Freestanding work bench for my garage

[Jack Olsen]

This is my first project with my Millermatic 211, so I thought I'd post it here.

I got a little break in my work schedule yesterday, so while the kid was in school I knocked a work bench together.

Here's the sketch I did at breakfast:



I had to figure out how to bend the 2"x2" tubing. I finally unpacked my cheapo Harbor Freight roller bender. Without dies for square tubing, it was slow going. I ended up having to make a series of cuts to help it along:



Then I just cut the rest of the pieces to match the sketch. The total was 33' of square tubing:



My assembly on this had to be quick (the kid's only in half days of nursery school), and I'm still enough of a novice so that the welds are pretty ugly. But that's what grinders were invented for, right?

[Jack Olsen]

Here it is in its basic shape with the butcher block sitting on top of it. I still need to do the grinding, filling and paint, as well as come up with some adjustable feet:



My garage is still a complete mess from tearing out most of the old cabinets and putting some steel units in. But the shape of the new look is beginning to come together:



I don't have 220 in the garage yet, but the 211 on 110 was great with 1/8" stock.

[SmokinPRanch]

That is really nice. The arch and uprights really makes it look good.

Nice job

Al

[Rick C]

Nice bench
It's great to build your own stuff rather than buy it from some one.
Self Satisfaction is awsome.
Great Job!!!
Rick C

[rl.robertson]

Very nice- it's always great to have a custom work surface to fit your needs.

[nctox]

Jack,
I followed your other project, your "fence-posts" (pun intended) last year and was inspired to plan a few projects of my own. I want to attempt a few curved pieces with 2" sq. tubing. Would you recommend that HF tubing roller for a hobby guy that won't use it more than a few times a year, probably? Also, are there any dies for it that will accomodate the 2" sq tubing? I'm sure I could research that last question; will do later. Could you elaborate on the cuts you made to "help along the curving" process?
I think your work bench looks great. Again..nice work!

[Jack Olsen]

I think the HF roll bender is just fine for the occasional user. But I also think 2" tubing is too big for it -- especially without square tubing dies. There's no way to distort/crumple the inside edge without dies. I think I'll be okay for this application, but for a fence I'd probably look at hiring it out, or maybe one of those little benders that grab onto the stock and use a hydraulic bottle jack to slowly out a curve in it.

But 2" tubing is tough stuff, even with 16ga walls. (And the 1/8" stuff I used for the rest of the bench would be even harder.)

[UH60LCHIEF]

Looks great Jack. You are hooking that garage up with all sorts of goodies

[Sonora Iron]

That arch really adds to the table, nice job!

Just have to ask, why didn’t you run the top box tube on top of the legs? Then 45 the corners?

[Jack Olsen]

Well, one answer might be that it seems like there's going to be less of a tendency to collapse a horizontal tube (trapezoid-style) if all the force from the table top is transfered most directly to the four vertical walls of each leg. But 1), that's not going to be an issue with this tubing, and 2) the honest answer is that I had one 12' length and two 8' lengths of the 2"x2"x1/8" steel, which meant I could produce the least waste by cutting the 12' piece into four legs, and then use each 8' length to make one long lateral crossmember (52") and also two short (22") ones (less the width of the cutting blade). I had about 3.5 linear inches of leftover when I was done, since the legs are 35" each.

I think what you're describing might be a little better approach. But with this size and thickness of tubing, I think there's no issue either way with having enough strength -- at least for the uses I have in mind for this bench.