Machining work bench

Hey Guys, so I finally got a decent tool box to hold my machining tooling...

Craftsman 41inch tool chest...

To house the tool chest I decided to build a nice sturdy metal work bench. It will be really nice have to have a bench near the Mill and lathe.

So the plan is to build a sturdy metal frame around the tool chest and then put a 1/4in steel top on it. This is just a work bench NOT a welding table, so a really thick top isn't required.

I'm also going to incorporate a system so that the bench can have wheels that raise/ lower if I want to move it.

Here's all the steel that will soon become a bench...



I used my mill to drill out holes in the front and back pieces of the frame.

The holes on the bottom frame will be for leveing feet...


I cut to length some 3/4in steel round stock and pre-drilled to size the ID for threading.

Next the round stock was welded in place and threads cut through the whole 2.5in length...


pre-fit of leveling feet...

I used the same process for the top frame. The threaded holes in the top frame are to allow attachent points if the bench needs to be hoised in a truck etc... 1/2-13 bolts can be used.

Now that that was done it was time to start building the the frame for the top out of metal 2x2 and 2x4 (1/8 wall). Yhe dimensions for the top is 28in wide × 50in long.








Next up was to build the bottom frame that supports the tool chest...

I ran out of welding wire, so that's as far as I got for now.

 

Very nice!

Regarding the access slots... what about drilling 2 holes for each and cutting the length with some type of cut off wheel?

I like your idea (at least what I'm interpreting it to mean), and am encouraging you to go for it still.

That is a good ideal and I can give it a try, the only concern is how difficult it will be to drill holes through a metal 2x4 without the mill or a drill press. I'll give it a go with a hand drill and see how feasible it is.

 

That is a good ideal and I can give it a try, the only concern is how difficult it will be to drill holes through a metal 2x4 without the mill or a drill press. I'll give it a go with a hand drill and see how feasible it is.

Any chance you could set the frame on its side and raise the table to the legs and still use the drill press?

Depending on how far the mill head swings out (from over the knee) you could maybe even use the mill, to the side of the knee on one side of the table?

If all the dimensions allowed... maybe you could even still clamp to the table and mill the slots? Giving the frame some support that isn't too rigid and traveling slowly?

 

Any chance you could set the frame on its side and raise the table to the legs and still use the drill press?

Depending on how far the mill head swings out (from over the knee) you could maybe even use the mill, to the side of the knee on one side of the table?

If all the dimensions allowed... maybe you could even still clamp to the table and mill the slots? Giving the frame some support that isn't too rigid and traveling slowly?

Those are some good ideas, I'll have to do some measurements and see if its possible. Thank you for the ideas.

 

So I looked into using the Mill, but I spent a lot of time putting a nice paint job on my mill when I refurbished it, and it seemed like it could very easily get the paint all gouged up trying to muscle the table onto it. The drill press also seemed like it was going to be a major pain. So I think I'm just going to try using the a hand drill on the legs.

I have a pretty decent big dewalt hammer drill with an 8.6A motor i'll try using. (It can do regular drilling too)
If that fails I have a couple of 1950's era 1hp drills which weigh about 50lbs each that I inherited from my grandfather. But... they are very powerful, not variable speed and take about 3 seconds to spool down so they are sketchy to use. But are a last resort.


Anyway before I start pushing on the legs to drill I wanted get the base welded on. the base must have warped a bit which meant I had to abuse my woodworking camps to hold it down while I welded it. This actually worked, but just barely!

The base was now finish welded and the welds ground smooth.

 

Looks good!

That Dewalt drill will drill through your tubing no problem! The biggest risk (for any steel drilling) will be at the bottom of the hole when the bit catches on the face of the steel, and will tend to quickly twist the drill. Be careful and don't have your face near the drill... step up a bit at a time. But it's plenty of drill

 

Looks good!

That Dewalt drill will drill through your tubing no problem! The biggest risk (for any steel drilling) will be at the bottom of the hole when the bit catches on the face of the steel, and will tend to quickly twist the drill. Be careful and don't have your face near the drill... step up a bit at a time. But it's plenty of drill

That is great advice.

Your very correct, that you have to be careful about the drill wanting to spin as the drill bit breaks through the metal. I had that happen when using one of the 1950's era 1hp drills some years's ago and it literally hit me so hard I fell backwards, luckily I was ok aside from a bruise. Certainly not something I intend to repeat so I will be careful when drilling and hopefully using a easier to use more modern drill will help too.

 

Good looking bench! That should be very sturdy!

 

Good looking bench! That should be very sturdy!

Thank you!

Yes, I think it should be pretty strong.

 

The eyeball engineer in me thinks a car on top wont hurt it.

 

Use a step drill rather than regular bits, will be faster and safer.

John