Featured Wonderful Vintage Workbench Dewoblizationthat isn’t

This old steel-topped yellow-pine workbench measures 60x30x30 1/4”. We were really anxious to put it to work, it is wonderfully well-made and sturdy, and has a useful 1/4” thick steel top. But after eons of hard use, it had loosened up slightly so the top could be pushed maybe 1/4” sideways, and with more hard use, that would only get worse. I can’t work on a workbench that isn’t solid and stable. So in only a couple of hours, we took the screws out, lifted off the heavy top, and put Gorilla glue on each leg tenon and moistened the mating surface per the instructions. We then lowered the top back down and replaced the 16 ea. 5/16x2” wood screws with 5/16x3” lag bolts. Even before the glue had set, the workbench was rock-solid. We still have to replace a broken slat or two in the shelf, but this bench can now be used for many more decades with no wobbling. It is too short for us so we’ll probably put wood beams 6” high under the ends. We’re not going to change the appearance, I like the “functional” and well-used look it has now.

 

Looks like a great vintage welding table...one corner dug out to put ground clamp on metal top.

 

Thanks for catching that, I’d thought it was just damage but now that you mention it, it is certainly an intentional cut. There was once a vise on the corner diagonally opposite; the plugged bolt holes and unmistakeable vise-base outline are visible. The last use may have been for pouring various colors of molten plastic or wax-like stuff into or onto something, since drips of that stuff are all over the sides of the bench. We’ll store some heavy stuff on either side of the shelf to increase stability; we don’t bolt things to the floor due to landlord rules and because we like being able to move things around easily.

 

Aaaalmost done! Pallet underneath puts bench at proper height, plywood on pallet keeps dropped objects from getting inside pallet, metal gravity anchors (aka pulleys) hold bench onto pallet. Still have to put a plywood sheet over gravity anchors or they’ll gather dust and dirt that’s very hard to remove.

 

that's some serious hardware !

 

Cheeze Spring!!! Is THAT what you look like all shaved and tidied up???!!! Love the blue hair too!!!! Oh, and the bench has turned out VERRRRY SERVICEABLE LOOKING AS WELL

 

Frequently-changing avatar is whatever impressed me recently, particularly in the horror/sci-fi movie genre. I like to look up some of the stars, like Donna Martell. She had to be one of the most byootiful wimmen ever!

 

Finishing up. Made a plywood cover for the gravity anchors, in 3 pieces glued with Gorilla glue. Most any glueing job has to be put under pressure to hold well so we put weights on it. Then I remembered I had many 55 lb. lead plates so I used them for a more compact, even-surfaced gravity anchor. 8 of them are in place under the plywood in 2nd picture. Now we can work on materials on the steel-covered top and beat the
H—l out of them if needed without bothering the workbench.