How to Build Your Own Work Table
Work tables or work benches can be used as surfaces upon which to do any sort of messy job that you don't want to do on your kitchen or dining room table. Work tables keep you from having to bend over and work on the floor or lower outdoor tables. Construct your own work table in just a couple of hours to use for painting, crafting and even potting plants.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Two plywood pieces (3 by 6 feet)
- Four posts (3 feet by 4 inches by 4 inches)
- Nails
- Hammer
- Safety goggles
- Power saw
- Sandpaper
- Work gloves
- Carpenter's square tool
- One board (5 feet by 2 inches by 4 inches)
- Paint or varnish
- Paintbrush
- Wood glue
- Cinder blocks
Instructions
-
-
1
Cut all of the pieces of lumber and the pieces of plywood to meet the specification in the list of materials needed. Use the tape measure to measure the length, the carpenter's square tool to cut straight angles, and a pencil to mark your cutting lines. Be sure to wear your safety goggles and use caution while operating the power saw.
-
2
Use wood glue to adhere the two pieces of plywood together, making it even thicker and capable of withstanding heavier weights. Allow the wood glue to dry over night, placing cinder blocks over the middle of the two plywood pieces to make sure that the wood glue holds in the center of the pieces.
-
-
3
Nail the posts to the corners of the plywood platform; in this step you are attaching the legs to the table top, creating the full table.
-
4
Add support to your table by measuring and cutting the remaining 2-inch by 4-inch lumber slab into 4 pieces, each approximately 1-foot long. Use the carpenter's tool to measure 45-degree angles at the ends of each newly cut piece. The angles should face opposite directions when the pieces are lying flat. Attach these pieces with nails or screws underneath the table top, with the flat angled ends butted against the underside of the table top and against the table leg.
-
5
Sand away all rough spots on the work table, especially the corners of the pieces of wood. Doing this will prevent you from having to suffer splinters later as you utilize your work table. Then paint or varnish your work table if you feel the need.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Cover your work table with a festive tablecloth to use as a serving table at dinners or barbecues. You may also choose to build shelves into the work table for additional storage space for all the crafts and jobs you will be able to use your work table for. Varnish the work table and tile the table top and you can use the work table as an island in your kitchen.
