Was going to go with 27″ (using 3 9″x3″ boards) – would you go to 36 with 4 boards or not use 9x3s and for a different material on top?

27-30″ sounds like a good start, maybe a bit deeper depending on what you expect to put on there and if you are having a tool board behind it. Normal kitchen worktop is 600mm deep so about 23.5″ if it helps.

General purpose bench.

2 ft/24 inches deep

Whats the rest of the bench made of ?

My issue with 3 boards jointed is ….do you have a surface planer or thicknesser to at least make the top flat , or are you gonna stick something else on top to make it flat. The joints in your boards would give me the rage.

I ended up with a 2×4 frame with 18mm ply on top and cheap laminate floor on top of that

Mines about 27″ deep. Four boards joined together and planed flat by hand with a Stanley no5.

Mine is 3 planks wide (9inch each) middle one is 50mm and two outside ones 70mm, stops stuff rolling off.

Whats the rest of the bench made of ?

Nothing yet but plan is to mount 100×100 angle on wall at each end then have a 3″ box L frame at the centre which is bolted to floor and wall. Was going to mount a tool board.

Mines about 27″ deep. Four boards joined together and planed flat by hand with a Stanley no5.

Goldfish how did you join yours?

how did you join yours

The old fashioned way, planed the joint edges flat and square by hand, slightly convex towards the middle, then just glued and clamped in some hefty clamps. Learned how to do it on you tube, didn’t take too long and was fun to do proper traditional joinery.
Any variation was then taken out by planing the whole top after it dried up.

I ended up with a 2×4 frame with 18mm ply on top and cheap laminate floor on top of that

That’s my design as well.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/dZahAK]Bench #1 with base, sides and back[/url] by brf, on Flickr

Goldfish.

Failure on the “Man Points” there. If a job is woth doing, it’s worth doing with new power tools! There was the opportunity there to buy at least a router, biscuit jointer, and a nice plane. 🙄

😉

Mine was an old workbench with a knackered top, so flattened it off and then attached a sheet of 1/2″ steel that was ‘handy’.

I then fixed uprights to the back and added a sheet of ply with a light at the top. Mainly as I’ve stone walls and they are next to impossible to fix stuff to (easily).

Mine is 12 foot by 3 foot built on a 100x100x5mm RHS box steel frame and decked out with 6mm steel plate, all welded together. Whole thing is rawl-bolted to the concrete. Reckon it would withstand a nuclear blast 🙂

EDIT: Beware. It doesn’t matter how big you build it, you will always find plenty of crap to fill it and it will end up no bigger than the small one it replaced!

I made mine from some old gazebo wood a bloke dropped off. Recycling at it’s best.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/rsgg1J]Workbench[/url] by Jon Wyatt, on Flickr

Lower shelf is recycled decking i was given to burn and the uprights are fence posts.

There are two ‘benches’, work-tops, tables, call them what you will, at work, that I’d dearly love to get my grubby paws on: the tops are cast iron, the uprights around 4-5″, and they each require a pallet-truck to move them!
Of course, you couldn’t attach anything to them, but for bashing the bejaysus out of things, or making sure stuff is dead level, they’re unbeatable.
Not something I could sneak out of the building with, however… 😉

I covet a 8’x4′ bench that I can walk all around.

I covet a 8’x4′ bench that I can walk all around.

It’s having the space to walk around it that’s the problem…

You want this

🙂

bigblackshed – Member
Goldfish.
Failure on the “Man Points” there. If a job is woth doing, it’s worth doing with new power tools! There was the opportunity there to buy at least a router, biscuit jointer, and a nice plane.

POSTED 10 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

In every single way building something with hand tools trumps resorting to power tools.

footflaps – Member
I covet a 8’x4′ bench that I can walk all around.
It’s having the space to walk around it that’s the problem…

castors and workbench feet that drop and lift the bench. Sorted.

Height is also important if doing lots of vice work such as hacksaw, filing etc. Apprenticeship rule of thumb was top of vice should be level with your elbow when stood straight.

My bench is 650 deep – wouldn’t want it any narrower unless very restricted for space (but more important to have space to move than having a deep bench).

Apprenticeship rule of thumb was top of vice should be level with your elbow when stood straight.

Yeah, mine is too tall. I need to take a couple of inches off the legs. Can’t get the leverage at times.

I made my workbench then finished the top with a sacrificial sheet of hardboard. Just cut it to exactly fit on the top then edge it with 1×2 or something else similar so it sits nicely and doesn’t slide off, but can easily be lifted to replace it.

Buy a cheap fire door with a sacrificial 18mm ply top screwed onto it forms a good solid work surface and then a simple frame of 4×4 legs and 2×4 stringers and rails. Is my suggestion 😀

I got my local diy shop to cut a sheet of 22mm mdf to size, which I then applied a sacrificial layer of hardboard and also rubber matting to. I think it is about 750-800mm ish deep, and nice and high so I don’t get a bad back when using it