kayaking_kev Posted February 4, 2021 Posted February 4, 2021 The design I came up with and priced came to around $100 for the lumber and screws, I was wondering if there were any cheaper options. My design was 8 feet long and 30" deep with 2" overhang to clamp stuff in the front, with 5 legs as support, using all 2x4's and finished plywood, with cross braces for added support. Quote
Super User J Francho Posted February 4, 2021 Super User Posted February 4, 2021 $100 for anything built from wood is pretty inexpensive. I've yet to get below the $150 mark for even small wood working projects. 2 Quote
Super User Jig Man Posted February 4, 2021 Super User Posted February 4, 2021 Have you considered advantech for the top? 1 Quote
Super User Jigfishn10 Posted February 4, 2021 Super User Posted February 4, 2021 If you put the table/bench in the corner of 2 walls you can cleat the walls with 1x stock and screw to that, then all you need is 1 additional leg. 1 Quote
Michigander Posted February 4, 2021 Posted February 4, 2021 I built my basement workbench at 51" and just clamp an 8' board to handle my blank supports. Wish I had room for a full 8' table. 2 Quote
kayaking_kev Posted February 4, 2021 Author Posted February 4, 2021 24 minutes ago, Jig Man said: Have you considered advantech for the top? Looks to be more expensive than what I was considering, thanks for the suggestion though. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Top-Choice-Blondewood-1-2-in-Whitewood-Plywood-Application-as-4-x-8/50121137 11 minutes ago, Michigander said: I built my basement workbench at 51" and just clamp an 8' board to handle my blank supports. Wish I had room for a full 8' table. Way better than what I currently got going on, two sawhorses with a piece of pegboard laying on top, haha, it sucks but it's been getting me by. Quote
Michigander Posted February 4, 2021 Posted February 4, 2021 4 minutes ago, kayaking_kev said: Way better than what I currently got going on, two sawhorses with a piece of pegboard laying on top, haha, it sucks but it's been getting me by. I just built this in the fall because I literally didn't even have a sawhorse solution and I knew I wanted to give rod building a go. Overall, I really like it. 1 Quote
Super User Jigfishn10 Posted February 4, 2021 Super User Posted February 4, 2021 Just to plant a seed. My son wanted to get rid of his bed frame and wanted something hung from the wall. I framed it with 1 x 3 strapping, banded the exposed framing with select pine and topped it with 1/4" birch plywood. about $60 complete. My son is bigger now (pic deleted) and still sleeps on 1/4" plywood with a mattress on top. 2 Quote
Super User Fishes in trees Posted February 4, 2021 Super User Posted February 4, 2021 Seems pretty cheap. How does that compare to buying a cheaper picnic table rom a big box store? 1 Quote
kayaking_kev Posted February 4, 2021 Author Posted February 4, 2021 23 minutes ago, Fishes in trees said: Seems pretty cheap. How does that compare to buying a cheaper picnic table rom a big box store? Not sure, but I did look at this option from IKEA, but they don't deliver to my area and I've heard some bad things about their products that scare me. It would of been about $20 cheaper and less work. I would of had to buy two of the table tops and 8 legs. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/linnmon-tabletop-black-brown-00251343/ https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/adils-leg-black-70217973/ Quote
Delaware Valley Tackle Posted February 5, 2021 Posted February 5, 2021 If you have the space go 10’. 1 Quote
kayaking_kev Posted February 5, 2021 Author Posted February 5, 2021 9 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said: If you have the space go 10’. I converted an upstairs spare bedroom to my fishing & building room because it gets a lot of heat and the very max I could go would be 9 ft. for the doors to open and that would be pushing it. It has two doors on one end, one entry and one closet. That's also the reason I really don't want to cleat anything to the walls, for the users who made those suggestions. We plan on buying a new house in the near future. Quote
Super User Jigfishn10 Posted February 5, 2021 Super User Posted February 5, 2021 15 minutes ago, kayaking_kev said: That's also the reason I really don't want to cleat anything to the walls, for the users who made those suggestions. We plan on buying a new house in the near future. Would have been nice if you mentioned that 8 posts up, I could have saved some time trying to help you. I'm done here 1 Quote
