work bench frame structure

[seano]

Hi Everyone,

Quick question, I've previously built my partner a potting bench and am now tackling a work bench for the shed.

I'm using 90 x 90's for the legs and 90 x 35's for the frames.  The frames will be 2700 x 600.

When puttng the rectangular frames together for the bench tops, am I better to put each end noggin in between the longer pieces or on the outside of the longer pieces? I.e.; cut 530 noggins for the inside and 600 noggins for the end or just all 530  noggins? Is there any difference structurally? 

With the potting bench I did all 530 noggins (pic attached) and had the end noggins in between the longer lengths.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers, Seano

 

[JacobZ]

Hi @seano,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

Firstly, nice work on the potting bench; it looks incredibly solid, and I'm sure your partner gets some good use out of it.

For simplicity's sake, I am going to refer to the framing components as if they were components in a deck frame, because that is more or less what they are. The long pieces that run at the front and back are the bearers, and the pieces that run between them are the joists.

Functionally, there would be no great difference regardless of whether you ran the end joists inside the bearers (530mm long) or ran them past them and attached them to the ends of the bearers (600mm long). In saying this, it is pretty standard in carpentry, whether it is a deck with bearers and joists, or a stud wall with top and bottom plates and studs, for the long pieces to run the full length of the structure, and the joists or studs to sit inside them and all be a consistent length. 

There may be a very small difference in terms of the physics, but when you are working on a scale the size of a workbench, it would be minuscule at best. The simplest and best thing to do is have your bearers run full length and then cut all of the joists to the same length.

Let me know if you have any further questions and please share some photos of your workbench when you are done, I always love a good workbench project.

Jacob

[seano]

Thanks Jacob,

Appreciate the reply and the extra info re the bearers and joists, that helps heaps!

I'll definitely go with your recommendations 👍 

The potting bench came up pretty well for my first attempt..now onto the work bench..thanks again 👍

 

[JacobZ]

That genuinely looks awesome @seano.

I'd encourage you to take some photos along the way and put up a project post so our members and readers can follow along step by step. If this is the standard for your first attempt, it would be brilliant to see how you go about the second.

Good luck, and don't hesitate to reach out if you need any help.

Jacob