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My steel workbench build

B

buening

Active Member
My father had a bunch of spare steel tubing and I needed a workbench, so I decided to work on my welding skills....trial by fire.I haven't done very good at taking pictures of my build, but here are a few I took tonight. It is overkill city, with 2"x2"x1/4" tubing that is 24" deep and 8' long. I decided to add interior legs as I didn't want a full 8' span on the tubing, plus it boxes in the roller cabinets on the ends. I still need to buy another roller cab. The open center area will house a stool or two. I am planning on using a steel plate top of unknown thickness yet, likely 3/16" or 1/4" unless I find a deal on plate steel. Below are a few in-progress pics

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I do need some input though. I'm planning on using the receiver hitches at the upper corners of the open stool area to hold bench vise, bench grinder, etc. Which way would you have the tubes, with the welded ring hanging out past the bench (back of ring welded to upper bench tube, so it'd be pushed back as far as it'll go), or would you flip it around so that there is no ring and just weld it flush?? Below are a few pics of the two options. They are incorrectly placed at an angle due to clamping issues I had. Picture them not at an angle

Ring exposed:

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No ring:


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Put them flush.....but.....those units have play under normal applications. That can be a issue using a grinder mounted that way unless you do a better fit on them.
 
Pete, I was planning on welding a nut on the pin hole and use a threaded handle. I've though about putting one on the side as well as the bottom, to provide clamping on each axis. This provides a tight fit for when it is needed.

Hmm, I didn't think about the top overhanging. Shouldn't really matter though as my accessory hitch stuff will not have set depths to be installed in the receiver.
 
the top overhanging, specifically if its steel, or stainless steel, allows for a thin sturdy clamping surface when working on projects.
 
Yeah i was planning on the top overhang, I just didn't think about having the "ring" hid underneath the top due to that overhang.

I might look into getting 2.5" DOM square tubing with 1/4" walls and see if that provides a tighter fit, before welding these things on.
 
another way might be to mount it vertically thru the top instead of horizontally underneath. you could always make a snap in cover for when its not in use to keep small parts from falling thru. i think it would have less stress than an "outrigger" setup like you are planning.
 
I agree with perhaps losing the hitch mount idea. You want your vise SOLIDLY mounted to the bench top. Typically out on a front corner to give you the ability to clamp large items, etc. IMHO, you don't want your bench grinder/polisher anywhere near your workbench. Get yourself a heavy, cast floor stand (Menards has decent ones for <$50) and keep that dirty mess far away from your bench and tools.
Your hitch mount idea is much better suited for offering the ability to expand your work surface area. Weld a couple flanges on the bottom of the rear legs of your bench and bolt it to the floor. Then you can have a "table attachment" with extended "arms" that slide into the receivers. Bench tops tend to get cluttered and this would give you added space to work. Just an idea.
 
Well I'm open for ideas regarding a quick release bench vise mounting method. The intent is to get the vise off the workbench and into the storage cabinet. I prefer to not have to remove four bolts each time. The receiver idea gets the vise away from the bench, to give room for working on it.

My garage is 20x20, so floor space is extremely limited. Between this 8' long bench, my 8'tall x 4' wide cabinet next to it, and my 80gal air compressor next to that, the entire backwall is filled. I don't want stands for a vise, grinder, buffer, anvil, etc.
 
i was still talking about using the hitch, but mounting it vertically but flush thru the top. that would still give you the quick release, but a little stronger. you could also make a rack out of square tubing that the posts on all your attachments could slide into for storage.
 
Yeah I've seen the vertical style. the problem is my bench is already welded together and the top member runs the full length. I could cut through the top member to make a square opening, but that may be tricky to get a nice tight fit with my limited tools. My legs also have a weld on the inner tube, which would have to be ground out. Storage of the items mounted to the vertical tubes would be a challenge in a shelved cabinet.

I personally am not too worried about the strength of vertical vs horizontal. I have 12" of receiver tube that will have gussets welded to it to weld to the other adjacent member. They all have 1/4" wall, and the bench itself weighs over 400lb without the top. I plan on possibly removing the wheels on the end cabinets and welding tubes between the front legs for the front of the cabinet to sit on. With the addition of two loaded cabinets, 400lb bench, and likely 300lb top we are looking at well over 1000lbs of dead weight for this bench. I could probably use these hitches as an engine stand and the bench wouldn't budge.

I'm going to do a bit more thinking about this before welding these on. You guys have me second guessing myself lol
 
The vise and grinder will the two most used items in my garage. I would mount them solid with bolts with the vice in the middle and the grinder on the open end, they will unbolt in a minute or two if needed. Here's a couple other suggestions, you can't but too big a vise, so go with a big one like over 100 lbs. Also, I would build a shelve about 14" under the top, it is very handy to store the most used electric tools. I would provide a couple of anchor points to secure it to the wall too, even though it may weigh 1000 lbs, if you are using the vice to bend something of any length, it will easily topple.
 
I built one recently from some plans I saw on garage journal.com that looks just like yours. I have an 8' bench for the harbor freight tool box on one side and storage on the other. The second bench is4' and is my welding station. I put 3/16" plate on top of the solid core door. Works great foe me. I bolted the vise to the smaller bench.

It is pretty messy right now since I have the blower off the Mustang right one to install a vacuum pump. I still need to finish setting up the rest of my garagte.
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darreld, i hope you don't plan on welding over a wood door. 3/8 plate will still transfer enough heat to catch fire.
 
No plans to weld directly on the top surface. Just to use or as a solid flat surface I can weld on. Things like final welding of cross members, 4 link bars..........
 
Yeah I finished the bench with exception to the top, I'm still hoping to score a plate off craigslist or something considering the local shops want over 80 cents a pound for new plate steel. I'll have to snap some pics and post them up. It turned out pretty darn nice. I ended up taking back the hitch receivers and just bought the steel tubing, grinded the weld seam, and welded it flush with the face of the bench. I had enough weld that only minimal amount of body filler was needed.
 
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