Behemoth Baileigh Bench

[Machine_Punk]

I recently purchased a Baileigh SBR 5216 Shear/Brake/Roll 3-in-1 machine for my artistic metalworking studio, The Aerodrome Studio. This thing is a monster, weighing in at 1200 pounds, and deserves a behemoth of a bench to support it. While I have been trained in TIG welding, I did not have any welding equipment at my studio at the time I received this piece of equipment, so I decided to make it out of wood.

I generally believe that if something is worth designing, it is worth over designing. I also didn't want ANY chance of this machine coming crashing down on me. I chose 2X8 & 2X10 lumber for this design. I do plan to build a different bench for this machine some day, but needed something for now.

When the 3-in-1 has it's own custom bench some day, this will become an assembly table, so I made it larger than absolutely necessary and mounted my new (to me) Wilton vise on the end of the bench. I specifically designed the legs to give me room to attach the vise bolts easily. Of course, I mounted the vise with my second-favorite fastener, the socket head cap screw. I moved the benchtop support braces closer to the center of the bench, to allow nearly 6 inches of depth at the front and back for clamping objects to the bench.

While I didn't envision myself moving this bench frequently, I did want to be able to move it around the studio, as needs changed. I installed the leg cross braces at exactly the correct height to use my 12-ton, air-over-hydraulic bottle jack to lift this bench and weighty machine onto wheel dollies, so I can move the bench when needed, but not have stability problems, once the bench is in place.

With the amount of weight this bench holds, I chose all through-bolt construction (bolts, not lag screws). Where the distance was too far for common bolts lengths, I cut threaded rod and used nuts on both ends. The cross brace in the back is installed with lag screws, but there are a barrel of them and they go deeply into the legs. In use, I this bench is rock solid...






The bench in its final location in The Aerodrome Studio, with the Baileigh 5216 installed...


Kev