Each master for working with wood or for finishing manipulations needs a comfortable workplace. In order to carry out all the work as efficiently as possible, you can quickly build a high-quality and inexpensive workbench with your own hands to suit your needs.
The device and purpose of the carpentry workbench
A workbench is a stable, massive desktop designed for processing various products using manual or mechanized tools. The larger the dimensions of such a table, the heavier and larger the parts can be processed on it.
Typical workbench layout:
Having decided to make a workbench with your own hands, it is necessary to study all possible table designs, their drawings, and only then make a choice.
Simple stationary workbench it is not difficult to make, but it will be “tied” to a specific place. It will be possible to use it for processing massive wooden blanks and heavy boards.
Mobile desktop It has small size(about 80x70 cm), weight about 30 kg and one vice. It is intended for work with medium-sized products and for minor repairs.
Composite workbench connected with bolts, so it can be easily disassembled. However, it is quite difficult to do it yourself.
We draw up a workbench project
Worker carpenter's table should be made in such a size that it is convenient to work on it.
Height the table directly depends on the growth of the owner, who should be comfortable while standing to perform any operations. For an average height person, a workbench can be from 70-90 cm high.
Length and width workbench depends on the area of the room in which it will be installed. A table with a width of 80-100 cm and a length of at least two meters is very convenient.
Required fixtures and table configuration should depend on which hand the master will work with and what operations he will perform on the workbench.
Set workbench best by the window, but additional lighting is still needed. In addition, sockets must be provided near the workplace.
design collapsible table can be reduced due to the small thickness of the material. In such a workbench, you can make folding legs or an unscrewing tabletop.
Workbench with your own hands. Blueprints. Video instruction
A stationary workbench can be installed not only indoors, but also in the yard of your own house or cottage.
Base making
First of all, you should make a frame of their bars with your own hands and fasten it in such a way that the base is as rigid as possible.
Most often, first, according to the drawing , grooves are made, and only then the whole structure is assembled. In this case, all joints are glued and fixed with clamps. If the workbench is collapsible, then all parts of the frame can be connected using metal corners.
To make the stationary structure even more reliable, several parts of the support frame can be fixed to the wall. Increase stability carpentry workbench can be wedge-shaped inserts or diagonal jumpers. They are fastened with screws between top frame and legs and are made of the same material as the table base.
We make a countertop with various fixtures
Workbench cover size should be a few centimeters larger than the base of the structure, then it will be convenient to work behind it.
- Boards with the help of metal corners are attached to three bars, which are located on the back of the tabletop. Grooves must first be made for these bars.
- Then the boards are carefully adjusted to each other, sanded and covered with a protective solution. It is recommended to use drying oil or oil.
At the end of the tabletop, a recess is made under vise. In this case, the vertical plate should form one plane with it. In addition, you will need a plywood pad, which will need to be placed on the bottom of the workbench.
The vise is applied to their location, and the place for the holes is marked. A vise is inserted into the finished recess and fastened with bolts and nuts to the table top so that their lips are flush with the surface of the table top.
Also, on a carpentry workbench, it is necessary to build stops that can be purchased or made by hand. It is not recommended to use round dowels or bolts as stops, since dowels do not fix parts well, and the bolt head can damage the workpiece.
Easy enough to do pegs or rectangular stops. With their help, it will be possible to securely fix parts of any size. Such stops are made of solid wood. You can make them just rectangular, expand upwards or cut them out with a jigsaw and make them with a “spring”.
Under the pegs in the countertop, you can make holes or build it up with bars desired thickness, screw them to the edge of the table and close the bar on the other side. In order to fix any part, the nests should be located at a distance of half from the vice stroke from each other.
The stationary workbench is ready, now you can work on it. However, if there is not enough space for the installation of the desktop, then a collapsible carpentry workbench can be made.
Do-it-yourself collapsible workbench - arrangement
The procedure for making such a table is similar to that described above. Its main difference is that to connect the parts it is required use of bolted connections.
The advantage of such a workbench is not only that during its operation it is easy to replace any parts. So, for example, every table loosens over time, and it is much easier to simply tighten the mounting bolts on it than to strengthen it with new screws and nails.
Of course, building a workbench with your own hands is not an easy task at all. But, having worked hard, you can end up with an excellent and comfortable workplace with various devices for which work will bring joy.
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In any private house, workshop or garage, a carpentry workbench is a very necessary item. With its help it is convenient to make or repair any things, it also combines the functions of a table and a tool shelf at the same time. It can be equipped with a bench vise, and a sharpening machine can be installed on it. various instrument. If you purchase metal workbench in the store, then it will cost a considerable amount of money, but it is quite possible to make a workbench from wood with your own hands.
Necessary tools and materials
So for self-manufacturing workbench in the garage you will need the following tools:
- Hacksaw or electric jigsaw;
- Roulette;
- Square;
- Building level;
- Spanners;
- Drill;
- Screwdriver.
