IH CNC Mills & Machinery

Bench Basics Part 1

Bench Basics Part 1

We get a fair number of questions regarding what kind of bench that a company or a home machinist could build without welding equipment. Here is one that we built way back when. The pictures show it being 8' long with 6' being used for the mill. If you are building a bench for an IH mill you will need to construct it at 8' usable for the mill only. The IH CNC Mill weighs near 1250lbs so you will have to double the cross braces and put in a set of center legs also. Please read all the warnings.
This is not to be construed as complete instructions or plans, it is merely some possible suggestions that we are offering for you to take a look at. Use these ideas at your own risk. Although wood is a wonderful medium which to work, it does have some issues regarding longevity. Wood will eventually deteriorate to a point of failure. Adding moisture (coolant) hastens the process. Paint it and it will last longer and paint with 2 coats the parts that could contact coolant. Our CNC Bed mill weighs near 1250 POUNDS make a table that is strong enough to withstand many times that weight, if you and all your friends that will fit on it cannot stand on the top of the table without it shaking, DO NOT put you're mill up there "to see what happens", it will fall, it is simply a matter of time. *Use common sense...a lot of common sense*.

Everything can be purchased off the shelf from Home Depot. Construction requires no special tools and can be done in about a day or two. Cost will be reasonable (about $250-$400)

	Home Depot has just about everything we needed. The legs are 4x4's, the stringers 2x6's and the top is three sheets of particle board. For glue we used Liquid Nails.

	We chose a 26" leg height. This will give you a mill table height of 39.5".

	A little Liquid Nails at the joints, the joints also got 2 5/16" carriage bolts with washers each.

	The legs basically built. Remember that you need 3 sets of legs for the 8' span. 6' shown.

	Putting in the first stringer. Use double joist hangers and double the stringers. Use 2 5/16" x 5" lag bolts with washers to strengthen the joint.

	Free standing table. ( This will be 8' long with 6 legs) The basic dimensions of our table is 8' wide on the outside dimension, 46" deep on the inside dimension, and 26" tall. (The "mill" side (between the four legs) is 6' and the computer side (cantilevered side) is the remaining 2'.) This is not applicable with an 8' table. Just go from one end to the other.

	All stringers installed. These now need to be double and all the way across.

	Joist hangers are a good idea. Use double joist hangers and double joist as stated above with the 5/16" x 5" lag bolts with washers going thru the stringer into the joist.

	The top installed and trimmed. 3 layers of press board glued and screwed together then firmly attached to the top of the stringers and joist.

	A lower shelf seems like a good idea. Use outdoor plywood here and a few 2" x 4" joist.

	Lower shelf installed.

	And now the "mill side" gets a 2x6 raised skirt. Put the skirt on with a 2.25" reveal on the top. The rest gets attached to the bench sides. Go To Bench Basics Part 2

CNC & Machinery

IH CNC Mills & Machinery

Bench Basics Part 1