Work Benches

[david tremaine]

Is your name Eric? We spoke at the meeting on Wednesday, but I can't remember now.

Here is what I'm thinking - hopefully some of this will be useful.

The combination of features you're proposing seems like a neat idea for a home workshop, but I think a little overbuilt for a shared workspace, where different people will be using the same workbench/table from day to day, or even hour to hour.
In looking at pictures of other makerspaces/hackerspaces and Techshops, I see basic, sturdy, smooth-topped tables with 4 legs and no understructure (such as shelves or drawers). Also, most don't even have casters, which can have their own drawbacks.

Here are the properties I see being desirable in a workbench/table design for a shared workspace such as ours.

- strong enough to be hammered on top of, and have a vice mounted that can get wrenched on pretty hard, so a thick (1"-3") top and tight, well-engineered frame (probably wood structure with steel connections for longevity)

- pretty big - able to accomodate several people working on one project, or lots of parts and pieces splayed out on one surface (I'm imagining between 3'x6' and 4'x8')

- affordable, using free or cheap materials when possible (think wood and screws over steel tubing, osb over plywood, recycled lumber over store-bought) and probably a minimal amount of metal or purchased components/materials. Keep in mind, though, that a little steel can go a long way in strengthening a structure.

- multipurpose, able to accomodate a wide variety of activities, from electronics assembly to painting to carpentry, but probably not hot metalworking (which would deserve a separate work surface and work area, due to hazardous levels of noise, dust, fumes, and light).

- easily cleaned and prepared for the next person/group to use. A painted or laminated surface would, then, probably be preferable to raw osb or plywood, both of which are somewhat rough and dirty, and more susceptible to damage or spills and stains.

- flexible: usable by more than one person at a time, so being open on all sides might be desirable; able to be used standing or sitting, so open underneath might be preferable to having storage space. Having the option to easily attach and remove a pegboard/whiteboard, or a safety screen, to keep innocent bystanders safer from projectiles or dangerous laser light, or to keep mess contained.

also along those lines, it'd be great to have a design for a table/bench that's useful for more than one type of person. There could be as much as a two foot difference in height between the tallest person and smallest person wanting to use a workbench (or more, if young kids are ever welcome), so having legs with an adjustable height feature could be really awesome for those folks who don't fall into the average height demographic. I haven't seen this in pictures I've looked at of other shared workshops - I don't know if that's because it's difficult to implement (raising or lowering a heavy workbench one leg at a time could be difficult or dangerous if you don't have easy access to a sturdy jack of some kind) and maybe it's just easier to have different workbenches at different dedicated heights

- mobile: this one should be pretty easy, and probably won't require casters. I think we can come up with a design that's sturdy enough for most anything without being so heavy that 2 people couldn't comfortable lift it and carry it 50 feet over flat ground. If not, I've seen sources for 4" locking casters online that pencil out to around $4-5, shipped, when bought in quantities around 20 wheels.

- powered: in my imagination, each workbench would have a healthy-sized (8 plugs) grounded powerstrip capable of providing 15-20 amps (overkill in most scenarios) of 120v current. Electricians - would GFCI be a wise choice here? I don't have a good understanding of the technology.

- well-lit: the lighting in the Toolbox warehouse is fine for large-scale projects, but seems insufficient if we're working on small parts or fine details, or working inside a computer case. If there were a safe way to hang a 1 to 2 lamp 4' T8 fluorescent fixture over each workbench, I'd think that plenty?