adjustable height bench

[Dodis]

How about using the holes and pins idea, but add T-nuts to the back of each hole, and the pin would be a bolt with a larger wood handle glued on the head. Then you get the sure support of steel pins, and can tighten it all up by tightening the bolts. Wouldn't need to be wrench tight with 4 bolts doing the job.

Mike "Dodis"

[Herb G]

You guys are thinking of this all wrong.
Instead of adjusting the bench, adjust the floor.

That's right, adjust the floor. Well, not the floor itself actually.
Just the part you stand on. How? you might ask?

Easy. Build the benchtop to whatever height you normally would.
Then, take some 2 x material & lay it on it's side to build a platform.
You can take a 2 x 4 & make a platform with 1/2" plywood for
a height of 4". A 2 x 6 will make a 6" platform, etc.

Why spend a ton of money on gimmicky and possibly unsafe hardware
when you can build a few platforms in an afternoon for less than $100?

[Cecil]

here is a ladder on Amazon.  You can see the 'J' hooks if you zoom near the top rung on the first pic.

Basically it is two dowels joined with a bridge.  One dowel pin keeps it handy, and is also spring loaded.  It would be simple to put a short chain on a dowel to keep it close at hand.

[Steve N]

Here are some examples which are similar to your prototype, but I think they would be more stable. With each example the fixed and movable parts of each leg either interlock with one another, or one totally encloses the other. This gives the workbench more lateral support once the legs are locked in position.

http://www.necanec.com/gallery/images/L1000003.jpg

http://lumberjocks.com/assets/pictures/p...487795.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236...9816d3.jpg

All 3 of these, and the OP's initial pic are fine. I'm trying to imagine how such a bench is raised up, especially more than one click at a time, without using some kind of ceiling hung sling that lifts all of the bench evenly, or having 3 other people around to each lift their part. This sure isn't a design an old guy with a bad back would go after. I wouldn't buy a Noden due to cost, but looking at these alternatives that thing is getting cheaper by the second





Did I miss a video of one of these things getting adjusted?

[Lynden]

I'm trying to imagine how such a bench is raised up, especially more than one click at a time, without using some kind of ceiling hung sling that lifts all of the bench evenly, or having 3 other people around to each lift their part. 

How to raise and lower the bench is part of the design process. The designer needs to know the range of heights desired, how often the height will be adjusted, the weight of the bench, the budget, etc. The prototype bench doesn't look that heavy. Two people could adjust the height -- one with a good back lifting one end and the other with a bad back removing and re-inserting the knobbed bolts. The legs would slide up and down on their own as the end of the bench is lifted and lowered. Marks could be placed on the legs to register the locations of the bolt holes at the different heights.

Another solution is to use a jack -- nothing built in, something simple. A side-wind trailer jack would work. Bolt the base to a 12" piece of 2x4 for stability and weld a 12" piece of steel angle to the side of the jack. The angle would fit under the rail on one end of the bench and the legs adjusted up or down after the bench is raised.

https://www.amazon.com/CURT-28575-Side-D...ailer+jack

A wooden jack similar to the one shown in this video might work. One end of the bench would be raised (maybe up to 6 inches) and the legs adjusted. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfMmQH0msW4

Something like this might work. The edge of a piece of 2x8 (no casters) could be attached with hinges to the bottom of the rail at each end of the bench. When the end is lifted the 2x8 would swing down and support the bench as the legs are adjusted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpT14pC_QTk

[mr_skittle]

Thanks for all the great ideas. I've shared a link to this thread with the guys working on the bench so hopefully they find some of the ideas helpful.

[Tapper]

While this might not be the perfect solution for a school project, I'd like to submit another idea that will work in any shop. Several months ago I picked up this cart at Harbor Freight to use on a project. I've since found it to be very useful for many lifting and transporting tasks around the shop. They also offer one with a 1,000 lb. capacity (the one in the link is 500 lbs.)

For a workbench, if you wanted to raise it up, simply slide the lifting table under the rails of the bench, pump it up to the desired height, slide the appropriate spacers under the legs and you're good to go.

With coupons, it can be had for substantially less than the listed price.

Doug

[Steve N]

I've seen several tables built on those lift carts from HF, usually if you try to get more than 4' x 4' it gets tippy pretty quick. I suppose you could use one on each end of a bigger table, but then you still need 2 people to work the lifting process, or as soon as you put one end up in the air, you are back to tippy, or ejection of one cart or the other. I've looked at them, and Beefy would not be in my description. If you screwed the top to those tables I believe any weight at all would cause the tops of the lifts to get ripped up if they were screwed to the part trying to take off.

[msalomon]

I'm sorry but I think that you're going down the wrong path here.  I would hazard to guess that virtually every woodworker on this forum has a fixed height workbench and for a good reason.  Workbenches are subject to a lot of stress, I think that would be difficult to construct a practical bench that could vary the work height and not start wobbling after a short while.  We also have to work at various heights and and have found solutions that don't require raising our intentionally heavy bench.  As an example, I have a separate box that can easily be clamped to the bench to give a higher work surface that can be easily stored when it is not in use.  I also built what is sometimes called a "bench on bench".  It's simply a small auxiliary bench that clamps to the top of the workbench that has a front vise and dog holes that I sometimes use for dovetailing. I think that you're time might be better spent building simple boxes that raise the work.

[Steve N]

Speaking of that lift table, I had a Griz coupon in my e-mail today for it at $150.00 I imagine you would need to add S&H to that. Not sure what they get for them at HF, but I'd guess they were made at the same place.

Griz link

Ohhhhhh clicked the link 200 bux with S&H, OUCH.That made me go look

$169.00 plus tax at HF, unless you need them to ship to your location. Then I imagine overweight charges would be added to the $6.99 flat rate shipping. I'd have to pay tax as they are lousy with them in Ohio.

HF link