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Ultimate DIY Garage Workbench

12K views 90 replies 29 participants last post by  taledarkside 
#1 ·
I recently freed up quite a bit of room in my garage and am thinking about building a workbench. I’m collecting some ideas so I was wondering what you guys would like to have built into your workbench if you could design your own ultimate workbench. I have some ideas so far:

• Desktop computer w/wall mounted monitor and stereo
• Mini fridge and/or kegorator
• 120V Power strip (4ft long or so full of outlets)
• 12V Power supply for testing car electronics
• Bench vise and grinder
• Possibly sectional w/locking casters for cleaning under

These are some basics, but what else would you guys would build into the bench?
 
#5 ·
#10 ·
Who are you kidding? Just save yourself the money and the time of building a workbench you were going to use to disguise a fleshlight, and just buy the fleshlight only and make sure you lock the bathroom door.:lmao:
 
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#13 ·
LOL.


Agree..... the Bench Grinder makes a real mess.

So can a drill-press.


You need to anchor the bench.
If you connect it wood / wood to the house .... it transmits your pounding into the house.
Better if you anchor it to the floor.


Tom
 
#14 ·
If you connect it wood / wood to the house .... it transmits your pounding into the house.

Tom
Intentional or not, this sentence is awesome :jester
 
#17 ·
Jeebus, if these are the basics, my garage quallifies as a glorified tool shed.

The CLSB Ballers never fail to disappoint. :bow
 
#18 ·
Basics in the sense of basic workbench features I'd like to incorporate. I'd also like to have storage for 5gallon water bottles, recycle bins, trash, lighting, etc but that's why I was looking for additional ideas to see if I missed anything.

If I do this I would be going about 75% of the length of the back side of my 2 car garage so it should be able to fit some of these extras. Do you have any cool stuff in your "tool shed" that I'm missing on my list?
 
#22 ·
This is an old phone picture but it will give a general idea. Of course, now there's no motorcycle so that’s why I have the room. Tools are now in front of the ladder area (far right) and the potential workbench would go from the stairs to the toolbox. The far left side would be a wooden version of the current plastic shelves with the addition of a garbage can location.

I was thinking that the existing shelving might be a great location to hang a florescent light fixture.
 

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#30 ·
I have a feeling I will have a hard time finding a pre-built bench that will fit what I'm looking for, plus I have access to Solidworks at home to design it. With that in mind, I'll probably just build the whole thing myself. Doing that will leave me some more opportunities to customize and add what I want.

I had someone on another forum suggest attaching a receiver (and no, not a flesh light receiver) to the bench and attaching a vise, grinder, drill press to a hitch like post so you can swap out the tools as necessary. Anyone done this before?
 
#37 ·
I had someone on another forum suggest attaching a receiver (and no, not a flesh light receiver) to the bench and attaching a vise, grinder, drill press to a hitch like post so you can swap out the tools as necessary. Anyone done this before?
I dont like them, they tend to wobble or get loose while using the grinder or drill press. for a vise sure, as long as i didnt need to vise to hold somethign motionless while using a hacksaw,sawzall,grinder etc
 
#32 ·
Seriously though, start first with *what* you plan on using the bench for. Then build around that. Especially if you're really going to build a proper bench. Since I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted when we moved in, I started with the easy stuff...did a nice epoxy floor, added a crapload of fluorescent lights, then picked up some cabinets from the Ikea As-Is department and cobbled this all together.



I don't have photos of the mess it is today, but the top cabinets extend all across the back wall, and I've built a small reloading bench with a vice that has lockable wheels that parks out of the way in the corner of the room, and I'm building a matching one for the other side that's just going to be a clean, flat top bench for glueing up projects or whatever I need space for. Plus I've pretty much tripled my tools.

After figuring what you want to use it for and getting a basic size and design down, storage and organization should be considered and designed in. Add shelving/cabinets as needed.

 
#62 ·
Pfft LED that garage up with some LEd cans Will look alot nicer and brighter
 
#36 ·
I'd be willing to wait to get those for $99 but I have handiwall slatwall on my walls that uses traditional 3" slat spacing, the gladiator line uses proprietary spacing so their products only fit on their wall products. I'll be using standard generic slatwall hangers to hang cabinets from.


old picture but you get the idea

 
#44 ·
Just listed my Craftsman tool box set on CL and in the for sale section and am looking for a new one. Since I need to go bigger, I was thinking one of those double banked bottom roller cabinets with the option to add on the top box at a later time. I saw this set from US General at Harbor Freight and while I’m not super excited about some of the stuff that comes from there, the construction of these boxes felt really great. It has all the same features as the higher end Craftsman versions, good weighted drawers, ball bearing slides, locks if I remember correctly but at around half the price. I know it won’t be top of the line, but I can’t afford the Matco’s and Snap-On stuff for my house – just need something for solid storage.

I was also thinking about disassembling it all when I got it and painting it Lime Green just for the heck of it.

Thoughts on these boxes?

http://www.harborfreight.com/roller-cabinet-44-13-drawer-gloss-red-industrial-uality-68784.html



http://www.harborfreight.com/red-roller-cabinet-top-chest-68787.html

 
#45 ·
I checked out some of the boxes are HF, and I found them to be made of thin material. I could take the box at the corners, and *twist* the whole thing, binding the drawers.

I wound up getting a nice small box at Menards on sale, for $225 I think. It's probably not as big as what I could have gotten at HF, but it's a little more sturdy.
 
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