Posted by NorCal Dave on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 19:05:37 :
In Reply to: OT: Shop Work Bench Height posted by Will (in IL) on Sunday, February 18, 2007 at 17:16:22 :
When I built my garage, I made the work bench so I could roll my toolboxes underneath. Standard 5 drawer rolling tool boxes slide under it and act like cabinet drawers, but when Im working on the truck I can roll them out to the truck or driveway or whatever. Its a great way to hide them away so they arent taking up space in the middle of the garage or against a wall that could be better utilized by a shelving rack.
Rather than vertical legs, I made the legs so they run diagonally from the front of the top to the bottom back to the wall. Very easy to sweep underneath then and you don't keep whacking your leg. I also clad the top, with backsplash, with a piece of 20 ga. galvanized. The other walls are lined with storage shelves/racks and I put my hand and powertools on one set, then put all the other "stuff" into labeled $5 clear plastic tubs. Easy to organize and find stuff. Easy to move and it protects it. Electrical stuff in one rack, automotive in another, woodworking in the other rack, etc.
I put 4" sq electrical boxes about 12" above the surface height of the workbench and ran two circuits into each, all GFI protected. Therefore when I trip a circuit, I only loose half the outlets and none of the lights.
One cautionary note about GFI circuits in a garage. I have a freezer in the garage, and even though its relatively new, when it kicks on, it can trip the circuit. I came home from the timberfarm last night, after several days, only to find that the garage door and freezer didnt work but the lights did. Different circuits and the Freezer triped the GFI on one of the outlet circuits. Just something to be aware of.