Which Drywall Bench?

twoclones

I'm a professional wood carver and need/want a drywall bench for those jobs requiring me to reach just a little bit higher. Since I'll be using some very sharp chisels, not to mention chainsaws, I want a high quality and wide bench.


Which bench would you recommend for me?

Butch

savant

Butch, are you gonna use it exclusively in your shop, or are you carvin' totem poles out of the sides of buildings? Is portability imporant? are you using electric or some 50" behemoth?

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twoclones

Savant,

I will be carving on site so portability is an issue. Next week I start a job carving 13 tree stumps, up to 7' tall, at an apartment complex. If I were 8' tall I'd not be worried about getting a bench.

Most of my sawing is done with very small gas saws but I do use a 50cc Stihl with a 24" bar to get the shape roughed in. Other tools of concern are angle grinders and chisels.

What I need is a sturdy bench with extending legs [for hillsides as much as for additional height] which I can move around without major effort.

Yesterday I phoned 6 contractor supply places here [Tri-Cities, WA] and not one of them sell drywall benches! I'd really hoped to go stand on a couple and find the least wobbly... Hope depot has a little bench but it looks like a toy



Butch

Mud Master

Ames Taping Tools, or really any drywall supplier has benches for sale..

The best ones I have found are the Wallboard Benches, though with them you have to put the extensions on yourself.

I really like to new(semi-new) Warner Benches. They are black, have up to 350 lbs rating, and the extensions are in the legs. Just pop it, lock them in the holes, flip it & go. I think it's around 35lbs or something like that, definetly not unbearable to carry.

They fold up like any other bench, and you can reach up to 10'.

In my opinion though, Wallboard and Warner benches are the best on the market.

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twoclones

I took an look, online, at the Warner. It's deck is only 9 1/2" wide compared to the El Toro which has a 14" wide deck. I know nothing about this product but the "El Toro" name does not give the feeling of a quality tool.

I'd like the wider deck but not at the cost of quality. Has anyone used this drywall bench? Good, bad or great?

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Butch
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There is nothing which everyone knows.
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savant

Twoclones,
Well, if portability is important , drywall benches certainly LOOK attractive, but I do alot of heavy out-stretched lifting, sometimes with a chainsaw. I use a 14" gas & 12" elec. for demolition. I wouldn't think about using a drywall bench for my demo. They're so light, there's no inertia. I use the heavy yellow sawhorses from HDepot and planks made from 2x4s bolted together. I don't think that's right for you either. Do you have a pickup truck? standing in the bed would get you to the right height. Portability's not a problem, but turf mught be. I saw a "new, more stable" drywall bench. I'll get you a link.

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Don't rush a miracle-man. If you rush a miracle-man, you get rotten miracles.
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user15686

Why not build your own?

TaitINC

i would check out a set of broncos. they have legs that individually adjust in height for that unlevel ground. They are light and made of aluminum. Then you could buy or build a platform to put on them.

here is a link to them
http://www.moultonladder.com/S_Bronco.html

twoclones

I finally ordered the El Toro by Sur-Bench based on it's 14" wide deck and 500# load rating. Bought it new on ebay for $199 + $57 shipping. Others online were asking around $260 + shipping so it was a good deal.

As for usage, as a sculptor/carver, I suspect that I move my standing place in smaller increments and more often than one would during construction or demolition of a structure. I should be able to move this lightweight bench and get back to carving without ever putting the saw down or loosing sight of where I want to cut or grind next.

Thanks for all the input!

__________________
Butch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is nothing which everyone knows.
http://www.WoodHacker.com