"PaPaPeng" wrote in message
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On Sat, 2 Jun 2007 20:32:01 -0400, wrote:

I've been eyeing up Sears work benches. They look to be laminates
fastened to metal frame supports.

I asked in Lowes if they sold them and the guy, said no 'he built his
own'. I guess for what they want for the sears I could buy a good table
saw and the materials to build my own with money to spare.

The dimensions of the sears workbench are just right. It (the one I
like) has a nice 8 ft run and a continuous worktop. But I haven't been
ablet to find a piece of wood with the desired thickness and in one
contiuous piece for the worktop. Lowes has pieces (precut) that come
close but not as wide. Is there another way to get what I want. And what
materials would be ideal for a garage workbench.

There must be plans floating around out there somewhere..

Thanks
Chas


I bought a 8 ft x 3 ft solid wood door from a building supplies
recycling store. Makes an excellent work table. Has a varnished maple
finish and weighs as solid heavy wood although I think its veneer
maple.
Do you want pretty, or do you want something you will be willing to scuff
up? A 2x4 frame with a couple of cross-pieces for rigidity, and a piece of
3/4 plywood attached to top with countersunk screws, works well. And when
top gets too beat up (like a real workbench should), you can easily flip it
over or replace it. If you want a pretty edge, band the exposed sides with
another piece of 2x4 or whatever. As to plans- just Google 'workbench
plans'- there are bound to be some out there. Lotsa ways to do it, most will
work okay. Really depends on your space and other available storage- my
preference is to keep the space below bench clear, for easy cleanup, other
than any needed cross-pieces to tie the end frames together. If you can
attach to wall, sometimes those aren't even needed. My father built a 22'x2'
bench along one side of a one-bay garage, under a bank of south-facing
windows, held up by triangle-shaped wood brackets screwed off to every other
stud. I can stand on it, and it doesn't wobble at all. I'm actually jealous-
a much nicer setup than I can do here.

Those pretty butcher-block or whatever benches they sell at Sears, Sams, and
similar places look nice- TOO nice. I'd spend all my time trying to avoid
messing them up with whatever I was working on. A perfect-looking workbench,
to me, is like those yuppie faux-gourmet kitchens in the magazines- meant
for others to see. I've seen real restaurant kitchens- they look more like a
real workshop. Not everything is new and shiny, everything doesn't match,
and storage is placed where it works, not where it looks pretty.

aem sends...