Need opinions on this workbench....

[allan cripe]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93454

A harbor freight item..........
This bench is on sale here in central texas for 159.00. I have never used a conventional woodworking bench, and don't really have the wallet for a high quality brand name german job......To the novice woodworker's eye, it looks quite tempting. I might buy another vise to put on the front. Anyone seen or have one of these dudes??

Al

[Randy Klein]

What do you plan on using it for? If hand planing or using hand tools for joinery, I would say it looks too weak and would just walk around your floor as you're using it. If you want cheap, go to a BORG, they usually have damaged solid core doors for real cheap. Those doors are real solid. Attach the door to 2x4 legs. That's what I have and it works just fine until I can get something better.

[Mike Kenney]

im still new to woodworking myself but i think that would be a good project to do yourself

[Bruce Page]

Al, It depends on how you are going to use it. If you plan on doing hand/neander work it looks too flimsy. If you want a bench to power sand on it should do fine. Adding a front vise will be difficult because of the drawers.
A solid workbench needs a good foundation. Those 2X2 looking legs don’t look very stout to me.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I have never used a conventional woodworking bench, and don't really have the wallet for a high quality brand name german job......

And have you missed it?

Those traditional benches are really the heart of a Neander workshop - -ya know back when there were no power tools and all the work was done on the bench.

So unless you are a hand tool aficionado or a true neander or one of those guys who just has to have one I'd ask "why" and suggest that you spend the money on a bosh jig saw or something

[David DeCristoforo]

These guys are being way too kind. This bench is a cheap POS. For one thing, the rails are not nearly wide enough to resist racking. See those little holes in the rails? Those are for the hanger bolts that "attach" the rails to the legs. What's going to happen is that the legs and rails are going to loosen under use. When you try to tighten up the nuts, the hanger bolts are going to start to strip out. Pretty soon, you will have a base that is falling apart. The end vice? You can spend easily more than the cost of this bench on decent quality end vice hardware. So what you will ultimately end up with is an oak top (that, if you are lucky will not have split by then). The drawers? I have not seen these particular drawers but I have seen similar and I'm thinking stapled plywood with, maybe 1/8" cardboard bottoms? This is a situation where you really can't ecpext much more than you are paying for. I think you would be better off to spend the dough on a chunk of maple BB and a steel frame base.

[frank shic]

The workbench top doesn't look half bad for that price (a grizzly 72 x 30 mapel workbench top is $179) if it indeed is 2" thick solid oak throughout. If I were to go back to hand tools, I would definitely buy a prefinished benchtop and just bolt it to a couple of cabinets for additional stability.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DD0XR/ref=pd_cp_hi_1/104-3640665-5883112?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_r=0RX1XC5NKFM34HWXH9Z7&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=277661601&pf_rd_i=B0000DD0XS

[Bob Feeser]

Sometime in the future I hope to make a work bench, that is if I can find some 1 1/2", 3, and 4" stock of hardwood really cheap. Meanwhile I have been dreaming. Their are a couple of books that I bought that are very helpful in making workbenches. One is "Making Workbenches, Planning, Building, Outfitting" by Sam Allen. It's a good hand holder, with step by step instructions.
The other one is "The Workbench Book" by Scott Landis. Has a lot of nice pictures of different style benches, good for ideas.

That unit from Harbor Freight is ok if you need something to use as an against the wall bench for cheap. I have seen the prices on one of those German or Swedish benches, and they can get pricey. A hard thing to justify, especially since for the most part, as was posted, they are not entirely necessary if you are using power tools. Would still like to build one though.

I see Jim has had a post about Hearnes Hardwoods. Both of us live within convenient drivng distance of Hearnes. I was trying to look up their web site to get an idea of cured wood cost to build a bench, but all I got was link farms with their name. I would be curious to see what the material alone would cost.

[josh bjork]

It looks like the legs are spindly but you could fix that if you box it in with a sheet of ply. Or you could make some 4x4 legs out of 2x4 or posts and it wouldn't cost much, either.

[allan cripe]

I know this is a cheap item, and would not expect a lifetime of use from it, I examined one in person and it seemed well built to the untrained eye considering the price. I would never buy power tools from harbor freight, but some of the things there are a good value for the occasional ww such as myself. I don't expect them to be as good as name brand tools. I have a big bench that I copied from norm's design that rolls on flip up castors, but perhaps I should just mount a vise on that dude instead!!

Al

[James Ayars]

I built my main work bench from 2x4's and 2x6's. It cost less than $160, is 8 feet long and 24" deep. When I finished it, I climbed on top of it and jumped up and down and it really didn't move. Holes for dogs and clamps, a good ww vise and it was done. I think I would make my own again and use the rest of the money for a good vise to put on it. I can't see 2x2 legs taking much hard use.

[Bob Feeser]

Sometime in the future I hope to make a work bench, that is if I can find some 1 1/2", 3, and 4" stock of hardwood really cheap. Meanwhile I have been dreaming. I would be curious to see what the material alone would cost.

I wanted to correct my eariler post. In Sam Allens book, "Making Workbenches" he has the classic cabinet makers bench listed, in the traditional Scandinavian design, with the thickest stock starting out at 8/4, and planed down to 1 3/4"

You do not need anything thicker than 8/4. The front and back are pieces on their side 3 1/2" wide. The bottom of the tool tray is 3/4" stock, planed to 1/2". The bench top itself, he refers to as the bench top cores individual boards, as 1 3/4" x 3 1/2" x 60".

I have seen benches made with larger pieces though. As I mentioned, I have been dreaming of making a workbench, and studying how to. I think I need to learn more about it, before I am ready to undertake the project. Somehow it keeps getting put on the back burner.

To tell you the truth, I use my larger outfeed table to clamp work pieces down, so it becomes my workbench as well. The last set of clamps I bought are 2 of the combo tru clamp guides, with the under clamps to grab onto any bench or top surface, and the top side clamps to grip your work piece. Wah lah, portable work bench... well almost.:)

[glenn bradley]

I've had my hands on the HF bench as you have. IMHO it would be fine for very light hobby work. It looks like a "woodworking" bench but felt more like surface for small beadwork or small birdhouses. I'm not trying to be smart although it reads that way; I'm trying to say it is just an inexpensive quality work-surface that would work well for model work or the like if that is what you're doing. I wouldn't want to build a bedside table with it. JMHO.

[Mike Wilkins]

Buy the bench. Then dismantle the base and use it for some other project.
Go the nearest BORG and purchase some good, clear 2 X 4 lumber. Joint the edges/faces, glue up some 3" thick legs and rails for a decent/heavy base.
Then attach the top for a decent/sturdy/heavy base.
You now have a workbench. You can use the vise as is, and then later when you find out its many shortcomings, buy a decent vise.
Just a thought.