Work bench on the cheap.

since I started setting u my shop I have experimented with several set-ups however I have to share the garage with motorcycles and the tools I use for them. I Built a work table for the middle of the garage however it just took up too much room and I decided to do a shop “makeover” which would keep my areas a little more separate. I had a wall that was basically where I parked all the tools on wheel stands but saw that wasn’t working either. I decided to put together a dedicated WW bench and cut the worktable in half and re worked the framing. This was great but using Melamine for a top didn’t allow me to mount my vise and I quickly realized I needed it. The under mount vise required 2 1/4” for a flush mount and I didn’t want to use blocks so I decided to make a new top that would work better. I’m also a cheapskate so I wanted to do this economically. I source a lot of good pallet wood through a neighbors work and went and picked up what I needed. Most of it was hardwood with a few pine mixed in but overall enough to make a durable top.

I milled and ripped everything down to 2 1/2” to give me some wiggle room.

Once I had all my pieces I put them into two groups.

The final depth of the bench was going to be 24” so I made it in two pieces to allow it through my planer.

Once they were planed I glued the two halves together and when dry cleaned up the one seam with a belt sander. Three coats of poly on the bottom then 5 on the top.