January 2014 - Made by Alan

A couple years ago I was searching the web to find plans for a simple, strong woodworking workbench. I didn’t need a fancy one made out of maple. Just one that was sturdy with a good woodworking vise. I found one on the Fine Woodworking website with free plans! Here is the web page workbench.

It is different in that it is held together with threaded rod that run the entire length of the table. This makes it real stable. It is made of 2x4s and 4x4s. Even when they call them Kiln Dried at the local big box home center, the wood still shrinks. When this happens, just tighten the nuts on the threaded rods. It can also be disassembled if necessary. Find the straightest wood you can.

I only changed one thing when building it, using pocket holes instead of clips to hold the top on. I also put “peg board’ on the ends to hold tools. The top and shelf are made of MDF finished with polyurethane. Cut it outside as it the dust is bad and it also is a pain to bore holes in. It took me a couple hours to bore the holes in the top. I think it is made of layers of compressed paper. A simple spade bit worked best.

pocket holes

Having a good woodworking vise is a pleasure. It holds things so secure. This is a 7″ vise made by Jet. The workbench was made the same height as my table saw to act as an out-feed table. 2 years go by and it shrank in height 3/4″. I had to add leg levelers to it.