Earlier this year I found some plans online for the top 5 best router tables right now on the Family Handyman site:
That seemed like a pretty cool workbench, and the $50 price tag seemed reasonable. My second oldest son, who recently bought a new house – has an empty garage. So, I figured this would make a great first workbench for him. I also liked the fact that you can make it from just fifteen 2×4’s and one sheet of 4×8 plywood. The article itself doesn’t have a date on it, so I’m not sure how old it is. I say that, because you certainly can’t get the wood for $50 anymore. I 4×8 sheet of baltic birch plywood with one good face is $44 alone. It wasn’t altogether bad, the total for wood was about $70. Add another $5 for a box of 3″ screws.
So once I had all the wood home, I just made all the cuts one night in about an hour – to have them ready for the weekend. Then, on the weekend I was ready to start building the frame out:
Although there were a bunch of ways I could have joined these, I just opted for straight screws. Pocket holes would’ve taken more time, and really weren’t necessary. Next I fastened the main workspace area to the bench:
Next I added the bottom shelf face, and then attached the top support portion. Many work benches would not have an upper section, but I really liked the design of this one – as you’ll see in the next photos.
The next pictures shows the finished product, which includes some additions. First the entire thing is stained, and top has a few coats of poly. You might not think you need to do that for a garage workbench. However, stain, sealer, and finish isn’t for looks alone. It’s a protectant – and items in your garage need (in my opinion) even more protection than items in the house. They are (at times) exposed to more elements and moisture.
You’ll see in that last picture that I’ve added the pegboard sheets for hanging tools. You’ll see behind them the addition of a center 2×4 brace to which the backer boards attach. I also added 2 power strips, on the inside of the left and right support arms. The front has a vinyl rain gutter attached, which makes a great area to put tools you’re working with like screwdrivers, nails, or even rules and tape measure.
In this image of the finished product you see that the hanging work light has been added to the top support, and some pegs have been added to the peg board for tools. Also – I did sand the work surface to 320 before staining and sealing with poly a few times. All in all this will make a great beginning to my sons work shop! Hopefully it will help him and his family begin to make their own things.
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