Thread: My homemade workbench

Yesterday I finished my workbench. It took me exactly 1 year. On Jan 1st I picked up the heavy iron frame that has served one purpose or other in my parents' back yard for 30 years, and on Dec 31nd at 6 PM i tightened the last bolt.

The special thing about this bench is that it is made entirely from scraps and leftovers, except for the bolts.

The frame was very rusty, so I cleaned it with a wire brush and coated it with hammerite.
The legs were made from a left over roof beam that I bought at the local saw mill for 10 euros or something like that. The frame is resting on the short legs to support the weight without introducing stresses in the construction, and the short legs are kept stable by the long legs. The legs are bolted to each other and the frame with 8 M10 bolts each (I believe in overkill when it comes to building stuff )



Of course, the table was too high for putting my drill press on, so I made a separate shelf for it. The shelf is made from 3 pieces of leftover shelving, bolted together with 20 M6 bolts to make a stiff and strong plank (did I mention overkill yet ?) That board is bolted to the frame with 3 M10 bolts in each support. To test it I sat on it together with my daughter, and then jumped up and down. It didn't even tremble.



The pride of my workbench is without a doubt the table top. I wanted to have something strong and durable. The saw mill where I buy all of my wood also does rough framing, so they have a fair bit of leftovers. It's a gigantic warehouse filled to the ceiling with wood. If you are looking for something, you can just look around to see if there's anything you can use.
So I had a look around, and I found the best table top ever: a 32 mm thick (~1.25") thick piece of 'betonplex' (lit. concrete plex) it's a type of board that is used for the floor of open trailers, molds for pouring concrete, ... it is extremely durable (not to mention hideously expensive) and waterproof (which is nice for honing purposes).

The old lady let me have it for only 71 euros, which is a real bargain. And to top it all off, this particular board had 1 anti-slip side, which I use as the top side.
When I put the top on the first time, it was resting on the welding seams of the frame which was not desirable, so I cut some strips from left over pieces of my daughters cork floor (I never throw anything useful away when it comes to tools or DIY) and put those between the top and the frame, and then I bolted the top to the table.

And now I can also use my drill press with ease.
I tend to use manual tools for most of my restoration work, but having a drill press is a real joy. Now I can finally drill proper holes in scales, razors etc. And unpinning is also much easier with a drill press. Childs play compared to doing it freehand.



I made pics of everything, because it is probably the last time in my life that this workbench is clean and uncluttered.

The total cost of the bench is less than 100 euros for the materials, plus the bolts and the hammerite. All in all it has cost only a fraction of the cost of a professional workbench of the same category.
At present I am also wiring another circuit in my break box so that I can mount additional power outlets to the wall behind my workbench, so that I have enough outlets for my drill press, battery chargers, dremel, ...