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Thread: Level a new workbench

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Sweetser,In
    Posts
    326

    Level a new workbench

    I just bought a new work bench. About 350 pounds, 6 ft long and 24" wide. My work shop is 1/2 of a 2 1/2 car garage. When the garage was built the contractor put plenty of fall in the floor so that water/snow would run to the drain in the middle.

    My problem is that I have to shim my bench to get it level. I have wood shims under now but the bench will still move sometimes when I am planing. I would like to make the bench level and a little more stable.

    I thought about grout or cement but it is not out of level very far. About 5/8 to 3/4 on the lowest leg. The highest leg sets on the floor now.
    I am afraid that the grout or concrete will crack out or not stick to the floor. I don't want to ruin the floor scratching or chipping it out to make the grout stick. I read that some of the grout needs a bonding agent to make it stick.

    Any ideas about how to level up my bench?????

  2. #2
    How about gluing the shims to the bottoms of the legs? You could plane a board for the worst leg, cut off a shim to fit your leg, plane thinner for the next-worst leg, cut off a shim, etc, etc. In effect, the legs would be longer with just a leg-floor surface (instead of leg-shim and shim-floor all wiggling around).

  3. #3
    Or just shorten the three offending legs (and add glued shims down the road, to even things up, if you ever move to a level floor).

  4. #4

    Level

    Level is nice, flat is critical.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Scarborough(part of Toronto|) Ontario
    Posts
    306
    Just cut one leg shorter so you can install a heavy duty adjustable leveler on it. That's what I did with my bench.

    Tim

  6. #6
    I installed heavy screws with rubber anti skids that can adjust to any floor variance. My bench is 9' long and 30" wide. It may be heavier, I do not know what it's weight is. Works for me.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Sweetser,In
    Posts
    326
    downsize.jpg Here is a picture of my bench. It is about a 1/2" too high for me now. I don't want to raise it any higher. It does not have legs. It has a foot. I don't want to cut on the legs or feet if I can get away from it.
    I have been thinking about making the proper angled shims to put under it. I have to make everything difficult.

    Thanks everyone for the ideas.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Seabrook TX
    Posts
    475
    If it were my bench, I would think about drilling a hole in the floor, epoxy a 1/2" all-thread into the hole with 2" extending above the floor. Add a nut and washer to the all-thread. Drill a hole in the bench foot. Set the foot onto the nut/washer. Level the bench. Do the same for 2 of the other three legs.

    I would think about this plan of action for 2-3 days. Then I would shim it.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Mountainburg, AR
    Posts
    3,031
    Blog Entries
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Giles View Post
    I would think about this plan of action for 2-3 days. Then I would shim it.
    This describes my entire life
    Larry J Browning
    There are 10 kinds of people in this world; Those who understand binary and those who don't.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Annapolis, MD
    Posts
    34
    Quick and not so elegant: plane down a shim to the correct thickness, drive a couple of small brads through it. Then cut them off so they protrude slightly and fit them under the short leg. Then if the table slides, so will the shim. If you cut it to width under the foot it shouldn't show much.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    McKinney, TX
    Posts
    2,063
    personally I wouldn't even put a level on it. as long as it sits solidly that's all I care about. a rubber pad under each leg may keep it from moving when handplaning.
    Steve Jenkins, McKinney, TX. 469 742-9694
    Always use the word "impossible" with extreme caution

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    3,063
    I have the same problem, albeit to a lesser degree, with my basement floor, which has settled a bit to the center of the house. I don't want to trim the bench feet either, in case I want to move it in the future. And I wouldn't want to disassemble it to do it. At the moment I just have some cedar shims under the legs of the bench to level it and has a firm grip on the floor.

    Don't know if moisture is a problem for you, but my basement recently flooded a tiny bit (~1/2" water) when my sump died and the bench did soak up a little water through the legs. So, I've been thinking about using some Trex or the like to create some waterproof feet for the legs, which would also be shaped to level the bench. Only question in my mind is whether I'll have the same grip on the floor I'm getting currently with the legs and shims.

  13. #13
    I bought some rubber anti vibration tiles and have cut them down to 3" squares and use them to shim tools
    Carpe Lignum

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Upstate South Carolina, USA
    Posts
    176

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Washington, NC
    Posts
    2,387
    Level? Level only matters when building houses. You want it flat and supported so it doesn't rock (shims, wedges, etc.) but there is no need to level it. Put a level on your machines, they are probably not level if they are sitting in a garage.

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