Machining work bench

Hey Guys, so I finally got a decent tool box to hold my machining tooling...

Craftsman 41inch tool chest...
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To house the tool chest I decided to build a nice sturdy metal work bench. It will be really nice have to have a bench near the Mill and lathe.

So the plan is to build a sturdy metal frame around the tool chest and then put a 1/4in steel top on it. This is just a work bench NOT a welding table, so a really thick top isn't required.

I'm also going to incorporate a system so that the bench can have wheels that raise/ lower if I want to move it.

Here's all the steel that will soon become a bench...

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I used my mill to drill out holes in the front and back pieces of the frame.
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The holes on the bottom frame will be for leveing feet...
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I cut to length some 3/4in steel round stock and pre-drilled to size the ID for threading.
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Next the round stock was welded in place and threads cut through the whole 2.5in length...
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pre-fit of leveling feet...
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I used the same process for the top frame. The threaded holes in the top frame are to allow attachent points if the bench needs to be hoised in a truck etc... 1/2-13 bolts can be used.
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Now that that was done it was time to start building the the frame for the top out of metal 2x2 and 2x4 (1/8 wall). Yhe dimensions for the top is 28in wide × 50in long.
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Next up was to build the bottom frame that supports the tool chest...
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I ran out of welding wire, so that's as far as I got for now.
 
So I picked up some paint for the machine bench, I went with battleship grey. Originally I was going to do catelyized automotive paint like I did on my Mill and Lathe, but decided that having to mix paint every time I want to touch up a scratch would be a pain, and being this is a 'work' bench i'm sure i'll get scratched often, so I just went with an enamel paint instead. This bench is only going to be inside so i'm not super worried about rust, the paint is mainly cosmetic.
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I also got some grade 5 bolts to attach the casters. The cheap mastercraft sockets are going to be welded to the sizor jacks, that way with the use of an extension I can use my battery powered impact driver to very quickly raise and lower the casters when needed. (a rachet would work to.)

This evening I was able to get the guide rails for the lowering mechanism on the otherside welded in place...
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Finally I drilled the holes for mounting the casters to the metal 2x4. I only had time to do one side, i'll drill the other side next time.
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Using the mill to drill a bolt pattern sure makes it simple to drill the patter squarely. Have the mill is great, don't know how I got along without it for so long!
 
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I have been contemplating your comment regarding using a mill to do the drilling operations. I have always found floor drill presses to be lacking. Their tables lack good support and seem to flex too much while drilling, and the tables are generally too small for most of the work I have done.

So my thought is to have my mill be the drill press and not to bother with a a separate unit. Besides any of the ones I would buy are almost as expensive as the mill.
 
I have been contemplating your comment regarding using a mill to do the drilling operations. I have always found floor drill presses to be lacking. Their tables lack good support and seem to flex too much while drilling, and the tables are generally too small for most of the work I have done.

So my thought is to have my mill be the drill press and not to bother with a a separate unit. Besides any of the ones I would buy are almost as expensive as the mill.
Ya I really like using the mill as a drill press. Using the X and Y axis makes makes it really easy to drill accuratly in a pattern or strait line, etc... Also both the vice and the Mill are way more ridgid than my drill press and its vice, which can tend to shake and flex if doing heavy drilling.

The only downsides I can see versus a drill press is, since my mill only has a single handle for lowering the quill drilling deep holes is a bit awkward, you can of course use the knee, but its a bit more work than just pulling down on a 3 handle drill press quill for deep holes. The other down side is you have to actually get up on a stool to install the chuck, vs the drill press I just leave the chuck installed, so if I just had to drill one hole without to much precision the drill press might be better. Finally even with a big knee mill the drill press does offer a little more verticle clearance for drilling large/tall objects. Oh and if drilling holes in wood i'd proabbly rather not get sawdust all over the Mill so I might be inclined to use the press for wood also.

I already have an older import floor mounted 'delta' drill press that I inherited from my grandfather. So i'll keep it around for the odd time that its more suitable, but I doubt it will be used much now that I have the Mill.
 
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Ya I really like using the mill as a drill press. Using the X and Y axis makes makes it really easy to drill accuratly in a pattern or strait line, etc... Also both the vice and the Mill are way more ridgid than my drill press and its vice, which can tend to shake and flex if doing heavy drilling.

The only downsides I can see versus a drill press is, since my mill only has a single handle for lowering the quill drilling deep holes is a bit awkward, you can of course use the knee, but its a bit more work than just pulling down on a 3 handle drill press quill for deep holes. The other down side is you have to actually get up on a stool to install the chuck, vs the drill press I just leave the chuck installed, so if I just had to drill one hole without to much precision the drill press might be better. Finally even with a big knee mill the drill press does offer a little more verticle clearance for drilling large/tall objects. Oh and if drilling holes in wood i'd proabbly rather not get sawdust all over the Mill so I might be inclined to use the press for wood also.

I already have an older import floor mounted 'delta' drill press that I inherited from my grandfather. So i'll keep it around for the odd time that its more suitable, but I doubt it will be used much now that I have the Mill.

All good points, and having the drill press already, it makes sense to keep it and use it. But if you didn't already have it, would you spend the money to purchase one? I haven't found one less than $750 that I would have and those often require work. Which can be fun unto itself, or I could be making something else on the mill.

I flop back and forth on purchasing DP, if I were to find the right one for the right price, I would, but I haven't.
 
I used my Mill as a drill press for a few years and sure it works fine but I did eventually buy dedicated drill press and it gets plenty of use when speed and easy of use is more important than 0.001 accuracy. I did take awhile to save the $ for the drill press but I am now glad that I did it.
 
All good points, and having the drill press already, it makes sense to keep it and use it. But if you didn't already have it, would you spend the money to purchase one? I haven't found one less than $750 that I would have and those often require work. Which can be fun unto itself, or I could be making something else on the mill.

I flop back and forth on purchasing DP, if I were to find the right one for the right price, I would, but I haven't.
If I you already have a Mill, but not a drill press, I would likely not bother with a drill press unless you got a good deal on a floor mounted one. Of course it depends on the type of work you do, if you do a lot of wood working or have to drill large objects often it cpuld be worth while I guess. But for metal working and general workshop use I'd say using the mill will be superior 90% of the time.

Another thing to consider, is that if you limited shop space the drill press is a big tool, so having the extra space avaliable it would take up has value too.
 
I used my Mill as a drill press for a few years and sure it works fine but I did eventually buy dedicated drill press and it gets plenty of use when speed and easy of use is more important than 0.001 accuracy. I did take awhile to save the $ for the drill press but I am now glad that I did it.
For sure, if you find that you often just need to drill 1 or 2 holes quickly without too much percision then the drill press is certainly quicker, then the Mill. Kind of just depends on what type of work you do.
 
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