I plan to use wall mounted bench-work attached to the concrete foundation with masonry anchors. Linn Westcott suggests 2x2 pilasters, joists and braces. My bench-work will be 50" off the floor and 48" out (at its greatest extent). Are 2x2’s too small? Should I use 2x3s or 2x4’s instead?
How far apart should the pilasters be? 16" as hosing studs are or farther part?
Thanks,
Rob Carignan
The 48" out is a long ways, but I don’t think it matters for the pillasters, since they are just giving you something to screw into. If you are using the double armed brackets (which is what I am guessing) I think I’d be tempted to up the diagonal brace to a 2x3, and get it as close to the floor as you can. I’d use pretty hefty plywood for the gussets, they ar egoing to be doing some work. (I’m trying to remeber what the recommended max was for benchwork width mounted this way, but I don’t have the book with me). As far as the arms, I think 1x3s would be the four feet, but 1x4 couldn’t hurt.
I used the method (so far successfullly, though there is much work to go), but the bench is only about 18" wide, so I can’t speak with total authority.
As far as spacing, I think you can figure that based on the span of the l-girders from the table in the book. In theory, each brace is like a set of legs. You might be a bit conservative, for safety, though. I think every other stud might work nicely. Another thought might be to drop a leg down from the longest braces. It wouldn’t have to be all the way out, so it would stay clear of feet, etc.
Cancel the bit about studs, I see you don’t have them anyway!
Rob,
Here is what I did on mine…these are 20" and I did the same with the 30" sections. I screwed the 2x2 to the block wall and then the brace or gusset to the2x2. I then built a “ladder frame” that the layout is built on. There are probably a thousand ways to do this pick what works and good luck.
Guy
I use brackets like these:
I made them from 3/4" plywood with 3/8" plywood braces. But they only extend 2 feet from the wall.
Nick
So I just got Linn Westcott’s MR Benchwork book today, and looking at the “mounting your layout to the wall” section, Fig. 5 say the “Practical limit for shelf width is 1 1/2 times the distance from the bracket to the floor,”, which in your case would be about 75", right? So 4 feet should be no problem. It also says “If overhang exceeds 18”, use 1X4 joists, otherwise, 1X3." It goes on to say “Joist overhang can be reduced by moving girders outward,” and “If bracket arm length exceeds its height off the floor, extend girder hanger to make outrigger leg, omit brace.” This is because the angle the brace makes assumes a slope of less than 45 degrees. It doesn’t say anything about how far apart the pilasters should be, but I bet 16 - 24 inches would be okay - the photos seem to show them about 2 feet apart to my unpracticed eye.
So I hope this helps, especially since it’s my very first post on this forum!
Paul
Guy, I love those plywood braces. I may do that.
I just heard about this masonry anchor called “Wall-Dog” screws. I think I’ll use those instead of traditional anchors as my foundation is lined with tongue and groove pine. All I’ll have to do is screw the pilasters into the wall.
Rob Carignan
Portland, Maine
I’m spoiled…it’s a little thing called a CNC router…doesn’t everyone have one!!!
I cut these at work and used Tapcon’s (blueish concrete screws) in to the block.
Guy