lef@nlm-vax.ARPA (10/12/84)
I recall seeing a discussion (brief?) a while back about workbenches. This newsgroup gets cleaned out rather quickly at our site and I guess I missed most of the discussion. Could someone tell me if there was mention of a set of plans for a good workbench ? How about a good kit ? I really don't have the $$ to spend on completed one. Thanks. fitz lef@nlm (arpa)
dat@hpcnoe.UUCP (dat) (10/16/84)
I just built a workbench, and they are pretty simple to
build a fairly heavy-duty one. I used the following;
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with cross beams on the legs... (side view of legs)
top
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the parts turned out to be;
1 3' x 5' x 1/2" sheet of cheapo plywood
2 3' x 1" x 1" strips and
2 5' x 1" x 1" more strips to edge the top for reinforcemnt
4 30" x 3" x 3" legs of Fir (also pretty cheap, but strong)
2 1 1/2' x 3" x 3" short end reinforcements for the legs
2 4' x 3" x 3" long end reinforcements for the legs
16 2" wood screws - affixing the legs to the top
16+ 4" nails (bad ass puppies!) for cross beams
1 container Wood Glue. Useful stuff anyway to have around!
misc:
sandpaper to finish the top and sides smoothly
liquid plastic to seal the table etc etc...leaves a nice finish too
I built the top with the edges, glued and screwed together, then sanded smooth
as a whole, and (in parallel) built the legs and reinforcements as a sort of
strange sculpture. I then measured the legs onto the top and used scrap
wood to 'butt' the edges (I am not sure of the correct term: I took scraps
of wood and affixed them to the top to force the legs to stay where I was
going to put them by making a 'frame' of the scraps) then glued and (from
the up side of the top) screwed the legs on with long wood screws.
(I suppose that it would be a heck of a lot easier to send a
drawing...why not just drop me a line with your address and I could
send some semi-rough sketches of what I did...)
It is VERY strong! It also does NOT sway...at all!
I can sit on it too without any buckle (I weigh 175 lbs)
Sound like a nice table, guys?
Dave Taylor