Workbench Issue

[Shekhar Malvadkar]

I have space constraint and I am wondering if keeping a wooden workbench on my patio would be appropriate.
One side is open to air and rain can come in a bit. I can cover a small workbench with plastic to prevent or minimize exposure to rain.
However, I am concerned about unacceptable amount of change in wood shape of the bench top due to direct exposure to environment.
Any input would be welcomed.
Thanks.
Shekhar.

[glenn bradley]

I would expect it to suffer from exposure some. In that situation (and wanting a "wood" surface) I would be tempted to go with something inexpensive like MDF or an old door and seal the buh-jeebers out of it. MDF could be flooded with BLO on all surfaces to aid in resisting breakdown. An old door could be painted or sealed with poly. Open exposure will eventually cause both to fail but they could last long enough to make them worth the cost and be cheap enough to replace when required. Either is cheaper than adding on to the house right now.

Another option might be a pressure treated frame and top with a hardboard skin that could be replaced as required.

[Sean Hughto]

Many of our forebears did woodwork in unheated sheds, barns, and small rooms off homes lacking electricity and central heating. Many worked outside on shaving horses and the like. A bench doesn't need to be fancy and furniture like to do it's job (provide a stable work surface that also holds work for other operations with holdfasts, vises, and the like). Build it out of something weather resistant if you can, like white oak. Any moving metal parts, like a vise, out to be greased well and covered when not in use.

[Pedro Reyes]

Not an expert, and not recommending, but... no more than 100 years ago I have to guess that most if not all woodworking was done in a non-HVAC environment.

I have seen a lot of pictures of gentlemen working in what looks like a barn/garage or sometimes just a roof.

My guess is if you keep it form getting wet and check it often for flatness (true it up when needed) you should be fine. Any metal (screws, vises, etc) should be more protected with some sort of oil I suppose.

/p

[Terry Beadle]

You might consider a Japanease workbench. These have a basic beam at their core. For example, a beam 8 inches by 4 inches by 6 foot long with cross dovetail sockets to allow for planing down hill or flat at either end. Clamps are F type.

Keeping such a beam flat would not be that hard if stored correctly and if you soaked it in BLO it would resist moisture very well.

I've tried to attach a photo of one but you can find several easily by google-ing japanease workbench.

I've seen one in action in a video several years ago and they are effective and have a small footprint.

[David Gendron]

It depend how wet it gets in your area, I think that a little water and sun etc is not that bad, if you think about it, picnic table, decks, fences, wooden boats and the like are exposed a lot to the element! If you varnish or stain the everry thing but the top(you dont want the top to be sleek!) and you keep the top well treated with BLO you should be more than fine! Dont forget to use water proof glue for your laminations!
David

[James Carmichael]

You might consider a Japanease workbench. .

What keeps that thing from racking, with no stringers?

For a weatherproof outdoor bench, maybe you should consider one of the composite decking materials, like Trex?

[Jason Beam]

What keeps that thing from racking, with no stringers?

I think the very wide stance of each "horse" would do plenty. They'd rise up quite a lot with the length of the feet on those things. That keeps 'em very sturdy. I don't think there's any risk of racking there given the forces a single woodworker could apply in a given operation.

[Carl Maeda-San Diego]

I also found sunlight to be an issue with any wood outdoors. I have a covered porch with a potting bench underneath. It was finished with Shellac and waxed. It never got wet but the top has splits, cracks and is slightly warped. I assume its' from the sun drying out the top unevenly since in the morning, the sunlight hits the bench.

[John Schreiber]

There's a time and a place for paint, and this is it. No clear finish is going to hold up as well.

Outside isn't optimal, but it's a lot better than nothing.