Materials:
- bars for supports;
- 2 sheets of plywood or OSB (one of the sheets is cut out under the shelf of the required size);
- boards for the frame;
- self-tapping screws;
- bolts;
- washers;
- nuts.
Before work, it is necessary to make a drawing of a workbench with dimensions for ease of assembly.
Step-by-step instructions for making a workbench
For the manufacture of the upper frame, it is necessary to saw off the boards based on the required size of the workbench (see photo).
Using self-tapping screws, fix 2 long and 2 short boards so that a rectangular frame is obtained. Using a tape measure, mark the distance to the middle of the frame, and fix the remaining short board perpendicularly, between two long boards, attaching it with self-tapping screws from both ends.
To make the legs of the workbench, you will need to saw off 6 equal bars. FROM inside of the resulting base, fasten one leg to each corner of the frame with bolts, washers and nuts (see workbench diagram).
For the rigidity of the structure, it is necessary to put additional boards, which will also serve as the basis for the lower shelf. To do this, you need to saw off 4 boards.
With a tape measure, you need to measure an equal distance from each leg of 30 cm, at the resulting level, fix the board to the back of the structure to 3 legs, and from the front, fix the board between the extreme and middle legs, in the place where the future shelf is planned.
The remaining two boards must be fixed to the legs, at the same level as the boards for the shelves.
From one or more sheets of plywood or OSB using a hacksaw or electric jigsaw we cut out the necessary segments. We fix them to the top of the workbench flush with self-tapping screws. Additionally, a sheet of hardboard can be fixed on top, because. it can be easily replaced with a new one if the old one is badly worn out. The bottom shelf is made according to the same scheme. The distance between the extreme and middle legs of the workbench is measured with a tape measure, a sheet of material is cut out according to this size and placed on the resulting base.
When attaching legs or crossbars, it is necessary to use a square to obtain an equal distance between the parts of the structure. With the help of a level, at the place of installation, you need to check whether the workbench made with your own hands is level. In the event of a slope, it must be leveled by placing wooden chips under the legs of the workbench.
For a zealous owner, a desktop is an indispensable attribute of a garage, barn or extension to the house. Of course, a carpentry workbench can be purchased. But if this is a product of a well-known brand, then it is quite expensive. In addition, it is not known whether it will fully meet all the requests of the master. Cheap tables will not last long - definitely.
The most rational solution, if you really want to have the most convenient and versatile carpentry workbench, is to make it yourself. Having dealt with optimal dimensions, drawings, features of the selection of materials and a number of other issues, it will become clear that there is nothing difficult in this for any man.
Selecting a workbench project
You need to start with this. Any desktop is made for some specific purposes and premises. Joiner's workbench - the name is generalized. One is needed only for woodworking on a personal plot (for example, during construction or overhaul), the other is going for everyday work with small details, and from different materials. Depending on the specifics of use and the place of installation, its design features, dimensions, and drawing are determined.
Option A - portable workbench (mobile). Such a desktop is most often assembled by hand for small spaces(extension, garage), with a complex layout, and its main purpose is to perform small jobs with small details. The relatively low weight of the structure makes it easy to move it, if necessary, to another segment. As a rule, the maximum that such a workbench can be equipped with is a medium-sized vice and e / emery. This will allow the carpentry table to be partially used for small plumbing work.
For domestic purposes, a table according to option A is best suited for a home master. It is called mobile only conditionally, only because of its relatively low weight. If a specific place is allocated for him in a barn or garage, nothing prevents the owner from fixing his legs on the floor (fill with concrete, “fasten” with large self-tapping screws, and so on). With your own hands, whatever.
Drafting a carpentry workbench
If the workbench is going to domestic use, then there are recommended linear parameters (in cm) that you can focus on. But this is not an axiom, so the master himself is free to change anything, at his own discretion.
- Length - at least 180.
- Width working surface– 90±10.
- Workbench height - 80 ± 10 (taking into account the thickness of the tabletop). Deciding on this parameter, you need to focus on your own growth. It is unlikely that working with a tree will be effective and will bring satisfaction if you have to constantly stoop or, on the contrary, rise “on tiptoe”.
What to consider:
- The number and type of compartments in the cabinet table. It can be open boxes, drawers or drawers with doors, shelves. Another thing is whether the master needs them?
- To make it more convenient to work with samples of different lengths, it is worth drilling several “nests” in the tabletop to install limiters.
- To fix the workpieces, it is desirable to have a couple of clamping devices (clamps or screw vices) on the workbench. Optimal Width their “sponges” are 170 ± 5 mm.
- Desktop location. Depending on the level of illumination, the number of fixtures fixed on the workbench (and above it) is determined. But at least a couple of pieces, on the edges of the tabletop, are necessary for “spot” lighting.
If the owner is left-handed, then this should be foreseen. All standard drawings posted on the Internet are designed for craftsmen whose "working" hand is right. Therefore, you will have to place additional / equipment on the table according to the “mirror” principle.
