by GCA Member William Setliff
I’ve read several articles here about tools from Harbor Freight Tools. Certainly, their prices are “right,” though I think we’d all agree the products are uneven in their reliability and quality. That said, two products I have been using for quit a while and have found them to be not only a great value from a cost perspective but also a great value from their usability perspective. Traditionally I’ve built my own workbenches from 2X6’s and ¾” particle board covered with laminate. However, I saw this bench at Harbor Freight and after testing their floor sample for stability, purchased one. I’ve NOT been disappointed – it’s awesome! Sturdy, strong, with four drawers that have enough room to hold all my most frequently used tools. Of course, I had to make a few additions. First, I added a back ledge of oak to make the back of the table flush with the wall and to give me a shelf onto which I could mount tools. Then I took a piece of oak and ripped it to have a slight incline of about ten degrees or so. I cut the strip into individual strips to match the size of the Brownell’s universal ground screwdriver tip set. Then I made a trip to Lowes and purchased, 2 ½” pipe plugs (not caps, which are rounded) and some 2 ½” PVC pipe. I drilled a hole in the bottom of each and used sheetrock screws to mount them to the back of the shelf. You can see them in the photo – I have my screw-together bronze cleaning rods in one and punches in two others. Then I mounted Harbor Freight Tool’s magnetic strips to the wall to hold the remainder of my frequently used tools. Next, I added a Harbor Freight vise with Brownell’s bronze jaw guards. One note – the table comes with pre-drilled holes in two rows through the table top to use with included hardwood pegs for woodworking. I thought about closing these off but decided to keep them. If I do decide to close them off at some point I’ll drill plugs, tape them in place from the bottom of the table and epoxy them in place. In the meantime, to prevent every small part from dropping through the holes I purchased and installed the felt gun-cleaning mat you see on the table. Unfortunately I’ve forgotten where I purchased it. Soft and bright in color it prevents scratches, stops parts from sliding away, makes it easy to find parts, to populate with plastic bins to hold cleaning swatches, another for stock related chemicals, a third for cleaning chemicals, and finally one to hold miscellaneous extra cleaning tools. Also, I have a couple of baking tins that have a raised lip around the edge running all around the edge. I use these to help me keep small parts from getting away from me and for doing any hot-work. An LED hanging bench light above the table rounds out the installation and provides wonderfully bright light so my old eyes can see what I’m doing! So, if you are like me and need to sit down to work, this bench similarly set up might just be the ticket for you as well! Parts list: Harbor Freight Tools 60 inch 4 drawer hardwood work bench $159.99 4 inch swivel vise with anvil $39.99 18 inch magnetic tool strip $4.99 Lowes 1X3X6’ oak $15.08 4’ LED Shop Light (the one I purchased has been replaced t Lowes with this one) $34.98 Brownell’s 4” Bronze vise jaws, 080-020-004WB $26.99 Unknown ~15”X54” orange felt backed gun cleaning mat
