blownhemi
Well-known member
Unfortunately, here in Australia we don't get the same sort of easy to assemble bench kits that you guys overseas seem to get. The only kits we see are so wobbly and unstable that I'd feel uneasy about putting a carton of beer on them, let alone anything substantial, and they cost about $300. I built this bench for less than that and it's as solid as a house.
So I decided to draw up a rough sketch of what I reckoned I'd need. I wanted a bench to go in front of my garage window, which is 2400mm long (sorry guys all measurements in metric, if you want to know inches divide by 25.4mm). Given that your typical sheet of ply is 2400mm long I thought that was a nice coincidence.
Not knowing what size material to use, I initially planned to have six legs of 90x90mm, but when I went to the local Bunnings (Aussie version of Home Depot) I found the timber was stupidly expensive. Then I noticed some treated timber 200x50mm sleepers for $5 a length (1200mm long). I thought they'd do well for legs, so I grabbed six of them and seven 3m lengths of 90x35mm timber for cross beams, and a sheet of 2400x600mmx17mm forming plywood, plus another sheet of 2400x600x12mm non-structural plywood. Then coach and carriage bolts to match.
So the shopping list looked like this:
(6x) 1200x200x50mm Treated Pine
(7x) 3000x90x35mm Pine
(1x) 2400x600x17mm forming ply
(1x) 2400x1200x12mm non-structual ply
(24x) 8mmx114mm carriage bolt, nuts & washers
(36x) 8mmx90mm coach bolts & washers
Then my father-in-law, who's a cabinetmaker by trade, got involved and he tweaked my basic plan. My plan would have make a very good bench, his tweaks have made it an excellent bench.
We started by cutting all the 1200mm lengths of 200x50mm down to 1000mm neat. I wanted the bench to be just over 1m tall which will be perfect for my 1.8m height.
Then I cut two of the 3m lengths down to 2400mm and two others down to 2060mm. The 2400mm lengths were for the top under the bench while 2060mm length were for halfway up the legs. We decided that it would be best to build the bench in front and back sections and then join them together. We were also building the bench to incorporate a pair of wooden tool chests that I already had which measure 860x440mm across the face.
Here's the backside fully assembled. We bolted right through the centre leg with the carriage bolts and kept the nuts and washers on the back. The end legs were turned sideways for stability and attached with coach bolts and the heads recessed into the timber face. The end result looks like a weird fence railing.
Here's the front and back sections all assembled ready for a bench top.
For a giggle we dropped the bench top on just to see what it would look like. Looks good.
We started late in the afternoon yesterday so at dinner time we call it a night and started again today. First up we cut the 12mm sheet on non-structural ply down the middle to give us two 600mm wide lengths. Then we attached one of the lengths to the top of our leg sections with countersunk wood screws that we had laying around. The rear edge was fitted flush with the top rail while the front edge was fitted with an overhang of 35mm so we can clamp stuff to the bench top as needed.
Showing the flush fitting rear side.
Then we flipped it upside down (you will need two people for this) and started cutting the 485mm long crossbraces out of 90x35mm lengths. We needed eight, and four were bolted at the ends (two at each end) using carriage bolts, while the middle four were coach bolted to the centre legs with care taken to avoid hitting the other bolts already in place.
The centre section.
The end section.
Then with the table on the side we cut angles on the top timbers for a neater look.
You can see the angle cuts here.
On top we've used the 17mm thick black forming ply for the bench top which was attached using short countersunk wood screws from underneath so there were no exposed screws on the top.
The final piece was a 145mm wide piece of 12mm ply cut from the other section of 600mm ply left over (2400mm long) and this was attached to the back to stop stuff rolling over the back edge. The lip is about 25mm high and this matches up nicely with my window ledge.
Here's the finished product with the tool boxes slid into place and held in place by four screws apiece. I'm pretty happy with the result.
No you might have noticed there's some material left. I'm thinking about adding another shelf to the bottom. That was the original plan, but my father-in-law reckons I don't need it and I can just roll plastic storage containers underneath if I want to store extra stuff under there. I might go that way. We'll see if it works out and I can always add another shelf later if I want.
