I got an e-mail from Fine Woodworking about work benches, so I was thinking about my setup, what Ive seen other tradesmen use and would like to know what everybody else likes to use. Always looking for a better way to do things.
I posted some photos of my currently preferred workbench. What I have is two 2’0″-8’0″ solid core doors that get joined together with a connector called a Giro bolt. They are a bit unwieldy to move around, but they do make for a very solid work surface and I can fit a full sheet of ply on them. I thought about using hollow core doors, but I just didnt see those taking the surface scoring as well as a solid core. I’ve had this for over a year now and I think it cost about 170 bucks.
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I actually like the hollow core 24" bifold best myself, they fold in half for easy storing in the trailer and are light.
but I haven't bought them.....
usually about the time I set my saw blade too deep and cut it in half......a replacement shows up on a remodel. old doors are plentifull
another handy one is like an old 6 panel door, knock a couple panels out and you have a good place to clamp things too.
The panel door for clamping sounds interesting. As a side note I just noticed we have the same birthday, also Im from MichiganIt's just wood.
I really like the way your two halves clamp together!
Workbench size is a pretty job-specific issue. For example, my work uses lots of small parts, so a table that big would be a hinderence, not a help.
Just as important are the legs; sometimes a pair of horses will do all you need; other times, you need something more solid - and dead-on level.
Personally, I think the guy with the bi-fold doors is on to something. You can add a sacrificial layer of masonite to one face, and I doubt you really need the table to be a full eight foot long. Folded in half, you have a good chop-saw table.
To refine the idea, I'd round the edges and corners a bit., and seal them with shellac. You can add measuring marks to the edges and top as well.
There IS one advantage to a solid table like yours: you can drill and thread the wood to accept 'pony' clamps, which will then hold your work in place. FHB had this tip not long ago.
Thanks I'll look for that tip. I've also thought of either drilling a few holes for clamps to slip through or routing in a couple of t-tracks so I could position a clamp anywhere.It's just wood.
Coupla yrs ago I got two of them blow mold plastic party tables that fold in half with steel legs. About 3' x 6' they are perfect for the copper or alum gutter we were hanging.
When set at right angles you can ssolder up the miters with both legs supported in plane, spaced apart, 25' lengths are suppoted well for adding drops and ends, or splices.
Light weight, sturdy enough, can be screwed into for hold downs, and cheaper than many saw horses.
They fold into a 3x3' x 4'' package and trailer or van easily..
about 40 bucks ea. at wallyworld.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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I have one of those, but it didn't work out for me. Trying to assemble trim parts on that wavy surface was frustrating. Works great for BBQs though!It's just wood.
For one of my stationary work benches I bought a stock 10' section
of formica post form top. $10 LF = $100. Tough as hell and I felt a
fair price, got it at HD.
Thats gonna be a tough wearing table.It's just wood.
I've been using the same hollowcore 3/0 6/8 luan bifold for the last 6 years. The surface has hundreds of scores in it, but amazingly it's still holding together.It's not too late, it's never too late.
Nice to know, maybe my next version will be hollow core.It's just wood.
Dustin,Got one of these ?http://albany.craigslist.org/tls/1388597673.html
I'll never tell...It's not too late, it's never too late.
I have a solid core 3080 in my computer shop. It has a pretty hard white laminate on it that puts up with hot soldering irons, solvents and a lot of general abuse.
Same here for my Lathe table and general assembly bench. Free for taking from an old school tear down.
Heavy as all get out tho'. Not portable.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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Didnt you post pics of a knock-down/ fold cut table you made? You got pics of that still?
thanks...Live by the sword, die by the sword....choose your sword wisely.
I can go take one, it's right out front.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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Here ya go, 2x2s screwed loosly fron below, folds like a pantograph.
Was just lopping up some cherry when I came in for lunch.
whoops...I don't have Irfanview on this comp. it came out kinda big, sorry bout that.
see if this works.
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Edited 9/27/2009 12:28 pm ET by Sphere
Edited 9/27/2009 12:30 pm ET by Sphere
Picture works for me. Im gonna being cutting up a bunch of panels for both some cabinets and book shelves in the next few weeks. Think Ill build a couple of those, get a whole assembly line going.
Thanks for the pictures.
Live by the sword, die by the sword....choose your sword wisely.
I have an old 36" door my aunt used to use as a wallpaper layout table. Ilike the bifold idea better though.
How stable is it though as far as staying flat? I usually use the door when i'm doing casework and need a flat assembly surface.
Family.....They're always there when they need you.
I have used bi-folds as work tables for years.
they stay flat , portable and are readily available .
I dismantled one 24" set and used the two halves to make extensions for my miter saw , simply added drop legs out 2 x 2 and dowels that fit into the holes at the sides of the miter saw table. Worked well and was light weight and portable .
