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Work Benches

Coronet_Arch

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Location
Cincinnati, Ohio
2020 has turned into the year of work benches. I first work bench I bought this year was a steel work bench from a dealership that was closing and auctioning its service bay equipment and showroom furniture.

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I next went to another auction where there was another metal workbench that was sitting outside. It was heavier than the first bench I bought. I disassembled it for transportation. It needs cleaned up and has not been assembled yet.
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The next workbench I acquired was a wooden bench from the basement of the house my mother was selling as she was downsizing. This was my father's reloading bench he acquired at a Sear's outlet.

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Next I bought a wood topped bench at an auction. This one has metal legs and a top made from an old bowling alley lane. It weights a ton. We had to get it out of a basement. (I also bought a metal lathe and machinist plate. That was quite a workout getting everything out of the basement.) I ended up cleaning up the legs of the workbench and painting them since they had rust on them. I ended up rewiring and replacing the outlets on the back of the bench.
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I took pictures of it today after I finished setting it up and rewiring it after having it sit in my shop for three months. It is currently uncluttered and clean. which won't last long as can be seen by the other two benches I have set up.

I actually bought another bench this year that I sold the next day. It was another metal mechanics bench similar to the the other two benches metal benches.

2020 certainly has been the year of work benches.
 
I have a steel bench that had knock outs for 110v outlets. I wired them all up and plugged the bench into the wall. It gives me 12 outlets right at my work area.

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Made mine about 10 years ago using a bowling alley lane, 36x96, each piece was 1 1/2 wide x 3 1/2 tall tongue & grove. Originally nailed but I removed them and glued back with poly glue. After drying I ran it thru the wide belt sander. Put it on a 3” angle frame, very stable and heavy.
Gimmy a week or so to clean it off and I’ll take a pic
 
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I finally set this up a few months ago. Just started on the other side yesterday.

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"rmchrgr"

I see you have LISTA cabinets under that bench. The only way I could afford those is if my work let me take them out the gate. They are the best cabinets I have seen both in looks and in function.
 
I have been lucky and found all my work benches on the side of the road.

The last one was 36 deep by 96 wide made with 2x12 front, back, and sides with a double thick top, but the builder must have had some unorthodox physics training as the legs are 2x3. However, it's super sturdy and the legs are just fine.

I have about 200 pounds of nuts and bolts plus a grinder, 5" vice and a 1/3 HP drill press on it and also occasionally stand on it. It also came with a 60" 8 outlet power strip.

The one before that was 24x72 laminated old build 1x3 butcher block top on a sturdy 1x4 cabinet grade base.
 
16’ long, with a birch vaneer top.
I built this bench 15 years ago when I built the barn.
This past summer, I have it a belt sanding and refinished the top.

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"rmchrgr"

I see you have LISTA cabinets under that bench. The only way I could afford those is if my work let me take them out the gate. They are the best cabinets I have seen both in looks and in function.

Got them off CL, $800 for both so not that expensive. A comparable-size Snap On box would probably be around the same or more.

I do like them, they are super deep, the drawers hold a ton of stuff and roll nice. Been looking for more to do the same thing on the other side of the bench but they are hard to find used in the configuration I want and yeah, they are really expensive if you buy them new.
 
Started on the next table top, came out OK. The top came with u-shaped channel on the bottom of the front and back edges which I cut off. Sits flush with the top of the pallet rack beams now. Need to have some supports underneath so when you throw something heavy on top it won't 'bounce' and make a ton of noise.
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Cutting the edges off a brand-new, 8' long, 3/32" thick steel table top with a cut off wheel in a grinder sucked but it had to happen. Can't wait to do the other one. :realcrazy:
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"rmchrgr"

I see you have LISTA cabinets under that bench. The only way I could afford those is if my work let me take them out the gate. They are the best cabinets I have seen both in looks and in function.
I agree, those Lista cabinets are sweet, and more expensive than Snap-On.
 
Lista and the Vidmar cabinets always seem to sell for about $100.00 per drawer. They are awesome and hold alot of everything. I just can never afford them which is why all my hardware hangs on louvered panels in plastic bins.
 
I've got a wood 4'x 8'work bench in front of my car lift and a heavy metal bench for my welding fabricating needs but wanted something mobile I could use away from the lift. I bought a 3 point 6' tiller for my tractor and it came in a metal crate. I used the metal from the crate and fabricated me a mobile bench. I wanted one that would hold some weight and be big enough for large parts & transmission assemblies.
I've used this cart more then I ever thought.

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I had to tear an old barn down to build my garage, I couldn't see throwing all that old barn wood away so I built my bench out of it.
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Made some progress on my workbench. Does not look like much from my last entry but trust me, it was a lot of work to get it to this point.

Since it was unsupported underneath the table was pretty flimsy. It was also really loud and noisy when you put something down on it. So that was all fixed by welding 1" x 2" square tubing and strut channel supports underneath. The ends of the supports rest on the pallet rack beam shelves. Worked out pretty well.
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As I've mentioned previously, the 36" depth of the bench top is really too deep so I got a set of back and side stops from McMaster Carr and modified them to work for my table. The backstop was cut down to about 3 1/4" height. The face was welded to a piece of angle iron then welded to the table top at a more usable 30" depth. The plan is to put a riser shelf behind the backstop to store stuff like my cordless drill charger, hardware boxes, cans of brake cleaner and WD40, radio etc.
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Here's a full view with the back and side stops in place. The mat is 3/32" (I think?) BunaN rubber.
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Trying to figure out the easiest way to build the shelf. I have an old metal table I may cut up and finagle into the space behind the back stop. Above all, I really want to be done with it so I can move on to the next project.

The table is super solid now and there's enough work surface to spread out all sorts of things and still have room to spare. Have not even begun the other side yet but it should go much quicker now that I have an idea of what to do.
 
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