Workbench drawing example
Selection of materials
The bar is planed. He will go to the frame (frame) of the workbench. The section is selected in accordance with the dimensions of the structure. For a large table - at least 100 x 100. If it is compact, for universal application, you can limit yourself to blanks 100 x 70 (50). They are also perfect for various jumpers. Board. For a countertop, its minimum thickness is 50. Here you need to think about how to use the workbench more rationally. For example, to make it truly universal, one part of it can be specially adapted to perform locksmith work, that is, with metals. In this case, it is advisable to take a more massive board (for example, "sixty") and upholster a small segment of the tabletop with sheet iron. This is just one of the ideas that you can implement with your own hands when determining design features workbench.
The desktop is not installed in the living quarters. And in the workshop there will definitely be differences in both temperature and humidity. That's why for the manufacture of a workbench, wood is recommended - hornbeam, beech, oak. The only disadvantage of this solution is the high cost of materials. You can choose a cheaper option - maple, larch. These rocks are characterized by sufficient hardness. Although for countertops homemade workbench, if it is not planned to carry out any “impact” work on it, sometimes slab samples (chipboard, OSV) are taken. In principle, any good owner can easily determine what suits him best.
Too porous wood should not be used. Even its high-quality treatment with antiseptics, oils will only increase the water-repellent properties, but will not add strength to the tree.
fasteners
- Bolts. There are no particular difficulties with them. They should be of such length that a washer, grover and nut can be placed on the back side. More difficult with other types of fasteners.
- Nails. How expedient it is to use them when assembling a workbench with your own hands (and such recommendations are quite common), everyone will determine for themselves. But a number of remarks are worth making.
- Firstly, a nail, especially a large one, easily splits wood, especially if it is overdried.
- Secondly, it is unlikely that it will be possible to drive it strictly vertically, given the length of the leg and the strength of the wood from which the workbench is made.
- Thirdly, the difficulty with dismantling. For example, if it is necessary to repair the desktop with the replacement of a component. It is not always possible to pull out a tightly clogged “powerful” nail.
- Self-tapping screws. For a small workbench - the best choice. The most "problem" areas can be additionally reinforced with metal strips, corners, plates. The main thing is to correctly choose the length of the leg of the fastener. There is a rule according to which it should exceed the thickness of the fastened part by 3 times, at least. Otherwise, the strength of the connection is questionable.
Assembly instructions for a carpentry workbench
In the process of making a desktop with his own hands, the master must constantly, at every stage, control the angles and levels. The slightest distortion even in one place - and everything will have to start over.
Manufacturing of workbench parts
- This is easy to do according to the dimensions in the drawing.
- Each sample is carefully polished.
- Depending on the type of wood, an impregnating composition is selected and parts are processed to protect them from destruction by rot and wood-boring insects.
- Drying. This is worth focusing on. Initiate this process using artificial heating is impossible, otherwise the workpieces will begin to deform - bend, twist. Moisture should evaporate only naturally - in a room with room temperature and good ventilation.
Base Frame Assembly (Workbench Base)
Partially about the features of fastening has already been said - self-tapping screws + reinforcement elements. But still, the main method of fixation is a tenon-groove connection with a fit on carpentry glue. But the fasteners only add strength to the entire structure of the workbench. But this is practiced only for massive tables, which are not planned to be disassembled in the future (stationary options).
Here you should consider the degree of maintainability of the workbench. If he is in a room with good conditions, then it is unlikely that the wood will quickly begin to rot. In such cases adhesive joints quite justified. For desktops that are located in cold sheds, unheated boxes, and even more so under open sky, "landing" on the glue is undesirable. Partial repairs cannot be done, and the frame will have to be reassembled.
Additional reliability of the design can be ensured by installing various jumpers - diagonal, horizontal. All this is thought out even at the stage of drawing up the drawing, although it is possible to make “refinement” during the installation process.
tabletop
This is the most loaded part of the workbench, and it is advisable to make it removable. In this case, it is easy (in case of significant damage) to replace 1 - 2 boards.
- The width of the countertop is selected so that its surface extends somewhat beyond the perimeter of the frame. Otherwise, it will be inconvenient to work on such a workbench. Yes, and fixing the removable vise will no longer work.
- The side parts of the boards are carefully polished. If you do not achieve an accurate fit of the samples, then you cannot avoid the appearance of cracks.
- The blanks are stacked face down (on a flat base) and fastened with bars. They are placed perpendicular to the center lines of the boards, and the thickness of the latter allows them to be pulled with thick self-tapping screws. In extreme cases, it is easy to drill deep chamfers at individual points.
- To make the tabletop removable, it is fixed on the frame using metal corners.
- After its manufacture, additional grinding of the front part is performed. To extend the service life, it is advisable to treat the working surface with impregnating agents (wood oil, drying oil).
Workbench equipment
At what stage and what exactly needs to be done is decided depending on the modification of the desktop and the selected drawing. For example, the same vise. They can be purchased, which are easy to attach to the edge of the workbench. People with experience in carpentry make clamping devices on one's own.
