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Work Bench Size

Badger1220

Badger1220

Member
I am currently working on getting my shop area, equipment, and tools put together. After looking and many builder sites, I would like to hear from others on minimum work bench widths. I have constructed one EAA that is 24 x 60 and was planning on building one more and setting them end to end.

I my concerned that the 24" width is too narrow. All feedback is welcomed.
 
I built mine using only 1 EAA workbench and I put it on wheels to make it easy to stow in my garage. And now it works great over at the hangar!

I did have my normal garage workbench for tooling - dimpler, grinder and tools.

As I finished each piece I hung them up on the wall out of the way.

Good luck!
 
If you have the room I'd go bigger. My bench was 4' X 10'. Large enough for a wing with room for tools, etc around. The large size also came in handy when I had several things going at once.
 
Mine is about 40" x 5'. The extra depth was handy when working on larger pieces, like wing skins. If you have room for 2 of the EAA benches & can set them up either way, that should work out fine. Bonus info: if you're using a C-frame & mallet for dimpling, a very rigid & massive surface under the C-frame helps a lot. You can move it to the floor, or build a very massive table top. I lucked into some sections of maple bowling lane (~3" thick) & used that for my work bench top.

edit: being able to work all the way around the bench can come in handy, too.

Charlie
 
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30" x 16 feet along one wall where there is a vice, drill press, belt sander, and bench grinder mounted. Two folding banquet tables, dimpling table and one for painting small parts. In the same way that you can't have too much money, altitude, fuel, or runway ahead of you, you almost can't have too many work benches (and tools). :)
 
To a point, wider is better

...mine was 42" x 90", so it would fit into the shop attached to my garage and still allow access to my wall bench. There were just a few times ... Like working on the T/U canopy Fairing ... When I could have used a tad more width. (I.e. 48" rather than 42"). I definitely would have been hampered by a 24" or 30" width.
 
One large one and a smaller one

I made one large one at 48"x8', or one sheet of 3/4" ply wood. I also have one made the same size as the EAA workbench. I use the large one almost exclusively.

I have a vice mounted at one end, so I still have plenty of room for almost every thing else I want to work on. I create a T with the EAA workbench for working on the wings.
 
I've got two fixed ones on walls. They are 24" deep and I should have made them 30". They are 7' and 8' long.

The 3' x 7' one on wheels is great, so far plenty adequate. I used to have a 4' wide table and it was too wide for me.

Bear in mind I'm building an RV-3B, so you might need a different size. But the 24" deep tables are definitely insufficient.

Dave
 
With bench top grinder, sander, band saw, vice etc I've got something like 40' of bench top space and I still often enough find myself wanting more. I'm pretty sure I could fill any amount of available bench space given enough time. :)

All of my tops are 24" deep. I can't recall ever really wanting deeper though I do dimple wing skins on the floor.
 
Imbedding the dimplier

I have a DRDT-2 dimplier and I was able to imbed it in the table so the dimpling level was flush with the table top. (I think this would be just as useful with a C frame dimplier) If you make it with an insertable panel you can take out the dimplier, put in the panel and you have a nice long uninterrupted work surface.

Jim
 
QB or SB?

I think it'll vary alittle depending on QB or SB?

I've built QB on both my -7's, so I can't say if you need a bigger bench for SB.
Maybe someone who have built both types can chime in?
 
Built 4 EAA benches on locking castors. One is dedicated to the bench grinder, bandsaw, drill press, and belt sander.

The remaining three have been configured in a variety of ways to accommodate the need at the time. Most often, they're arranged in a "T" formation but, for dimpling, two have to be placed together on their long sides for the C-Frame table.

Wish I had made the tops with an overhang on those long sides so clamps could more easily be used.

There's plenty of room to store rivet guns, drill, squeezer, rivet sets, yokes and die sets underneath two of the benches. The 4th often serves as a horizontal surface for the opened plans, instruction binder and whatever.

Glad I made them.
 
I built 4 of the EAA benches and have configured them many different ways. I also modified the plans slightly and built one 4' x 3', specifically for the C-frame dimpler. Moved the two top supports so they are closer together in the middle (one under each side of the dimpler) and then added a second sheet of plywood to the top surface... Cut into two pieces and separated just enough that the dimpler sits between them. With the dimpler in place, and a piece of scrap medium-pile carpet on either side, skins slide nicely through the jaws.
 
Snowflake said:
I built 4 of the EAA benches and have configured them many different ways. I also modified the plans slightly and built one 4' x 3', specifically for the C-frame dimpler. Moved the two top supports so they are closer together in the middle (one under each side of the dimpler) and then added a second sheet of plywood to the top surface... Cut into two pieces and separated just enough that the dimpler sits between them. With the dimpler in place, and a piece of scrap medium-pile carpet on either side, skins slide nicely through the jaws.
Click to expand...

Snowflake - Like that idea for the dimpler. Have a couple of photos?
 
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