MOM'S MULTIFACETED WORKBENCH

Enlarge Image Image Gallery (A) (2) 3/4"" X 4' X 4' A-B PLYWOOD W/GRAIN AT 90? (B) (4) 1 X 1-1/2"" X 49"" MITERED 45? (C) (4) CORNER BRACES (D) (4) 1 X 2 X 22"" (E) (8) 21"" X 28-1/2"" PEGBOARD (F) 1/4"" X 12"" X 55-13/16"" B-B PLYWOOD (G) (2) 1/4"" X 12"" X 21-7/8"" B-B PLYWOOD (H) (2) 1 X 8 X 54-1/4"" (I) (4)1 X 8 X 12"" (J) (4) 1 X 8 X 21-1/8"" (K) (2) 1 X 2 X 54"" (L) 1/4"" X 12"" X 19"" B-B PLYWOOD DIVIDER ON 3/4"" STOCK FRAME (M) 1 x 5-3/8"" x 11-1/4"" BACK (N) (2) 1/4"" X 6-3/8"" X 20-I/4"" B-B PLYWOOD SIDES (O) 1 X 7-1/4"" X 12-1/2"" FRONT (P) (2) 3/4"" X 3/4"" X 19-3/4"" SLIDES (Q) 1/4"" X 11-1/4"" X 20-1/4"" B-B PLYWOOD BOTTOM (R) 9-7/8""-DEEP. 11-1/4""-WIDE, 20-1/4""-LONG DRAWER

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Here's an answer to the nagging problem of combining adequate workspaceand storage:

There's an old adage that goes something like this: "You never know just what tools you'll need until you begin a job." And in most workshops, when that saying proves true, the craftsperson finds him- or herself getting up to search for the required implements. The continual ferrying back and forth of materials and tools that results can mean constant interruptions in concentration, and a, pretty danged cluttered work surface.

Well, the bench pictured here—one or another version of which has been a vital part of several of our research staffers' own home shops for years—is an answer to just such a dilemma. By incorporating large storage areas beneath the tabletop—in the form of drawers and shelved cabinets—and by constructing the sides of the assembly from pegboard (which can be equipped with hooks for hanging up tools), a worker can keep all of the equipment needed for a project close at hand without littering the work area.

Like many of the shop projects that are presented in MOTHER, this bench provides only one among many possible methods of constructing a convenient worktable. And we're sure that many of you will want to incorporate your own bits of inspiration in the design . . . in order to make your bench best suit the kinds of projects you most often tackle.

THE TOP

To provide a very stable working surface, we built the bench's top from a 4' X 8' sheet of 3/4" interior A-B plywood, which we cut in half and sandwiched (using glue plus nails set from the underside) with the grain of the top half at a right angle to that of the bottom layer. The resulting 1-1/2"—thick plank was then fitted with molding made from a 49"—long 1 X 8 board, which we ripped to 1-1/2" widths and mitered at 45° to form the corners of the tabletop.

THE BASE

As you can see in the photos, the base of the workbench is X-shaped. The foot was built by first constructing a rectangular box from two 54-1/4"-long pieces of 1 X 8, with a 12" length of the same dimension wood butted across each end of the assembly. Next, two three-sided frames of 1 X 8 were made . . . each consisting of a pair of 21-1/8" boards with a 12" length across one end. The two smaller structures were then butted—open end in—to the 54-1/4" long box, and secured with three wood screws in each joint. Finally, we closed in the "X" from above by laying appropriately sized sections of 1/4" plywood across the framework and tacking them to the tops of the 1 X 8's.

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