In principle, a man who is “friends” with the simplest tool should not have any difficulties when assembling a carpentry workbench. The only recommendation is that before you start drawing up a drawing, you should carefully review all the photos of desktops available on the Internet.
Even if they do not have sizes, it is not difficult to determine them. But with big share probabilities can be argued that there will be new, interesting ideas. After all, the workbench can also be folding, which is very convenient in a small box or barn. Yes, and having familiarized yourself with the complete set of the table, the design features of various models, you can come up with something of your own, original. After all, the beauty of assembling with your own hands is in the absence of any canons. Only creativity + knowledge of the issue.
The general principle of the development of material processing technology from prehistoric times to the present day is how to make details on inaccurate equipment for more accuracy. And it all started with a workbench, its prototypes are found during excavations of Stone Age settlements. It is quite possible to build a workbench, and a full-fledged one, with your own hands, and this will not only save a significant amount, but also simplify, facilitate work and improve its result.
Three mistakes
Amateurs, sometimes, judging by their designs, very experienced, knowledgeable and diligent, sometimes make workbenches for themselves, on which, figuratively speaking, a tank can be smashed with a sledgehammer. They take a lot of time and labor, and hardly less money than a good branded amateur workbench. Repetition in the design for own use of industrial prototypes designed for intensive work in 3 shifts and a static load of more than a ton, with a service life of 20 years is one of the common mistakes development of workbenches of their own design.
The second is the neglect of vibrations. Not a clearly felt “play” or “recoil”, but a small tremor that significantly complicates the work and reduces its quality. Vibrations are especially strong in workbenches on a metal bed.
Third - repeat carpentry or locksmith workbenches; perhaps with some tweaks to your liking. Meanwhile designs of workbenches for home/amateur work different nature a lot. There are workbenches that are more or less specialized or, on the contrary, universal, temporary from improvised materials, etc.
In this article we will figure out how to make a workbench taking into account these errors, firstly, simpler and cheaper according to the range of needs and / or hobbies of the craftsman. Second, how to make a workbench general purpose or universal for special conditions of use - in a cramped garage, for carpentry at a construction site from improvised trash, home for fine precision work, for children.
About universal workbenches
Among branded products, sometimes very expensive, you can find "universal" workbenches in the form of a carpenter's workbench with a lid without a tray, a complete bench vise on a wooden cushion, and a clamp for installing them, like the one in the photo:
“Universal” prefabricated workbench
This is the wrong decision, not only because wooden table top from carpentry spoils. The main thing that is bad here is the technological fluids used in metal processing - oil, kerosene, etc. The wood impregnated with them becomes much more combustible. Self-ignition is also possible; remember, it is strictly forbidden to accumulate oiled rags in production. Approach to the design of countertops (boards, covers) universal workbench another is needed based on what kind of work it is mainly used for - fine or rough, see below.
work bench
In the West, amateur / home workbenches with a type-setting worktop framed by a side are widespread. Drawings of such a "working bench" are given in fig. Under the locksmith, the lid is covered with a sheet of steel 1.5-2 mm thick and a vice is placed on the pillow.
The workbench dampens vibrations well; You can make it from pine or spruce. But the design is complicated, it is inconvenient to work with lengthy materials and furniture on such a workbench. Therefore, we will first look at how to make the most common carpentry workbench, then garage and metalwork. Next, we will try to combine them into a universal workbench and see what we can come up with on this basis for special needs.
The composition of the workbench
The workbench of "our" type (conditionally, since it is impossible to establish its origin exactly) consists of:
- Underwork (in carpentry workbenches), or bed (in metalwork), ensuring the stability of the entire unit and the ergonomics of the workplace.
- Covers, box-shaped or in the form of a tray, giving the work area the necessary rigidity.
- Shelves; possibly with a tray, nests, and stops on which work operations are performed.
- The apron on which the tool is hung. The apron is not a mandatory accessory of the workbench, it can hang on the wall or be replaced by a pedestal, rack, etc.
Note: workbench height approx. 900 mm. The length and width are selected according to the place of installation and the type of work within 1200-2500 and 350-1000 mm, respectively.
A lid with a shelf is most often made at the same time, one-piece, and is simply called a lid, benchtop or table top. To dampen vibrations, the shelf is always made on the basis (bed, substrate) of wood. In the locksmith's workbench, the bed is covered steel sheet from 2 mm thick and can be made of softwood. Its overall strength is sufficient, and the steel tire protects the tree from local damage and ingress of technical fluids. In a carpenter's workbench, a bed made of high-quality (without knots, strands, and other defects) solid small-layer wood (oak, beech, hornbeam, elm, walnut) serves at the same time as a shelf; -layer construction, see below.
The traditional construction of the bench, on the contrary, is collapsible from the same wood as the joiner's shelf. This comes from the master covens of the past, who transported their equipment from customer to customer on a cart. It is from the bed / underbench that you should start developing your workbench no worse, but simpler than traditional ones.
