Why did I build a workbench?

[dennis thompson]

When I first started woodworking a few years ago the first thing I did was build a workbench, nothing fancy, just a solid core door with some drawers & a shelf, but it took me quite a while (as does every project since then) . I put some pretty expensive casters on it so I could move it around when necessary.And the result is:
- I have never moved it , not even once
- It's more a table to lay tools & junk on ,as I do 95% of my work on a piece of plywood laying across two sawhorses in the middle of my 2 car garage shop.
-To be honest I'd say that but ,for a rarely used vise on the workbench, I could do without my workbench (I know this blasphemy, akin to admitting I buy tools at Harbor Freight);)
Anyone else have a similar experience?
Dennis

[Russ Filtz]

Every tool with a table and two work tables all have piles of "stuff" a foot high. this is on top of loaded 6-foot high shelving lining the garage! I can't do anything (or find anything) without a major cleaning effort! So yes, I feel your pain. (me, barely getting a single car in a two car garage) I knew i should have held out for a 3-car garage house.

[Alan DuBoff]

Not the same for me at all. In fact, I still do use a makeshift bench using a pair of metal stands with a length of plywood on top of it that is about 16"-20", similar to how you use your saw horses. I'm using that right now to glue up some boards.

I built a moderate bench which lives in it's own enclosed space and I couldn't be happier with it, and I use it way more than any other bench I have, even though it's not finished...for the way I want to work I can't imagine being without a solid workbench to use hand tools with. At least after having it. And yeah, it took me a long time to build, like most folks.;)

If I could get more room, or *gasp* get rid of some machines/tools, I wouldn't need to move stuff around as much, would like to get to that point....:rolleyes: I'm even thinking about listing an old Crescent Jointer from about 1920 to get some room. Great project for someone, I just don't have enough time...I have used that as a workbench once...*lol*

I know a lot of folks use makeshift benches and do excellent work, but for me, after having a decent bench I would say that anyone without one is cheating themselves.

I have a bench in my garage, but it somehow filled up with a metal lathe and a small mill...:o

None of my benches are on wheels as you did, but most of my machines are and I do move them around a LOT, I have to just to use them! :p

Oh, and yeah I pile stuff on most of my benches, you don't have any monopoly on that...

[Dewayne Reding]

It is for just this reason I didn't go crazy building an elaborate bench. Does all your stuff have a proper place to be stored yet? I have a small shop, but worse yet I haven't fully organized the space that I do have. I don't have enough draws and such for storage of little items. I am doomed until I solve that problem.

[Larry Fox]

No way I could do without my bench. I built it a long time ago out of need and it has served me well. That said, I have learned a lot since then about my own style of work and my needs for a bench so a new one is on the list as a winter project - not sure I will get to it though. This has not always been the case but I try and keep the shop neat as it makes things easier and more pleasant for me to work in there so the bench actually gets used as a bench.

[Randy Klein]

Anyone else have a similar experience?


Absolutely not. But I use hand tools quite a bit and a good bench is a necessity. My guess is that you don't use hand tools that much. Trying to hand plane on a sheet of plywood between sawhorses would be an exercise in futility.

My first bench was a solid core door on 2x4's and I thought it was pretty good. Once I built a real bench though, I realized what I was missing and working with hand tools became easier, better, more fun, etc...

[John Bailey]

I'm a bit like Alan. I use my tables (yes, tables) often. They are piled high when I'm working on a project, but when the project is done I clean it off and put everything back in its place. One thing I do is use a sacrificial top. I put a piece of plywood on top, use it, and abuse it for 1/2 a year or more, then replace it. The base is fairly stable, although I'm looking to make a more stable arrangement. One of the reasons I have two is that while one is for the project, the other takes the piles. I also built a small table to put tools on while I'm working on the project so the tools don't get in the way.

John

[scott spencer]

My shop is very small, and the workbench is essential. It's close to as important as my TS. I wish I'd made it bigger, with more storage and two vises.

