workbench top surface and attaching used drawers...

[tws]

greetings and happy new year,

i am constructing an 8’ by 24” workbench in my garage. i fear i made at least one engineering mistake by not
fastening the top 2×4’s to the wall joist. my remedy was to place a 2×2 along the top and fasten the cross pieces to the wall joist with screws. i am unfamiliar with weight and loads but understand that any weight on this type of wall workbench will want to pull the 2×4’s from the wall. pictures attached.

a friend may have a piece of granite for me to use… since it’s free i would like to use it… my question? can granite support itself over the span of 40” or does it need to rest on another surface et al 1/4” plywood? also is it better to glue the top workbench surface (whether wood or granite) rather than nail or screw? would liquid nails be adequate?

finally, i have some old drawers to mount. this must be an open bottomed workbench solution - hung from the top or sides. can anyone recommend quality rails or possible attachment hardware – or a link to how to best fasten them to this type workbench?. they are going to be a very tight fit.

thank you for an excellent forum.

i hope my pictures explain my questions.

tws

View attachment workbench8-_MEF9077-January 02, 2014.jpg

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View attachment workbench7-_MEF9080-January 02, 2014.jpg

 

[havasu]

Welcome to the Garage Retreat. That is a great workbench. I envy you!

Since I am out and about I don't have much time for a complete answer, but you will want to install some plywood underlayment for the granite over that type of span. Screw the hell out of the plywood (the thicker the better, no less than 3/4 inch) and then silicone the granite down to the plywood.

 

[oldognewtrick]

I would suggest running a 8' 2X along the outside edge to support the bench top and give it support, along with at least 3/4" ply over it. You don't want to take a chance of cracking the granite and it would give you a surface to attach your undercounter drawers to. Just my :2cents:

I like the design, it allows a lot of foot room under the bench, be sure to keep us updated on your progress.

 

[tws]

thanks havasu and old dog...

i suspected i should have an underlayment.

will keep the forum posted of my progress

 

[tws]

nearing completion...

i attached a 3/4" walnut plywood top to my bench by screwing from underneath and thru the underlayment plywood. this is in case i someday wish to remove and replace the top. had i glued the piece down this option would be very difficult indeed. i have applied so far a single coat of miniwax polyurathane probably another coat will follow. finally i will be attaching at least two - maybe four - drawers from an old captains bed. these will be suspended beneath the workbench via keyboard sliders.

View attachment _MEF9190-Edit.jpg

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[havasu]

Looks great. What happened to the granite idea?

 

[tws]

found a better site for the granite.

 

[havasu]

I gotcha. A great looking top regardless.

 

[oldognewtrick]

Work bench looks really nice, good job!

 

[MarkWood]

nice lookin work bench!!! makes me want tear all my junk out of my garage and redo the whole thing..............but................i probably wont. Too busy doin everyone elses stuff the right way to concentrate on mine.

 

[oldognewtrick]

If the work bench gets to be to nice looking, then they turn into furniture. Mine looks nothing like that

 

[Chris]

Looks great, I am using an old formica counter top and I love everything about it except the lip on the outside edge so things won't lay flat.

 

[oldognewtrick]

I used an old solid core front door I had laying around. Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

 

[cruzn57]

I had the talent to do wood working like that.
the best thing I do with wood.................. is to burn it.
saves time trying to make things out of wood,

 

[oldognewtrick]

I had the talent to do wood working like that.
the best thing I do with wood.................. is to burn it.
saves time trying to make things out of wood,

I must admit, I have mastered the skill of making saw dust. I can do it with the best of em.

 

[mustanggarage]

nice job. that is the same technique I used on 2 of my workbenches.


this is my semi mobile workbench that never moves anymore lol. I built it with retractible castors so that I can move it around. now since I mounted my blue ray player to it, it pretty much just stays there. but I did run 2x4 all the way around it, the edges of the workbench take the most beating and plain plywood even double thick 3/4 inch tends to start delaminating and getting chipped up around the edge if you don't have some kind of reinforcement. especially if you do a lot of banging on it like I do.







this is my bench in front of my lift.






one thing I have discovered is that my benches that I polyurethaned tend to get really beat up, scuffed and marred and they don't look great after a few years. you then need to sand and refinish them. so on my bench in front of my lift I tried something different. I painted it with rustoleum hammered paint. it leaves kind of a rough hammered texture so writing on it needs something behind it like a notebook etc. but it is very easy to clean and durable. when it starts looking bad I just clean the dirt off it and spray it with rustoleum and it looks brand new again. this bench looks just about as good as the day I built it.
again doubled 3/4 inch plywood with 2x4 around the edges. it has stood up well for 6 years.

for my wood working bench I just glued and screwed a bunch of 2x4 together. very durable. this is the first woodworking project I ever did.





finally I had heard a lot of people using bowling alley wood for benches so when I found a guy that had some I bought it and really did not know what I wanted to do with it so I made this super heavy duty rolling bench to rebuild my automatic transmission. made with tripled 2x4 lap jointed for strength.





and it doubles as a handy redneck transmission jack lol.

 

[Flounly40]

You really have good working area. You have enough space to move freely.

nice job. that is the same technique I used on 2 of my workbenches.


this is my semi mobile workbench that never moves anymore lol. I built it with retractible castors so that I can move it around. now since I mounted my blue ray player to it, it pretty much just stays there. but I did run 2x4 all the way around it, the edges of the workbench take the most beating and plain plywood even double thick 3/4 inch tends to start delaminating and getting chipped up around the edge if you don't have some kind of reinforcement. especially if you do a lot of banging on it like I do.







this is my bench in front of my lift.






one thing I have discovered is that my benches that I polyurethaned tend to get really beat up, scuffed and marred and they don't look great after a few years. you then need to sand and refinish them. so on my bench in front of my lift I tried something different. I painted it with rustoleum hammered paint. it leaves kind of a rough hammered texture so writing on it needs something behind it like a notebook etc. but it is very easy to clean and durable. when it starts looking bad I just clean the dirt off it and spray it with rustoleum and it looks brand new again. this bench looks just about as good as the day I built it.
again doubled 3/4 inch plywood with 2x4 around the edges. it has stood up well for 6 years.

for my wood working bench I just glued and screwed a bunch of 2x4 together. very durable. this is the first woodworking project I ever did.





finally I had heard a lot of people using bowling alley wood for benches so when I found a guy that had some I bought it and really did not know what I wanted to do with it so I made this super heavy duty rolling bench to rebuild my automatic transmission. made with tripled 2x4 lap jointed for strength.





and it doubles as a handy redneck transmission jack lol.

 

[odorf]

I use a torch a good bit, and I beat and bang on stuff
I like a wood top and a metal top work bench..half/half

 

[Daryl in Nanoose]

nice lookin work bench!!! makes me want tear all my junk out of my garage and redo the whole thing..............but................i probably wont. Too busy doin everyone elses stuff the right way to concentrate on mine.

Isn't this always the way

 

[Daryl in Nanoose]

Nice bench, well done