Magazine wood working

Workbench week

My workhorse. It is so heavy, I havent move it in years.

Workbenches are for working.

Over the past few years, a lot of people have asked me to shoot a video on how to make a workbench. Ive always set that on the back burner because I already have a workbench. Well, to be certain, I have four.

They all are made with the same down-and-dirty construction: 2x4s and plywood. They are strong, sturdy and made to be abused. They are benches intended for, well, work.

The Mere Mortals annex 

It recently dawned on me that really my shop has expanded into my driveway. I assemble projects and finish them outside my shop on almost everything I build, yet every time I need to haul out a pair of wobbly sawhorses and flop down whatever old board I can find to use as a bench top.

The sides of my new bench.

This weekend I decided to build one more workbench: one dedicated to my "expansion" shop in the driveway. It will be the same simple construction Ive used on all my other workbenches and will have casters so I can roll it into my shop on rainy days. Not only that, its going to be the same height as the tailgate on my truck. That will aid in sliding out sheet goods and rough cutting them.

But the design can be scaled to any size you wish.

To a lot of woodworkers, the workbench is the centerpiece of their shops. A "proper" woodworking bench can cost a thousand dollars to build. They are beautiful examples of workmanship and I admire them. Well, who wouldnt? But in my shop, a workbench needs to fill two needs: it needs to be sturdy, and it needs to be willing to take abuse. If I want to quickly screw a jig into it, I dont want to worry about ruining its finish.

Show me your workbench!

I want to see what you are using for a workbench. More specifically, I want pictures of your workbench to post here. Mostly what I want to see are workbenches that get the job done. Maybe its something you slapped together 20 years ago and are still using. What do you like about it? Why does it work so well for you? If you were to make a new workbench, what features would you add? Post your pics on the Mere Mortals Facebook page. Or, email them to me at zrammedia (at) gmail (dot) com. Send a description with it!