Lets see your workbenches. Last year I decided to make two new 8 foot workbenches to supplement my 4 foot workbench that I made in the early 90s.
while the workbench from the 90s was and is very servicable, the only thing that it had for extras is the 4" Babco Vise. I decided that the two new workbenches would have much more options installed. In addition to the standard pegboard backing, I decided that having readily accessible electricity and shop air were a must. My garage has 3. Only 3. 110 volt electrical outlets, and one of those is in the ceiling for the garage door opener, and one has the garage fridge and freezer plugged into it, so that leaves me with one available outlet for tools. No bueno, we will fix that. When I bought the house I did have the forsight to have a 220 volt outlet to run my shop air compressor, so we are good there.
So on to the workbenches...
The materials to make 2 8 foot workbenches:
19ea 2x4's
1ea 1x4 (only need about 18 inches)
2ea 1/2" 4x8 plywood sheets (4ea if you want to put doors/ make the lower into a cabinet)
4ea 2'x4' pegboard
6ea 15amp outlets
8ea outlet boxes
6ea outlet cover plates
2ea solid electrical box plates
2ea 15' extension cords with female ends cut off
25' 14-3 NM-B electrical wire
1ea package of wire staples
1ea package of wire nuts (need 12 for each workbench, half of them for 2 wires, half for 3 wires twisted together)
3ea 1lb box of 3" deck screws
1ea llb box of 1 5/8" deck screws
2ea 4' x 1/2" black pipe
2ea 3' x 1/2" black pipe
4ea 6" x 1/2" black pipe nipple
2ea 4" x 1/2" black pipe nipple
4ea 1/2" black pipe coupler
2ea 1/2" black pipe elbow
2ea 1/2" black pipe T fitting
4ea 1/2" to 3/8" black pipe reducer fitting
2ea female quick connect for airhose
2ea male quick connect for airhose
2ea pipe plug (you can also substitute another female quick connect or air hose to connect to another bench)
1ea roll of teflon pipe sealant tape
1ea package of 10 pipe brackets
If you are putting cabinet doors,
16ea hinges
8ea door pulls
4ea bolt latch
I figured if you go out and buy all of the materials, you will spend about 320 bucks for both benches. I had all of the wood and the electrical outlets/ boxes/ and wire from previous projects or just laying around, so I spent about 140 dollars in hardware and black pipe to make these benches. overall, not too shabby.
all of the materials
Construction time. don't mind the huge mess that is my garage...
The back:
framed up you can see my old 4 foot workbench in the corner:
Electrical:
Top deck on:
Bottom deck on:
Master electrician has installed 2 outlet covers:
Pegboard and outlets done and work:
Now for shop air:
Air lines before I secured it to the back of the bench:
Note... I have put a plug on the t fitting for the bench pictured, the other bench has a flexible hose that connects to the other side of this bench via quick connect. since this t fitting will be fairly inaccessible in my garage as it is set up now, I decided to plug it rather than put another quick connect or hose to it. The two benches are connected together with a 8 foot rubber airhose that goes behind the little 4 foot bench, then another 16 foot of airhose to connect to the compressor.:
first finished bench... vice is not bolted down, just sitting there.
Air!:
second finished bench (excuse the mess) with all air and electrical hooked up:
So far it has helped organize my garage quite a bit, but the garage still needs work... it is still a mess
Hope you enjoyed the pics.
Regards,
Anson
