Pallet Rack bench

Ill start with this: I know pallet racks and make great benches, storage, bunk beds, you name it, however, I have a slightly different question.

The uprights are the expensive part from my findings, the cross beams are peanuts. Can the cross beams have the ends cut off at 45 degrees to make a square/rectangle shape and a bench made from that?

Do you lose the strength of the beam by using it like this?

Thinking out loud but I have been looking at this as a bench idea. Maybe I am thinking too far outside the box and over complicating this.

2x6 and 3/4 ply. Thats all the workbench top i had for years was made out of. Sitting on a pair of old shipping crates. Held up to shocking abuse.

Don't overthink it.

all you need for a durable bench that will last you a lifetime is a few 2X4's for the frame, a few 2X8's for the top, and a box of sheetrock screws to hold it together. you can (and should) add a shelf underneath for storage and to add extra support. this shelf can either be plywood or leftover 2Xwhatever lumber..

i guess you can paint it and make it pretty if that's your thing, maybe throw some plywood doors on the front to make it look all professional and E36 M3..

a 10 foot long bench will be about $100 in lumber and screws and will weigh a couple hundred pounds.

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Here’s my daughter Hannah modeling my set-up.

I originally built it ~15 years ago and although I don’t subject it to anything beyond typical home maintenance / improvement projects, it is completely sturdy and robust enough for my requirements.

Don’t go to a big box store for the materials as the industrial storage rack company I worked with custom cut everything for maximum space utilization and they charged half the price for twice the gage of steel as the big box alternatives.

I’ve got marine ply on the work surface but all the shelves are standard particle board and they’re still in excellent shape.

novaderrik wrote: all you need for a durable bench that will last you a lifetime is a few 2X4's for the frame, a few 2X8's for the top, and a box of sheetrock screws to hold it together. you can (and should) add a shelf underneath for storage and to add extra support. this shelf can either be plywood or leftover 2Xwhatever lumber.. i guess you can paint it and make it pretty if that's your thing, maybe throw some plywood doors on the front to make it look all professional and E36 M3.. a 10 foot long bench will be about $100 in lumber and screws and will weigh a couple hundred pounds.

Mine bench is welded up out of old railing, 2x2 tube with 1/4" wall, and a piece of sheetmetal on top. Didn't cost me a cent. It's a lot more solid than anything you can build out of lumber and you can weld things to the top of it if you want

Most of my garage shelving is Ikea stuff that started off as my furniture in university almost 20 years ago. I've moved it from house to house and garage to garage and country to country. The modular nature makes things really easy.

In reply to CarKid1989:

That is essentially how my workbench is made. Technically, it's parts from an old overhead air trolley system, but the steel is almost identical to that of a pallet rack. I didn't bother with any triangulation or mitered corners; it's all just 90° butts. I topped it with two sheets of 3/4" ply and a 14ga chunk of sheet metal from a giant old electrical enclosure.

What ever you do, anchor it to the floor. Once you have worked on a bench that is held fast to the earth, everything else feels like a rickety POS.

Burrito wrote: What ever you do, anchor it to the floor. Once you have worked on a bench that is held fast to the earth, everything else feels like a rickety POS.

Amen!

In reply to RX Reven':

How much was that, if you don't mind me asking?

Duke wrote: In reply to RX Reven': How much was that, if you don't mind me asking?

It was around $200 for the racking / particle board shelves and another $150 for the marine ply, peg board, tool hangers. This was ~15 years ago so $500 all up in today’s money ought to do it if you don’t just hit the easy button and stagger into Home Depot or someplace like that.

I went to a decidedly low tech supplier called ABC Industrial Racking in Sunland, CA…cash only, Spanglish preferred, etc.

In reply to CarKid1989:

The only reason to consider using pallet racks is the adjustability. Cut the ends off and you are basically building from scrap metal, which is fine, but it is exactly the same thing as any other kind of scrap metal.

Conduit, pipe, angle, car frames... I guess you could build a bench out of anything.

BTW- pallet rack rails are not identical. The profile varies by manufacturer, span, load, etc. 10' rails are different then 8' rails. The hooks vary too. You can't randomly mix and match side rails with end frames.

My local Menards has a sale going right now on the 6' wide, 6' tall, 2' deep Muscle Rack. The two uprights plus six cross beams and the wire rack shelf inserts for $89. Honestly, buy two of those sets and you have 18' of bench with a shelf over the top and it's done deal in half an hour.

In reply to RX Reven' :

She is cute and  I also appreciate your skills. Nice post thanks for sharing.

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