Hope you enjoyed my bench build and maybe it'll help someone else build theirs in the future.
So I decided to draw up a rough sketch of what I reckoned I'd need. I wanted a bench to go in front of my garage window, which is 2400mm long (sorry guys all measurements in metric, if you want to know inches divide by 25.4mm). Given that your typical sheet of ply is 2400mm long I thought that was a nice coincidence.
Not knowing what size material to use, I initially planned to have six legs of 90x90mm, but when I went to the local Bunnings (Aussie version of Home Depot) I found the timber was stupidly expensive. Then I noticed some treated timber 200x50mm sleepers for $5 a length (1200mm long). I thought they'd do well for legs, so I grabbed six of them and seven 3m lengths of 90x35mm timber for cross beams, and a sheet of 2400x600mmx17mm forming plywood, plus another sheet of 2400x600x12mm non-structural plywood. Then coach and carriage bolts to match.
So the shopping list looked like this:
(6x) 1200x200x50mm Treated Pine
(7x) 3000x90x35mm Pine
(1x) 2400x600x17mm forming ply
(1x) 2400x1200x12mm non-structual ply
(24x) 8mmx114mm carriage bolt, nuts & washers
(36x) 8mmx90mm coach bolts & washers
Then my father-in-law, who's a cabinetmaker by trade, got involved and he tweaked my basic plan. My plan would have make a very good bench, his tweaks have made it an excellent bench.
We started by cutting all the 1200mm lengths of 200x50mm down to 1000mm neat. I wanted the bench to be just over 1m tall which will be perfect for my 1.8m height.
Then I cut two of the 3m lengths down to 2400mm and two others down to 2060mm. The 2400mm lengths were for the top under the bench while 2060mm length were for halfway up the legs. We decided that it would be best to build the bench in front and back sections and then join them together. We were also building the bench to incorporate a pair of wooden tool chests that I already had which measure 860x440mm across the face.
Here's the backside fully assembled. We bolted right through the centre leg with the carriage bolts and kept the nuts and washers on the back. The end legs were turned sideways for stability and attached with coach bolts and the heads recessed into the timber face. The end result looks like a weird fence railing.
Here's the front and back sections all assembled ready for a bench top.
For a giggle we dropped the bench top on just to see what it would look like. Looks good.
We started late in the afternoon yesterday so at dinner time we call it a night and started again today. First up we cut the 12mm sheet on non-structural ply down the middle to give us two 600mm wide lengths. Then we attached one of the lengths to the top of our leg sections with countersunk wood screws that we had laying around. The rear edge was fitted flush with the top rail while the front edge was fitted with an overhang of 35mm so we can clamp stuff to the bench top as needed.
Showing the flush fitting rear side.
Then we flipped it upside down (you will need two people for this) and started cutting the 485mm long crossbraces out of 90x35mm lengths. We needed eight, and four were bolted at the ends (two at each end) using carriage bolts, while the middle four were coach bolted to the centre legs with care taken to avoid hitting the other bolts already in place.
The centre section.
The end section.
Then with the table on the side we cut angles on the top timbers for a neater look.
You can see the angle cuts here.
On top we've used the 17mm thick black forming ply for the bench top which was attached using short countersunk wood screws from underneath so there were no exposed screws on the top.
The final piece was a 145mm wide piece of 12mm ply cut from the other section of 600mm ply left over (2400mm long) and this was attached to the back to stop stuff rolling over the back edge. The lip is about 25mm high and this matches up nicely with my window ledge.
Here's the finished product with the tool boxes slid into place and held in place by four screws apiece. I'm pretty happy with the result.
No you might have noticed there's some material left. I'm thinking about adding another shelf to the bottom. That was the original plan, but my father-in-law reckons I don't need it and I can just roll plastic storage containers underneath if I want to store extra stuff under there. I might go that way. We'll see if it works out and I can always add another shelf later if I want.
Hope you enjoyed my bench build and maybe it'll help someone else build theirs in the future.
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