So I do leatherwork in my flat, and I have no money to build a full work bench in the spare room. (Ideally, I would love to build a laminate plywood one for the weight and strength, possibly leaving the corners unglued so it could be dismantled for moving)I have a pine desk with a 3/4in top and a skirt around the outside of the desk top where the legs are attached (3 cheers for second hand furniture). It is incredibly sturdy, but when hammering, the 'hollow' top makes too much noise, even if I work directly over the leg. I have also invested in a deadblow hammer to kill noise. A common workaround is to use a heavy slab on top of the desk, using a towel or rubber Matt to reduce vibration transfer to the table. I cannot afford one of these slabs.I have seen some projects where people have filled a work bench top with concrete to reduce noise and vibration for woodworking, but my budget for a new bench is £00. And building one of these isn't cheap.I have found an old broken storage heater in the basement, that will need dismantled to remove anyway as it is far to heavy for me to shift myself . Now it is basically just a hollow metal box filled with thermal bricksMy question us, would mounting the bricks under the desktop to add weight dampen the vibration and sound in any comparable way to pouring a solid block of concrete under it?Does anyone have any experience with this or can offer some advice ? (Especially in case I'm missing something obvious).One of the videos I saw added the bench top separately, using construction adhesive to reduce hollow spots between the top and the concrete underneath, hence reducing noise. I would maybe add some silicone sealant, scrap leather or foam piece between the brick and desk top.Considering safety, I would likely plastic wrap or paint the bricks to reduce dust being knocked off in use and I have a drill that will do masonry so I can screw/bolt them securely to the top. Given the age of the heater (at most mid 90s given when my building was built), I'm not concerned about asbestos but I will still use masks/vacuum cleaner to reduce dust risk.I'm also considering using the sheet metal from the heater body for an antistatic/more hard wearing top for my electronics repairs, clipping with a wire to the case of the nearby heater to make an earth connection.Tl;Dr would screwing bricks under a desktop produce comparable results to filling the space under the worktop with concrete? via /r/DIY https://ift.tt/2uPeI2l
