I'm in need of a workbench in the garage and considering building one out. Gonna wait to see what garage sales and Labor Day promotions brings for a drawer cabinet but, looking to see what's out there for home-built work benches. Searching for ideas on plans or, kits with leg brackets.

Here are a few ideas.

I've built a couple of workbenches, and the most important part is the work surface. Making sure it is sturdy enough to withstand a goodly amount of hammering. a sheet of plywood just doesn't cut it.

I think the best top I've built used an industrial 4'x8' gravel screen as a base, with 2x4's inset into it (2" side down) and screwed to the steel mesh with 3" deck screws. 4/4's at the corners, and you're done.

If you have a sand and gravel plant/quarry nearby, it might be worthwhile to ask if they have any used screens that are no longer in use, they wear out pretty quickly, and most plants I've been around have a large stack of these in their boneyard. Take a friend or three along, they are heavy.

Watching this thread. I need to get a new reloading bench in and I'm deciding whether to buy and adapt a workbench or just build one.

This depends on your woodworking skills and available tools.

With basic tools like a circular saw and a drill you are looking at 2x4 construction with bolts and nuts, maybe laminating sheets of plywood for a top or purchasing a premade top from Home Depot. I'm not saying this isn't good, but the fit and finish will most likely be rough and you'll have to use a lot of fasteners to make it heavy duty reliable. The amount of savings may not be worth the effort over purchasing something premade which might cost more but be more sturdy with better fit and finish.

If you're experienced and own some tools like a table saw, a planer, some clamps, and a miter saw then things get a bit more interesting considering the fact that you own those tools may infer some more experience with wood working.

Then the sky is the limit if you can find some plans that suit you. You can customize the exact dimensions, sturdiness, utility and fit and finish of the product that you need or desire.

There's way too much junk on my bench to get a good pic right now, but I'll offer this: I embedded two 24" long one-inch 80-20 extrusions, six inches apart, in the surface of my bench, at the right-hand end.

Doing so allows me to attach various tools (reloading tools, for instance) to aluminum plates and slide them into or out of the rails as necessary. Mighty convenient.

Oh, and I used Douglas fir 4x4s for the legs -- less susceptible to twisting and bending over time.

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Edited link for accuracy. My rails are 1x2", not 1x1" as previously linked.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: vthoky,

I've had great results in using solid core doors as work tops in several benches. I also wire up a four gang receptacle at each end of the bench on the front legs.

I really like those two ideas above! ^^^

I used 2x4s and a sheet of 3/4” plywood(not osb). Built a frame of the 2x4s, screw to the wall at the studs and made it high enough to roll a tool chest under (all my reloading stuff is in one) then I had to make a riser for Mrs. Mikes side for her stained glass stuff.

I used inline fabrication plate for the press and bolted other holders to the wall for powder throw, scale, trimmer, another press

I used 3 layers of MDF as my bench top. Flat, heavy, very stable. I did epoxy in some 1.5 inch dowel in the side so that my vise bolts had something to bite into.

Friend of mine sent these plans over, looks like a pretty standard bench. Initial viewing, I might modify the length & height since these are originally designed for homebuilt airplane projects.

An old door is a good idea for a table-top. I was thinking of 3/4 plywood, then sheething it a smoothboard panel of some sort.

I glued and clamped three sheets of 3/4” plywood together, creating a home rolled “gluelam” top, then built the legs out of superstrut. The rear legs are up against and anchored to the garage wall structure (metal garage), bolted to those were horizontals coming out to the front legs. Top is bolted down to the horizontals with countersunk bolts. Each leg is anchored to the concrete floor with redheads. So far the stability is adequate.

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
I really like those two ideas above! ^^^

If you'd like, I can either sketch it out or (eek!) go clean it off and get pics.

A solid core door, couple of 4x4’s and some angle brackets from your local box store makes a bench you could rebuild a big block Chevy on. It’s modeled after the same one that got famous from the e-commerce giant.

Built one for the garage and a lexan covered one for the basement shop.


-Jeff

Make it high enough so you stand erect when working

I built this one a few years back. Roughly 4x8 on lockable castors. I made it so that I could take out the miter saw and level the whole top out.

I've built a few work benches but never got them right. After watching many videos about making them correctly, I ended up buying a light duty commercial workbench to keep it simple, since I was sure I would still make mistakes. Serious woodworkers build several benches improperly or the wrong kind before they figure it out. I did not have the time or money to go thru all that.

https://www.gladiatorgaragewor...t-hardwood-workbench
After the flood I had to rebuild my garage workbench and storage , /I went with this bench . It's pricey but worth it . 3000 lb. capacity . It's a beast . Actually , I got the 8 foot bench .

This message has been edited. Last edited by: selogic,

I have three "homemade" work benches.

One was my grandfathers. It has cast iron legs supposedly from a Post Office bench and a top made from old growth 2x12's.

One is made from a solid core interior door with southern yellow pine 4x4 legs that were formerly the base to a router table my dad once made.

The third is an old kitchen base cabinet with doors. It had, and still has a crappy 2x4 top that I've removed, reinstalled and reinforced. At some point, I'm either going to glue and screw a piece of good plywood over the top or possibly something like Masonite when I get tired enough of little bits and pieces falling into the gaps between my boards.

I see lots of used benches for sale online. A buddy just picked up 5-6 American made maple top benches with steel legs that were 30" or 36"x60" for cheap for his son.

I've built several, and they have served my purposes well. I use 4x4s for the legs, 2x4s for framing, and 2x6s for the tops. And a metric ton of 2 3/4" construction screws to hold it all together. They're not light, but they don't move at all and you could park a truck on them if you needed to. The 2x6 tops are stronger than plywood and cheaper than giant pieces of butcher block. The only downside is the seams between the boards, which can be mitigated somewhat with a good planing and sanding, but if there's a spot that needs a perfectly flat continuous surface (like my wife's pottery station) a piece of butcher block screwed to the top will work fine. I also re-enforced the area under my reloading presses with a solid oak block and ran my mounting bolts all the way through the 2x4 framing underneath to eliminate any flex when I'm working the press.

All of these were pretty simple projects...a couple of hundred bucks in materials and the better part of a Saturday worth of work.

Wife's art studio bench, complete with lizard:




My reloading bench in the basement/dungeon:




Garage bench. I know it sounds like a cop-out, but most of the mess is my son's!