Bed: metal or wood?
Stationary wooden workbench has advantages over that on a steel frame not only in lower cost and labor intensity. Wood, firstly, is not plastic. Workbench on wooden base can be broken, but if the wood is used seasoned and impregnated, it will never sag. Secondly, the tree perfectly dampens vibrations. The foundations of your buildings are not reinforced vibration-absorbing ones, like workshops at a factory, are they? And the overall strength and stability of the bed of a home workbench will be fully provided by coniferous commercial wood of ordinary quality.
The design of the wooden frame of the workbench made of boards 120x40 is shown on the left in fig. Permissible static load - 150 kgf; dynamic vertically down for 1 s - 600 kgf. Corner posts (legs) are assembled on self-tapping screws 6x70 in a zigzag (snake) with an indent from the edge of 30 mm and a step of 100-120 mm. Double-sided fastening; snakes on both sides of the package are mirrored. Intermediate support beams are fastened with steel corners on self-tapping screws; edge - with pairs of self-tapping screws at the spikes of the racks and, outside, with corners.
If a beam of 150x50 or (180…200)x60 is available, the design can be simplified, as shown in the center in fig. Load bearing capacity will rise to 200/750 kgf. And from a bar 150x150, 150x75 and (180 ... 200) x60, you can build a frame that can carry 450 kgf in statics and 1200 in dynamics, on the right in Fig.
Note: any of these beds is suitable for both carpentry and locksmith workbench and. A box-shaped cover is placed on it under the carpentry (see below), and under the locksmith a tray from a 60x60x4 corner with welded 4 mm strips above the intermediate beams. A wooden pillow is placed in the tray and covered with steel, also see below.
If there is no welding
An all-wood workbench, without the need for welding to manufacture it, can be made according to the scheme on the trail. rice. The “chip” here is in the tabletop, glued from a 75x50 bar and fastened with ties. If the beam is oak, then the permissible load is 400/1300 kgf. Corner posts - timber 150x150; the rest is timber 150x75.
Metal
It happens the other way around: metal is more accessible than wood, and there is welding. Then the workbench table for a load of 100/300 kgf can be assembled according to the drawing on the left in fig. Materials - corner 35x35x3 and 20x20x2. Drawers are galvanized. The disadvantage is that it is impossible to make an opening at the bottom for the legs, the structure will lose its ability to carry a dynamic load.
Under a load of 200/600, a more convenient metal workbench is suitable according to the scheme at the top right of a professional pipe 50x50 (corner posts), 30x30 (other vertical parts) and a corner 30x30x3. The plank cushion of both workbenches is laid only across (bottom right) from tongue-and-groove boards (120 ... 150) x40.
Shelf - steel 2 mm. The shelf is attached to the pillow with 4x (30 ... 35) self-tapping screws, a pair from each edge of each board, and along the extreme boards - with a step of (60 ... 70) mm. Only in this design, the workbench will show the specified load-bearing capacity.
These workbenches are already universal: they turn the lid under the carpentry wooden side up or adjust as described below. The locksmith's vise is mounted on a wooden cushion, but is not fastened with a clamp. A collet anchor under the M10-M14 bolt is driven into the vice cushion from below, and a through hole is drilled under it in the cover. A washer from 60x2 is placed under the bolt head. This solution is convenient because it is possible to use inexpensive non-rotating vise.
For carpentry
The lid of the carpentry workbench, in contrast to the metalwork, is tightly attached to the workbench and is box-shaped, for general rigidity. The best option fastenings for a non-separable workbench - steel corners and self-tapping screws. Podverstache can also be a steel bed from those described above.
How a traditional carpentry workbench is arranged is shown in pos. And rice; accessories to it in pos. B. Workbench (in this case this is a separate device) is used to work with a long length. The emphasis in its groove is made from a wedged trimming of the board, see below. It is advisable to drill a longitudinal row of holes in the board and fasten it into the sockets with sunken cone-head bolts. The traditional construction of a carpentry underbench is shown in pos. G, but - see above.
The cover of the carpentry workbench can be made cheaper by making a 2-layer, pos. B. Then quality boards solid wood only needed on the shelf. They lay it down, laying the boards with “peas” of annual layers alternately up and down, in order to avoid warping. The flooring of the shelf is first rallied with PVA glue or carpentry, tightly squeezing with a clamp or wrapping it with a cord; put on a pillow on the same glue. The skirt of the lid is assembled separately with glue and through spikes (insert at pos. B) and is attached to the pillow-shelf package with self-tapping screws.
Vice for carpentry
All-wood carpentry vices, front and chair, are now almost completely replaced by a vice with a metal screw clamp, pos. D; their device is shown in pos. E. Some remarks are needed here.
First, you need to put 2-3 steel washers under the head of the clamping screw, otherwise it will quickly eat through the pillow (4x4x1 cm piece of wood). Second - if the nut is not custom-made and not purchased shaped, then get at least for a while a set of taps for the thread used. In this case, do not try to use too thick a screw for evenness and smoothness of the clamp; M12-M16 is enough.
