Plank Top Workbench Plans

This plan available at PlansNOW.com

Plank Top Bench - If you like the idea of building a simple workbench, but want something a few notches up in quality, this plank-top workbench plan from PlansNOW might be just the ticket. Although the plan claims you can build the entire bench in one weekend, they're assuming you know your way around a woodworking shop and are familiar with some fairly complex joinery. That said, this is definitely one of the better plans you can find for a workbench.

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The plan calls for easy-to-find construction-grade boards for the entire bench, including the top (no plywood used in this design). However, you'll be ripping a lot of that off-the-shelf lumber down to size if want to follow this plan as given. The good news is that construction-grade lumber is relatively cheap - or at least cheaper than what woodworkers usually buy for other woodworking projects. The plan designer suggests that you take the money you save on wood and buy a nice machinist’s vise for the top.

Now on to the hard part. To get the same super-strong legs and framework, you'll need to dig in with some mortise & tenon joinery. Well, at least some tenons, anyway. The designers of this plan found an easier way to create mortises - by cutting grooves in two boards and then sandwiching them together around the tenon. This will save you plenty of time that would otherwise be spent trying to bore out mortises (with expensive shop equipment no doubt). However, you'll still need to do some fairly tricky work on a table saw with a dado blade to pull off the technique. And speaking of woodworking tools, you'll need some woodworking clamps to glue the leg pieces together. The remaining joinery consists of half laps on the stretchers (where they meet the legs), and some more simple butt joints held together with heavy-duty construction lag screws. If you can find some of these screws with a bronze-like finish, it will add even more pizzazz to the overall design.

The effect is very nice, though. When everything is put together, a particularly nice feature is a side rail (connecting the legs on each side of the bench) that peaks through the front of each leg - giving the appearance of a well-crafted, through-mortise & tenon joint.

This workbench plan also includes instructions for installing a lower shelf, which is typical for most bench designs. There are also some tips for modifying this plan to make an even larger bench, in which case you'll be adding a center section with two more legs to support the added weight.