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I built this bench and the benchlift about 5,1/2 years ago, shortly after
I bought my BT3000.
The bench is an adaptation of a bench in “Making Workbenches”, a
book by Sam Allen. The lift is my own idea.
The legs are fir, the stretchers spruce and the top is made of 3 layers
of ¾” MDF with a sacrificial layer of ¼” masonite(hardboard) with
a “skirt” around it from ¾” oak. The whole bench can be disassembled,
The stretchers and legs are held together with long threaded rods,
nuts and washers. The top is held onto the upper stretchers with
clips.
The pull-out shelf is to hold tools, I use frequently, etc., it tends to
become a bit of a catch-all though, sometimes. Just below the top is
a ¼” panel that slides out, it stops sawdust etc from falling through
the benchdog holes onto the tool shelf. I store the handle for the jack
there. The bottom shelf lifts out, it’s where I put scraps, cut-offs, etc.
The benchdog holes are ¾” and the benchdogs are ¾” dowels with a
short piece of hose around the top to keep them from falling through
the holes
The end vise is a twinscrew vise from Lee Valley. The vise at the front
is a quick release vise. The standard vise lying on top of the bench is
mounted on a ¾” piece of plywood bolted through a piece of 2x4 and it
can be clamped in the wood vise so I don’t damage the wood vise if I
want to work on metal stuff.
Because my shop is small, I need to be able to move the bench
sometimes. It’s a heavy brute. I estimate it to weigh about 300lbs.
So it needed something substantial and what you see in the pictures
and the drawings, is what I came up with.
A small car jack for ten bucks, picked up at the scrap yard, 4 heavy
duty swivel casters and 6 butt hinges, nuts and bolts of course.
The rest is basically scrap lumber I already had.
I have not given any dimensions in the drawings, not to be secretive
about it, but anyone who would like to copy it, would have to adapt
it to their own bench dimension anyway.
I bought my BT3000.
The bench is an adaptation of a bench in “Making Workbenches”, a
book by Sam Allen. The lift is my own idea.
The legs are fir, the stretchers spruce and the top is made of 3 layers
of ¾” MDF with a sacrificial layer of ¼” masonite(hardboard) with
a “skirt” around it from ¾” oak. The whole bench can be disassembled,
The stretchers and legs are held together with long threaded rods,
nuts and washers. The top is held onto the upper stretchers with
clips.
The pull-out shelf is to hold tools, I use frequently, etc., it tends to
become a bit of a catch-all though, sometimes. Just below the top is
a ¼” panel that slides out, it stops sawdust etc from falling through
the benchdog holes onto the tool shelf. I store the handle for the jack
there. The bottom shelf lifts out, it’s where I put scraps, cut-offs, etc.
The benchdog holes are ¾” and the benchdogs are ¾” dowels with a
short piece of hose around the top to keep them from falling through
the holes
The end vise is a twinscrew vise from Lee Valley. The vise at the front
is a quick release vise. The standard vise lying on top of the bench is
mounted on a ¾” piece of plywood bolted through a piece of 2x4 and it
can be clamped in the wood vise so I don’t damage the wood vise if I
want to work on metal stuff.
Because my shop is small, I need to be able to move the bench
sometimes. It’s a heavy brute. I estimate it to weigh about 300lbs.
So it needed something substantial and what you see in the pictures
and the drawings, is what I came up with.
A small car jack for ten bucks, picked up at the scrap yard, 4 heavy
duty swivel casters and 6 butt hinges, nuts and bolts of course.
The rest is basically scrap lumber I already had.
I have not given any dimensions in the drawings, not to be secretive
about it, but anyone who would like to copy it, would have to adapt
it to their own bench dimension anyway.
I am building a similar bench and would prefer the cleaner look of just gluing it but am concerned about it not staying down consistently.
I guess the negative of gluing it would be that I couldn't just unscrew the hard board and replace it when it gets beaten up.
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