The nut of a home-made clamping pair is welded onto a base with a diameter of 60 mm or more, square, from 70x70 mm. It is not necessary to sink it into the clamp pad, so it is less likely that the nut will be torn off when clamping. But the thread will ugly lead away from welding, you can’t drive it away with a bolt. The thread of the welded nut will need to be tapped according to the full scheme, as when cutting: the first tap - the second - the third (if included in the kit).
Note: the nut welded on the base must be allowed to rest for at least 2 hours before the thread passes, so that the residual deformations “subside”.
Vice and carpentry for a locksmith
The vise on the locksmith's workbench is installed in the corner (see the inset in the figure), so that as much as possible of the dynamic loads during metal processing falls vertically on the corner post. The location of the cross beams and intermediate uprights It is advisable to make a workbench with a stationary vise a little asymmetrical, placing them at smaller intervals towards the corner with a vise. The installation of the vice is also carried out starting from the corner:
- A collet anchor is driven into the wooden corner post under the mounting bolt, and a high nut or threaded sleeve is welded into the metal post (attachment point 1 at the bottom left in the figure);
- If the fastener is welded, thread with taps, as in a homemade carpenter's vice nut, see above;
- Put a vice temporarily on 1 bolt and mark holes for fixing points 2, 3 and 4 in place;
- The vise is removed and drilled through holes 2, 3 and 4;
- Put a vise on the bolts 1, 2 and 3;
- For mounting on bolt 4, put under the cover (tabletop) a strut U from wooden beam from 60x60 or professional pipes from 40x40. It is not necessary to fix the jib, but it should rest from under the bottom in upper frame(strapping) of the bed, but not in the countertop!
- Attach the vise finally to the bolt 4.
Note: stationary power tools are also fixed in the same way, for example. emery.
Under the carpentry
A locksmith's workbench can also be adapted for carpentry work if you drill 2-4 pairs of holes in the tabletop for fixing the carpentry stop (on the right and in the center in the figure). In this case, round bosses are screwed to the bottom surface of the stop with self-tapping screws; plugs fit well plastic bottles, they withstand tight landings many times.
Garage workbench
A workbench in the garage cannot be made optimal in terms of ergonomics of the width of the workplace - the dimensions of a standard box 4x7 m with a car standing in it do not allow. For a long time already, through trial and error, the width of the garage workbench was determined at 510 mm: it is quite convenient to turn between it and the hood, and you can more or less work. A narrow workbench under a heavy load (for example, a motor taken out for bulkhead) is unstable, so it is made attached to the wall. Often - angular, this increases stability, but any wall-mounted workbench "responds" stronger than a workbench-table of the same design
The scheme of the device of one section of the garage workbench is given in fig. In this design, an ingenious method of additional damping of vibrations is used: cells of the frames of the cover and the lower shelf of the edge farthest from the corner different sizes. The accuracy of the installation of the crossbars is +/- 1 cm. For the same purpose, the cover and the lower shelf are made of chipboard 32 mm thick and covered with linoleum instead of steel. For garage work its durability is sufficient; replaced without difficulty.
Fastening to the walls - self-tapping screws from 8 mm or bolts from M8 with a pitch of 250-350 mm. Deepening into a stone wall 70-80 mm; in wooden 120-130 mm. Propylene dowels are placed under the screws in the stone wall; for bolts - collet anchors.
More for the garage
Another version of the garage workbench is already on the wall, and on the wall, on the left in fig. It can only be mounted on stone walls. Bench board folding 2-layer; each layer of plywood 10-12mm. Opening under the machine with a stepped inner edge. In this case, a “milling cutter” means a mini-drilling machine with a movable rotary table and a workpiece clamp. The design is convenient in that the chips fall immediately onto the floor.
If your car is something like a Daewoo or Chery with a 3-cylinder engine, and the garage is very small, then you can put a folding mini workbench with a lifting table top in it, on the right in the figure; it will also fit into the house for fine work (electronics, precision mechanics). The tabletop is suspended on a piano hinge, the legs are on card hinges. For folding, the legs are tucked under the tabletop (it would be useful to tie them with a leg), and the tabletop is lowered.
Note: for a cramped garage with an ordinary city car, a folding workbench-box may be optimal, see the video below.
Video: folding workbench box
Home station wagon
At home, they are engaged in smaller, but painstaking technical creativity: soldering, modeling, watchmaking, artistic sawing plywood, etc. For fine fine work, a universal workbench is suitable, the drawings of which and its accessories are given in fig. The resistance of the work surface and its vibration absorption in this case are not as important as evenness, smoothness and some adhesion (“stickiness” of parts), so the table top is covered with linoleum. Locksmith vices for this workbench need small, with screw clamping.
