Johnny Bench

Despite the incredibly cold weather and that fact I could see my breath while I was out in the garage, I finished the workbench this weekend. And, I must say, it's a beautiful, beautiful thing. I started with the plans for The Ultimate Tool Stand but ended up making quite a few changes. The first change being a move to building the base out of 2 x 4s rather than MDF. That was partly for economy and party because 2 x 4s fit much better than sheet goods in a 1995 Honda Civic. The other change was to use particle board instead of MDF for the flat surfaces. Again, it was a little cheaper and I doubt the work I'll be doing will be putting so much stress on the thing that I need to worry much about it falling apart.

Anyway, the feature list:

1. The whole thing is on locking casters. When I want to use it, I can roll it out . When I'm done, I roll it into the corner and my car still fits in the garage.

2. Sliding doors. Combined with the enclosed ends and the dividers, the doors create two large , nigh dust-free compartments. Plenty of space for saws, routers, etc.

3. Three removable boxes. These provide several things. First, height adjustment. If I want to work on something tall like a bicycle, I can pull the boxes off. If I'm working on something smaller, I put them back. Also, when I use a miter saw, I pull out the middle box, set the saw in its place, and the two outside boxes provide a level "feed." Removing all three boxes leaves the bench at a good height to line up with my table saw...a perfect outfeed surface.

4. Clamp space. The open area sandwiched between the top and bottom of the boxes, provide ample space to clamp things. Per the Ultimate Tool Stand, I still have the ability to cut grooves into the boxes which would provide even more clamping capability.

5. It's incredibly strong. A lot stronger than I expected.

6. I think the whole thing cost me around $50. Not bad.

I'm still thinking I may coat the horizontal surfaces with polyurethane. That would definitely help smooth and protect the surface. Of course, it needs to get a lot warmer before I can even thing about doing that.