Building Your Own Work Bench And Cabinets

[MikeTheGoalie]

I'd like to see some of the cabinets and work benches you have built yourself. I'd sticking to the ease of wood. My new house is slated to be done in April and I want to start planning on some cabinets.

Here is the last one (my first one) I built. I really liked it. I will do something like this again with the counter top but it will be twice as long. I would like to do more cabinets underneath this time. I have my air compressor under there and I think I will have it out so I can see it in my new garage..

I think I am going to do bright red this time instead of blue or gray.

Please post pics of what you've done for overhead and underneath cabinets please!

And thank you!

 

[karl1672]

Looks nice!

Here's one that I built. Only stained it although I'll probably paint it. For the top I went to a used restaurant supply place and bought a couple of 6' stainless steel prep tables. Work great as tops and can be used stand-alone as well.

 

[MikeTheGoalie]

Stainless top is a good idea. I do/did a lot of car painting in the garage. Probably easier to clean up paint drips and such off of that than wood.

I guess I should invest in a router and make cool tapers and such on the doors..

I thought about using MDF and painting it with a good paint to protect of from water when I hose out the garage..

That looks nice!

 

[karl1672]

Thanks. Pretty much just 1 X pine and 2 X framing. I like the SS tops a lot, they can take a beating and you can get really good deals on used stuff. A little Flitz polish will take out any stains.

 

[Kestas]

I perfer having no cabinets in the workroom. The doors get in the way. I like to quickly grab things and move on.

No cabinets under the bench either. It's ergonomically easier if you can tuck your feet under the bench while working. It reduces the amount of bending over and back fatigue.

 

[MikeTheGoalie]

I perfer having no cabinets in the workroom. The doors get in the way. I like to quickly grab things and move on.

No cabinets under the bench either. It's ergonomically easier if you can tuck your feet under the bench while working. It reduces the amount of bending over and back fatigue.

Good Point!

 

[Nighttrain]

Here are the ones I am working on now. 55' of cabinets on two sides of the shop. I still have the door and drawers to complete. The tops were salvaged and I plan on replacing the door fronts to match the bottom.

 

[MikeTheGoalie]

Very cool NightTrain. How did you attach the cabinets to the wall? Big screws to the studs?
I was thinking of making a frame out of 1x2s and then facing them with 1/2 to 3/4 inch MDF and than painting.

Something like this...

look like this when done.

 

[regguy1]

My Home made workbench can be seen in the video below, it's made from plywood and 2" x 4''s

 

[Zoeysdad]

I'm currently building MDF cabinets for my garage. If the cabinets in the picture are home made I sure would like to know the finishing process that was used.

 

[cafyrman]

DTX *****!

 

[MikeTheGoalie]

DTX *****!

What up man!!!

 

[Nighttrain]

Mike, I made the top and bottom of the lower cabinets with 2x4's and then the sides with 3/4". Kinda a heavy modified kitchen cabinet. I have a lot more pictures of the cabinets in my garage build thread.

And yes some big screws to the studs behind.

 

[Tripp P.]

Built most all of my own. The newest ones are metal, the price was right, but there trimmed to match all the homemade ones.

They all have doors now some of these pics are older. The bench is not done yet. Still trying to figure out if I want just doors or inserts with drawers.

 

[ddawg16]

My version made out of gray melamine and recycled kitchen cabinet doors...

 

[Jack Olsen]

It's a matter of personal preference, of course -- but I got rid of just about all of my open storage. I was tired of getting a constant rain of metal and wood dust on everything that wasn't kept behind a closed door. Now I still keep some tools hung on pegboard, and I'm always amazed at the cloud that comes off when I hit things with the leaf blower. Cabinet doors are an easy fix for that.

But like I said, for some people ease of access and visual inventory are going to be more important. It's an individual choice.

 

[shirkdog]

Beautiful!

 

[cafyrman]

OK, now that I've busted your chops some, I've got to agree with closed storage. Especially with your painting habit. I'm trying to rework as much of my storage as possible to closed cabinet to keep out sparks, slag, dust, overspray, etc.

There is a lot to be said for the ergonomics of having a place to tuck your knees under. But maybe not the whole area.

Make the height what works for you.

Look into Ikea countertops. I used one for my bar and am in process of building a dining room table out of one. I'm using angle iron for legs. What can I say, it's what the wife wanted! (Lucky me!)

Ikea Countertop

Spend some time looking around here. Lots of fantastic ideas.

Spend time searching Craig's List. Or get Craig looking at Craig's List. Find base cabinets and modify to suit you. Preferably made of metal. Painted and pinstriped!

Oh yeah, and since it's a new place, look at adding circuits, network, phone, lighting etc. to the garage. Actually, I'd spend money on that first and worry about the cabinets if I had money left over.

 

[karl1672]

I perfer having no cabinets in the workroom. The doors get in the way. I like to quickly grab things and move on.

No cabinets under the bench either. It's ergonomically easier if you can tuck your feet under the bench while working. It reduces the amount of bending over and back fatigue.

