2x4 Work Bench

Comment

Comment by Lorrie on June 6, 2013 at 12:26pm

Thanks Dustin.  Looking forward to seeing it.  Have a great day!  Lorrie

Comment by Dustin Boyd on June 6, 2013 at 7:24am

Yes, I used the Kreg 2x4 work bench plans, made it a little taller, added the casters on the bottom, and added the side tables.  In retrospect I think I should have made the main table a couple of inches shorter because it's a little bit high for assembly projects even for me at 6'-1" tall.  It's the perfect height for me for using the miter saw though.  I took a few extra pics this morning and jotted down the dimensions of everything.  I should be able to make a sketch later today and I'll add it to the pictures here.

Comment by Lorrie on June 5, 2013 at 9:14pm

Hi Dustin.  The workbench that I was using just fell apart.  My neighbor had given me an old cabinet that he had in his garage.  He moved and wasn't going to take it.  I think that he had stored oil and such in the bottom part of the cabinet.  he worked on cars all the time. it had wheels on the bottom.  it was just MDF I think.  the front of the cabinet is oak.  it had a false front on it and I just took the fronts off the other day and I made a drawer for the opening.  It was my first drawer.  I made it with the Kreg jig and routed a 1/4 inch groove for the bottom.  Anyway, I had just installed the drawer.  I wanted to move the cabinet out to get to the other opening where I planned to make a matching drawer and the mdf gave way and broke off.  the middle wheels fell off.  I'm not sure the cabinet is worth saving.  I'm thinking at this point of making the workbench like yours.  If I have to rebuild it, I might as well build something that will work better for me.  Any plans you have will be much appreciated.  Thanks so much.  Lorrie

Comment by Lorrie on June 5, 2013 at 4:47pm

Thanks Dustin for the information.  What are the dimensions of the side tables that you made?  The larger table does seem to be sturdy but I'm sure there is a limit to how big you can make it and keep that stability. Did you use the Kreg workbench plan and then add to it?

Comment by Dustin Boyd on June 5, 2013 at 12:59pm

I forgot to mention that if you look closely you can probably see the rods I installed just underneath the main table top.  These allow the aluminum bar supports to be clipped onto them so they're not just hanging loose when the side tables are folded down.  So, the aluminum bar supports actually store on the table itself instead of having to remove them and store them somewhere else.

Comment by Dustin Boyd on June 5, 2013 at 12:54pm

Sure Lorrie.  The side tables are hinged with door hinges, I believe 3" long ones.  The supports are made from 1/4" X 1" X 4' long aluminum bar.  I used 2 of the 4' bars cut to length.  The rods that the bars slide onto were cut out of a 3' section of 7/16" steel rod, cut in 2-3/4" lengths.  I don't have a drill press, so to drill the holes for the pins I took my dremel tool with a grinding wheel and ground flat spots on the rod every 2-3/4" and then drilled holes through the rod to accept the clip pins.  I drilled all the holes first and then cut the rod into sections.  I used the dremel with grinding wheel to rough up the part of the rods that go into the wood and simply glued them into the wood with epoxy.  The rods fit very tightly into the 7/16" holes I drilled into the wood, so wood glue probably would have been fine.  I wouldn't try to sit on one of the side tables, but they seem extremely sturdy and should hold up to anything I'll do with them.  Let me know if you want more info.

Comment by Lorrie on June 5, 2013 at 12:02pm

Hi Dustin,

Can you share what supports you used and how they work?  I like the idea of them folding down.  I've seen some tables where you can take them off if not using them, but then you have to store them somewhere.  Thanks, Lorrie

Comment by Dustin Boyd on June 4, 2013 at 10:33am

Thank you very much!  I'm especially proud of the fold out table supports.  I'm sure someone has done something similar before, but I wasn't able to find any examples.  It took me a little while to figure out how to make the supports work and make the tables easily and quickly fold up and down.

Comment by KregRep on June 4, 2013 at 10:26am

Nice job Dustin! The bench will definitely be very useful. I love the portability, too.

KregRep

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