Work table... brought back to life!

[Jesse McNew]

This was an old folding work bench that was being given away at a yard sale. The original particle board top had been severely damaged. Looked like it had been stored outdoors for years. There is some surface rust on the frame, too... but nothing too bad.

I made the new top completely out of stuff I had left over from other projects. It is 2 layers of 3/4" particle board with a 3/4"x1.5" pine edge band. The edge banding is held in place by pocket screws from the underside of the top piece of particle board. Now that it is in place, the pocket holes are completely hidden. The top is approx. 25.5" x 37.5" x 1.5".

I'll be adding a bench Klamp or two soon... already got a couple of them sitting around. The table still folds up to a nice compact size for traveling or storing out of the way. It is quite a bit heavier than before... but it is also larger and sturdier!

[Derek]

Looks like a very handy work-made based workbench, Jesse. And portable too! The edgebanding you added really gave it a finished look. Check out this thread for some ways to make it even more useful!

[Jesse McNew]

Haha! That's exactly the thread that gave me the inspiration to do this project! I bought two of the bench klamps from Woodcraft (including the free Kreg jigs) to mount to the table. I didn't have time to play with the router this morning, though.

[Michael Hritz]

I also added a solid surface to one of these Workmates I got at a garage sale. Made a sandwich of 2 pieces of MDF with some 1/2" ply between, & dropped a 2"x6"x6" slab of marble into it flush for my leatherworker son to bang on. Added some angled pegs on the edge to hang tools. Heavy, but nearly indestructible!

[Ellen Lewis]

I too have one of these "old tables" given to me by a now long dead neighbor after he never used it! I love the idea of the top and that it still folds. Thanks for the inspiration!
Ellen

[Jesse McNew]

Ellen, I really like the large, solid surface to work on, but be aware that it is heavy! It probably weighs 40 pounds or more and is a bit of a struggle to set it up because of the weight as well as the fact that the table is wider, which makes it trickier to get at the locking knobs. If you want to be more portable, you might want to go with just one layer of MDF (or whatever material you use).

I finally installed both of the table clamps. I traced the outline and routed it out so they are flush. I did not make a frame template as Kreg suggests... I just routed it carefully by hand and used a chisel to cut out the corners.