Made a new bench... Anyone need some firewood?

[OzFab]

Up until now I've been working on a wooden bench that my father REbuilt about 30 years ago. I say rebuilt because before then, his bench was a lot bigger & sturdier but he decided to downscale.

Anyhoo, this rebuilt bench consisted of a softwood frame with a 4 piece hardwood top which, over the years, had become... let's say, less than adequate. The 3" vice that was mounted to the bench had become useless because every time I put any pressure on it the piece of the benchtop it was mounted to would simply lift off.

SO, a few months ago, I bought a used trailer with plans to rebuild it (that thread's coming very soon). It had 27mm shs H bars welded onto the front & back which I had decided not to use on the new trailer as well as 32mm round tube rope bars which I thought were overkill.

(GET TO THE POINT)

With all this leftover steel I thought "I wonder if there's enough to make a new bench frame?" So, I did some measurements & some calculations & this is what I came up with:

 

[OzFab]

After I welded up the frame I bought
a piece of 250mm x 6mm x 2M flat bar
a sheet of 1800mm x 900mm x 6mm MDF
a sheet of 1800mm x 900mm x 12mm MDF
& a sheet of 0.55mm gal.

I then cut the 6mm MDF sheet to the shape of the surrounding shelving & wall studs so that it would sit flush & have no gaps around it. I then transferred this shape to the 12mm MDF & cut it out, leaving the 6mm MDF sheet short along the long (front) edge, & then glued the two pieces together.

Then came the fun part. After placing the top in position, I slid the flat bar underneath into the gap created by the 6mm MDF, lined it up with the edges & tacked it in place. I then cut it down to length.

Then came the gal sheet. After laying the inverted top onto it I marked the shape & then marked again 50mm from the edges, cut it out on this mark, folded the two long edges & glued it in place. After leaving it to dry overnight I then proceeded to fold in the back edges & glued & clamped the excess to the bottom surface.

The next day I placed the top in position & folded, & glued the side edges.

 

[souperman000]

cool, are you gonna put a new wood top on it and drawers in it?

EDIT - Wow, I asked a question at the exact same time you posted the answer....to quick on the draw lol.

 

[OzFab]

Oh, this is the old bench:

 

[OzFab]

The next day I glued down the front edge &, after leaving it to dry overnight, here's the finished product:

 

[OzFab]

cool, are you gonna put a new wood top on it and drawers in it?

I haven't thought about drawers, but it's not beyond the realm of impossibility

I already have lots of drawers & shelves around the place...

 

[souperman000]

that looks awesome! looks like the next thing to come is a garage clean up.

 

[OzFab]

that looks awesome! looks like the next thing to come is a garage clean up.

You have no idea

There's stuff in there that hasn't been touched in 15 years

 

[OzFab]

All up it cost me about $100 & took about 4 days to build; the longest part was waiting for the glue to dry

 

[crazzywolfie]

that looks pretty good. when i attempted to build a work bench it never got finished. i eventually inherited my grandfathers work bench which was pretty nice. his had this built in power track with plugs that could be moved.

 

[r97]

Wow that turned out great! Good work. I might have to try that, it would be great to have a galvanized metal top like that for engine tear downs. Both the bare metal top on my welding table and the wood top on my work bench just soak up the oil like a sponge, but this way you can just wipe oil right off.

 

[OzFab]

That's one advantage, but the main one is the timber doesn't get worn away

 

[Nodroz]

Could you post some dimensions please?

Thanks in advance,
Alex