It's all about what works for each of us individually. As mentioned above, I prefer to have as much covered storage as possible to keep dust and everything else that's flying around off my stuff - makes cleanup a lot easier.

My cabinets are on wheels so they have a built in toe-kick. Since I prefer to do most of my bench work standing I made the cabinets (aka bench) at 40". Good height for me and matches my roller cabinet.

 

[csp]

I perfer having no cabinets in the workroom. The doors get in the way. I like to quickly grab things and move on.

No cabinets under the bench either. It's ergonomically easier if you can tuck your feet under the bench while working. It reduces the amount of bending over and back fatigue.

In a production environment I would agree with this. In a home workshop my preference is dust control and hiding clutter. Doors do this on my cabinets.

As far as workspaces go, my worktops all extend beyond any cabinets that they are sitting on. I have areas under my workbench that are completely clear so you can get close to the bench or even sit at it on a stool.

 

[Falcon67]

A bench is kinda personal to the space, but for cabinets I'm just going to buy some of these: http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=177497&navAction=

I can make, but don't have that kind of spare time usually. And the wood probably costs more than these cabinets.

 

[Doctor_Ink]

No cabinets under the bench either. It's ergonomically easier if you can tuck your feet under the bench while working. It reduces the amount of bending over and back fatigue.

Definately agree with this.

It's a matter of personal preference, of course -- but I got rid of just about all of my open storage. I was tired of getting a constant rain of metal and wood dust on everything that wasn't kept behind a closed door. Now I still keep some tools hung on pegboard, and I'm always amazed at the cloud that comes off when I hit things with the leaf blower. Cabinet doors are an easy fix for that.

But like I said, for some people ease of access and visual inventory are going to be more important. It's an individual choice.

... and this I also just like the look of a neat garage.. too much clutter makes it seem like it would be impossible to work in, but again it's all personal preference.

 

[c_mccann]

Made all by me, rail and stile doors, the whole unit is supported on the ceiling

 

[AveragePhil]

^ Those are really nice! How did you do the doors?

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Wow, really impressive. Flush fit doors are nice. Are the cabinets bearing on a wall mounted cleat or is all the weight born by some kind of a connection to the ceiling joists? I'd really like to see pictures of the connection and some of the structures before they were finished if you have any.

 

[Steevo]

I find working with wood to be a lot more difficult and a lot messier than working with steel, so haven't built any wood work benches, other than the legs/frame for my lathe bench:

 

[Rich1028]

awsome thread !!

 

[icecactus]

I am in the process of making my own. Well, its currently on hold actually until i get my new table saw and dust collector operational. I started on them and realized i liked working with wood and i so i bought better tools.

 

[47ford - 1.5ton]

Lets see more homemade cabinets!

 

[Mmfh]

I find working with wood to be a lot more difficult and a lot messier than working with steel, so haven't built any wood work benches, other than the legs/frame for my lathe bench:

That's one heavy duty bench! Must be one hell of a lathe
Nice Job!

Mm

 

[csp]

Homemade cabinets on either side of the permanently mounted rollaway. The drawer cabinet to the right is also homemade. I still don't have a real countertop added to it. Ikea is right across the highway from where I work and I plan on getting a butcher block from them.

The cabinets above my workbench were once cubical cabinets that mounted on a track. I modified them by welding in a back that can be bolted to the studs on the wall.

 

[zer01]

This does not look like it would work very well?
No offense, doesn't look like you could get into this cabinet. Am I missing something?

 

[47ford - 1.5ton]

This does not look like it would work very well?
No offense, doesn't look like you could get into this cabinet. Am I missing something?

Sliding?

 

[Tripp P.]

Trick door, it slides to the right.

 

[zer01]

Trick door, it slides to the right.

Cool, I knew there was some trick to it, just needed to know. Otherwise that image would have been stuck in my head all day without an answer.

 

[daveroy]

trick door, it slides to the right.

very trick!

 

[47ford - 1.5ton]

Trick door, it slides to the right.

Whats my prize?

 

[c_mccann]

Here are some of the build, I have none of the attic and how i framed it, but it was an additional 2x6 joist that was tied to the roof beams in 3 places, then the cabinet was bolted to the walls. Loaded up with tools, there has never been a wall crack or any kind of settling. There are about 2 dozen 1/2" lag bolts holding it up and the roof framing is all carriage bolts with backing plates- overkill but it'll hold..

The doors are 2 3/8" rail and stile with 1/2" MDF panels. Easy to make with a 1/4" router, dado in the table saw. All doors took about 3 hours of milling and assembly was as fast as I could glue and clamp. The face frames are 2" material doweled and nailed on. The little workbench is 3/4"melamine on top of 3/4 birch ply with 3/4" birdseye maple trim.

 

[Keep]

Here are some of my cabinets. I am still making more as I go along, in the process now of building stands for the equipment like bandsaw and drill press.

Here is the latest, this will hold my 4x6 bandsaw and all related supplies:

This weekend I will be building a new cabinet for my drill press.

 

[hrdcor32]

Really like that rolling cabinet, what kind of slides did you use?