Evaluate my workbench idea and design

[Frederick Wilson]

I am thinking about building two identical benchs pictured below.

2'x6'
3" overhang on front and side
0" overhang on the back
high enough to line up with the table saw top (out-feed table)
3" casters with locking action on rotation and axis

Here are some thoughts
Normal location will be end to end against the back wall of the garage. When needed for an out feed table just roll it in place. For assembly table place both benches back to back and clamp together (4'x6' table).

The front bracing is left off to facilitate storage of other roll around cabinets. I am concerned that leaving this brace off will allow the bench to rack side to side. If you think so I might put it in place and fill in the area with drawers and do away with the roll around tool box.

Workbench2.png

Thank you.

[Jamie Buxton]

Yes, bracing against wracking is a good thing. The aprons you show should do enough for you. If you're concerned, you could make the aprons a little taller.

I'd make the top from two layers of plywood rather than one. It'll give less when you pound on it.

Storage is a key thing in a workshop. My bench is full of drawers for hand tools, and powered hand tools. All loaded up, it is darn heavy. It has wheels, but the weight has basically anchored it in place. If you really expect to roll your benches around, put good wheels on them.

Garage floors are rarely flat. The concrete guys think they're just making a floor for a car, so they're not worried about flat. The floor non-flatness may mean that if you clamp the two tables together as one big assembly table, the top of the one big table will not be flat. You can certainly make them flat, but you'll likely need to design in features to do that. For instance, you can use leveling feet so you can jack the tables up and down, and change their angles. The leveling feet will also make it easier to align the table top to the top of the tablesaw, again given that the floor is not flat.

[Andrew Joiner]

Jamie makes some good points. I had 2 identical benches with 3'x7' tops for years . It was a nice setup for me. Typically I left them 3' apart and stood between them for most small jobs. I made lots of big store fixtures and commercial cases. I could support big assemblies, one end on each bench and work in the middle.
Mine were on large nylon glides with smooth concrete floors. I could slide them as needed with no casters to lock and unlock.

Your idea makes good sense to me ,Frederick.

[Edward Mitton]

Also remember that all garage floors have a slight slope to them (Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it's somewhere around 1/2" per 8 feet).
This is for the purpose of allowing water runoff toward the main garage door. If any of your longer benches run parallel to this slope, you will likely need to level them with shims, or whatever. In my garage shop, I have a 12' bench/cabinet that runs along the floor slope. I ended up attaching the benchtop underframe to the wall using a level, then cutting the various legs to the correct lengths in accordance to where they would be on the sloped floor.