More about plywood
In fact, it is undesirable to work with metal “roughly” on plywood, because. she calls back well. If, however, the pillow of the board of the locksmith's workbench is nevertheless made of plywood, then a frame (frame) must also be glued to its bottom on the PVA, also made of plywood, see fig. Then it is desirable to cover the upper (working side) first with unlined linoleum, and then lay steel on it.
To the rising shift
Another case where making a workbench out of plywood is justified is a student's workbench for a child. Pedagogical considerations play a role here: let him learn to feel the material and not to beat for nothing, but to work carefully. For the same purpose, the masters of the past deliberately gave students a bad instrument.
Workbenches in the country
When country house or others. light wooden the structure is still being built, there is no time for bench wisdom, at least something is needed on which simple carpentry work can be done. For such a case, hastily you can put together a carpentry workbench for giving from improvised materials, on the left in fig. The design is remarkable in that it clearly and fully embodies the principle: we do good things with bad equipment.
For subsequent work on the arrangement of the dacha, a mini-workbench is useful, on the right in fig. With a minimum consumption of material and an extremely simple design, it is stable enough for ordinary carpentry work in all respects, because. the middle of the workbench is supported by a pair of struts. If you put them on bolts, the workbench will turn out to be collapsible and stand in the pantry from weekend to weekend. For disassembly, after releasing the struts, the spacer is removed with them, and the legs are tucked under the board. Finally, for a summer residence, inhabited permanently or all summer, with a master owner, by the way, you will have a more complex, but fully functional folding workbench, see the video below.
Most of the home craftsmen, who are the bulk of the subscribers and visitors to our site, have already solved the problem of organizing their workplace to one degree or another by setting up comfortable workbenches in their workshops and on the balcony.
But there are also those who look closely at home needlework, try this universal profession, which includes many specialties, which becomes a very useful hobby for the family.
First of all, this article is for them, but perhaps it will also be useful to those who have already found themselves in the role of homemade and, having decided on the main types of work, can competently do the arrangement of a home workbench for the workshop with their own hands.
Workshop Workbench Types
A workbench is a table for carrying out various specialized work on the processing of different materials. Accordingly, depending on what material you have to work with and what operations to carry out, workbenches differ from each other in size, configuration and material of manufacture. According to the type of materials processed, workbenches are divided into:
- carpentry;
- plumbing;
- combined.
Based on the design features, the following types are added to them:
- universal;
- folding.
Folding universal workbenches are produced by different companies with a different list of functions, and distinctive feature, first of all, is their mobility. Therefore, if you convert your experience of a home craftsman into banknotes outside your apartment or courtyard of your house, you can either pick up a factory-made universal folding workbench, or, after analyzing a number of design features of a particular model, make it yourself.
But for a home workshop, more massive workbenches are suitable, and here three options are possible:
- carpentry workbench with the ability to perform a number of locksmith operations;
- locksmith workbench with the ability to perform a number of carpentry operations;
- combined workbench.
We immediately note that the latter option is not best solution, since it does not allow to fully perform both carpentry and metalwork types of work, but is only relatively adapted for their production, therefore the first 2 options, in our opinion, are preferable. It is these options that we will consider in examples for self-production.
Making a simple DIY garage workbench
by the most simple workbench for a home workshop there will be a fairly powerful table with a small set additional features: boxes, shelves, etc. for storing tools and remanent.
Well, if there is a possibility of its slight transformation to perform metal or woodwork, but more on that below.
To create such a workbench, we will take wooden blocks 40x80 and cut out 4 legs: 2 pcs. length 700 mm, 2 pcs. 750 mm long and 2 lower jumpers 500 mm long. For 2 upper jumpers of the same length, we used a 40x100 bar available on the farm.
He will also go for top harness the base of our workbench at the front, with a length of 1400 mm at the bottom and 1600 mm at the top. And behind we use edged board 40x150x1600, but we will need all the long blanks later.
If you have a tool for making spiked joints, use it, as we did.
If not, then make them manually or you can join the parts end-to-end using overhead metal fasteners.
Gather side racks as shown in the photo below.
After that, you can begin to assemble the entire bed.
The central jumper inside the bed, made of the same 40x80 bar, fixed on small wooden brackets 40x40x180, in addition to strengthening the structure, acts as a stop for two bedside tables with drawers from old desks that we decided to use in our workbench.
For the working surface of the workbench, we also used our existing laminated surface made of fiberboard. We screwed a board on metal plates to the leading edge, which will protect its edge from peeling during operation. It will also serve as the basis for fastening a small metalwork vice with a clamp.
We carried out the fastening of the working surface to the frame on metal corners and got a fairly powerful general purpose workbench for our home workshop.
Making a carpentry workbench with modifications for performing locksmith work
If you mainly work with wood, then it would be logical to make a carpentry workbench and do some design modifications for locksmith operations.
The traditional carpentry workbench for the workshop has a design that has been worked out for centuries, which has practically not undergone significant changes up to the present day. It is based on a massive bed on spiked joints, using wedges for tightening in case of drying out, a powerful (often type-setting) tabletop with a recessed tray for collecting chips and tools, and two vise-clamps for fixing workpieces.