kayaking_kev Posted February 5, 2021 Author Posted February 5, 2021 43 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said: Would have been nice if you mentioned that 8 posts up, I could have saved some time trying to help you. I'm done here I sincerely apologize, but I assure you that you didn't waste your time, because it gave me ideas for when I do buy a new house and able to build something more long term. I'm sure it will also give other people who will read this thread in the future ideas, as I often find solutions by searching and reading old threads. I appreciate the time you and everyone else took to give me suggestions and I will try to do a better job at responding quicker in the future. I don't want to make any excuses, but yesterday was a crazy day, I had to get up early and shovel my driveway out, then the plow came and covered it back up, so I had to shovel again, and then we got a couple more inches of snow later in the day and I had to shovel some more. I would login and a quickly try to check the thread when I had a chance and try to reply to the last person that replied before I returned back to work. Please forgive me! Quote
Craig P Posted February 5, 2021 Posted February 5, 2021 3 Heavy Duty Shelf Brackets, say 18" x 16". About $8 each at Home Depot and a door blank or slab for around $40 secured to the studs that make up a wall. You're not going to do any serious hammering or mount a heavy vice to it but for making lures, rods and other fishing related items, it's perfect. Plus no legs to bang your knees into. I currently use mine to make spinners with my Hagen's Wire Former mounted to the corner and it also doubles as an electronics bench when I am tinkering with that stuff. 1 Quote
Super User .ghoti. Posted February 5, 2021 Super User Posted February 5, 2021 My wrapper bench was, and still is, pretty cheap. two 4’ sections kitchen counter, on sale, $36 Two 8’ 4x4, $24 supports for counter top four 8’ 2x4. $24 legs four 2x2 $16 bracing box of deck screws $6 lathe bench was a kit from Amazon $200 rod rack was bought at a swap meet $25 2 Quote
kayaking_kev Posted February 5, 2021 Author Posted February 5, 2021 9 hours ago, Craig P said: 3 Heavy Duty Shelf Brackets, say 18" x 16". About $8 each at Home Depot and a door blank or slab for around $40 secured to the studs that make up a wall. You're not going to do any serious hammering or mount a heavy vice to it but for making lures, rods and other fishing related items, it's perfect. Plus no legs to bang your knees into. I currently use mine to make spinners with my Hagen's Wire Former mounted to the corner and it also doubles as an electronics bench when I am tinkering with that stuff. 7 minutes ago, .ghoti. said: My wrapper bench was, and still is, pretty cheap. two 4’ sections kitchen counter, on sale, $36 Two 8’ 4x4, $24 supports for counter top four 8’ 2x4. $24 legs four 2x2 $16 bracing box of deck screws $6 lathe bench was a kit from Amazon $200 rod rack was bought at a swap meet $25 Some good ideas, thanks! I'll look into some prices next time I'm out. There is a restore business just a few blocks from me that has some used inventory that I might be able to find some materials on the cheap also. If not, the $100 for my original design doesn't seem so expensive now, but at least I got some different options now. Thanks again! Quote
BigAngus752 Posted February 6, 2021 Posted February 6, 2021 Couple thoughts if you are flexible on size: You can buy hardwood plywood at the big box stores in 4x8 sheets. If you buy the maple plywood and seal it with Tung oil you get a nice hard top for cheap ($50-ish). If you rip the 4x8 sheet lengthwise you get two 2ft x 8ft bench tops or one top and one shelf. If you need a heavy bench you can put 3/4 OSB under the 3/4 Maple plywood and you've got a nice thick top. If 4x4 legs are too expensive you can buy the cheapest length of 2x4s and screw them together for a sturdy leg. Also, as mentioned by @.ghoti., if you look around in the kitchen or discount areas of the box stores or talk with an employee in the kitchen departments you can find all sorts of different brand new "damaged" or just "not picked up" counters on the cheap. Same with Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. The easiest, cheapest light duty bench in the world is someone's old Craigslist kitchen cabinets and counter and they usually look pretty good. Happy shopping! One other suggestion, if you are going to try to cut corners/price and build a lightweight bench I strongly suggest that you buy some angle brackets/corner braces/hurricane brackets to use instead of just screws. The brackets cost pennies and will make a wobbly design much less wobbly. 1 Quote
kayaking_kev Posted February 7, 2021 Author Posted February 7, 2021 On 2/5/2021 at 7:37 PM, BigAngus752 said: If 4x4 legs are too expensive you can buy the cheapest length of 2x4s and screw them together for a sturdy leg. Do you think 4x4 are a absolute necessity, as I was planning on trying to get away with 2x4 as legs? Quote
BigAngus752 Posted February 7, 2021 Posted February 7, 2021 32 minutes ago, kayaking_kev said: Do you think 4x4 are a absolute necessity, as I was planning on trying to get away with 2x4 as legs? Not at all if you only need a light bench. You may want to put supports between them if it wobbles. Scrap 2x4 works perfectly for that. 1 Quote
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