Garage workbench - island??
Discussion
defblade said:
If you make it 1600mm and it turns out to be too long, would you be able to cut it down? That'll probably be easier than trying to extend a 1000mm one!
I'd say keep all the bits you can and chose once you can see how much space you have to work with.
I've just binned a load of very old kitchen units - they were manky/greasy/grotty as anything and ripped out long before we actually did the kitchen as my better half basically refused to use them - but they have done good service for storage in both shed and garage, where she never saw them, at zero cost for the last 10 years!
Yes, thanks, guess it's easier to cut down rather than extend an old kitchen worktop! Was thinking the 1600 would be more use but harder to move around however contrary to that I guess more likely to "stay put" when working on it.I'd say keep all the bits you can and chose once you can see how much space you have to work with.
I've just binned a load of very old kitchen units - they were manky/greasy/grotty as anything and ripped out long before we actually did the kitchen as my better half basically refused to use them - but they have done good service for storage in both shed and garage, where she never saw them, at zero cost for the last 10 years!
Trouble with most of my benches in the past is they become unusable once buried under "stuff".
anonymous said:
[redacted]
There seems to be some debate about this (even before mentioning handedness)... and, to be honest, I didn't really think about it that much, just stuck it on a corner. I don't do so much proper woodwork as just sawing, so sticking out to the right is good for me. I actually expect to clamp tools down on boards with it, and i was looking at it after and thinking I'd prefer them to my left, so I may rotate the whole table 180 and have them come forward across the table. Or I might end up using the other side of the table as the "front" anyway... the joys of an island! 
I think my favourite comment was - to be on the safe side, put vices on each corner, and on both ends
Ok, the castors have arrived from America (quite impressed by delivery speed) and somehow I managed to find half an hour to fit them.
What can I say? Basically, a Ronseal product - just does what it says on the tin
They are a bit thicker/chunkier than I worried they might be - made of some real stuff:
The screws provided seemed pretty beefy, too, so I decided not to worry about extra holes and go with them as presented. I can always take them off and start drilling if these fail at all.
I had kinda hoped to fit these pointing inwards and use a metal tube to join the tops of the cams on each end so that you could push down in the middle to get both to go up at that end, but it was clear that there would not be enough room under the shelf to get my foot in when the bar was up.
Also, the central screw hole would put the screw into the join between the two 2x4s rather than solid wood, which would not be ideal.
So I decided to fit them on the other inwards faces, to avoid having sticking-out toe stubbing hazards.
Drill pilot holes and screw 'em down tight
Then bolt the castors themselves on
And, as if by magic, floating bench
Going up and down is a bit lurchy, but they are solid once they're down and seem happy enough with 16 stone of me on the table so will probably be OK with a few tools, bench vices, etc The bench just rolls around easy as you like.
Not the last word in refinement and a touch expensive for my taste, but I would say they are completely suitable for the job. As the castors bolt onto the cam plates, I guess you could easily change size/quality/material of the castors if needed (these are 50mm, it says here, although bigger wheels would obviously mean moving the mounting plates up the legs as appropriate (and they might not track all the way around it they are offset like these).
What can I say? Basically, a Ronseal product - just does what it says on the tin
They are a bit thicker/chunkier than I worried they might be - made of some real stuff:
The screws provided seemed pretty beefy, too, so I decided not to worry about extra holes and go with them as presented. I can always take them off and start drilling if these fail at all.
I had kinda hoped to fit these pointing inwards and use a metal tube to join the tops of the cams on each end so that you could push down in the middle to get both to go up at that end, but it was clear that there would not be enough room under the shelf to get my foot in when the bar was up.
Also, the central screw hole would put the screw into the join between the two 2x4s rather than solid wood, which would not be ideal.
So I decided to fit them on the other inwards faces, to avoid having sticking-out toe stubbing hazards.
Drill pilot holes and screw 'em down tight
Then bolt the castors themselves on
And, as if by magic, floating bench
Going up and down is a bit lurchy, but they are solid once they're down and seem happy enough with 16 stone of me on the table so will probably be OK with a few tools, bench vices, etc
The bench just rolls around easy as you like.Not the last word in refinement and a touch expensive for my taste, but I would say they are completely suitable for the job. As the castors bolt onto the cam plates, I guess you could easily change size/quality/material of the castors if needed (these are 50mm, it says here, although bigger wheels would obviously mean moving the mounting plates up the legs as appropriate (and they might not track all the way around it they are offset like these).
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