Hi everyone
In this thread, I discussed my home workbench, and some OzBargainers asked for photos and details. Sorry it's taken me a couple of weeks to clear enough space to take some photos. To be honest, I never thought that anyone would be interested in my workbench, but if it helps someone come up with some ideas then that's terrific. In this post I provide some photos and discussion about how it works.
Like most of us, my job at home typically involves repairing or building whatever comes up - it could be a doll's house, a clock radio so I needed a workbench that could support that, but was also comfortable to use and work on. I realised that none of the workbenches available on the market would suit my needs, and I liked the idea of building one so that's what I did.
Construction
I used several tools to build the workbench. These were a drop saw, a handsaw, an electric drill, a Phillips screwdriver, a carpenter's square, a wrench, and an 8m tape measure. I didn't use any glue to construct the workbench.
The floor in that part of the garage slopes down and away, so I first built a foundation that I dynabolted to the floor and the adjacent brick pillar. That allowed me to build a stable foundation that was completely flat. Each leg and ground support has different lengths to produce this flat work surface.
https://imgur.com/0txPHM7
https://imgur.com/xom0Rz8
https://imgur.com/lFPv3Kk
From there I built up an internal skeleton out of 42mm square pine DAR and 9mm plywood. I wanted drawers but didn't want to build them myself, so I incorporated an IKEA STUVA drawer system into the skeleton (quite cheap before COVID - they've since superseded it with the SMÅSTAD system. The drawers are supported underneath so they're level. In the drawers, I keep manuals, rags, spare parts for what I'm working on, and other things. Each drawer stores a different thing so I can find it easily.
The top surface is made of interleaved lengths of Framing Machine Graded Pine (MGP). This provides a sufficiently flat work surface, and if I accidentally cut or drill into it, I can replace just that length of wood and the rest of the work surface remains fine. The workbench is about 1000mm wide, so total work surface is about 2.5 square metres of space. I located the workbench under two bright fluorescent lights so the work space is very well lit, even if I'm working in the evening.
Features
Both long sides of the workbench have overhang so I can clamp work to the surface. The foundation means the bench doesn't move or wobble at all while working on it.
My wife bought me a Kincrome trolley toolchest, so there's a space for that. The trolley is mobile so I can take it around the garage as needed, and meanwhile it lives under the workbench. I keep most of my worktools in that work trolley. Each drawer has a specific set of tools so I can work with specific drawers depending on what I'm working on. I worked out that I waste a huge amount of time looking for tools, so keeping my work area organised really saves me time and lets me get more done: this trolley keeps most of my hand tools in the same place. I replaced the original casters on the trolley so it wouldn't sit so high.
I have a Ryobi drill press bolted into one end of the workbench. There's no overhang there, and I can stand unencumbered near the drill press for precision and safety. At that same side I also have a bench-mounted disc sander. It's positioned at the end of the bench so that the workbench itself doesn't get in the way of what I'm sanding. On the other side I have a bench vice, also on the end for the same reason.
There's a space beneath the worktop for an amplifier, a CD player and a set of speakers also built into the workbench - I like music when I work and this way there are no extraneous wires. The roof of that cavity is sealed to prevent sawdust or liquid from entering the electronics. I have another stereo system elsewhere in the garage, for this purpose, depending on what I'm working on.
There's a PC under the bench, with the monitor attached to an arm mounted on the wall. The arm lets me swing the monitor away from the workbench to save space. The PC lets me look up technical info while I'm working (schematics, part numbers, etc). I have a digital microscope (this one) that runs through this monitor also. There's a power outlet on the wall next to the workbench to provide power.
On the other side I have a larger space for storing bigger boxes and larger work in progress. I originally designed a wheeled trolley to sit in this space - like a smaller, portable workbench that I could take with me if I was working elsewhere in the garage. However, I could not design a sufficiently stable trolley that I was happy with, and I dismantled it. Right now I'm storing a couple of speakers under there, but I usually keep a Marshall 4x12 cab and header under there (it fits snugly).
Cost
Yeah I haven't calculated how much it cost me to build. Probably quite a lot, and to be honest I don't really want to know. But if you wanted to do the calculation, factor in about 20 lengths of FMG Pine, about 10 lengths of 2.4m Pine DAR, two large sheets of 9mm plywood, a pack of ten dynabolts, a pack of about 100 50mm wood screws, a pack of about 30 35mm wood screws, and a length of finished pine board for the cubby doors. Also you'd need a set of eight IKEA drawers (could probably get them cheaper).
The workbench is a work-in-progress, and over the years I've made various changes since its first design. For example, the PC cubby used to have a folding door to conceal it, but I have since cut it in half to improve access while I figure out how to improve that section. At some point we're going to redo our garage, and a wall will occupy the space where the bench is currently fixed, so I guess I'll dismantle it whenever that happens and build a new one. Anyway, maybe this post is of use to someone.
Thanks for the update. You've inspired me to tidy up my workbench in the shed. It's a bit of a mess but I know where everything is.