I like developing with my arms. I specially delight in making handy merchandise out of wooden. Regretably, my self-intended and self-created garage 6 X 3 foot workbench has a tendency to come to be littered with miscellaneous “things”, and I find myself at my wit’s finish trying to develop tasks on a piece of plywood strung across two folding sawhorses. Not great, I will concur. I do appreciate the comfort of being equipped to consider down and put absent the factors of my makeshift operating floor. What I never like is that the operating area is not that steady and needs a individual set of clamps to hold the operating best to the sawhorses.
Casting about for anything a lot more robust than a hunk of plywood and some adjustable clamps, I discovered there are a range of folding workbenches on the market place from makers like Worx, Black and Decker, and sold at destinations like Home Depot, Lowes, and Harbor Freight. Their rates are diverse, but they all have equivalent options. I specifically like benches that fold flat, are quickly stored, have developed-in adjustable “vises”, and can have average masses.
Right after studying the a variety of choices, I settled on an affordable folding workbench from Harbor Freight.
Immediately after exploring the a variety of offerings, I settled on an inexpensive folding workbench from Harbor Freight. Rate was a analyzing element. You can see what I lastly purchased by following the website link embedded underneath in the Useful resource section down below.
The folding workbench comes as a kit. The essential features are preassembled. I had to mount the two hand crank assemblies to the two fiberboard perform surface area, then mount the legs and their stiffening cross associates that also double as software stations. Assembly went promptly I only essential to provide a Philips head screwdriver.
Regrettably, the concluded workbench does not fold totally flat. But the workbench does functionality as I preferred: it is really a sturdy, transportable workbench that I can quickly have all over the dwelling or out into the again property to exercising my woodworking prowess. Introducing a couple of further velocity clamps and a moveable carpenter’s 6″ vise, and I am very good to go (my first venture was to make and connect two ¼” picket struggling with items to that 6″ carpenter’s vise’s steel jaws).
Upon searching at the workbench’s development, it arrived to me that with a few small modifications, this workbench could be materially enhanced. And which is what prompted me to compose this “How To” posting to doc what I did to my workbench.
There are five locations on that workbench that, with some slight rework, will materially boost its efficiency and probably prolong its operating everyday living. None of these recommendations are important, or even needed for the everyday user. None of these suggestions are difficult to apply, but I locate that they will probably be well worth the hard work as time passes.
Space #1: The “fold-flat” attribute.
When this workbench is assembled in accordance to the instructions, when folded, the handles lay pointing down the legs towards the ground. By reversing the way the legs are mounted (specifically reversed from the installation instructions), the handles now are on major of the folded bench, point away from the legs, and the legs do indeed completely fold flat! An quick deal with.
Space #2: The hand-crank clamp direct screw adjustment.
I observed that the board that is mounted to the hand-cranked lead screw that helps make the work area boards operate as a designed-in vise, was unfastened, and flopped around as the handles had been cranked. To solution this, I employed a wrench to tighten the crank shaft attachment on the moveable get the job done area so that there was fewer participate in as the device is cranked. Never about tighten, or the board will not transfer at all!
Space #3: The hand cranked lead screw sheet metallic end clamp support.
Every single of the hand crank lead screws goes by an stop plate that’s bent from the leg assistance sheet steel. If you glimpse carefully, you are going to observe that the direct screw plate is secured to the sidewalls by two sheet metal “ears” and two tiny dimples in the sidewalls. That looks like a opportunity supply of failure downstream: absolutely nothing stops the sidewalls from separating and enabling the crank to turn out to be free. My repair? Basic: I installed a clamping and securing bolt by the sidewalls just behind the stop plate. To safe the sideplates and preventing them from spreading aside, about 1 inch from the finish plate, I drilled a ¼” clearance hole as a result of the two sideplates (that also mount the legs) and place a 1 ½ inch very long, ¼ -20 bolt with a washer and a locknut. Tightening the locknut helps make the endplate securely clamped to the sidewall plates this will avoid any inclination for that endplate keeping the leadscrew and cranking handles from coming unfastened about time.
Space #4: Cutting down friction.
The assembly recommendations had me working with a bolt, two washers, and a locknut on each and every leg to keep it in put. Issue is, that usually means that the legs will don on the sideplates. Not a fantastic plan. I acquired 8 far more flat stainless steel washers and slipped those people washers in in between the legs and the sidepanels. Now the legs will don on the washers instead of the sideplates. This makes the leg securing assembly consist of the bolt head, washer, sideplate, washer, leg, washer, other sideplate, washer, then the locknut. So every of the legs now has 4 washers: two washers on the outside the house of the aspect panels, and two washers to maintain the leg from rubbing on the sidewall right. Again, really don’t overtighten, or the workbench would not fold up.
Place #5: Generating things operate effortlessly.
Be sure to lubricate all going surfaces with oil, WD-40™ or a dry movie lubricant (You can use a mild grease on the two guide screws, but if you grease the sliding rail, I assume you may locate that the grease will possibly be a sawdust magnet!). Be confident to lubricate all sliding or rotating joints and connectors, specially those additional washers on the legs wherever they mount to the sideplates.
Location #6: Substitute the fiberboard get the job done surfaces.
Although this is a bench made for gentle to moderate hundreds, you could possibly contemplate replacing the worksurface’s fiberboards with lengths of 1½ X4 inch lumber, suitably drilled holes for the plastic dogging clamp inserts. If you are at ease with a power planer or router, make a suited undercut to obvious the hand cranks and use 1 ½ X 6 inch planks for the do the job surfaces. That will give you a broader doing the job surface when the two panels are cranked to the max.
As I said at the commencing of this article, none of these rework merchandise are unquestionably essential the workbench will function pretty nicely as is if you simply adhere to the incorporated assembly recommendations. But I believe these slight mods and reworks will improve your satisfaction of this inexpensive folding workbench. I know I have.
