I got the idea for the workbench shown here from a couple of old West Virginia carpenters. I’ve been using this design for years now, and the benches are unbeatable for holding work that’s being drilled, cut or nailed. Whenever I do drywall work, I lay two benches on their sides and cover them with planks and plywood to make a low scaffold. It’s just the right height for working on an 8-ft. ceiling.
I’ve found these dimensions to be right for me, but of course they could easily be altered to suit the individual. The material for each bench costs less than $10. Nail the parts together with 8d cement-coated nails, and you’re ready to work.
—Howard Goldblatt, McLean, VA
Edited and illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #11
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This would be a nice tip, except that you've cut off the suggested width dimension. Care to fix that?
The art type says it's a 1x12 on top. The same would be for the bottom.
Measure it out right and rip the 1x3s out of the 1x12 and a single 12' piece will get you the entire bench. You can get almost 3 of them from a full sheet of 3/4" plywood.
If all things are flush then the width is the top.
Issue #11, when this was printed, would have been from the 1980's. So it would cost a bit more than $10 to build one now.
You can see the date of the issue in the URL.