Martin
Established Member
Well, I finally took the plunge and invested in a workbench - the home made thing I had been managing on was never really a proper workbench and after many years of abuse, plus one too many workshop re-organisations, it was starting to show its age. I briefly toyed with the idea of building one, but my track record for finishing projects in a timely manner (or even finishing them at all 
) is not good, so a pre-built bench it was to be.
Having researched these forums and looked elsewhere on the web, I was initially looking to buy the biggest Axminster model (BENCH4). However, much as I would have liked it, I simply don't have the space in my workshop. However, the next one down (BENCH2) seemed almost as beefy, and was about the biggest I could get away with. I was also consoled by the fact that the under-carriage of BENCH2 is made up using the same size framing lumber as BENCH4, and at 60kilos seemed to be quite beefy.
The bench arrives flat packed and requires assembly (not too surprising in this day and age). It arrived using normal courier delivery, and I was surprised Axminster didn't charge the £30 extra for delivery of heavy goods. The poor delivery driver (single driver, no tail-lift) was none too impressed and struggled to get the package in (I wasn't in at the time - and my wife couldn't really help him because it was too heavy). Anyway, he apparently managed by rolling it in end on end :shock:. Thankfully it's very well packaged and didn't suffer any damage.
The instructions are typical of flat packed furniture, and whilst not exactly comprehensive, didn't prove difficult to follow. However, the pack was missing four large washers (a quick run to B&Q solved that one) and the only other assembly gripe was that the instructions lead you to putting the top on the wrong way around (perhaps they changed the design or something, but it just wouldn't fit as indicated on the assembly sheet).
The legs come pre-assembled, and are fitted to the shelf/stretcher assembly by bolts and dowels. I decided not to glue the dowels just in case I want to break it down in future, and it doesn't seem any the worse for not gluing.
The top is fixed to the leg/shelf assembly by a single 90mm screw in each leg. This really surprised me and is my second gripe. Surely an extra couple of holes and screws wouldn't go amis, and add that extra bit of stability. That said, it was easily fixed by pre-drilling extra holes, and at this price I guess you can't complain too loudly.
Also included is a small underslung drawer, which is attached using two runners. The drawer was a tad stiff to push in/out, but a quick wipe over the runners with paste wax soon sorted that out.
The bench is more or less 100% beech wood (some elements of the drawer assembly aren't), and is well finished. You get a front and tail vice which are the same size (both 350mm wide - unlike Axminster's description which says 420 and 305 respectively). The vices are the central screw type, with support bars either side...
This brings me to my only major gripe :evil: - the tail vice was clearly out of parallel with the end of the bench (as you can see from the pic below). Just under 3mm out in fact...
Not that I'm an expert or anything, but I kind of expected the vices to run run parallel (the front vice was fine BTW). Is this something you ony get with the rolls-royce of benches? Thankfully it was fairly easily solved by unscrewing the (under bench) assembly that the vice screws into, adding a washer as a shim and re-fitting. Again, perhaps this is the best I can expect given the price (which 'aint bad at £260).
Stability wise the bench seems quite solid - more so than I expected given the few fixings used. The top seems to move slightly if I give it some "welly", but I put this down the rather uneven floor I have in my workshop.
All in all I'm very happy with the bench - it's a vast improvement over what I had before, but it's a shame I came across so many niggles and inaccuracies. As I said earlier, if I had the space I would certainly have gone with the heavier/bigger version, but can't really fault Axminster on this bench at this price.
Further details are at: http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=21592&sfile=1&jump=0
Martin.
) is not good, so a pre-built bench it was to be.Having researched these forums and looked elsewhere on the web, I was initially looking to buy the biggest Axminster model (BENCH4). However, much as I would have liked it, I simply don't have the space in my workshop. However, the next one down (BENCH2) seemed almost as beefy, and was about the biggest I could get away with. I was also consoled by the fact that the under-carriage of BENCH2 is made up using the same size framing lumber as BENCH4, and at 60kilos seemed to be quite beefy.
The bench arrives flat packed and requires assembly (not too surprising in this day and age). It arrived using normal courier delivery, and I was surprised Axminster didn't charge the £30 extra for delivery of heavy goods. The poor delivery driver (single driver, no tail-lift) was none too impressed and struggled to get the package in (I wasn't in at the time - and my wife couldn't really help him because it was too heavy). Anyway, he apparently managed by rolling it in end on end :shock:. Thankfully it's very well packaged and didn't suffer any damage.
The instructions are typical of flat packed furniture, and whilst not exactly comprehensive, didn't prove difficult to follow. However, the pack was missing four large washers (a quick run to B&Q solved that one) and the only other assembly gripe was that the instructions lead you to putting the top on the wrong way around (perhaps they changed the design or something, but it just wouldn't fit as indicated on the assembly sheet).
The legs come pre-assembled, and are fitted to the shelf/stretcher assembly by bolts and dowels. I decided not to glue the dowels just in case I want to break it down in future, and it doesn't seem any the worse for not gluing.
The top is fixed to the leg/shelf assembly by a single 90mm screw in each leg. This really surprised me and is my second gripe. Surely an extra couple of holes and screws wouldn't go amis, and add that extra bit of stability. That said, it was easily fixed by pre-drilling extra holes, and at this price I guess you can't complain too loudly.
Also included is a small underslung drawer, which is attached using two runners. The drawer was a tad stiff to push in/out, but a quick wipe over the runners with paste wax soon sorted that out.
The bench is more or less 100% beech wood (some elements of the drawer assembly aren't), and is well finished. You get a front and tail vice which are the same size (both 350mm wide - unlike Axminster's description which says 420 and 305 respectively). The vices are the central screw type, with support bars either side...
This brings me to my only major gripe :evil: - the tail vice was clearly out of parallel with the end of the bench (as you can see from the pic below). Just under 3mm out in fact...
Not that I'm an expert or anything, but I kind of expected the vices to run run parallel (the front vice was fine BTW). Is this something you ony get with the rolls-royce of benches? Thankfully it was fairly easily solved by unscrewing the (under bench) assembly that the vice screws into, adding a washer as a shim and re-fitting. Again, perhaps this is the best I can expect given the price (which 'aint bad at £260).
Stability wise the bench seems quite solid - more so than I expected given the few fixings used. The top seems to move slightly if I give it some "welly", but I put this down the rather uneven floor I have in my workshop.
All in all I'm very happy with the bench - it's a vast improvement over what I had before, but it's a shame I came across so many niggles and inaccuracies. As I said earlier, if I had the space I would certainly have gone with the heavier/bigger version, but can't really fault Axminster on this bench at this price.
Further details are at: http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=21592&sfile=1&jump=0
Martin.
