Building a simple workbench

Before I embark on a winter's worth of projects, I needed to get a work area set up.  I had staked a claim to a corner of the basement that would become home to all (most) of my gear and my workshop.  The first major step was to get a workbench put together, as this would be the main focal point and working space in my little shop.

Before I started I needed to figure out just how everything would fit in the space available, which was a little smaller than my workshop at our last house, and also a bit of an odd shape.  I used SketchUp to roughly model the space available, and then placed things where I thought they might go.  This made it really easy to "re-arrange the furniture" and plan out the space.  Much easier than my wife's way, which is to put all the stuff somewhere, and then move it all around a hundred times before putting it back to the original layout.

On to the workbench, I settled on a small-ish work surface of 8' long and 28" deep.  It was a little smaller than I would have preferred, but I figured it would still provide enough space to work, and it would fit best in the space available if I kept it this size.  I wanted to make the workbench counter height, as this is a good height for me to either sit at a stool or stand and work.  Counter height is 36" typically. 

I used ½" plywood for the top, decided on 2x4 trim and legs.  All of these materials can be had fairly inexpensively at your local DIY store.

Materials

• ½" x 4' x 8' Plywood (OSB or nicer, don't use MDF) - 1 sheet
• 2" x 4" x 8' Studs - 6 should be enough, but I never buy less than 10 at a time - who can't always find something to use a stud for?
• A box of 16 penny nails (you don't actually need a whole box, so if you have some laying around you can probably make due)
• Some drywall screws or something similar for fastening the plywood to the frame

Cut List

• Cut 4 of your studs into two 35½" lengths each.  This will yield 8 legs that are all 35½" and 4 left-overs that are 25" (don't throw those away - we're going to use them).
• Rip 28" off the plywood so that you have a piece that's 8' long by 28" deep.

Assemble

You probably want to do the rest of these steps close to the final resting place of your workbench.  Once it's all nailed together it will be hard to move.

• Build four 35½" legs out of the eight pieces of wood that you cut earlier.  I use a simple butt to make an "L" out of the legs. 
  
  Here's an easy way:  Take 2 of your pieces, and lay them side-by-side on the ground, with the 1½" side down, so they look like the number 11.  Take another piece and lay it flat on top of those two.  Now you have an 11 with a cap.  Make sure all the ends are perfectly aligned and then drive a couple of nails along the left (or right, but don't do both) side of that cap, down into one of the other boards.  If you do this right you'll end up with a nice sturdy leg.  Repeat until they're all done.

• Build the frame for the top.  Take two un-cut 2x4's, and two of the 25" pieces you have left over, and arrange them in a rectangle.  Just like before you want the 1½" side of the 2x4 on the ground, not the 3½" side.  Put the 25" pieces on the inside of the 8' pieces.  The outside dimensions of the box you're making should be 8' x 28" if you have it laid out correctly.  Once all corners are aligned make sure it's close to square (it will get fully squared up in a minute) and drive 2 nails into each corner.  When you're done you'll have a wobbly rectangle.

• Add the legs to each corner.  With the rectangle frame laying on the ground, stand up a leg in each corner and plumb it to the frame (again roughly is fine here - we ain't building a church), then drive enough nails through the frame and into the legs that they're sturdy.

• Almost done.  In fact, now you should have an upside-down table with no top.  I like to add a couple more supports about half-way up the legs running parallel to the floor.  This is the time to make sure the legs are plumb to the floor / frame.  Use another 8' stud along what will be the back edge, and nail them to the legs about halfway between the floor and the top.  You can also add similar bracing to the short sides if desired (those extra 25" pieces come in handy here), but for a table this size I don't think it's necessary.  Don't add one across the front unless you don't ever plan to sit at the bench and don't value the space under it.

• Now it's time to flip the whole thing over, so that it's standing on its legs.  It should be fairly sturdy, but don't worry too much if it still wobbles a bit. 

• If we did everything right you should have a frame that's 8' long, 28" deep, and 35½" off the floor.  We wanted our bench to be 36" high, so go ahead and put the cut sheet of plywood on top now... it's ½" thick, so now your dimensions are exactly as planned.

• The plywood should be more or less square, so make sure that the frame you built is perfectly aligned under the plywood.  You'll know now if you made your rectangle more of a parallelogram, and now's the time to fix it.  Once everything is squared up, secure the workbench top to the frame with some drywall screws (or something similar) about every foot or so around the perimeter. 

• If it's still wobbly now you either made the legs not quite all the same length, or the floor is sloped (fairly common in a basement).  If it's not too bad try using a shim to level things out.  If it's really bad, well, you might have some more work to do.  If you're lucky it came out perfect.

Voila!  Enjoy your new workbench.