AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Gun Building => Topic started by: Ric27 on January 08, 2015, 04:33:58 AM
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I had back surgery last year an have had a resent setback. Talking with my physical therapist to day about how I had to lean, twist and reach around the rifle to work he ask if I could work with a bench that I could walk around. I have seen benches like that but wondered how you could stabilize a free standing bench. does anyone use bench like this that show me some photos or drawings that would help me design something on this order?
Thanks
Ric
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locking casters will keep it from moving when need to stay in place, if I remember I will take a photo of a table that we use at work that used the casters and post it tomorrow
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Ric,
I did a search of previous posts for the word "bench". Turned up a bunch of threads/ideas. Check this one, scroll down and be sure to check the second page. Several "walk around" benches.
http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=20385.0
-Ron
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Ric, I built my work bench so I could walk around it and work from all angles. The top is 3/4 inch plywood,and the the legs are 4x4s. I also built it with a large Tray underneath the top about half way down which I divided into 4 sections.It is very sturdy and heavy. I thought about nailing it to the floor of my shop, but I didnt have to...Its sturdy. 6ft long and 2 1/2 ft wide.
topknot
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I built my island bench like a kitchen island. It was sized to make the top out of a 4 x 8 sheet of ply. There is an oak banding around the top perimeter to hold a piece of masonite in place. When I gets grungy I will replace the masonite. The base cabinets are a hair under 8' wide and 23" deep. They are divided into four 24" cabinets. The cabinets each have a drawer on top and shelving below. There are two 8' units back to back on a 2 x 4 base. The whole unit is glued and screwed together. It is all a level and trues as I could make it. I also make giant scale RC models so a perfect work surface is needed. The whole thing is rock solid.
It is nice to have a ton of space to spread out a project. I also have 16' of simmilar base cabinet on one wall with wall cabinets above them. I have my machine tool along one wall. Once I gave up on putting a car in the garage I went how wild on the shop.
http://antiqueradios.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=160054
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Hi Ric,
Here is my main bench that is free standing and thus walk around. It weighs >400 lbs and does not move. The vices give me a lot of options for holding and positioning. The leg vices are immensely powerful but gentle on wood.
http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=29747.0
dave
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I wouldn't recommend using locking casters on any bench. They still allow the bench to move. Instead, use casters that can be raised for using the bench and lowered to lift the bench for moving. I had some like this on a table saw. I got these at WoodCraft.
Like Dave, I also have a 400 lb joiners bench, but I still have to shove it up against a wall to keep it from moving when I am jointing a board. I think anything out in the middle of the room is going to have to be secured to the floor somehow. Of course there are many ways to do this. If you have a wood floor, then a metal bracket and some lag screws will do. If you have a concrete floor, then you will need concrete anchors and lag or machine screws depending on the anchors.
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Well thanks for all your input. There are some real innovative designs shown in the threads shared. just spent a lot of time setting up my shop recently and built a good, very solid bench connected to the wall. Luckily I have plenty of room in the shop so I think I will start planning a free standing bench. I am thinking it will be narrow and short say 16" X 42" heavy wood and somehow anchored to concrete floor but movable. I see this bench used for the lighter work such as final shaping scraping, carving.
Ric
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I attached a pair of 3" rigid non-swiveling casters to the outside of the legs on one end of my bench. They are attached to clear the floor by 1/16" or less, so that when I lift the other end those wheels raise that end enough to move it in the shop. When I had a bench that was prone to scoot but needed to be movable, I cut square notches in some used 2x8's, if memory serves, that reached from the left end legs to the wall. Kept it pretty solid once I took the racking out of it with some diagonal bracing.
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I have a vise on a post in the middle of the floor. I sit on an adjustable stool. The vise will spin 360°. It also will tilt at least 45° in any direction I want. There are two steady rests for the ends of the gun. One of the rests swivels around the vise post.
I cannot stand up and bend over anymore because my back looks like a 12 car pileup on the freeway in a MRI scan. Take care of your backs now. It will catch up with you later if you live long enough.
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I find that ANY surface, no matter how big or small, that is up against a wall ends up a "catch all". I try to keep work surfaces useful. And the most useful surfaces are free standing. I want to be able to walk completely around my workbenches or assembly tables. My joiner's bench serves as a gun building bench top. I have a swiveling vice and an adjustable stand mounted to a 6' long piece of LVL ( any flat plank will work). What I like about this set up is I can move the whole thing out of my way when not using it. If I need the joiner's bench or a portion of it, I can simply unclamp 1 clamp and all my tools, measuring devices stay right there on the plank with the gun.
