Objections to metal legs for a workbench?

[Don Morris]

I was looking for a used butcher block top to buy and add some Douglas Fir legs to use as a sturdy workbench. Somewhere around 30 x 60 was what I was thinking. I came across one that looked sturdy enough and was 34" x 63". It was a little pricey but had a metal hood and metal legs. I could remove the hood easily enough leaving the legs which would make up for the cost of adding legs, if I wouldn't mind metal legs. I'm sure I could add shelving, etc. to them if I so desired. What would be the objections to metal legs and the existing shelf as a reasonable compromise until I had enough time to custom build my own?

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[Mark Bolton]

Itd be fine for just an average bench but won't be any good for operations that require a bench that won't rack. Planing, shoving on that type of bench won't work out without more reinforcement than its worth.

But as a decent shop bench sure it's fine.

[Tom Walz]

I think Mr. Bolton pretty well nailed it.

[John TenEyck]

Nothing wrong with metal legs other than it doesn't meet our mental image of what a woodworking bench should look like. You could add one of more plywood shelves and some plywood or solid wood braces to make it very robust and wrack resistant. Mass is easily obtained by making a plywood box filled with sand as the bottom shelf. Put 400 - 500 lbs of sand in the bottom box - and plane away. Just make sure you know where you want it located before you add the sand.

John

[Mark Bolton]

I have four benches similar to that but much larger that I bought for the shop at an auction for cheap. They are about 3x10. We started to try to de-rack one of them with ply and it was just a waste of time trying to work around the bent profiles and so on. There are places to screw/bolt in some areas and then others you have to add blocking/bracing. I think I paid 50 bucks or something for all four but the OP says this one is "a little pricey" I wouldnt be putting much in time or money into that bench if I needed something robust.

[Peter Kelly]

Those legs are going to wiggle all over the place if you're chiseling or planing anything.

[Don Parker]

If you want a nice workbench, but don't want to put a lot of time into it, you can buy a maple top from Grizzly and cast iron legs from Lee Valley. This is what I did, and I am very happy with the result.