[Rod Sheridan]

As Andy indicated, if you do hand work, a good solid bench is a requirement.

Try chopping mortises on top of a hollow core door on saw horses and you'll soon agree.

If you don't do hand work, any flat stable surface will make a suitable "assembly table".

Regards, Rod.

[Gary Herrmann]

Hybrid handtool and powertool user. I use my bench a lot.

[Leo Zick]

granted my shop is still sparse, but im trying to force myself to use what i have, not keep buying more (applies to everything, im bad at buying crap).

2 rolling carts and 1 fold up table. i could use some hold downs (bench dogs do this i think?) or a side clamp, but i manage pretty well. dont even really use my TS top to throw crap on..lol.

i do need to lose the shelving unit in the corner. its a dust collector. i may make 2 wall cabinets to replace it.

[Mike Parzych]

I'm like John Bailey - I've gota 4' x 8' worktable in the shop and I use a sheet of 3/4" ply or particle board on top of the initial top. It's great for doing rough drawings, math/geometry, or putting two scrap pieces on at a 90 degree angle as an assembly jig. Just sand it off after the project. Flip the ply over when one side gets trashed. I also have a full size shelf underneath about a foot off the ground for storing stuff. Even 3 shallow boxes on casters under that for storing stuff I should just throw away.

I built an 8' length of small bins under the overhang on one side for storing different types of screws. Extra blades and such are stored on screws into the frame of the table.

[Don Bullock]

Dennis, I worked for many years with just some makeshift "tables" and a B&D Workmate and still do. Yep, currently just about every flat surface in my shop has "stuff" on it. As I plan my new shop and my projects that I want to do after I move in and get the shop set up I am including a workbench. I've heard and read about benches from many "experienced" woodworkers. Many of them look at a bench as a large clamp which allows them to work with wood more efficiently than they could without one. That's what I'm hoping my planned bench will do for me. Whether it will or not, just like any other tool in the shop, will mostly depend on me. Some day I'll report back what actually happens.;):D

[Dave Anderson NH]

As most of you know, I'm a fairly dedicated Neanderthal. I could not function effectively or efficiently without my new bench or my old bench which is now modified to become an assembly table and secondary work site. Your style of work will govern how much bench you need and how you will use it. I've seen some outstanding work come off of benches which were little more than a door propped up on sawhorses. In fact, I've done demos at public events using this technique along with 2 or 3 hand screw clamps in place of a vise. YMMV

[Shawn Christ]

I have a 13x17 basement shop and have cabinets and countertops along the walls to hold the 12-inch piles-o-stuff. My "workbench" is a cheap 30" hollow-core door atop wooden sawhorses. That tip came from Family Handyman. It's lightweight and won't flex like plywood. If I need extra support, I'll throw a few 2x4s under it. I've punctured it a couple times with tools, but patched it with wood putty. It's lasted me 5 years so far and I haven't even used the other side!

[Marcus Ward]

I'm guessing you guys are power tool users. Try hand planing a table top on that 3/4 sheet of plywood laid across sawhorses and you'll see why a workbench is essential for a handtool guy. Nothing wrong with powertool use, it's just a different way of working and the 'bench' is not so essential.

[Ken Shoemaker]

I've ALWAYS been of the mind that my most important goal is to build cabinets, racks, shelves, etc. so everyhting is in it's place. I can quickly find things and my bench is relativley clear. Planning and orginization has served me well. Then there are "the other times".......:rolleyes:

[Mark Roderick]

Wow. I own a table saw and a band saw and a radial arm saw and a planer, yet I spend about 90% of my shop time standing at my bench, measuring or hand planing or cutting. Just a different way of woodworking, I guess.

[Greg Cole]

Hybrid handtool and powertool user. I use my bench a lot.

Ditto here. My old bench was always piled with any and everything. It was a ply topped POS, not flat not good for machine nor hand tool work. When I spent more time looking for something in a pile on the bench that I needed to use it for, it was time for that thing to go!
My newer bench is much more suitable for hand tool work, and honestly I've had thoughts about building a second real bench, but there's this whole space restraint and all.