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I really appreciate all these posts and they sound very practical but I need photos our drawing to really visualize you setup.
Thanks
Ric
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Rick,
Not exactly a bench but a walk around task station.
Harbor Freight 5" bench vice with an old grinder pedestal secured to the floor. I use aluminum angles for clamping faces.
I have a carpeted plank with a 2"x2" cleat on the back for clamping with the vice.
Hope this gives you some ideas.
Kevin
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1074.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fw408%2Fwkevindougherty%2FDSCN1425_zpsdfeaceb5.jpg&hash=0d6593113882fb5d6fa854b3a62e14a05805bfed) (http://s1074.photobucket.com/user/wkevindougherty/media/DSCN1425_zpsdfeaceb5.jpg.html)
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1074.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fw408%2Fwkevindougherty%2FDSCN1423_zpsd2db83f1.jpg&hash=c1282ee85b1f98c147bb6ee40633db05ef0ab1aa) (http://s1074.photobucket.com/user/wkevindougherty/media/DSCN1423_zpsd2db83f1.jpg.html)
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1074.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fw408%2Fwkevindougherty%2Faf36c23b-fb6d-4e0c-9e49-94f26090833e_zpsc6f55a66.jpg&hash=3818e7c036c028c32419c674f5cb0a125c0bd8ad) (http://s1074.photobucket.com/user/wkevindougherty/media/af36c23b-fb6d-4e0c-9e49-94f26090833e_zpsc6f55a66.jpg.html)
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Kevin, That certainly isn't Old Dog's bench, but I think it is brilliant in its own way. It is also the only bench I could keep clean! I like it.
Bill Paton
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I have a similar vise mount. A vintage 4" Wilton from Ebay is the crown.
the post is a section of 6" well casing. (that i cut with a hacksaw-long story)
the base is a brake drum from a dump truck. (scrapyard).
A round base make it easy to roll the vise to another position. But it's still a bit rickety for heavy work-despite the 200-ish pounds of the assembly.
I'm thinking of moving it into the house* and making some fixtures as above. Also may increase the size of the base or bolt it down to something substantial. Nothing worse than trying to brace yourself and the work and the vice to keep things steady.
*Back bedroom does stay warmer than the shop (i only heat with firewood, no meter). And my main vise is a Wilton 5" Machinist (craig's list) on the corner of a 4x6 steel table. It needs a pedestal mount, but it will be bolted firmly and stay in the shop.
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My challenge in making a bench/work station like this was to have it end up narrow but rigid. I used steel channel uprights and welded channel cross members under the top and shelf. The base plates are thick and the unit is fastened to the concrete floor with 1/2" bolts in substantial anchors. Rigidity is near excellent when aggressively hack sawing or heavy filing. And the walk around and get close to your work from all angles benefit cannot be beat.
(https://i.ibb.co/MgF4pJt/DSC5461.jpg) (https://ibb.co/cy4HtsZ)
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My challenge in making a bench/work station like this was to have it end up narrow but rigid...And the walk around and get close to your work from all angles benefit cannot be beat.
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi244.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fgg1%2Frsteffy1%2FMisc%2520Muzzleloader%2F_DSC5461.jpg&hash=a7ae7001de58e96b4700e493719be4e1ad82ddac)
THIS looks like a real winner. thanks for sharing.
sidenote: I moved my "portable" vise into the house yesterday. It weighs closer to 300#, but still needs a wider or bolted down base for aggressive use. The round base was surprising easy to manipulate up the concrete steps.
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Photos really tell the story. Thanks so much. Here is a photo of how I am set up now with a good sturdy bench but with the problems associated with wall mounting. I am thinking I would put the free stander right about were I was standing when I took this shot.
http://s5.postimg.org/68hg8qxzb/IMG_6084.jpg (http://s5.postimg.org/68hg8qxzb/IMG_6084.jpg)
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I really like seeing other peoples shops and set ups. It answers so many questions about how to solve space and function problems. It seams we all have good but different answers to similar questions.
Every time I see someone else's set up I learn a new way to approach my "what's a better way to do this" questions.
There should be another forum category Shops & Benches
Moderators?
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My challenge in making a bench/work station like this was to have it end up narrow but rigid. I used steel channel uprights and welded channel cross members under the top and shelf. The base plates are thick and the unit is fastened to the concrete floor with 1/2" bolts in substantial anchors. Rigidity is near excellent when aggressively hack sawing or heavy filing. And the walk around and get close to your work from all angles benefit cannot be beat.
