How to build a garage workbench & 19 BONUS DIY Plans

by Joost Nusselder | Updated on:  March 29, 2022
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The workbench is your station for all the projects that you are going to build. You are most efficient when you are disciplined and hence a workbench can help you organize your tools. You may work at your garage and shed with the full ultimate comfort you need.

This article will provide you with a few workbench ideas. Now you are the one who will pick so it is necessary to evaluate your status as a handyman, are you on a beginner level or are you a pro, choose accordingly. Additionally, do measure the space very carefully, and cut your wood according to your space

workbench plans

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Maybe you are a bit of a handyman and what is a better place than your garage to have your fortress of solitude. Now your fortress of solitude must have a comfortable workbench so you do not have to bend over for your every other project and hurt your back. Here in this article, there are a few steps that guide you through the process of making a workbench.

How to Build a Garage Workbench

But first here are a few things you need to consider very carefully.

  1. Measure your garage accurately.
  2. Buy the wood of strength, it must be solid and sturdy. You are making a workbench if it is not sturdy can not take a hit of any type of hammer there is no point calling it a workbench now, is there?
  3. You have to cut the wood according to your garage, here in the instructions we shall use a good ratio as an example.
  4. You need some tools in your shed for your making of the workbench, these tools will be mentioned throughout the instructions.
  5. Be careful with the tools, take necessary precautions so you do not hurt yourself, use a good electric point that is tight, remember to turn the switch off before plugging in any tool.

Steps to Make a Garage Workbench

1. Collect Necessary Tools

You do not necessarily need very expensive tools. You could use the following items

  • Measuring Tape
  • A saw
  • A drill
  • Some good old screws
  • Clamps
  • Meter Square
measuring tape

2. The Wood

Now the Mahogany is the cheapest wood in the market, according to your price range and the type of projects you aspire to build you could buy the pine or mahogany. It is a good decision to estimate a measurement and the wood from the market, that way you do not have to go through the hassle of cutting the wood and cleaning up. You still have to clean up a little bit but not as much.

3. The Frame and the Legs

For our specific frame and structure, the wood has been cut to a length of 1.4 meters with a thirty by ninety mil. In this step we have taken seven pieces of wood for the structure, you will need more if you want to selves.

The woods with 1.2 meters of length are laid out and we need to ark and square off two more pieces at 5.4 or 540 mils.

Filing wood for frame and legs

4. Cutting the Lengths

How to strip wire fast
How to strip wire fast

Few hand tools are used for a perfectly shaped and accurate cut. It is fine with whatever you have at your hand, as long as the lengths are perfect and the cute does not get crooked. If you cut especially with a saw, make sure to file down the rough edges with sandpaper. You need to smooth the ends to conjoint them later.

Do not simply jump to drilling the bits. You need to test fir them first, conjoint them together to see if your cut was straight and according to length and they fit in perfectly. According to our cut size, when these woods are added at the side these will match up the length of 600 mils.

Cutting lengths with a circular saw

The worm drive circular saw in action

5. Drilling the Bits Together

We use the corner clamp at this stage, to join the woods to make the perfect corner. Then after plugging in the drilling machine, we drill some pilot holes, not too deep or too wide, remember which size screws you bought. After drilling the drive in two screws.

Repeat this procedure for each corner and make sure you are constructing a perfectly squared corner. In addition to screws and drilling, you could use some glue for long-lasting strengthened workbench.

Drilling the Bits Together
Drilling the Bits Together a

6. The Legs of the Workbench

Analyze what height you need your workbench at and then subtract the frame’s thickness from that height and voila, there you get your precise leg length. In our particular bench, we cut it to 980 mm. The same thing with the filing down the edges, just smoothen the end surface do not file too much.

The Legs of the Workbench

Put and adjust the legs below the frame and check to see if they square. Then drill some pilot holes and then just put and screw it in. If you are screwing in only two then screw them from the side as shown in the picture below:

The Legs of the Workbench a

7. Support Beams

After we have prepared our legs and frame, we turn it upside down to add some beams to support the weight that might be put over it. We measured 300 mm on each leg and marked it before cutting two pieces that were 600 mm long and then we drive the screws in

Support Beams

8. The Base Part

For the bench part you could buy some laminated pine, these are usually sixty centimeters wide. You may not need to resize it. But You may need to resize the top part according to the frame, we in our case made a 1.2-meter base frame, so in our particular bench, we cut it according to that.

We take the laminated sheet and place it on top of that frame, perfectly vertical and square it up over the top. Then we mark it carefully at our intended length, which in our case is 600mm and clamp it on the frame so that we can get a clean cut and resize.

Now a hand saw will work just fine but will however leave more of a rough edge. A circular saw will provide a neat cut. You could align a piece of wood as a fence up your mark to guide a smooth cut.

The Base Part

9. Drive Some Screw to Put the Top On

Make sure your cut was straight and check to see if the top lies perfectly over the frame after that. For to screw the top on a countersink is used and as the name suggests it helps to sync the screws well in so that they do not peak over the surface

First drill the pilot holes then screw the top down onto the frame.

