After buying a few tools (my 10 yr anniversary present) and as a newbie hobbyist woodworker, I figured I needed a good workbench (the folding table just wasn’t cutting it). Like many of you, I have a very limited amount of space (12’ section of garage wall to be exact) and with that limited space, I needed to design a workbench that would serve many needs: bench, assembly table, storage, etc. It had to be mobile and very sturdy since I work out on the sloped driveway. The idea behind it was not only to be functional, but also to utilize as many new (new to me) techniques as I could. I figured practicing those techniques on ‘shop’ furniture was the best option. After looking at many designs, this is what I came up with.
The bench is 39.5” tall, 32.5” deep, and 60” wide. It is a roughly estimated at 600 pounds when loaded (OK, so I went a bit overboard). The vises are old Wilton woodworking vises I bought from Craigslist for $30 each. They are 10” wide with 12” travel (9.5” after installed).
The base is two layers of Baltic birch with a support grid underneath. The posts are just 4×4 pine posts from Lowe’s. As a newbie, the joinery here was probably my most difficult task. Design wise, I didn’t want the bottom to stick out beyond the posts, or the sides to be just tacked to the inside taking up more valuable space. Matching up multiple rabbets and drawbore mortise & tenons with long heavy pieces and keeping it square proved very humbling. Not having perfectly planed posts didn’t help.
The interior is all 3/4 plywood joined with dadoes and all edged with 1/4″ oak. I do not have a good setup for routing out dadoes or an out-feed table, so I had to build a second crosscut sled specifically to cut the dadoes for the larger pieces on my table saw.
The top is two more sheets of Baltic birch, then a top layer of MDF & hardboard puzzled with oak runners (for the dogs). The surrounding trim is oak. Also, the entire top layer is designed to be able to lift out and be replaced if I ever need to. I didn’t want to waste the space underneath the two vises (which I got for $30 ea off CL!), so I made pass-through shelves for each. That way I could still have storage beneath.
Doors and drawer faces were put on the front for appearance since my garage is also the kids’ rec room. The back is left open with additional shelving. The front posts have removable plugs for board jack holes and the dog holes were made with a 3/4” Forstner bit. The whole bench is mobile riding on 4” lockable casters. I base coated everything with a 1lb cut of shellac, then two coats of Minwax Red Mahogany 225. I finished with multiple coats of General Finishes EF High Performance Polyurethane.
This is step one of a 3 step project for my shop. Next will be to build some wall mounted cabinets and a pegboard cabinet. Then I want to build a mobile base to join my table saw and router table together.
Nice looking and I also noticed the carpet. love it !
WOW! A carpeted wood shop. AWESOME!! Table is very, very cool too. Great work. I may steal some of all of your design.
that is one very nice looking bench almost wouldent do any work on it. it would probably make a beautiful entertainment center.
This looks great. How could I get a copy of your plans so I could build one?
Todd, I do everything in Sketchup. Design wise, I looked at numerous wood magazines and all over the Internet for ideas to pull from. Personal needs and space limitations come into play after that. Ive watched all of Marc’s videos and many others for how-to’s. Good luck.
Really quite inspiring. Would be interested in seeing the sketchup plans if you care to share. You could even put it up on the http://sawtoothideas.com/ site that the guys mentioned on Woodtalk. Thanks again for sharing and it is a wonderful piece you should be proud of.
Did you draw anything up?
What resources did you use to inform your design?
My wife recently decided that I was not “serious” about woodworking and I’d like to prove her wrong.
Wow, thx for all the comments!
After seeing on the site I realize my description was a bit long winded! Sorry about that.
To answer a few questions, yes the oak runners were for both look and functionality; the carpet is because the rest of the garage is the kids recreational room; and this is my first project, outside of a crosscut sled and a litte castle-thingy I made for my son to test out my tools.
Thx again.
Would really be interested in your plans so that I could build one. you could send it to ronoleston@yahoo.com no matter how crude.
thanks
Great bit of work Eric! You may feel humbled by the build but you definitely should feel proud as it looks fabulous. Also, you achieved that critical “work-holding-using-the-legs-and-sides-too” mantra that Chris Schwarz propounds in his workbench books.
Great bench. Inspiring!
and a great looking bench!
I’m feeling a little jealous. Carpet how nice!
Really a very fine job. Now get it dusty!
Great job – I have to go along with other comments on the dogs, storage and general utility. Keep up the impressive work!
It’s really nice!
Very nice!
Nicely done Eric. Looks like something I am wanting to do.
if you can build/design that you can build/design any furniture!!
Very nice bench – I love the bench dog design and storage. I am in the design phase for my 1st bench and picked up a few pointers from your design. Thanks for sharing!
That’s a fairly complex design. It’s apparent that you put a lot of thought into this design. As one who is still hoping to come up with some sort of hand tool woodworking bench for a small area, this has a lot of good ideas. Thanks.
Eric, this is a well thought out design, build. I really like the color. The plugs in the legs are not only functional but add to the attractiveness of the piece. Really neat
The built in storage is a nice feature in a space challenged shop. Very nice looking bench. Well done sir!
Great craftsmanship. An attractive piece.
Very cool!
Love the oak strips for dog holes, both appearance and functionality/durability.
And the leg dog hole plugs are awesome, hadn’t seen that before.
I’d wonder how the locking casters will work for you. I put locking casters on my first bench [I'm also a driveway woodworker] and they did not provide enough stability for hand planing and some other activities. Hopefully, the weight of your bench and size/quality of your locks will do the trick [my first bench was not very beefy].
Height is pretty high for an assembly table, other than flat panel glue ups. You may need some other “bench.” Maybe don’t toss out that folding table just yet.
Drawers and storage directly underneath bench preclude using hold fasts which need leverage of protruding below. Of course there are many ways to hold your work, but I’m partial to holdfasts for many tasks. I also use F-clamps and such which require some clearance under the top, thus I’d prefer at least a 3-4″ setback of understructure other than the legs and vise support system.
I agree that shop fixtures are a great way to develop skills.
Wonderfully executed and great looking project. Should serve you well for many years.
Now, hopefully, you can proceed to put some character building dings, cuts and bashes on that lovely piece.
Very nice.
Nicely done Eric! I was wondering about the caps on the front and sure enough, the next photo showed the concealed dog holes on the legs. Nicely done. I like how the oak dog hole runners look, did you do that for appearances, or out of concern for the durability of the MDF/hardboard if you put the dogs in there?
I like the firefighter meeting Mickey poster, we have that one hanging at our administrative offices.
Great looking bench. Love the square pegs.
Can you say behemoth? Very nice. Certainly noticed the carpet – might as well tinker in style. Cheers
Very cool bench. The plugs on the legs and the handles tend to give it a green & green look.
I like it. Good job.
Wow, that is a really cool bench – I must make something similar to that for my garage shop one day soon! I like the way the dogs line up and match the width of the oak runners – its a good detail :)
But like Frank said, you almost don’t want to work on that surface for fear of messing it up. (even though you have thought of a replacement plan for that!)
I like the look of it. The top looks almost too nice to do any actual work on. I think yours is the first workshop featured on this website that has carpet in it.
true… beutiful pice of work. but to beutiful to actually work on… and the carpet deos raise questions… again, very nice !
That is really impressive hombre. How long have you been practicing the craft?