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi244.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fgg1%2Frsteffy1%2FMisc%2520Muzzleloader%2F_DSC5461.jpg&hash=a7ae7001de58e96b4700e493719be4e1ad82ddac)
You know, something like that, just a little bit deeper with drawers all the way to the floor would be a real winner for gun stocking.
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Great idea, Mark. I would allow a 3-4" space between the drawer section and the floor for toe space, and you would be adding very practical, high value, added space! The shelf with raised edges beneath the bench top is a good place to lay regularly used tools however it collects shavings and other detritus quite nicely as well.
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I have a similar vise mount. A vintage 4" Wilton from Ebay is the crown.
the post is a section of 6" well casing. (that i cut with a hacksaw-long story)
the base is a brake drum from a dump truck. (scrapyard).
A round base make it easy to roll the vise to another position. But it's still a bit rickety for heavy work-despite the 200-ish pounds of the assembly.
I'm thinking of moving it into the house* and making some fixtures as above. Also may increase the size of the base or bolt it down to something substantial. Nothing worse than trying to brace yourself and the work and the vice to keep things steady.
*Back bedroom does stay warmer than the shop (i only heat with firewood, no meter). And my main vise is a Wilton 5" Machinist (craig's list) on the corner of a 4x6 steel table. It needs a pedestal mount, but it will be bolted firmly and stay in the shop.
Wade
Just attach 3, and only 3 'feet' on the base. With that base if the floor has any variation, your gona wobble. Three 'feet' will eliminate that problem! If you put 4, you got your wobble back!!
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Just attach 3, and only 3 'feet' on the base. With that base if the floor has any variation, your gona wobble. Three 'feet' will eliminate that problem! If you put 4, you got your wobble back!!
That's why God gave us shims.
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My take on the walk around bench is a little different. I have two benches in my shop, one against a wall and heavy enough that two men couldn't move it. The other is a walk around that is moderately heavy, but not overly difficult to scoot around. I refer to this as my portable bench and though I don't move it often, i can turn it to a different angle or move it to a different location if the need arises. It is common for me to have different parts of a project on each of the benches and move back and forth between them, different types of work being more suited to one or the other.
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My take on the walk around bench is a little different. I have two benches in my shop, one against a wall and heavy enough that two men couldn't move it. The other is a walk around that is moderately heavy, but not overly difficult to scoot around. I refer to this as my portable bench and though I don't move it often, i can turn it to a different angle or move it to a different location if the need arises. It is common for me to have different parts of a project on each of the benches and move back and forth between them, different types of work being more suited to one or the other.
That is just what I am thinking. The bench I have now against the wall will always be useful and suited for so work. Some of the fine work like finish filling, scraping, carving may be less stressful on a freestanding bench.
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Just attach 3, and only 3 'feet' on the base. With that base if the floor has any variation, your gona wobble. Three 'feet' will eliminate that problem! If you put 4, you got your wobble back!!
That's why God gave us shims.
Head-up on the three legged bench
I am working on a three legged bench due to a very uneven basement floor. It's built much like Rich Pierce's bench in his post about 2/3 down on the page http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=845.25
It's very sturdy lengthwise. In fact I was stunned by the force I could put on it without vibration or movement. However, the single leg at one end gives little resistance to side force. It will become a four-legged bench later this winter and I'll use shims or some other method of leveling.
I like the idea of drawers or a tool tray under the bench too. I can deal with the chips and sawdust.
Love seeing everybody's benches.
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I prefer threaded fasteners for adjusting the base of anything to the floor. More likely to remain where i put them and not work their way out.
I really prefer the tri-pod approach as above, but it just doesn't work for all things.
I'm making a "vise-topper" as seen this thread presently. I'm letting in the bottom piece just a bit. Then i have to remove the brake drum. It's standing-height only now, and that's not good for my feet. I'll bring in a wide base or bolt it through the floor. Yeah, bolt it through. My house, my hardwood! 8)
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Shelves, trays and drawers in my shop were "collectors" of everything. I have replaced the bottoms of most with .5 inch mesh hardware cloth with dividers as needed to provide ridgitity. I still need to install a lift ram on a 30 day timer that will tilt my bench and dump everything on the floor, maybe I would clean it off more often.
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I still need to install a lift ram on a 30 day timer that will tilt my bench and dump everything on the floor, maybe I would clean it off more often.
Classic.
Actually, I better do that, too. ::)