Custom Bench: Design | Cut | Build S2:E4

Building this bench came as a result of the shoe rack we built a few weeks ago, since we didn't want our customers sitting on the ground to put on their steel toe shoe covers. So here it is! We tried to use the Torchmate as much as possible, but as some of you may know, building structures completely out of flat plate can be an interesting challenge. This bench would need to be strong enough to hold up to three adults (~600lbs). To do that we would need to build it out of 3/16" hot rolled mild steel, and we would need to incorporate at least some 2" square tubing for cross-bracing. Post some pictures of your bench designs in the comment section below!

We also wanted to paint the bench multiple colors since it was going to sit in front of our "Welcome Wall" of our demonstration area. Painting multiple colors requires that you do some assembly of the bench with nuts and bolts rather than welds so that you can paint each piece separately. We had to pre-program these bolt holes into our design before we cut it out. To do this in the CAD program, turn off show fill (Alt + S) and create two circles of the exact same size and stack them directly on top of each other. Select one circle and one layer of your design and then "Make Path" (CTRL + H); repeat this process for the other circle and the other layer of your design. The end result should be two perfectly overlapped bolt holes. It works great!

We used the PowerMig® 256 with some 0.035" solid wire and tacked up the entire design before we fully welded it all together.

After it got back from the paint booth we started working on the cushions. We went to the fabric store and picked up some black nylon and a 2" piece of memory foam. This seemed to be a comfortable and cheap solution to our cushions. We stapled them from the back to a piece of plywood. The measurements of the plywood can be a little tricky since the back piece needs to stack on top of the base cushion, so just make sure the top cushion is 1/2" shorter than the bottom piece.

Let us know in the comment section below what you think!

 

I double checked the EDU file and then I updated the CAD file to a DXF.

 

The EDU file is for our students and teachers to use. They have a specific CAD program that doesn't allow them to open .cdl files.