10. Adding a rolling chest or a shelf

So far, the bench has been made sturdy enough to support your project and the extra addition of a shelf. The measure of a shelf would be slightly different than the one at the outside since it will be inside the frame. Keeping that in mind you can use an extra shelf or a rolling chest to store the tools for that matter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtrW3vUK39A

The tools mentioned here are not at all expensive and nor are the woods when you compare to a bench at a market, this is a great way to make a garage workbench.

BONUS DIY workbench ideas

1. The Simple Classic One

This one comes with no more than the necessary features. A wall hanged working space maybe a few shelves on the wall for keeping the mercenaries.

classic workbench

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2. Workbench With Shelves

Now this one is particularly useful if you are setting the workbench, even some of these professional ones, in the middle of the garage or shed, then it is beneficial for keeping the tools organized by shelves. Now, this design is for an easy build as can be observed from the picture, costs less, great for a garage.

Workbench With Shelves

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3. Shelves With Modular Aluminum Speed Rail Connectors

One could build some amazing adjustable shelves with these aluminum precision parts. These are sturdy parts and the setup is quite configurable. These are easy to assemble and disassemble. The work plan for this workbench and shelves can be done within your weekend.

Shelves With Modular Aluminum Speed Rail Connectors

4. The Mobile Workbench

Yes, it is exactly as it sounds, this is a workbench that can move like a bar trolley. Now this one could come in handy for the handyman. For having the tools at hand’s length and have a workstation so you can have a customized project that fit your room or space.

The Mobile Workbench

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5. Simple Two-Level Workbench

This work plan might only take 45 dollars off your budget. Some chic plywood with two lumbers according to your measurement. Now this provides ample space, even more, ease and comfort come when you know it is mobile. This one is great if you are a painter.

Simple Two-Level Workbench

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6. Tools on Wall

The most important aspect of building a suitable garage door would be to get a work platform that is high enough for you to work comfortably. In addition to that, you need a perfectly horizontal space. Shelves might add an extra budget Even cheaper option would be to get a few hooks on the wall instead of shelves,

tools on the wall

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7. Workbench With Drawers

The best way to organize the little kinds of stuff is drawers. The screwdrivers, small handsaw, all could be laid out in this beautiful designer drawer. It is also great for safekeeping and keeping things organized.

Workbench With Drawers

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8. Convertible Miter Saw

If you need an efficient utilization of your space this is the one to go to. As this can be folded back into itself or is completely convertible. Just open up and extend the table surface according to your project’s needs.

Convertible Miter Saw

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9. Folding Workbench

Now, this workbench is compact and very neat. Using some clamps and hooks you can even hang some stuff around and reduce the clutter. There is a drawer in this plan and guess what, even a shelf. On top of that the folding table4.

workbench plans

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10. Moveable One

Now this one you get to drag around wherever you want. The base is as with most workbench, measure up, cut the woods. Then align them and put on the casters. The 3-inch heavy-duty casters are great for making a mobile workbench.

Moveable workbench

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11. The Large Spacious Workbench

Now this one will be enormous and sufficient enough for every tool. The workspace is spacious, the storage is of high capacity and there is enough space for all the clamps and hooks.

The Large Spacious Workbench

12. The Heavy-Duty Cheap Workbench

This one will get the work done, it does not matter what work, this can hold just about any project. And all this comes with a very small cost.

The Heavy-Duty Cheap Workbench

13. A Top Folding Workbench

A workbench with a folding surface provides a spacious workspace. At the same time, it saves space when you are not working. This workbench with a shelf is and drawers can be smart woodwork and at the same time a sturdy workspace.

14. The Novice Carpenter’s DIY Workbench

This is the simplest routine of the DIY workbench plans. A sheet of plywood with four cut out length attached to it. The workbench could not get simpler than this. This is budget-friendly. A downside would be the no storage option.

The Novice Carpenter’s DIY Workbench

15. The Space Friendly Workbench

This is the appropriate workbench idea for a place with a shortage of od space. It will provide a foldable working table along with a roll-out saw stand, drawer and shelve for the heavy stuff.

The Space Friendly Workbench

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16. The Traditional Workbench

The traditional is the simplest one. The working table on top of four legs. There is no storage no clamps just the simple workbench in the shortest possible budget.

The Traditional Workbench

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17. Two by Four Workbench

It is a small workbench with not enough storage options but enough space to work on this workbench. But if you are someone who is not a frequent project manager of your crafts, you can surely afford this with the lowest possible budget.

Two by Four Workbench

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18. Child-Sized Workbench

Maybe you have a young helper at your home. Wouldn’t it be a great way to inspire your children by making them if they are personalized?  This one has a child-friendly height along with precautions regarding how a child-friendly workbench should be.

Child-Sized Workbench

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19. The Tool Separator

The way this workbench is assembled will provide ample opportunity for the project worker to store everything in an organized manner. With separate boxes incorporated into this table, it is really easy to sort your small tools out according to their and purpose separately with this workbench.

The Tool Separator workbench

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Conclusion

The workbench idea should be selected based on your own individual needs. Measuring your significant space is of utmost important. After thoroughly going through these ideas one could simply just make the workbench of their passion.

I'm Joost Nusselder, the founder of Tools Doctor, content marketer, and dad. I love trying out new equipment, and together with my team I've been creating in-depth blog articles since 2016 to help loyal readers with tools & crafting tips.