[alex grams]

I built a traditional hand tool workbench, though I am a hybrid power/neander worker.

I keep mine pretty much clear and use it when I am working on a project. the only other time I have another table across sawhorses is when I am assembling and its too big for the bench, or I am storing lots of lumber for a project.

[glenn bradley]

I can think of no greater evil than using tool surfaces and work surfaces to pile junk. This impedes your work and often brings the beginning of any effort to a full stop before it has begun; "its just too much trouble to get all the junk off that tool so I can use it". Ship your expensive "junk holders" to me and I will use them to make you a set of cheap tables that you can put your junk back on. ;-)]


Two realities that I picked up early on as a member of the Creek and endevour to maintain:

- Any project will require four square feet of empty flat surface to set tools and such on as you are working.
*** I built a rolling worktable that serves this purpose and many others.

- If you cannot walk up to your tools or your bench and simply 'use them', there is a problem.
*** Move whatever is in front of them or on top of them and put it away. If there is no "away" it does not belong in your shop. If you cannot part with it, put it in your living room.

[Bill Houghton]

my shop were big enough to use the bench for the long boards I often find myself working when remodeling (which we've done a lot of - old houses are about as demanding as two-year-olds, except they don't sleep); at 11 feet square, the shop's just too small.

My bench is also a solid-core door, now much scarred (I realized a few weeks ago that it's about 20 years old now - I built it when the boys were teenagers, and the glue glops that my older son put on it are testimony to its age), but I've installed bench dog holes, two vises, etc. I use it for its workholding capacities constantly, except when the length of the work forces me outside to the Workmutts.

A friend of mine, some years back, suggested that all furniture consists of flat surfaces to put stuff on and boxes to put stuff in when you run out of flat surfaces. My shop confirms his theory. My most frequently piled flat surfaces are, of course, the bench, followed closely by the table saw.

[Ray Schafer]

I have built a workbench top that I have on two sawhorses -- the base is my next project. I have two plastic folding tables that we use for just about every event. I use those two tables when I have a project going. I use one for my supplies and one for the tools that I am using. I have made a rule for myself: NOTHING GOES ON THE WORKBENCH EXCEPT THE TOOL I AM WORKING WITH AND THE THING I AM WORKING ON. Once I am done with that "thing" and that "tool" they go on the supply table, the tool table or the assembly table.

I got so frustrated with not being able to use my workbench that I have to come up with this system or else it became the pile table. When my project is completed, I fold up the tables and store them away.

[Jason White]

Yep.

I built mine the same way -- nothing fancy (picture below).

Mine gets used primarily as an outfeed table for the tablesaw and for assembling smaller projects. But mostly, it collects junk!

JW


When I first started woodworking a few years ago the first thing I did was build a workbench, nothing fancy, just a solid core door with some drawers & a shelf, but it took me quite a while (as does every project since then) . I put some pretty expensive casters on it so I could move it around when necessary.And the result is:
- I have never moved it , not even once
- It's more a table to lay tools & junk on ,as I do 95% of my work on a piece of plywood laying across two sawhorses in the middle of my 2 car garage shop.
-To be honest I'd say that but ,for a rarely used vise on the workbench, I could do without my workbench (I know this blasphemy, akin to admitting I buy tools at Harbor Freight);)
Anyone else have a similar experience?
Dennis

[Peter Quadarella]

I have two workbenches. One gets the junk the other stays clear (mostly). The one that stays clear has hold downs, the single greatest invention of all woodworking tools and jigs. (OK, maybe a little hyperbole there ;) ).

