The ultimate work bench

[Gordon Maney]

We all have a bench or several. Often it is the bench we managed to get somehow. It then occupied a space and we worked on it, around it, and in spite of it.

I am not meaning the bench upon which you have your tool box and roll of electrical tape. I mean the bench upon which you do your hard, heavy, difficult work.

Imagine, for a moment, that you can have any bench you want. Imagine you have space for it. Don't let reality or the size of your garage confine your thinking.

I have had times when I wished my bench had a hole in it, into which I could extend a shaft on some assembly. A hole or a notch in the edge, perhaps.

What do you long for in a bench, what are the dimensions, including height, and how is it built?

Discuss.

[BigSmoke]

This is more of a welding table than a work bench. Although in this pic, you can see that I have a piece of 3/16" plate on top of it inorder to create a wide, solid surface to work on.

This table is 4' X 6' and is made entirely of 4" C-channel, with 2-7/8" oil pipe for legs that sit on some greasable steel casters.

For welding and general clamping of material or objects, it's great!
My clamping possibilities are endless.

Super heavy duty, can take some serious blows from a 5 lb hammer and will last forever.

In the near future, I'm going to use the same 3/16" plate and make a permanent working table out of it. It will be 4'X4' wide and 36" tall. Frame will be 3" angle and will also be on casters for mobility.

[Kevin Mienke]

Starting in the middle, with the mind reeling:

I am tired of having my primary workbench against the wall. It is too limiting. In my mind, an ideal workbench should be accessible from all sides. In my current garage there just isn't room. My next workbench will be in a large shop similar to the one you are describing. No constraints.

The bench will be an island. It will be designated to a large area of floor space that is all it’s own…no clutter…no other equipment or fixtures. A primary workbench is deserving of this.

Mine will be a solid wood bench built with salvaged barn or bridge timbers, maybe old growth oak or Douglas fir milled sometime in the mid to late 1800s. There is a large stock of this kind of wood available in the Midwest. It is expensive but worth it. I want the heavy timbers not just for strength and durability, but also for the historic look and feel. Things like that mean something to me.

After finding the perfect salvaged lumber, the construction will start with wedged mortise and tenon joints where the lower stretcher meets the legs. The upper stretcher will have a blind mortise. In keeping with the spirit of strong and historic wood, the joinery will offer a stable union of the legs to the stretchers while keeping the distinct feel of old-time craftsmanship. I want it to look like it was built in the nineteenth century by skilled hands. I want it to hold up to whatever abuse I can dish out. Ultimately I want my bench to be a family heirloom. The legs will be no less than 6”x6”. The stretchers no less than 2”x8”.

Heavy bridge planks will be used to make up the work surface. A high quality antique woodworker’s vise will be attached to one end. A series of dog holes will be drilled or mortised in the work surface to accommodate clamping of things that are too big for the woodworker’s vise. The dog holes can serve an additional purpose of providing a female connection for removable steel plates outfitted with a male connection. The steel plates will carry appliances such as a grinding wheel or a bench vise. When I’m not using them, they will be out of the way.

I find that I like to have at least one drawer in my workbenches for the keeping of frequently used tools. A bank of drawers will be ideal in the space between the upper and lower stretchers. The whole bank will be removable and the drawers will be dovetailed for durability. A bench like this cannot have sissy drawers.

This is my primary workbench. I will have additional work surface in the form of portable carts and regular countertop on base cabinets.

I am looking forward to it. Less than two years to go on my nine-year sentence in the city.

[Blisters]

Possibly a surprise to some, I have no workbench (GASP!!!).

I have a 2-car garage in a tract home, in which 2 cars are parked on a regular basis (a 1941 Dodge WC-43 and a family car; my daily driver Dodge lives outside).

If I need a bench I will usually use the tailgate on my Dakota; if I need a small table out of the weather I have a nice folding-leg one onto which I set a sheet of same-sized mason board; I also use the drop-down side door on my '41 service body. I have inserted a piece of 2" hitch receiver tube into the concrete floor of my garage into which I can insert a vise mounted onto a 2" hitch tube.

