Hi, all.

I'm about to build a workbench along one wall of my double garage.
It will be around 4m long.
It will have a fairly large vice installed in it, directly above one of the
supports.

I plan to make up 5 wooden trusses to be placed at 1m intervals, with long
strips of wood front and rear as additional supports for the topping. (
This frame will all be made from reclaimed timber approx. 3" x 1.5"
recovered from some massive packing crates we regularly recieve shipments
from the US in. )

As for the top, I reckoned on using cheapish 600mm 40mm thick worktop.
That will work out at around £116 for 4.1m length.

I could also use 2 thicknesses of 18mm ply as a cheaper option. Slightly
more utilitarian looking, but I suppose I could veneer it in some way. That
sounds a bit hassly.

Any other suggestions?
Or any cheaper suppliers of utility-grade worktop?

--
Ron

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 20:15:38 +0100, "Ron Lowe"
had this to say:

Hi, all.

I'm about to build a workbench along one wall of my double garage.
It will be around 4m long.
It will have a fairly large vice installed in it, directly above one of the
supports.

You'd probably find it more useful to fit the vice slightly to the
_side_ of a support. This will give room for awkwardly-shaped pieces
you might want to hold in the vice.

Assuming it's an engineers vice, don't forget to have the rear jaw
_slightly_ proud (say 1/8") of the front of the bench, so that you can
hold a long vertical job without the bench being in the way.

--
Frank Erskine
Sunderland

Ron Lowe said

Hi, all.

I'm about to build a workbench along one wall of my double garage.
It will be around 4m long.
It will have a fairly large vice installed in it, directly above one
of the supports.

I plan to make up 5 wooden trusses to be placed at 1m intervals, with
long strips of wood front and rear as additional supports for the
topping. ( This frame will all be made from reclaimed timber approx.
3" x 1.5" recovered from some massive packing crates we regularly
recieve shipments from the US in. )

As for the top, I reckoned on using cheapish 600mm 40mm thick worktop.
That will work out at around #116 for 4.1m length.

I could also use 2 thicknesses of 18mm ply as a cheaper option.
Slightly more utilitarian looking, but I suppose I could veneer it in
some way. That sounds a bit hassly.

Any other suggestions?
Or any cheaper suppliers of utility-grade worktop?

Go to a local sawmill and see it they have any off cuts of hard timber
(oak etc) so you can glue, screw them together. A bench collapsing half
way though a job an fun

--
zaax
Lightning page: http://tinyurl.com/hmpw9

Ron Lowe wrote:

I could also use 2 thicknesses of 18mm ply as a cheaper option.

You don't really need 2 thickness's for most jobs if its well supported. I
have a 15' x 2' bench wall mounted with an 18mm MDF top.

Slightly more utilitarian looking, but I suppose I could veneer it in
some way. That sounds a bit hassly.

Use 18mm ply & top it with 3mm hardboard/MDF. When the top gets scuzzy just
replace it.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 20:15:38 +0100, "Ron Lowe"
wrote:

As for the top, I reckoned on using cheapish 600mm 40mm thick worktop.
That will work out at around £116 for 4.1m length.

Nasty _and_ expensive!

I could also use 2 thicknesses of 18mm ply as a cheaper option.

A much better idea. You should be able to find spruce shuttering ply
that's strong and cheap. Not _the_ cheapest, but the cheapest you'd
actually want to live with. Birch costs a fortune and even the
rainforest stuff is more than the spruce.

2 x 3/4" sheets is the usual recommendation. Anything else is too
bouncy. Laminate them together with permanent glue, then lightly stick
(double-sided tape is fine) a layer of 4mm MDF on the top, which you can
replace when it looks chewed. Finish the top of this with varnish, or at
least wax polish, so as to keep the moisture a little at bay.

Splash out on some hardwood edging strip and do a decent job of it.

"Ron Lowe" wrote in message
...
Hi, all.

I'm about to build a workbench along one wall of my double garage.
It will be around 4m long.
It will have a fairly large vice installed in it, directly above one of
the supports.

I plan to make up 5 wooden trusses to be placed at 1m intervals, with long
strips of wood front and rear as additional supports for the topping. (
This frame will all be made from reclaimed timber approx. 3" x 1.5"
recovered from some massive packing crates we regularly recieve shipments
from the US in. )

As for the top, I reckoned on using cheapish 600mm 40mm thick worktop.
That will work out at around £116 for 4.1m length.

I could also use 2 thicknesses of 18mm ply as a cheaper option. Slightly
more utilitarian looking, but I suppose I could veneer it in some way.
That sounds a bit hassly.

Any other suggestions?
Or any cheaper suppliers of utility-grade worktop?

--
Ron



Just bought 2 off 3 metre long 40mm worktops from B and Q at £40 each -
various colours and the 28 mm thick ones were cheaper - may need more
supports but if supports are free ....??

Nick

in 549975 20060717 212529 Andy Dingley wrote:
On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 20:15:38 +0100, "Ron Lowe"
wrote:

As for the top, I reckoned on using cheapish 600mm 40mm thick worktop.
That will work out at around £116 for 4.1m length.