[Alan DuBoff]

I can think of no greater evil than using tool surfaces and work surfaces to pile junk. This impedes your work and often brings the beginning of any effort to a full stop before it has begun; "its just too much trouble to get all the junk off that tool so I can use it". Ship your expensive "junk holders" to me and I will use them to make you a set of cheap tables that you can put your junk back on. ;-)]
Would love to, but even if I was able to easily pull the metal lathe and mill off this bench, it's attached to the wall of my garage! :rolleyes:

But I have been thinking about building another bench and taking that vise off there, it's not very useful with the metal lathe on there...:o

[Andrew Joiner]

You guys all have it wrong! No, just kidding. A bench is a very personal thing.

Getting back to the Originally Posted question by Dennis "Anyone else have a similar experience?"

I bet your bench is against the wall,right Dennis?

The first bench I built as a kid was against the wall. It was designed to fold up yet be solid enough for the vise. You guessed it I NEVER folded it and mainly used it to hold the vise.

My next shop I took some time to think about how I worked and what I want in a bench.

I need 2 benches I can walk completely around. I have 2 benches 3' apart that I stand between.Tools I use the most are on shelves under the benches. Small work can fit on 1 bench. Larger work can sit on both benches. The good part is I can get all around the work even if it's big and still have all the main tools in their place and close by.

[Chris Kennedy]

My first bench was intended as an "all-purpose" bench, and it became a "put all things here" bench. I bought a Sjoberg after that bench went the way of the dodo when I moved, and I have been better about it, but as somebody pointed out, you need a place to put the tools you are using. As my workshop evolved also into the house fix-it shop, this became even more problematic.

I am currently working on an assembly table for my shop, that will also function as a general workstation and leave the workbench alone. We'll see if that works.

Cheers,

Chris

[Steve Mellott]

I have the same problem as the OP. Made a nice bench out of hard maple and it has become more of a storage ledge than a work bench. I find myself using the table saw top, RAS top and router table top as work areas. I know I can resolve this problem by building more storage cabinets and an assembly table, but those are projects for another day!

Steve

[Dave Anderson NH]

You guys have it all wrong. I pile my junk and things that seek a flat surface on my table saw. The stickered lengths of the undercarriage of my new bench sat there for a year drying and waiting for their moisture content to lower. See, a table saw does have its uses.:D

You folks need to look at life from a Neanerthal perspective a little more often.:eek:

[Ed Hazel]

In my prior life I ran a collision shop and we basically ran out of room so we had a consultant come in and the first thing he told us was to get rid of all our benches. They just seem to collect clutter I am down to only one and I use some folding sawhorses made from 1 inch conduit they work great.

[Alan DuBoff]

I'm guessing you guys are power tool users. Try hand planing a table top on that 3/4 sheet of plywood laid across sawhorses and you'll see why a workbench is essential for a handtool guy. Nothing wrong with powertool use, it's just a different way of working and the 'bench' is not so essential.
Marcus,

Funny as it is, your comment did get me to ponder on this point, and if it wasn't for working wood by hand, I would be just like the original poster most likely, working from a makeshift bench using metal stands as I do.

The fact is that when I was working mostly with power tools, I really only needed an assembly table, that's where the makeshift bench kinda comes into play, cause you really don't need to secure things that well, at least I didn't. You can use a router on a piece that is held pretty firm with a couple inexpensive 6" F style clamps.

But that doesn't work for hand work...as many of us know.

Yet, I do use the same space to dimension stock, and work metal.

And I have found out one very interesting thing about my metalwork endeavors, which are focused to assist me in toolmaking, or started out that way...but that is that I do NOT like working metal near my woodworking bench/tools. It is a GIANT mess to get any metal/swarf around them, and in fact, oil/grease is friend to metal but foe to wood. Not to mention that swarf ruins sharp edges! ;)

But I really think a lot about my strong opinions to have a decent bench stems around working the wood by hand, you can really appreciate having a solid stable surface when working wood by hand.

Using power tools I could be very happy with no bench, and would be working off my makeshift bench most likely. Here's a pic, it's a bit messy as I had just removed a bunch of foley equipment at the time, so I could put a lathe on the bench. But it has my makeshift bench in the foreground. Those are the same stands I built my bench with, that worked GREAT!

