Craig's List Workbench

[Mr_Mac]

I have been trying to clean up my garage to make way for my '52 whenever I get a chance to go pick it up and bring it home, but at the same time I knew I'd be needing more storage space and a better work surface than the old 2X4 frame with ¾” plywood over the frame. So, we started to watch Craig’s List for old kitchen cabinets. My wife spotted a set one day while I was sleeping (work mids) and surprised me when I woke up that evening. There were four base cabinets and one corner base with a Lazy Susan.

I got the cabinets set off in the corner, leveled and attached them to the studs. While I was working on that she called me in to the house to look at another ad for some hardwood flooring someone had left over from a project they were doing and all they wanted was for someone to haul it off. I called, drove over and met with the guy giving it away and saw a nice stack of solid oak (from MO mind you) flooring that would be perfect as a work surface on top of the cabinets.

So, here it is my free work bench and storage cabinets from Craig’s List!

Laying down ½” plywood as a base over the cabinets.


Adding the flooring over the plywood as the new work surface.


All cut even with about 1 ½” overhang in case I need to clamp something down.


I had to use screws through the surface in places to hold it down. Otherwise there are screws from under the plywood.


I then ripped a couple of floor boards wide enough to cover the exposed edges and to allow for a small lip to prevent things from rolling off the bench.


First coat of honey maple stain and high gloss varnish. I will be adding quarter round trim to cover the bottom edge of the peg board.


Still to come will be my Chevy decal that I will set in the last coat of varnish while still wet and then follow the whole thing with one final coat of clear varnish to protect the decal.

[bjcaldwe]

Very nice. I have been thinking about hitting up habitat for humanity and see if they have some cheap cabinets for garage storage.

[Mr_Mac]

Here is the second coat going on after a light sanding of the first with 220 grit (for you non-woodworking types it's like a color sanding ).


Honey maple looking good!


I did finish the corner and that light/dark area is a shadow, not my poor workmanship!

[Mr_Mac]

Originally Posted by bjcaldwe

Very nice. I have been thinking about hitting up habitat for humanity and see if they have some cheap cabinets for garage storage.

We went over there a couple of times (both the O'Fallon and St Louis stores) and the cabinets they had ranged from worse than these to, of course, much nicer. The reason we didn't get any of those was that the cheapest cabinets to do what I wanted would have still cost me more than $120. It takes time, but Craig's List was certainly the way to go for us.

By the way, my son and I are heading over to the local junk yard tomorrow to find some old exterior car door handles for the drawers and doors to replace the electrical wire pulls I have in place now.

[JimmyFloyd]

Looks great. Makes me wish I never sold my left over hard wood. I had 111sq ft spare of the 3/4" stuff and this would have been a great use for it. Time to watch for more

[nickp51chevy]

I came the the conclusion a few days ago when I was cutting pipe with my sawzall on my cheep a$$ bench that I need to do something else; and now I know what I'm going to be looking for. You did a great job on that, and I can't wait to see it finished with the Chevy decal in it.

[SOWARDCUSTOMS]

great job very nice. I love the word free as well i'm always scouring craigslist for deals....

[AK56]

Here's a funny add that was on the best of Craiglist for a free bench.





You Want the Table? You Can't Handle the Table!

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Date: 2009-04-25, 10:02AM PDT

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It's big, heavy, and ugly. You can't kill it; you can't even frighten it. It's 6X3X3 feet tall, with two tiers and three drawers that work. It's sheet metal and angle iron, welded together with testosterone.
Run a monster truck over it. Tape explosives to it. Launch it a quarter mile with a (big) trebuchet. Play the Anvil Chorus on it with sledgehammers for an hour. It will mock you.

I'm a beaten man. Just get it out of my garage. Bring your friends

[Mr_Mac]

Just got done with the final sanding and applying the last color coat. Once it is dried I'll hit it with 0000 steel wool and then apply the stickers/decals and then hit it with a top coat of high gloss clear.

[OrrieG]

I have access to lots of used commercial doors. My rolling bench is two solid core 36 x 84 doors one about 6" off the floor the second 36" off the floor. The corners and mid place on the long sides are 8" wide x 30" pieces of 3/4" plywood. Heavy duty caster are mounted on the bottom. I store tools (planer, bandsaw, portapower, etc. ) underneath. Top is set up for a router to mount underneath and is same height as my table saw for cutting large panels. My fixed bench is 42 x 60 solid core door mounted on 4x4 frame. It is open underneath for my welder, spare transmisson and chevelle 283. I'll post a pic this weekend.

[OrrieG]

photo of the bench. not pretty but you can beat the heck out of it.

[Mr_Mac]

Flat surface to work on above the floor and plenty of storage...what more is needed?

[entourageguy]

Try to hook up with a friend that does renovations.
They are always redoing kitchens and thats how I got a couple of used sets for my garage.

[nickp51chevy]

update pix?

[Mr_Mac]

I was really hoping to but I cannot find a suitable Chevrolet emblem for the top! I have found a plethora of Ford ovals in the 9-12" range but nothing I would even consider from the bow tie side! I've not yet given up though...

[entourageguy]

Just lay out a bow tie on the bench with some painters masking tape paint it on your self.

[Mr_Mac]

I had entertained the idea of printing one on my computer and just laying it out that way...