Nasty _and_ expensive!

I could also use 2 thicknesses of 18mm ply as a cheaper option.

A much better idea. You should be able to find spruce shuttering ply
that's strong and cheap. Not _the_ cheapest, but the cheapest you'd
actually want to live with. Birch costs a fortune and even the
rainforest stuff is more than the spruce.

2 x 3/4" sheets is the usual recommendation. Anything else is too
bouncy. Laminate them together with permanent glue, then lightly stick
(double-sided tape is fine) a layer of 4mm MDF on the top, which you can
replace when it looks chewed. Finish the top of this with varnish, or at
least wax polish, so as to keep the moisture a little at bay.

Splash out on some hardwood edging strip and do a decent job of it.

But don't expect it to stay flat !!
I've a had a lot of problems recently with 18 mm ply warping - sometimes
quite badly. And it isn't cheap stuff - it's the best available at my local yard.

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 20:15:38 +0100, Ron Lowe wrote:
Hi, all.

I'm about to build a workbench along one wall of my double garage.

... stuff deleted

As for the top, I reckoned on using cheapish 600mm 40mm thick worktop.
That will work out at around £116 for 4.1m length.

I could also use 2 thicknesses of 18mm ply as a cheaper option. Slightly
more utilitarian looking, but I suppose I could veneer it in some way. That
sounds a bit hassly.

Any other suggestions?
Or any cheaper suppliers of utility-grade worktop?


I have surfaced my 2 workbenches in hardboard (over ply). Over time the
top takes a lot of rough treatment and gets cut-up/drilled/painted/written-on.
Hardboard is cheap and since it's only pinned down, I can easily rip out
the old stuff and cheaply replace it when the time comes - which it will.
(I first saw this method on "The New Yankee Workshop")

Pete

--
.................................................. .........................
.. never trust a man who, when left alone ...... Pete Lynch .
.. in a room with a tea cosy ...... Marlow, England .
.. doesn't try it on (Billy Connolly) .....................................

The message
from "Ron Lowe" contains these
words:

Any other suggestions?

My local market sells offcuts and damaged kitchen worktops. My main
bench is 3m of damaged (the laminate delaminated) 40mm top with a
hardboard facing. Cost about fifteen quid all in.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

I have a similar project in mind having just broken the corner of my lab
bench by applying too much when straightening a bike side stand gripped
in the corner-mounted engineers vice :-(

I wondered about replacing the original chipboard/Formica worksurface
with some suitably thick ply plus a sheet steel top. Any thoughts?

Richard

Richard wrote:
I have a similar project in mind having just broken the corner of my lab
bench by applying too much when straightening a bike side stand gripped
in the corner-mounted engineers vice :-(

I wondered about replacing the original chipboard/Formica worksurface
with some suitably thick ply plus a sheet steel top. Any thoughts?

Richard

I simply used 18mm MDF on top of a 4" square softwood frame. No obvious
distortion, has taken a battering, and should I need to - replaced
easily with a few screws removed.

sheet steel top - depends - a good way to knacker up any bladed tools.

Interesting memories as an apprentice - the machinists had steel covered
benches, the fitters had wooden benches and the sparks had vinyl (or
something) covered wooden benches - dunno if there's any relevance there.

The message
from Mike Dodd contains these words:

sheet steel top - depends - a good way to knacker up any bladed tools.

And the slightest trace of rust will mark any timber you slide along it.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

"Ron Lowe" wrote in message
...
Hi, all.

I'm about to build a workbench along one wall of my double garage.
It will be around 4m long.
It will have a fairly large vice installed in it, directly above one of
the supports.

I plan to make up 5 wooden trusses to be placed at 1m intervals, with long
strips of wood front and rear as additional supports for the topping. (
This frame will all be made from reclaimed timber approx. 3" x 1.5"
recovered from some massive packing crates we regularly recieve shipments
from the US in. )

As for the top, I reckoned on using cheapish 600mm 40mm thick worktop.
That will work out at around £116 for 4.1m length.

I could also use 2 thicknesses of 18mm ply as a cheaper option. Slightly
more utilitarian looking, but I suppose I could veneer it in some way.
That sounds a bit hassly.

Any other suggestions?
Or any cheaper suppliers of utility-grade worktop?

I got a damaged/chipped 3m worktop for my garage from B&Q for £18.

Andy Dingley wrote:
On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 20:15:38 +0100, "Ron Lowe"
wrote:

As for the top, I reckoned on using cheapish 600mm 40mm thick
worktop. That will work out at around £116 for 4.1m length.

Nasty _and_ expensive!

I could also use 2 thicknesses of 18mm ply as a cheaper option.

A much better idea. You should be able to find spruce shuttering
ply that's strong and cheap. Not _the_ cheapest, but the cheapest
you'd actually want to live with. Birch costs a fortune and even
the rainforest stuff is more than the spruce.

Yeah, that's what I did - an 8x4 sheet cut in half and folded lengthways.
Glued under weight (sacks of sand), fixed to a simple 4x2 frame and then
sanded & varnished. It's really solid - you can mount a heavy vice and
pound away at it all day (fnarr fnarr), really good workshop solution imho.