[walkman]

I have a large end T hangar with plenty of space. I have two workbenches already, bolted together with a sheet of plywood to make one long bench with lighting, a long power strip, and drawers. I find myself wanting more work surface. Partly because my current benches are not deep enough to accommodate my band saw or drill press.

I'd like to build a nice work bench, hopefully relatively inexpensively. I need it to be mobile, so must be suitable to put 4" castors on the bottom.

Can anyone point me to a suitable DIY workbench?

 

[rleffler]

I have a large end T hangar with plenty of space. I have two workbenches already, bolted together with a sheet of plywood to make one long bench with lighting, a long power strip, and drawers. I find myself wanting more work surface. Partly because my current benches are not deep enough to accommodate my band saw or drill press.

I'd like to build a nice work bench, hopefully relatively inexpensively. I need it to be mobile, so must be suitable to put 4" castors on the bottom.

Can anyone point me to a suitable DIY workbench?

The standard EAA Workbench Plans, used by hundreds of builders.....

http://www.eaa1000.av.org/technicl/worktabl/tablefig.htm

 

[larrynew]

The standard EAA Workbench Plans, used by hundreds of builders.....

http://www.eaa1000.av.org/technicl/worktabl/tablefig.htm

I have 2 of the standard EAA tables on wheels plus a small table also on wheels for stationary power tools that's basically half of an EAA table. On the corners of the small table I have a drill press, bandsaw, sander and bench grinder. If I build another, I won't change a thing.

 

[JDBoston]

I have found a two inch overhang to be useful as well on those tables, but I agree the plans are good. I glued and screwed mine when building and you could easily walk on them with no movement.

 

[ppilotmike]

I would (and did) change a few things...

The standard EAA table is a great thing, but I made a few changes:

1) I made the tables a little narrower in structure, so that the table top overhangs about 2 inches around all sides. This allows me to clamp work down more easily.

2) With little added materials, I was able to make three tables in total, instead of two. (2) are 2'x6' and (1) is 2'x4'. The smaller one is great to put your bench grinder, sander, table band saw and vise on.

3) I added a sheet of thinner plywood to the materials list in order to put a shelf under each table. This is great for storing air hoses, electrical cords, parts, etc.

4) I mounted some valves and a splitter to my main table, which allows me to plug in two pneumatic tools at the same time. This is great for working on smaller items (i.e. elevators, vert stab, rudder, etc), using one hand to run a pneumatic cleco runner and the other to run a drill, or for two people working at the same time. The supply line that runs to the splitter can also be disconnected and then used as a free hose for working on larger items like wings and fuselage.

5) Last but not least, I put retractable wheels on all three tables. This enables me to move them around quickly and easily, even though they are very heavy with lots of stuff stored on them. I basically pick up one end of the table, the wheels extend and lock, then the other end, then roll, then pull the "drop cord" and the wheels retract back up, dropping the table down on its legs, for a table that doesn't move when pushed on. FYI, my dollies with locking wheels still slide when pushed on, even if the wheels are locked.

Take a look at my site to see pictures of the tables. Sorry, but I don't have any details written up of my mods. The retract wheels were detailed by someone else (slightly different than mine) but I can't remember who.

http://www.mykitlog.com/users/display_log.php?user=mikrettig&project=803&category=6820&log=127842&row=18

 

[Joness0154]

The standard EAA table is a great thing, but I made a few changes:

1) I made the tables a little narrower in structure, so that the table top overhangs about 2 inches around all sides. This allows me to clamp work down more easily.

2) With little added materials, I was able to make three tables in total, instead of two. (2) are 2'x6' and (1) is 2'x4'. The smaller one is great to put your bench grinder, sander, table band saw and vise on.

3) I added a sheet of thinner plywood to the materials list in order to put a shelf under each table. This is great for storing air hoses, electrical cords, parts, etc.

4) I mounted some valves and a splitter to my main table, which allows me to plug in two pneumatic tools at the same time. This is great for working on smaller items (i.e. elevators, vert stab, rudder, etc), using one hand to run a pneumatic cleco runner and the other to run a drill, or for two people working at the same time. The supply line that runs to the splitter can also be disconnected and then used as a free hose for working on larger items like wings and fuselage.

5) Last but not least, I put retractable wheels on all three tables. This enables me to move them around quickly and easily, even though they are very heavy with lots of stuff stored on them. I basically pick up one end of the table, the wheels extend and lock, then the other end, then roll, then pull the "drop cord" and the wheels retract back up, dropping the table down on its legs, for a table that doesn't move when pushed on. FYI, my dollies with locking wheels still slide when pushed on, even if the wheels are locked.

Take a look at my site to see pictures of the tables. Sorry, but I don't have any details written up of my mods. The retract wheels were detailed by someone else (slightly different than mine) but I can't remember who.

http://www.mykitlog.com/users/display_log.php?user=mikrettig&project=803&category=6820&log=127842&row=18

Those "retractable" wheels are exactly what I am looking for to add to my benches. Awesome!

 

[Skykingbob]

Here is what I built

Martin,

I built 2 benches like this. They are able to be moved easily and can be nice and solid if you retract the wheels.

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[mikehoover]

I made these EAA 1000 tables and they have been great. I think if you add the 4" wheels the height of them will actually be more comfortable to work with.

 

[N941WR]

One thing that I did, which worked out really good was to build my work table out of 2x4?s and rabbited a relief so a 4x8? sheet of 9/16? particle board would sit down in it. The particle board was supported by 12? on center 2x4?s and the relieve I routed into the edges.

You may not want that large a table but the nice part of it was that I could drill into it and the particle board would hold the clecos in place. Once I trashed the surface, I simply replaced the particle board with another piece.

Here is picture of the right elevator stiffeners partially drilled and clecoed to the right elevator skin.


(Click to enlarge)