Life is Good
It stays pretty flat. I use it to pocket screw trim assemblies, do casework and other general cutting of sheet goods.It's just wood.
Here’s an assortment from one of my current jobs:
In the RH background is one almost identical to Sphere’s: a loosely-screwed 2x2 grid for cutting sheet goods. Collapsed, pantograph-style, it measures about 3”x5”x 12’.
The rest of the benches are variations on my favorite toolbox, the 6-gal. milk crate. Meijer’s used to sell them retail here in Mich, and I dropped over $200 on them back in ’92. But they discontinued them, and now I have to scrounge them at flea markets.
I sandwich the crate bottoms with 1/4” ply on the outside, 1/8” ply on the inside. That makes them sturdy enough to stand on, and solid enough that tools and fasteners don’t fall through the bottom when used as tool boxes.
Underneath the sheet goods table, one is serving as a handy saw-rest station. Just in front of it, another one serves as a sturdy container for a Festo box (I never did trust Festo’s wimpy plastic). They take up about the same space in the truck as the Festo boxes alone, so I basically get to take along the crates for free.
Another crate slips over the top of the Festo vac accessory box attached to the Festo vacuum in the LH background. It has an oversize LVL slab on top instead of my usual lauan, so it serves as a surprisingly-substantial mini-workbench, its overhang allowing for clamping stock, or, as in this pic, a carpenter’s vise.
In the LH foreground, two stack up as a low work table, or, paired with another two and with a plank on top, serve as an excellent low scaffold/work platform.
The lone crate just to their right makes for a handy stair-step up to that work platform. But it really excels, and is most popular for, its role at lunch time -- nobody has to sit on the floor at break on my jobs! And there’s almost always a seat for everyone.
Having a modular, stackable unit makes packing the truck much easier, too -- I throw away almost all of my tool cases (except for the nesting Festo boxes), and store everything in these crates -- Bulldog, Tiger Saw, circular saw, whatever.
I just took a peek in the back of my truck and counted 20 of these multi-purpose units. And I have one of those *@#*#@!! 6’-6” short beds! I’d carry more tools if I could!
AitchKay
PS Oh, yeah. I, too, am a big fan of recycled bi-folds.
The multi tasking part of that setup is awesome. I used to have a few milk crates, but wasnt smart enough to realize the potential. Thanks for the pic.It's just wood.
Add a 3/4" plywood bottom and you can screw milk crates to the shop wall too, do two and span with a board and you have a shelf with storage under it...and I also have some with a beveled cleat that can hang in the van or on a cleat in the shop as well.
Like H-K, I think I have 20 -30 crates. They stack onsides as well as a tower of tools in my shop., I cut the sides out of rectangular gallon steel lac. thinner cans and make metal drawers that stack in the crates too.
I love reusing trash.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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There's a guy out there who talks reverently about "Garbage Santa."Garbage Santa "ben very, very good to me!"AitchKay
My gas, coffee, and cigs stop in the AM is just out the road from me, after a few years you get to know the help.
I asked kindly if I could have some crates, I got the 6" tall Pepsi crates that stack. In them I use glad or tupper type ware conatiners for screws and nails and stuff. They nest between my drawer boxes in the van and don't topple over as easy as milk crates are wont to do.
Try just asking a mini mart employee, they don't care.
BTW, Duluth Trading is selling real HD milk crates, 15 bucks a pop I think.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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“I got the 6" tall Pepsi crates that stack.” Yes, those are good! And some of those pop crates slip tightly inside of a 6-gal. crate. I like those -- lift them out, set them aside, and you’ve just freed up another step-stool, workbench module, etc.“Duluth Trading is selling real HD milk crates, 15 bucks a pop I think.” That’s a good thing. If only they’d start marketing the 6-gal type! Maybe I’ll send them a letter and forward them those pics...The stability of the 6-gal. crates (toe them in a bit if you’re stacking high with a 2x12 atop), combined with their storage capacity (Bulldog, Tiger Saw, etc) make them the primo crate.I think that we don’t see them in these parts as deposit crates because of stronger unions here -- 6 gallons of water weighs 48#, and I’d imagine milk isn’t much lighter. That’s a lot to lug, crate after crate, if you’re a delivery man. We’re talking back injuries. I’ve noticed that recently-molded 6-gal. crates show the outline of the handholds on the long sides, but they’ve now been filled in by the surrounding plastic gridwork, so that the only handholds are on the ends -- you have to carry those crates tight to your body, extending away from you only 12”, as opposed to the old 12” or 18” option. Safer, sure, if you’re delivering milk all day...For a downtown jobs with difficult parking, I screw a scrap of 1/2” ply to a hand truck, and attach (2) 2x2 cleats vertically to lock in 6 crates as I bump over curbs, ramps, etc. You can move a lot of tools over a lot of distance pretty easily.OK, gotta go -- I’m calling Duluth right now!Crate Suzette