In fact I am making handsaw parts on the makeshift table. :)

That is just a bit more than 1 year ago today, I was making my first complete handsaw to enter in the WoodCentral contest. I had just finished my REAL workbench, and was doing the handle on it! ;)

Here's the saw in the next pic, on the bench I built. I had re-handled handsaws and made saws from other parts before, but that is the first saw I was able to assemble entirely myself with a slotted back. Johnny Kleso made the split-nuts on his South Bend...now I have my own South Bend! :rolleyes:

[Marcus Ward]

I built a 'real' workbench and the only thing that goes on it is what I'm working on and the tools for that project. If you have junk lying on the bench you need to build a place to put all your tools. I put things away when I'm done using them, even if it means getting them out again 15 minutes later.

[Brian Penning]

Yes to having similar experience. I use the outfeed table for almost all of my "bench" work.
I've been thinking of moving the workbench to replace the outfeed table. Shudder at routing the grooves for the miter gauge in the bench top though.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f193/Bri68/Miscilaneous/IMG_3297.jpg?t=1230717822
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f193/Bri68/Miscilaneous/IMG_3297.jpg%5B/IMG%5D

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,

I can think of no greater evil than using tool surfaces and work surfaces to pile junk.
LOL!
Duke of Darkness checking in here - pleased to announce that any and all horizontal surfaces in Casa Englehardt are required to have a minimum of 18" of "stuff" piled on them ;).

I do keep the shop a litle better though. The required minimum there is 6".
Also - live ammunition & foodstuff is forbidden in the power tool area.

[Anthony Whitesell]

When I first started woodworking a few years ago the first thing I did was build a workbench, nothing fancy, just a solid core door with some drawers & a shelf, but it took me quite a while (as does every project since then) . I put some pretty expensive casters on it so I could move it around when necessary.And the result is:
- I have never moved it , not even once
- It's more a table to lay tools & junk on ,as I do 95% of my work on a piece of plywood laying across two sawhorses in the middle of my 2 car garage shop.
-To be honest I'd say that but ,for a rarely used vise on the workbench, I could do without my workbench (I know this blasphemy, akin to admitting I buy tools at Harbor Freight);)
Anyone else have a similar experience?
Dennis

Almost the same situation. My workbench is a piece of countertop attached to one wall I got in exchange for some computer work done at a small company. It is covered in tools and pieces of projects in the works. My workbench is a workbench just not an assembly table, thats was the sacrificial tops for the router table and table saw are for. :D

I wouldn't recommend a piece countertop as a workbench. I forgot that the front edge is a raised drip edge so work doesn't (can't) lay flat the full depth of the workbench. Once a few of the projects are out of the shop, I'm going to glue up a 2x4 top with vises and benchdog holes and do it right.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Not at all...mine gets used everyday I am in the shop....dogholes and all.

[Chuck Tringo]

at this point in time my table saw IS my workbench sooo....I feel your pain, but wich I had a nice workbench to complain about not using ;)

[Thomas Pender]

To keep the top of my "main" bench clear so I can find my squares, rulers, awl (that sticks up from a bench dog hole next to my striking knife and a big slotted screwdriver). That being said, I use it and the vise on the bench all of the time. If asked, I would have to say it is the most used "tool" in my shop. Between the bench dogs, the vise(s), and the fact that it is the flattest surface in my shop, I cannot imagine working without my bench and vise(s). I especially cannot imagine using my hand planes without it.

I also built some base cabinets and put some formica mounted on chip board (with a small backsplash) from a Borg (for $50) on top and use this to sharpen on, mix dyes and finishing materials, etc. (Backed up to a wall.) I also have another 8' rough lumber bench or worktable that has tons of stuff on it and I fight to keep that clean as well. Finally, there is my Festool MFT 1080 (plus other saw tops and an old folding banquet table) and I fight to keep them all clear as well. Truth be told, if i had a 1200 SF shop with 300 SF of table space, that stll would not be enough.:D This all leads to the following thought: Like money, you can never have enough clamps, space, tables, chisels, hand planes, saws, different band saw blades, straight router bits, sandpaper, replacement jointer blades, replacement planer blades, drill bits, glue, mineral spirits, denatured alcohol, paste wax, rags, etc..

