Benchtops & Shelving

Has anybody mentioned prefabbed kitchen countertops?

I know, particleboard underneath. But if they don't rot out around
your sink, they must be pretty rot-proof.

Don

Don Tuite wrote:

I know, particleboard underneath. But if they don't rot out around
your sink, they must be pretty rot-proof.

They don't rot, but they will swell and disintegrate if they stay wet. They
stay together because the installer uses various tricks to make sure the water
stays where it's supposed to be.

George Patterson
A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that
you look forward to the trip.

Dip the ends of the legs in penta preservative and your rot problems are
over. If you can pick up your present benches, it can still be done.


"Jim Weir" wrote in message
...
Oooookay, let me try again.

What NONLUMBER bench tops have you ever seen or considered that might
work?

I'm not making 747s, fellers, nor am I building spars. The worst I might
want
to do is bend up a 4" x 6" bracket out of 5052H32 and drill it with a
Harbor
Freight benchtop drill press.

Jim



Jim Weir
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-However, since I'm going to a new method of framing, I'd like thoughts
on what
-you have used as workbench/shelving materials. The benches will be
about 2'
-wide and 6' long. Yes, I know, solid moulded Teflon would be best, but
quick
-and cheap is high on the list of attributes I'm looking for.
-
-Thoughts appreciated.


Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

One thing that works very well are Formica kitchen counter tops. Find a
counter top place that removes old tops and you can get them fairly cheap.
They also may have some mistakes or customer rejections with wrong color
and dimensions that they will sell just to get rid of them.


"Jim Weir" wrote in message
...
Oooookay, let me try again.

What NONLUMBER bench tops have you ever seen or considered that might
work?

I'm not making 747s, fellers, nor am I building spars. The worst I might
want
to do is bend up a 4" x 6" bracket out of 5052H32 and drill it with a
Harbor
Freight benchtop drill press.

Jim



Jim Weir
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-However, since I'm going to a new method of framing, I'd like thoughts
on what
-you have used as workbench/shelving materials. The benches will be
about 2'
-wide and 6' long. Yes, I know, solid moulded Teflon would be best, but
quick
-and cheap is high on the list of attributes I'm looking for.
-
-Thoughts appreciated.


Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

1/4" steel plate works pretty good, you can glue down a thin short-nap outdoor
carpet,(or indoor for that matter)---that keeps screws etc from bouncing off onto
the floor--Kinda makes it hard to drive nails in, but It ain't wood!!

Jim Weir wrote:

I'm about to start building the "furniture" for the hangar. After a lifetime of
building "manly" workbenches out of DF 4x4s milled to take 2x4 crossmembers, and
having the concomitant rot and deterioration of wood, I'm considering making the
framing out of 1¼ PVC Schedule 40 pipe and fittings. The problem is what to use
for the bench tops and shelving underneath.

So far, all my "heavy duty" workbenches have been made out of 3/4" plywood with
a 2" doubler plate along the front and back, and my electronic workbenches have
been either solid core or hollow core doors with an appropriate varnish or Deft
coating on them.

However, since I'm going to a new method of framing, I'd like thoughts on what
you have used as workbench/shelving materials. The benches will be about 2'
wide and 6' long. Yes, I know, solid moulded Teflon would be best, but quick
and cheap is high on the list of attributes I'm looking for.

Thoughts appreciated.

Jim
Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

On 3-Mar-2004, Gary Thomas wrote:

Just out of curiosity what's wrong with "manly" workbenches? And why
would DF 4x4's rot away during your lifetime in a hanger that one presumes
is dry
enough to do good work on an airplane and/or anything else? I'd stick
with the "manly"
frame and use replaceable particle board tops.


I agree. 25 years ago I built a workbench in my unheated garage. It has a
framework of untreated 2X4s and a screwed-down benchtop of 3/4 inch particle
board. Legs are 4X4s. Despite our damp Pacific Northwest climate, it seems
as strong today as when it was built.

--
-Elliott Drucker

In Jim Weir wrote:
Oooookay, let me try again.

What NONLUMBER bench tops have you ever seen or considered that might
work?

I'm not making 747s, fellers, nor am I building spars. The worst I
might want to do is bend up a 4" x 6" bracket out of 5052H32 and drill
it with a Harbor Freight benchtop drill press.

The imported drill press may be a POS and undeserving of a nice bench
but it is still heavy and will hurt when it lands on your foot. Even my
substantially built lumber and plywood benches shift around more than I
would like during small forming tasks (yeah, I could bolt them down but
my small shop needs to be readily reconfigurable).

Out of curiosity, how long did your lumber workbenches last before they
rotted out?

8^)

----------------------------------------------------
Del Rawlins-
Remove _kills_spammers_ to reply via email.
Unofficial Bearhawk FAQ website:
http://www.rawlinsbrothers.org/bhfaq/

Well ok, but I like a bench I can bolt a vise to and beat the crap out of whatever is clamped in it without the bench changing
hangers.

Sounds more like you just need one of those stainless work tables from Sam's Club. (or are they just chrome?)

Or....hmmm, everything synthetic I can think of costs too much.

Mike

"Jim Weir" wrote in message ...
Oooookay, let me try again.

What NONLUMBER bench tops have you ever seen or considered that might work?

I'm not making 747s, fellers, nor am I building spars. The worst I might want
to do is bend up a 4" x 6" bracket out of 5052H32 and drill it with a Harbor
Freight benchtop drill press.

Jim

"Jim Weir" wrote in message
...
Oooookay, let me try again.

What NONLUMBER bench tops have you ever seen or considered that might
work?

I'm not making 747s, fellers, nor am I building spars. The worst I might
want
to do is bend up a 4" x 6" bracket out of 5052H32 and drill it with a
Harbor
Freight benchtop drill press.


8" C-purlin, 3 wide. Weld or bolt together. Cheap, sturdy and ugly as
hell. The radius between purlin is the only drawback, but it does keep
small parts from rolling off the back.

Dick

Del Rawlins wrote:

Even my
substantially built lumber and plywood benches shift around more than I
would like during small forming tasks (yeah, I could bolt them down but
my small shop needs to be readily reconfigurable).

I had the same problem with my main woodworking bench, which has a maple
"butcher block" top and rock maple legs. I took care of it for the most part
by building a removable cabinet for my small power tools that fits on the leg
stretchers. This only covers half the stretcher area, so I added a shelf on
the other half. Two loaded machinist's tool boxes on the shelf keep the bench
down pretty well.

If you don't have enough heavy stuff to do the job, a few bags of sand would
work just as well.

George Patterson
A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that
you look forward to the trip.