs now , I initially retired at 35 , and since then Ive done pretty much what ever interests me , no need to actually do anything at all , but if your used to working its hard to stop. Hope that fills in a few gaps for you. Ive turned a lot of corners and theres a lot missed out of that brief summary as to whats done where and for who.
t

You really should post up some pics, the forum loves pics

 

[tom2207]

You really should post up some pics, the forum loves pics

I really should ,, but usually when Im working I leave my phone in the car , if I take it with me it either gets full of dust , or iron fillings and dies in a short space of time , I also find that if I have a phone with me and I answer it , I have to let people down , if Im at a job that day I cant go and do anything else for any one else , so folk feel let down when I have to say no.
so folk ring me of an evening , that way I can plan what gets done and when , the only exception is if Im making glasses , then I answer the phone only for heavy recovery work , as it wont wait , and I only do two half days , and I can flex things to suit.
Pics have always been an after thought with me , which is a shame , as some of the entertainment stuff Ive done would have made a very interesting scrap book. Then again some of the obs Ive done folk get very twitchy if you start taking pictures.