[Greg Cole]

You folks need to look at life from a Neanerthal perspective a little more often.:eek:
Or we need not talk about a proper bench other than in the cave.:rolleyes:
I think part the issue with collecting "stuff" on a bench is the placement of the bench. If it's against a wall, it's going to be more prone to having this shoved to the back to clear a spot, temporarily anyway.
You can compromise your work habits due to a messy bench or a non flat "flat spot", I certainly won't.
And as mentioned quite a bit, your work style dictates an awful lot.
Not too mention your desired or normal level of neatness. Are you a good boy and but your toys back in the toy box, or do you leave them where you finished playing with them?:p

[Victor Stearns]

I do understand how it seems like every flat surface is a place to just sit something for a few minutes, or until I decide what to do with it!

Now to the discipline part of the problem, Use it, put it away, or thow it out! It is taking me sometime, but I am working at this.

I currently have three benches, the first is against the wall and is used more like a planing center, (still trying to file somethings away here). All projects start here, and the small work also.
The second bench is the workhorse of the shop, Twin-screw vise, dog holes, and tool storage that has all the handy things close. This is were all machining, hammering, chiseling, and hand plane work happens. This also serves as the assembly center. I do have a piece of masonite to cover it when assembly or gluing need to take place.
The last is a bench my son constructed. It is on wheels and serves as the temporary tool/project material storage. It also has a place on the bottom to store the Woodmaster planer head or sander head.
Hybrid Woodworker
Victor

[Andrew Joiner]

Yes to having similar experience. I use the outfeed table for almost all of my "bench" work.
I've been thinking of moving the workbench to replace the outfeed table. Shudder at routing the grooves for the miter gauge in the bench top though.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f193/Bri68/Miscilaneous/IMG_3297.jpg?t=1230717822
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f193/Bri68/Miscilaneous/IMG_3297.jpg%5B/IMG%5D

Brian,
You could try the bench as an outfeed table and you may not need to groove it. Just roll your saw over enough to clear the miter gauge when you need to use it,or drop the bench height to clear the bar. You'd get more use of your bench and make more efficient use of your shop space.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

I've ALWAYS been of the mind that my most important goal is to build cabinets, racks, shelves, etc. so everyhting is in it's place. I can quickly find things and my bench is relativley clear. Planning and orginization has served me well. Then there are "the other times".......:rolleyes:


What Ken says bears repeating. This idea is so important. I just wish I followed it more in my shop. :eek:

[Greg Hines, MD]

I use my 24 hour workbench all the time. I do some handwork, but a lot of machine work, but feel that you must have something sturdy to do your assembly on.

Doc

[John Sanford]

The bench is the heart of my shop. It does like to collect stuff, but I routinely clear it, and try to leave it completely clear at the end of the day. When I was in high school, I had a "bench" (not for woodworking) in the garage, and learned then that keeping it clear was a priority, because, well, benches are for workin', and shelves are for storin'. Undoubtedly, I wouldn't have to constantly remind myself of the differing roles of the multitude of flat horizontal surfaces, if I weren't such a packrat. :o

[Ron Allred]

Definitely your bench should reflect the projects you intend to make or build. Pick your space, and use that space wisely. A few years ago I got a really good deal on some dental x-ray cabinets, $30 a piece, 4 of them. After cutting plexiglass for the bottom of all the drawers, they work perfectly for every piece of hardware I keep collecting for them. I drilled the tops of 3 and topped them with 10ft Oak 2X10s, 3 boards deep and put locking casters on the 4th, my floater for the shop. A bench grinder, mitersaw, belt sander, drill press and I still have plenty of room to work. It's a corner unit with no cabinetry above, so I can swing and turn and move projects up and down with no problem. Hope that gives some ideas. Happy New Year!