My First Built Workbench

I finally build my first workbench that is a dedicated bench. Normally I used a sheet pf particle board
and some saw horses. This does not work well some hand tool work. I was also looking for a place to
put commonly used items that have been stored throughout the garage. It was a fun project, but cold. I
made it between Christmas and New Years during a the polar vortex. The garage does not warm up that
much.
My first comment is to the lumber. The wood frame is all out of 6/4 poplar. I would say I got a pretty
good deal on it. When I went to the lumber yard they could not find any, but the associate knew that
they had some off cuts in the back. They had large bundles of rip cuts they sell for fire wood. I knew
that I needed 4” and greater and they allowed me to go through this stack of rip scrap. It took me about
an hour to go though it and pull out what I wanted. I also put all the other boards that were over 4”
wide on top if they wanted to resell them. They sold me over 80 board feet of 6/4 poplar for $2 a board
foot. It was all clear and over 8’ long and 4” wide. FAS would have cost me $4 a board foot.
The sides and back were frame and panel. The panel was a solid MDF painted doors from a previous
employer. These were heavy and painted black. Great free wood and added a lot of weight to the
bench. The top is a piece of ¾” plywood that is wrapped with 4” wide poplar. I put t-track in the poplar
for clamping hardware. Drawer were made from ½” salvaged plywood. With the cost of plywood being
$100 for a 5x5 sheet (Baltic birch not box store grade), it was a nice savings.
I don’t have a lot of hardware on the bench except for the Rockler t-track clamps. That will probably
change over the years. I do understand the need for a vice. I have a make shift one right now. The
bench is on wheels which was the most expensive piece of hardware. It is Grizzley’s make your own
mobile base kit. I really like them. It is the 4 th base I have from them. The front is all drawers to hold my
stuff. I had it all planned out, and then measured the tools that would go in them. They were too big.
Good thing is that I was able to take out two small drawers and it all worked fine. I lost a couple of
drawers but it is ok.
What I like about the bench is that it is solid and heavy. It does not move when working on it. The holds
down on the roller stand works really well. It is also ½” lower than my table saw. This was by design so
that I can use it as an outfeed table with a ½” piece of plywood. I did not want to cut miter slots in the
bench top so I made it slightly lower. The drawers hold all my hand tools so they are no longer in the
back of a cabinet hard to get too. I do have t-track around the perimeter of the top. This does allow me
to clamp items to the to sides. It is been very helpful with stops and joinery work.