I have a new area in the basement and am ready to get back to building self bows.  I am looking for ideas for a new work bench.  Any thought or pics would be appreciated.

Dave

Glued and screwed my bench together, then anchored it to the floor.. Very solid bench.  Shelf on the bottom, carpet glued down on top.

     

Screwed a 1 inch piece of aluminum angle along the edge flush with the surface, makes it a snap clamping wood down.  

     

     

The aluminum angle also serves as a real nice straight edge.  

 

I would make a square bench, in fact I'm going to make me a square bench and put a couple wood table vices on it. Need to make it very heavy though

I always was partial to the work benches out of old heavy exterior wood doors covered with carpet wich is fairly inexpensive

my bench is made from what used to be the kitchen countertops when the inlaws remodeled. its not perfect but ive grown fond of it for ease of cleanup. one thing i dislike though is the overhang lip, i use 1/2 inch scrap boards just behind this underneath to fill the gap when i clamp. once we move im gonna build a better bench to be able to work with my hand tools easier. itd also be nice to build some of my jigs and such straight into the bench so theyre sturdy and no need to clamp them.

I made my bench heavy so it wouldn't walk across the floor when I was doing some heavy drawknife work on an osage stave.

I used 2x8s for the top, 4x4s for the corners and built it so two prefab cabinets from Lowe's would slide in the frame to provide storage space.

 

I later replaced the magnetic clamp pads in my vise with these. They work so much better then the magnetic kind, or anything else I have used  for that matter.

Great idea Eric.

I am just finishing a new bench for glue ups etc made from a steel service door...SIX four by four legs and a shelf below.  That thing isnt going anywhere.  Now I just gotta figure out how to bolt my vice and bandsaw on it lol.

DAVE - I SCORED AN OLD WOODEN-TOP DRAFTING TABLE WITH METAL SHELVES, DRAWERS AND SOLID LEGS FROM A FACTORY CAST-OFF SALE ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO;  ITS ABOUT FOUR FEET WIDE AND SIX FEET LONG, HEAVY, AND I HAVE MT VISES MOUNTED ON IT - - I PUT IT IN THE MIDDLE OF MY SHOP SO I CAN WALK ALL AROUND IT.  WORKS JUST GREAT!   MIKE IN ELMA

I use this one for glue ups,it's 24" x 126" and it's L shaped with a 6 ft wing, that's where my forms sit during glue up. I first put down either red oxide paper or "contractors" paper, then where I do the acutal glue spreading I tape down 2 pieces of meat wrapping paper. The table top is cabinet grade plywood with white melamine on top.    

longbow fresh out of oven, the oven is on castor wheels below the build table  

I wanted to build one like Roys but didn't have the room..

Thanks for the ideas.  Keep them coming.  I was planing to put mine in the middle of the room so I can work on both sides of it.  

I like Eric's idea of putting cabinents underneath.  How do you make one heavy enough to not walk when you are working a stave?

Dave

The drawers are full of power tools, skill saw, grinders, sanders, cordless drills, even a compound miter saw, and every bow making thing you can think of, lots of weight.

How do you make one heavy enough to not walk when you are working a stave?
 

Glue it and screw it together and anchor it to the floor with concrete anchors. I used 5/8th OSB plywood, pretty heavy sutff..