Want to get serious about DIY?
Then you're going to need a workbench.
And I'm going to show you how you can build one.
The first thing we need to do is pre-cut our legs.
Now, a great height for a bench is 900 millimeters.
Now, on my table, I've got a 50-millimeter-thick top,
so I've already pre-cut our table leg to 850.
Now, I'm using 3-by-2 rails, which
are going to be top and bottom.
These are 75 by 50, and these are going
to be rebated in to our leg.
So at the top it's going to be flush,
and I'm just going to mark around that and square
across the top.
That there will get rebated out, and I'm just
going to continue exactly the same down the other side.
Now, on the bottom, I'm coming up 100 millimeters
to the bottom of my rail.
So let's put a square mark across there.
And using our rail thickness, now, I've
given myself about a millimeter clearance,
so that fits me nice and snug.
Once again, we're going to go the thickness of our rail.
So let's just square that down, so it's clear exactly what
we're chopping out.
Now we just need to return this rail
all the way around our leg.
To rebate the legs out, I'm just going to use the circular saw.
And I'm just going to adjust the blade up,
so the blade is right on our rebate line.
[SAWING]
OK, we've cut out all our fins.
Next thing we need to do is take a nice, sharp chisel--
really important, that.
And then just going on our mark, let's
just gently give ourselves a couple of millimeters down.
And let's just repeat that the whole way around.
Now all we do now is snap these out with our chisel.
[TAPPING LIGHTLY]
Now it's time to cut your rails to length,
and cut the ends on a 45.
Righty-o.
I've cut out my legs, and I've rebated them all out,
ready for our rails.
Now, my 3-by-2 rail, here, I've decided
to make my bench 1.7 meters long,
so I've cut a mitre on either end
to 1.7, long point to long point.
Now, these just slot straight into our rebates.
Now, I'm just going to fix those using my screws.
From the inside of my leg, I'm going
to come in 22 millimeters.
Right.
Square that down.
And then I'm going to come up 15 millimeters
and come down 15 millimeters.
Time to pre-drill our holes.
[DRILLING]
Now all we've got to do is just screw that in.
[DRILLING IN SCREWS]
Just repeat the process for all the other legs.
[DRILLING IN SCREWS]
OK, I've got my two sides up.
Now, I've just pre-cut all my ends.
Now, I've decided to make mine 700 millimeters wide.
So our 3-by-2, here, long point to long point, 700 millimeters.
That just sits in there, nice and tidy, like that.
For our screw holes, I'm going to come
in 22 millimeters from the end and just draw a line down there
and just go to the center of our 3-by-2.
What we're going to need next is some midrail supports.
So I'm going to need one straight across the guts, here,
and another one down on the bottom
and between our two rails.
So let's just measure in between our two rails
and chop it on your saw.
So just pre-drill a 5-millimeter hole and put your screws in.
Now, if you're working alone, it's
quite handy to have a clamp, block of timber,
that will support your rail.
OK, I've laid all my bottom boards out.
Now, what I need to decide now is the length
of our two last boards.
So I've got 170 millimeters left on there,
and I know that my leg is 90 mils wide, there,
so I'm going to add 90 plus 170.
That gives me 260.
So I'm going to cut a board to 130--
half the 260.
That'll give me a nice, even board on either side.
Righto, I've cut my last two boards at 130.
And I've chopped out, using my hand saw, 90 by 90.
That's the width of my leg.
So we can just slip these in on either end.
I've pre-drilled the holes 25 millimeters in from the end
of the board and 35 millimeters in from the side of the board.
Start at one end, and work your way to the other.
[DRILLING IN SCREWS]
For my top of my workbench, I want that nice and solid.
So I've decided to use these 300 by 50.
Now, my base is 1.7 meters long.
I've decided to cut my top at 1.8.
That's going to give me 50 millimeters overhang
on both ends.
Next thing I want to do is use one of these handy little sash
clamps, just to ensure that we get our bench nice and tight.
And gently do that up.
And let's just make sure that we are 50 mils.
Righto.
She's looking tickety-boo.
What I've got to do now is clamp these boards down to our rail
and fix that up from underneath.
I'm using a 100-millimeter-long TEK screws.
For our middle board, I've come in 50 millimeters
from each end.
I'm going to throw those screws in.
Now, for our outer boards, I'm coming in 50 millimeters also.
But, because I can't get another screw close to that leg,
I'm going to come around the outside, here, and put one more
screw on each side there.
[DRILLING IN SCREWS]
Make sure you get four evenly spaced screws
along the outside rails and two in the middle support rail.
So there we have it, a nice, solid workbench-- easy as.