Help Me Design A Basic Utility/Workbench For The Garage

[Phog Allen]

Evening gents. The title of the thread says it. I need to make a basic workbench or table for a limited space in my garage. This will not be a fine woodworking bench but something more utilitarian. Picture yourself looking into a double car garage. In the back left corner I have space for a non-mobile workbench. I have space for a surface about 30x96 inches(75x240cm). It would have two edges against the walls. The left short side and the back long side.

I was thinking of attaching a ledger board along the two walls and ladder framing out 24 inches(70cm) on 16 inch(45cm) centers along the back ledger board. This would be covered with a piece of plywood ripped to 30 inch width. With a 1-1/2 inch ledger thickness and a 1-1/2 inch front plate across the "stringers" it would be a total of 27 inches deep resulting in a 3 inch cantilever with the thirty inch top on it. I would use either 4 x4 inch material or two laminated 2x4s for legs in two or three places along the front part of the box framed area for support. Some sort of supports would be ran from the legs at an angle up to the rear ledger for lateral support. I cannot go straight back to the wall since it is concrete up from the floor about 36 inches. I do not want to resort to hammerdrilling for anchors. Does all this sound reasonable? I am certainly open to any ideads you may have.

One big question is bench top material. Should I go for construction grade plywood and cover it with something smooth like Masonite or would a finish grade plywood be better? I also saw a particle board material with a white melamine type coating bonded to it at Home Desperate the other day. I have never seen it before. It runs about $40 per sheet and the birch or oak ply matreial is $45-50 per sheet. I just want something smooth to work on. I typically have poor luck using any of the particle board materials but who knows? Throw some ideas at me.

Cheers, Todd

 

[DerekL]

Your general plan sounds good... But I'm not sure you'll need legs that sturdy unless you're really pounding or really weighing it down. For my bench, I use 1/2" MDF for the top, it's nice, heavy, smooth, and doesn't bounce around. Avoid particle board and materials that can crack like they're radioactive.

 

[showcattle]

I wouldnt go smaller than a 4x4 for legs possibly at the back as well with a heavy plywood top would be good for a homeowner style bench. I would also mount some sheet metal to the top instead of a counter top style material, it would be much more durable and you wont feel as bad when you scuff it up and can't burn it too really.

 

[Big_John]

I've built a couple benches using a kitchen countertop as the top surface. You can find seconds, discontinued, or slightly damaged pieces at a really good price.

That would be 30" deep with a "backsplash" against the wall. It's a very good surface that cleans up easy and takes a beating.

 

[life2short1971]

Electrical outlets every 12" and one 220v

 

[Phog Allen]

The electrical will be covered by a six or eight foot stick of Plugmold. Expensive but very tidy. 240v? No need currently but if I have to cut walls to get power it will be prepped for it.

As for counter top material isn't most of it 25 inches wide? A bit narrower than I need.

Cheers, Todd

 

[life2short1971]

Florescent lighting directly overhead.As far as the countertop what are your intentions for this bench? Will there be oil or other harsh solvents? Stainless and rubber mats may be the ticket.

 

[Infernal2]

Evening gents. The title of the thread says it. I need to make a basic workbench or table for a limited space in my garage. This will not be a fine woodworking bench but something more utilitarian. Picture yourself looking into a double car garage. In the back left corner I have space for a non-mobile workbench. I have space for a surface about 30x96 inches(75x240cm). It would have two edges against the walls. The left short side and the back long side.

I was thinking of attaching a ledger board along the two walls and ladder framing out 24 inches(70cm) on 16 inch(45cm) centers along the back ledger board. This would be covered with a piece of plywood ripped to 30 inch width. With a 1-1/2 inch ledger thickness and a 1-1/2 inch front plate across the "stringers" it would be a total of 27 inches deep resulting in a 3 inch cantilever with the thirty inch top on it. I would use either 4 x4 inch material or two laminated 2x4s for legs in two or three places along the front part of the box framed area for support. Some sort of supports would be ran from the legs at an angle up to the rear ledger for lateral support. I cannot go straight back to the wall since it is concrete up from the floor about 36 inches. I do not want to resort to hammerdrilling for anchors. Does all this sound reasonable? I am certainly open to any ideads you may have.

One big question is bench top material. Should I go for construction grade plywood and cover it with something smooth like Masonite or would a finish grade plywood be better? I also saw a particle board material with a white melamine type coating bonded to it at Home Desperate the other day. I have never seen it before. It runs about $40 per sheet and the birch or oak ply matreial is $45-50 per sheet. I just want something smooth to work on. I typically have poor luck using any of the particle board materials but who knows? Throw some ideas at me.

