So now that I have a house with a basement, I have a space I can start on the woodworking hobby I always wanted to get into. Every woodworker needs a bench, and I figured that was a good first project. I looked at a lot of plans before settling on this one. It has a good layout, isn’t too hard for a beginner to build with minimal tools, and should fit my needs nicely.
I had the local lumber yard cut the wood for me, since cutting it myself without a bench could be a pain. The plans I chose LOOKED good at first until I actually started assembling the bench. I set each piece out, labeled them all and began building. Finished the bench with 2 lengths of 2×4 left over, each 6 feet long! Nothing looked like it was missing, so I decided to hold onto them in case I figured out where they need to be. Meanwhile, I have a pair of 6 foot 2×4 sections!
Now that it’s done, I have a place to store my tools (and the tools I plan to buy!) and a surface to build on. Stay tuned for more projects as time allows. I’m hoping to finish the railing planters for my wife soon… She loves to garden, and I love to make things for her! The local garden center had fairly nice boxes for a not so nice price, so I’m hoping to do better. Either way, I prefer the pride of homemade to paying somebody else to make it, assuming it’s something I can make of course.
UPDATE – As I learned more about woodworking, the mess it makes and the dangers of the materials and waste, I found out that not only does the sawdust make a mess, it also gets into the air ducts and can actually explode if it gets into the furnace. On top of that, most of the finishes I would be using give off toxic and explosive fumes as well. So… I’m planning to build a workbench in the garage that will fold up against the wall when I’m not using it. Problem solved.