Project : Workshop

[BenG]

I've built a Workbench.

All the benches I've viewed online do not look up to the job and are no where near big or solid enough so I didn't have much choice but to build my own. I used all the left over wood that I used for the shuttering when the concrete was done and the legs were left over from some fencing, there is approx. £300 worth of wood in total which had already served its purpose so it sort of didn't really cost me anything.

It's 4M long, 28 Inches wide, 900mm working height with a 2" worktop.

It took me around 5 days to make, I'm really pleased how it turned out












I need to give it a coat with something hard wearing but I'm not sure what, I thought perhaps bees wax?

Does anyone have any ideas?

Cheers

 

[Llolyg]

Wow what a cool project.

Just read through the whole thread, good work Ben

 

[BenG]

3 coats of Yacht Varnish later...







That's better.

I think I may build some cupboards into it for some extra storage.

 

[Kangoosport]

Bench looks great but 5 days? I bet you charge by the hour don't you

 

[BenG]

Ha. I just plodded on slowly with it, no rush. It took a while to cut the wood to the right shapes and sizes, then it all had to be cleaned and sanded. I maybe spent 2/3 hours a day on it before I got bored

 

[SoS]

Just read through the whole thread, such a great project! I would love to do similar although I think it is getting harder now to find land and get planning. What do you think the rough total cost came in at (if you don't mind me asking)?

 

[BenG]

I'd say around £12,000 for the building (in kit form), foundation work and concrete floor.

It's relatively cheap for what you get. I've seen small garages for sale in the area going for £10k - £12k which would just about squeeze a car in. I'm very lucky to have the land and extremely fortunate to have had planning permission for the building.

 

[Kangoosport]

Was that 12k erected?

 

[BenG]

I erected it myself so it didn't cost anything additional. So yes, £
12k erected.

in the beginning I approached some local firms and the cheapest quote I got was for £18k erected but without a floor.

 

[Kangoosport]

Right but if I bought one I'd have to pay someone. So it would be additional cost...

 

[BenG]

Aye, the building kit was £8k, that was a while back and I did a lot of phoning around and bartering. There's no way I'd get the same price now with the cost of wood and steel etc rising.
The concrete floor was £2.8k and the foundations cost approximately £1k.

 

[SoS]

Thanks for the costings, even with someone else doing the work £20k would probably get something similar which is a good price! Need to start hunting for land!

 

[Kangoosport]

Me too.. I'd love my own rent free workshop..

 

[BenG]

It's just missing electricity. The owner of a rather large piece of land next to mine is in the process of building a house on it, he's just had electricity installed taken from the nearest supply, the lines have had to be run quite far and a transformer has been installed, it cost him over £50k!

Sod that!

 

[Kangoosport]

Buy a genny lol

 

[Big Dave]

Likeing the work bench.. Looks good and solid...What size timbers did you use, especially on the top....
Thats my next project.....

 

[Kangoosport]

My father in law made us a cutting table out of scrap wood and you would think it was bespoke furniture.. He is brilliant. . We even made a plaque and put it on the end

 

[BenG]

Dave,

For the legs I used 4" x 4". Every other piece was cut from 8 lengths of 8" x 2" which I made into 7" x 2" using a saw bench. So the top and sides are all 2" thick. The reason I made them into 7" was because the wood had been slightly rounded at the edges, so when I joined the 4 pieces together for the work top there would have been a groove between them, which would have be inadequate. I took a half inch from both sides. The rails along the bottom are 2" thick and about 3.5" wide.

 

[BenG]

Workshop toys...

Arcan 3 Tonne Axel Stands. (£50)



Arcan 1.8 Ton Jack. (£140)





I can't believe I've done without that jack for so long, it's brilliant! I've been managing with a Halfords 2 ton jack for a few years, it felt good throwing that piece of crap out and I'll never look back!

I've not had to use the axle stands yet but they have more height than my others and are more adjustable so they will be a good improvement, probably as good as I'll get without installing a car lift.

Big Toys...



Roll on Summer!

 

[BenG]

Well, after surviving 2 winters in the tin shed I made the decision to insulate the walls and roof. During the cold winter months the temperature is the same as outside and the only difference is that I'm protected from the elements. I've had a relatively small 10kw space heater in there running at the highest setting and it makes absolutely no difference unless I'm stood 2ft in front of it. The air also becomes damp and as a result any metal objects left out begin to develop a small amount of rust.

After pricing up some insulation I came to the conclusion that Knauf FrameTherm rolls were the most reasonable in price, although it would be a pain in the arse to fit. The sides were relatively easy to do but the roof was rather difficult. I used 150mm around the sides and 170mm on the roof, this was simply because that's how thick the wooden purlins are.

This is how it looked during installation.





In total the insulation cost between £500/£600.