DIY- How to Build a Mini Workbench

I decided one day that I needed a small and very sturdy  compact workbench which could be easily moved from room to room. It features a 24 x 18 inch top with corner cutaways for fine detail work. And all it took was time and basic woodworking tools.


The top is half-inch plywood; (go for a sturdy ply that has thick, solid layers, not a delicate decorative ply.) This thin ply keeps it lightweight, and makes C-clamping of wood a whole lot easier.

Boy do I hate spending money.
All the wood you see used in this project I found in the trash. Yes, you heard that right. I live in a big city, and there are plenty of people who toss out leftover wood and cuttings. I will talk more of working with "reclaimed" wood later on in this blog.

I gathered up the following:

2x3" stud; -- 2x3"clear; -- 1x4" common; --l 1&1/8" square baluster; -- 1x12" common; --  and a piece of 1/2 inch plywood.

Do have to tell you that none of the wood I found looked very pretty? Did I care? -- No. A workbench is for work. Work ain't always pretty.

 Here you can see the shape of the top of the workbench: 
  
With my Black and Decker sabre saw, I trimmed the corners to a 45 degree angle, and cut notches to facilitate delicate work.

In the back I didn't cut the board, but left it straight in case I needed the edge to rip something. Then I gave the whole thing a cursory sanding.


In the bottom of the photo at right, I am filling the open ply edge with DAP Vinyl Spackling paste. Marvelous stuff. After it dries, give it a a sanding with a sanding bar. It's a very nice way to finish off that ugly plywood edge.

 Here I'm using a miter saw to cut and trim the 2x3" stud into the "feet." The trimmed corner makes the workbench much more "people-friendly."


This miter-saw you see here is a Swedish-made Nobex type 202. I've had it for years, and it is excellent. The thing is hand-powered, less noisy and not as messy as a power rotary miter. Not bad for picture framing too.

The braces:

I then trimmed the 1x4" pieces to 16" across, and added 1" baluster to form the bracing. Here, at right, you see I have pre-drilled and counter-sunk the holes and used 1&1/4" drywall screws to attach it to the baluster. These pieces of baluster will receive the screws which will secure it to the uprights. (Trust me, you'll see!)

By the way, all of this has been done using only drywall screws, (no glue.) 

You should sand it. Mine was done with my lovely Dewalt orbital sander. It's a good idea to smooth out rough wood to avoid splinters later on.


Here is the support structure. 

You can see how I have used a 16" piece of 1x12 as a base reinforcement, moved towards the center for core strength. It is also tied in with 1" baluster, just like the other brace (see above.)  As you can see, all braces are cut 16", they all mount on the interior, ergo the interior space measures 16".

A piece of 1x4," also cut at 16" ties together the "feet."

Along the top I have attached some pieces of 2x3" clear stock which the top will screw into. The perfect flatness of the clear 2x3" stock helps to make a firm, steady attachment, so necessary in keeping the unit strong, firm and vibration free.

If you look closely, you will see how I have pre-drilled and counter-sunk the holes for the drywall screws to tie into the braces and attach the "feet." The holes must be just slightly larger than the diameter of the screw shafts so that it connects with ease without hanging up the operation. 

I always scrape the screw threads along the edge of a wax candle before I drive them home. It makes driving screws a lot easier. If you are fussy, you can also pre-drill a finer hole to accept the drywall screws, but I only do that if I'm going into delicate stock.


Also, this is important: because reclaimed wood is rarely perfectly straight, I assembled the unit on a flat floor, tying the pieces firmly together in whatever way kept the thing most solid and firm. This may leave the finished unit with a small flaw or two, but the point here is stability, not perfection. You will be happier with this when you are tearing through tough stock with a sabre-saw and this little workbench holds its own and doesn't teeter around.

Here is the side view. Not bad, huh? I counter-sunk holes in the top to tie into the 2x3" clear pieces (shown here), and was careful to counter-sink all pre-drilled holes in general. This is not only a more attractive and tidier way of working, but the sunken heads keep the screws snug and tight.

For a paint finish, I chose Insl-X Aqua Lock, an acrylic water based sealer. I call it the "miracle paint," because it adheres to almost anything, seals out common stains, helps to waterproof your work and has such adhesion that it actually strengthens the surface of the wood. It has a fine eggshell finish and once dry doesn't look like an undercoat at all.

The finished mini-bench. 

I wiped the Insl-X Aqua Lock sealer into the grain of the wood on the top just to have a little fun beautifying the thing.




Well, from these photos you get the general idea of the design of this project, and maybe you can do your own DIY design to adapt it to your particular needs.

These small benches, BTW, are perfect for jewelry designers, and also make ideal work stands for sculpting in clay.


Later on I'll share a design for a larger, collapsible work-table I devised. Until then, have fun.

-- Tim