[Shekhar Malvadkar]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have never seen a Japanese work bench like that. I guess people just build one themselves when needed.
I am considering the following options.
Amazon sells a workstation/workbench made by a company called Skill. A bunch of accessories including a tail vise can be purchased separately. It is selling for about 170 USD.
On ebay a few companies are selling oak workbenches which are somewhat affordable. They seem well built. No negative reviews on them that I have seen.
I am also looking for some used ones on Craigslist or Ebay from known companies like Sjoberg. However, the sellers usually have problems shipping or the shipping makes the purchase very expensive.
There are also these workmate Black and Decker Workmate benches. However, it seems that they have slipped in quality through the years based on various reviews.
I am hoping to get more space in the near future. However, I have said that before a few times.
I would, nevertheless, Cover the top with BLO and varnish the sides for more protection if I get a wooden workbench.
I live in Alabama and it does get its share of rain.

[Shekhar Malvadkar]

Thankfully my porch usually gets some sun only in the evening for a bit. What kind of wood is your table made off?

[Dennis McGarry]

Sealing it well is the key, one thing to remember its not only rain to worry about, condensation is also a killer to un treated wood. The morning dew in a humid environment will be soaked up by the wood.

As long as you treat the wood, it will be fine. I personally would look for either the new plastic decking or find someone that just re-did a deck and use the old deck boards. Good water treatment and you would be good to go.

[David Keller NC]

"I live in Alabama and it does get its share of rain."

Shekhar - I'm orginially from Alabama. The problem you may have is more of a problem with the very high humidity in the summer and the relatively dry conditions of the winter.

If you're looking to save money, and you want to use hand tools (especially planes), you are best off building your own bench. A workmate is a fine tool for toting to a job site and holding something still while you run a router across it, but you can't plane on it, period (I tried when I was building shelves in my parent's basement in Birmingham last fall - I resorted to using one of my sawbenches with a holdfast).

The Skil X-Bench isn't going to cut it either - at least for hand tools.

You can build a southern yellow pine workbench with a leg vise for about $300, and there's not too many other States except Georgia with a larger and cheaper supply of SYP. Once you're done, blow an extra $50 and coat the bench with a true marine varnish (not a "spar" varnish - go to a marine supply store for the real stuff). About 6 coats of a marine varnish will radicallyslow down moisture absorption/desorption and will go a long way toward keeping the top flat.

And - you want a metal vise screw for this application. You will have to keep it well coated with cosmoline or a compound product like Boeshield T-9 to prevent it from rusting up, but a wooden vise screw is going to give you fits - the rubbing from moving it in/out is going to wear off any finish you try to put on it, and once that happens, a light shower will expand the wood sufficiently to freeze it in the vise nut. Once the fall hits and the weather drys out, the screw will dry out and crack.

Build your own bench - you can do it with a couple of hand planes, a circular saw (or a hand saw) and some chisels. A potable planer would be a massive help, but you can surface the wood if required with a jointer plane.

[David Gendron]

David K., I don't know if varnish is a good idea for the top, since it will make it way to slick(slipery) to work on it! I I would suggest to recoat it with an oil varnish blend more often and covet it when not in use!?!?

[Shekhar Malvadkar]

Thanks everyone for your valuable suggestions.

[Doug Shepard]

I think I'd be worried as much about the bench hardware (i.e. vises) getting corrosion as much as the wood movement. I've got to clean and wax some of the metal parts on mine at least twice a year (or more) in my MI garage shop. Humidity here can get pretty high at times and I suspect AL isn't much different. An open air setup might be tough to keep up with as far as rust goes.

[Fidel Fernandez]

You can build a travel bench the same as Crhis Scharwz.
It is small and it can be knock down in 10 minutes (Well, after practicing).

It is sturdy and not so expensive to build.

Check it out http://blog.lostartpress.com/content/binary/WB-Chapter9-appendixR2.pdf

[David Keller NC]

"David K., I don't know if varnish is a good idea for the top, since it will make it way to slick(slipery) to work on it! I I would suggest to recoat it with an oil varnish blend more often and covet it when not in use!?!? "

David - just about any coating, including boiled linseed oil, oil-varnish blends (like Watco "Danish Oil"), wax, shellac, polyurethane, or marine varnishes will make the top slick. That's why I have no finish at all on the maple bench I built last fall.

However, Shekhar doesn't have any choice. If the bench is stored outside, it needs a heavy, multiple-coat finish on it to slow down moisture exchange. Otherwise, it will warp and twist enough to make it unusable without flattening it every couple of weeks or with every weather change.