The dimensions of such a workbench are selected depending on maximum length workpieces that will be processed on it. If you are going to make your own wooden doors, then the length of the workbench must be at least 2.5 m, and the width must be at least 0.8 m, otherwise your work on it will turn into hard labor. The workbench of my grandfather - the best carpenter in the area for at least 50 km in all directions - was 3000x1000 and he said that he lacked 20 centimeters in width to make large frames for verandas.
The dimensions of the school carpentry workbench are 1200 x 500 x 750. If the dimensions in the plan suit you, and you are ready to spend about 13 thousand rubles on it, then the height can be adjusted by screwing bars of the appropriate size to the legs. But you can also consider alternative options.
As a matter of fact, these are variations on the theme of the same carpentry workbench for the workshop with different material for the table top, the presence or absence of drawers, shelves and different vise mechanisms. Now in order:
1. We make the bed from dry pine lumber 40-50 x 80-100 mm, calculating the height for your height. If your workbench is installed in a room where there will be no sudden changes in humidity, then its elements can be connected in any convenient way, albeit end-to-end using fixing metal plates and corners.
2. The tabletop can be made from ready-made glued wooden shields, sold in most building supermarkets, or glued from planed bars with a thickness of at least 50 mm yourself using PVA glue, having built a simple clamping device. It is important to remember that the top side of the future workbench should be as flat as possible. You can also use thick-layer plywood for the countertop, but it is still advisable to paste over its ends wooden slats oak, beech or ash.
3. For fastening clamping mechanisms the bottom of the workbench tabletop is built up with bars of appropriate sizes. The most popular clamps are:
- carpenter's lead screw with two Czech-made guides Tr 24 * 5, 390/205 at a price of approx. 3 thousand rubles.
Spanish carpenter's vice Piher, 150 mm, approx. 2 thousand rubles;
You can also make some kind of their own by using a pin with a diameter of 14 - 16 mm, which, of course, will not transmit such efforts as a vise, but it will make your clamp extremely economical and maintainable, due to its cheapness;
Or make an even simpler clamping device from the same studs, but due to the lack of guides, put 2 such clamps on one vice.
4. Make holes for the stop pegs in two directions opposite the vise lead screw. It is also useful to make them parallel to each other over the entire surface of the countertop for confident fastening of overall products.
5. Fasten the workbench tabletop to the base on powerful metal corners and, if you do not plan to move it, use them to fasten it to the floor.
And you have successfully completed the first task of the workbench option described in this section of the article.
Now, several options for fixtures for performing plumbing work on such a workbench.
- The simplest of them is to make an overlay of steel 3–5 mm thick with a frame of steel angle, stored separately from the workbench or attached to it on hinges and lowered to the table top if necessary.
- The main attribute of a locksmith's workbench is a bench vise. In this case, we recommend using a vise with fasteners that do not require passing through the workbench top.
Of course, you can fit the holes for the stops under the fasteners of the vice, but with a thick overlay, you can do without it. Also interesting is the option of attaching a bench vise directly to the tabletop of a carpentry workbench using a transition bar-stand and a powerful clamp.
And at the same time, the overlay should not be done on the entire area of the workbench. There are many options, the choice is yours.
Refinement of a locksmith's workbench for carpentry work
Often, especially if the farm has a car and a garage, the main workbench is a locksmith.
We will not consider the process of its manufacture in this article, but we will tell about simple ways to adapt it for carpentry work, especially since it is not at all difficult. To fully use your locksmith's workbench as a carpenter's bench, you will need to dismantle the locksmith's vise and make some simple fixtures.
Let's consider them in more detail.
1. From the first figure below, when finalizing the locksmith's workbench, we will be interested primarily in the side stop (1), which is not difficult to make removable. And together with the holes for the dowels (14) along the front end of the workbench (and this can be a one-piece removable structure) and a suitable wedge, we get a simple and reliable device fastening the board to the workbench. You can simply make a wooden plate fixed with recessed clamps, with all the set of workpiece fasteners shown, and understand that the level of the working surface will rise by its thickness, which can be compensated for by a ladder at the workbench of the appropriate height.
There is nothing to say about the back stop, it simply performs a supporting function for long workpieces.
2. You can make an overlay planer board with a universal stop, shown in the second picture. By increasing the height of the stop (or changing it depending on the height of the processed bar) and screwing with bottom side a beam for resting on the right edge of the workbench, we will get the simplest device that turns a metalwork workbench into a carpentry workbench.
3. A slightly more complex overlay with a fairly powerful option for fixing the workpiece also allows us to solve this problem. The only thing we would recommend in this case is to also screw the stop on the right side and choose a thickness of at least 50-70 mm for a more reliable fastening of the front pegs and sufficient depth of the lock and clamp.
The way to install the last two planing devices on the workbench is shown in the diagram:
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