Take a tour of my Work Bench
Interesting Characteristics
My workbench is a large multi-purpose workarea. The top is quite large at 7ft long by 46" wide. It's a section of a bowling alley made from hard maple. It 2 1/2" thick, 1" laminations. I picked up the piece from a friend who knew of an old bowling alley that got demolished (was a long time ago). I've made great use of this heavy piece, it weighs over 300 lbs. Since it's so large, I added a router table insert to it. I have always considered commerical router tables way to small for my liking. I often make quite large pieces and need the extra table surface area to support a piece as I'm milling it. I also embedded a T-track the full-length of the top for various hold-downs and other jigs. It's handy for routing and other benchtop uses.
Commentary
I have a three-drawer base under the bench to store supplies and tools. The self provides access to the router and also provides storage for router accessories. I also have a long self in the back of the bench where I store my over-sized clamps. The bench is the only workstation in my shop that is not mobile. I have positioned it facing south (same direction as the front of the building) to catch the sun and the view. I also have plenty of room to walk all around the bench. I have seen a lot of setups with the bench pushed up against a wall, but I like to walk all round the bench to beable to work on large project easily. I find this fits my work habits much better.
For a detailed walk-thru of individual workstations in my shop, click on any of the links below.