[george wilson]

To avoid mildew growing on your workbench,use tung oil,not BLO. We used tung for years on our tools that were stored in unheated sheds,once we found out about its resistance to mildew growing on it.

Shellac is a very poor finish-the very poorest. It does not resist water,and will turn white. The best outdoor varnish is Epipane.

[David Keller NC]

George - that's actually "Epifane" (Marine Varnish). I wouldn't use shellac on an outdoor project either, my thought was just to note that any film or oil-based finish on any workbench is going to make it slippery, though I suppose one could go over the flattened surface with a toothing plane and then put the finish on after that - the little grooves might be quite effective at holding work still.

[Carl Maeda-San Diego]

Thanks for that tip George.
I usually finish just about everything with Shellac... I like the color and depth it imparts on the wood but for outdoors, yeah, I wasn't thinking it needed a lot of protection since it was under the porch roof.
The potting bench is made from white oak.

[george wilson]

Thanks,David.And that's George!!

[David Keller NC]

Sorry, George - typos will be the death of me. The editing feature on that reply is timed-out, otherwise I'd correct it.

[John Schreiber]

I've been outside in Georgia in the summertime and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Why not go with paint. Compared to marine varnish paint will last longer and will be much much easier to apply. Sure it's not as pretty, but Georgia in the summer time is only pretty if you have air conditioning. (That's a Northerner's view at least :o)

[Shekhar Malvadkar]

Thanks for everyone for the comments.
Perhaps a Oak bench with paint or multiple coats of marine varnish. Not pretty but functional.
What kind of paint do you recommend?
I am also tempted to go with the travel bench design suggested which could be disassembled in 10 minutes.
I am not sure if anyone of you took a look at the Oak benches sold on Ebay.
If you put oak workbench in the search engine of Ebay you will find listings for two sizes 40" and 60". I could coat them with multiple layers of marine varnish and use Camilla oil or similar products on the metal parts. What do you all think of that. Not perfect but perhaps it will suffice.

[John Schreiber]

. . .What kind of paint do you recommend?
I'd go to a local professional paint shop (not a big box store but Sherwin Williams or similar) and ask for their advise.


Oak benches sold on Ebay. They look like they would be adequate for machine tool work, but for hand work, you need something much heavier and stouter. Stout is the key for a handtool workbench. Mine weighs about 400 lbs. Also, white oak is quite resistent to water damage, but red oak is not.


Camilla oil or similar products on the metal parts.
I think you will need something much thicker than camilla oil. More like layers of wax and grease.

[David Keller NC]

Shekhar - Many posters have alluded to this on this thread, but I'll make it explicit: "Inexpensive" and "Suitable for hand tool work" are completely mutually exclusive, unless you build it yourself.

The only commercially-available benches that are even marginally suitable for hand-tool work are the Sjobergs Elite 2000/2500 benches and the Lie-Nielsen ones (and I have my doubts about the current Lie-Nielsen line). These benches cost $1500 - $2500, plus about $300 in shipping.

There is no reason to not make your own bench - including a self-perceived lack of woodworking skill (if that's the case). If your skills are lacking, then a workbench is the place to teach yourself, not your first furniture project. If the issue is time required to build a workbench, then there's no reason to have one in the first place, because you don't have time for woodworking - a workbench is a very simple and relatively quick project.

And especially in your case, where portability and special design features to make it withstand the weather better (such as using white oak as the material, and putting in drip lines around the bottom of the legs to keep them from wicking standing water), you simply can't buy a bench that will come anywhere close to what you can make yourself, for any amount of money.

[Peter Scoma]

I don't know the name of the product, but there is a new synthetic deck planking material on the market that my parents just used to redo their deck. It is some type of composite material that is heavy as all hell, incredibly stable, and guaranteed to last for many many years. I dont even think that it is supposed to be treated/sealed at all. If I were you, I would build a sturdy base from some heavy PT stock and put together a nice top with this material. You could even go so far as to make a traditional cabinetmakers bench with these materials.

PS