I have performed a ground-up restoration of a 1941 Dodge 1/2 ton truck, the modification to four-wheel-drive of a two-wheel-drive Jeep Cherokee, and countless other projects without a bench.

Do I want one? Oh yes. Do I need one? Guess not.

Maybe some day I will own a bigger garage; until then I will struggle on without the convenience of such a tool.

[Desoto61]

Technically I have two, though I can only find them part of the time. Both are butcher block top affairs with steel frames from one of the big box stores, but they serve the purpose and are nice and strong. One is supposed to be clear for working the other has an array of bench top tools and my vice mounted to it.

If I'm dreaming though I'd have to agree with Kevin, it would have enough room to work from both sides.
It would be built from metal, strong and sturdy.
There would be rails and threaded holes to allow items to be clamped or fastened down as needed.
There would be power outlets and air connections readily accessible around the edge.
There would be a rack of drawers for storing commonly used tools. The rest of the area would have rails that would allow me to store bench tools or jigs that would be attached to plates that could be set on the table and bolted to the aforementioned holes.
Of course plenty of lighting and probably an overhead rail so you could easily lift heavy items like an axle or transmission onto it without killing yourself.

But if I put that kind of bench in my current garage I wouldn't have room for a vehicle. It's nice to dream though.

[Steve G]

I made a bench I could move around because of the size of my garage and the space availiable for projects. Mine is more of a traveling work area that holds my welder, cut off saw, drill press, vice, bench grinder, wire wheel, pipe vise, and a small cabinet to hold welding rod and drill bits. The top and bottom shelf are 1/4" steel, the legs are 4" square tubing with heavy duty steel casters and one of those stoppers you step on to keep the bench from moving. Table top is 4'x4' square. I installed a small electrical panel on it and fed it with a 15' long #6 awg 4 conductor cord on a 50 amp breaker. There is a cord end at the table so I can unplug it to move around easier. I also installed wiremold recepticals under the table lip on the longer sides of the table. It is taller than I envisioned because I forgot to include the height of the casters, about 8". The biggest problem is it's like a typical workbench and accumulates more stuff than area to work.

[Chewie]

I have three benches that I work from. Two are of the knockdown variety. One is made from an old solid oak door and the other is just 2x4's screwed and glued to cross braces. Both tops can be laid out over saw horses or over some 16 gage steel cabinets that I have. They have seen a lot of woodworking over the years.
But my favorite bench to work from is actually a wood flatbed that I built for my Dakota. It's accessable on three sides, sturdy enough to work from, just the right height and portable. It's made from treated 2x4's, and they're easily replacable if their integrity gets compromised. Plus just about any brace or jig can be bolted to it to help with any job. Kind of like a Stanley workmate bench, only better.
When I get the right shop to work in, I will have an island bench like Kevin described, but it will be made from steel plate and channel. Maybe not 1" like Gordon's, but thick enough to be unmovable by hand. Rolled edges and 18x24x6 ball bearing drawers all around. Something I can hammer on and still eat dinner from during those moments of marital bliss.

[NNICKB]

This is a timely topic. I have been contemplating a new woodworking workbench using a 4X8 2" thick oak butcher block made by a local cabinet manufacturer. I would then bolt it to two stout 3.5' X 2' floor cabinets, with drawers and shelves, that would serve as the legs. I would want to be able to dismantle it, in case of a move.

Right now, the bench I use the most is a 4X8 table, the top of which is 3/4 plywood topped by a replaceable 1/4 tempered Masonite. Stringers underneath are 2X6. Posts are 4X4. Doesn't have much character...more Lowe's than a 19th century old growth heirloom. But it is plenty stable and does the job for now.

Best thing about it though is not the bench itself, but the environment in which it is placed. It is in the center of the shop, with no clutter around or on it (usually). 3 of the 4 walls of the shop are endowed with 4' X 4' windows. Most days I can work with natual light only, though at night I have to fire up the metal halides.

No fluorescent tube lights are anywhere to be found. I read somewhere that the vibration in them causes your eyes to tire, and I believe this to be true. When it comes to good lighting, I need all the help I can get....