Cheers, Todd

I built a similar workbench using ledgers and stringers for casting sand so based on your cantilever, I'd say that your bench (especially if it connects to the end walls) is going to be just fine structurally. The thing about workbenches though isn't the surface area, its more of how you plan to do work holding on the bench. If the work you have for it is breaking down a lawnmower engine or doing some small repairs, what you have designed could be great. If you plan to do a lot of carpentry though, the boxed in design is going to limit you severely since you really need ends where you work can jut off of your bench comfortably. As to top, you might consider going with a solid core door and covering it with masonite, a classic "cheap" workbench solution. While that is obviously going to be limited to size and cost, you can also frame in three layers of cabinet grade osb between two layers of masonite, another quick workbench favorite. Unfortunately the cheaper OSBs, if not perfectly dry tend to express moisture which can warp the masonite top and bottom. If you want to go with cheaper osb at least make sure you store it for about a week in the work place so it acclimates to your shop.

Just to add:

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/sketchup-for-woodworking-models/sketchup-workbench-projects

Those are a few Google Sketchup designs for some of the more popular workbenches both general and carpentry specific. You might look at the one labelled $175 Workbench for an easy top design.

 

[Big_John]

As for counter top material isn't most of it 25 inches wide? A bit narrower than I need.

Cheers, Todd

Oops... Yeah, you are right. I was thinking about the benches I had to make at work. I covered those with laminate.

That said, I have seen the 25" countertop used with a piece of pine as a filler strip behind the backsplash. It made for a nice raised area for tools.

 

[Phog Allen]

Joshua, thank you for the suggestions. Likely no cabinetry or joinery other than the odd glue up of a small table or similar. If I had my way I would ave two benches. Both would free stand and one would have three inch thick laminated maple top and the other would have a two or three ply sheet goods base laminated together with 1/2 inch thick mild steel plate on top of that. And three inch by three inch angle iron legs in quarter inch thickness. The latter would be for metal fab, welding, engine work etc. The main point is WEIGHT. It makes workbenches very stable. Space and finances preclude either right now. The metal bench sounds ridiculous but we had something similar at work and for mechanical work it is superb. It did NOT move when you were pounding on a heavy piece. The only thing it needed was a caster system. It was heavy!

My main issue with the cantilever is edge strength. There is no practical way to mount anything but a hobby vise to the top. It would probably be as large a vise as I need anyway but you never know. I am really not into heavy duty things these days but restoring straight razors and making steampunk accoutrements is on the horizon...at some point.

Another concern is task lighting. Funny, but danged if approaching 50 years of age has not made me appreciate good lighting.
What I wouldxreally like is one of those articulated lights with the magnifying lens in it. Many now have LED for the lighting but you can wind up spending several hundred dollars on them depending on brand and vendor. Ouch!

Cheers, Todd

 

[whavens]

You might want to consider tacking quarter round to the back and two sides to prevent any roll off. Keeps you from having to crawl around under the bench for that screw that decided to make a leap to the floor.

 

[Infernal2]

Joshua, thank you for the suggestions. Likely no cabinetry or joinery other than the odd glue up of a small table or similar. If I had my way I would ave two benches. Both would free stand and one would have three inch thick laminated maple top and the other would have a two or three ply sheet goods base laminated together with 1/2 inch thick mild steel plate on top of that. And three inch by three inch angle iron legs in quarter inch thickness. The latter would be for metal fab, welding, engine work etc. The main point is WEIGHT. It makes workbenches very stable. Space and finances preclude either right now. The metal bench sounds ridiculous but we had something similar at work and for mechanical work it is superb. It did NOT move when you were pounding on a heavy piece. The only thing it needed was a caster system. It was heavy!

My main issue with the cantilever is edge strength. There is no practical way to mount anything but a hobby vise to the top. It would probably be as large a vise as I need anyway but you never know. I am really not into heavy duty things these days but restoring straight razors and making steampunk accoutrements is on the horizon...at some point.

Another concern is task lighting. Funny, but danged if approaching 50 years of age has not made me appreciate good lighting.
What I wouldxreally like is one of those articulated lights with the magnifying lens in it. Many now have LED for the lighting but you can wind up spending several hundred dollars on them depending on brand and vendor. Ouch!

Cheers, Todd

Todd,

I will totally agree, especially regarding your points on weight as well as having separate benches. I did the same thing as your optimal solution. I have a SYP French style joiners bench with a leg and tail vise and use crochet hooks for workholding. Obviously that requires not only an immense amount of weight to be effective but complete passthrough on the benchtop to be effective (and don't get me started about bench overhangs). My secondary assembly table is a good deal higher and is covered in a restaurant style sheet metal overlay though while its my assembly table, its the bench I use for all parts and repairs too (I've got a small motor rewind on it right now). As to your edge strength issue, you might consider a modified leg-vise or if you are willing to spend the money, invest in a pattern-maker's vice. It might be overkill at this point, but a good pattern-makers vice gives you work holding in three dimensions in a relatively small footprint. Obviously the leg vice is going to be a cheaper alternative but don't be fooled by the design, I can mount a block of wood with a hand hold in it and use it to move the entire 350 lb table. Its an incredible little design. All if requires is a leg to mount it and a flush top-to-leg surface.