Early Gift to Me

Since I had been doing a bit more work in my basement, I was continually using my old workbench and it was annoying me more and more. It’s more of a cheap worktable than workbench. But the big issue is that it was just really too tall for me. It was around 36″ tall and I think that I’d prefer a workbench that was quite a bit lower. It really hit me when I was trying to use a handplane to clean up some old lathe. Along with being too tall, it was also too wobbly, which made planing impossible. So I found a design online that didn’t look too hard. I took apart the old table and made myself a new workbench.

Old table:

New workbench:

The height is definitely better on the new one. It’s really only 30″ tall. I’d like to say that it’s incredibly sturdy, but I think it still wobbles a little. I only know this because I was trying to plane the top completely smooth. I did an ok job of screwing the top boards together, but one did stick out a little more than the others. While trying to plane it, the whole table did move around a little. Part of the problem is probably due to my handplane not being very sharp. The other is just the design. I think I might put a lower shelf on and then fill it with some old bricks I have lying around. That should give it the heft I need to make it be a good workbench. I might also buy a nice piece of mdf or plywood to put on the top so I don’t have to plane or sand the whole thing completely flat.