After 2 solid weeks of hard labor, I created this brand new workbench, King of random style.
Blood and sweat went into making this bad boy, so come along on my guided tour of how
I made it, and what it can do.
I previously built a workbench prototype to see what features I liked before I built,
the real deal. This upgraded version has easy access electrical power, a built in router
station, high pressure air, and emergency fire equipment. It's also got a huge surface
area for working on larger projects, and helps guard against electrical ground faults.
And did I mention the remote controlled mood lighting? I needed a solid
work-bench, with built in power for electrical experiments, and a router station, for wood
working projects. I couldn't find anything like this at the local hardware store, so
I had to make one myself. I began by running a 20 amp electrical cable underneath the floor
to power the bench from the underside, then got started on building the frame out of 2x4's.
I made some simple doors for the front and back, screwed together a "torsion resistant"
table frame, then wired up the electrical system with 20amp cable. Next, I reclaimed
the table top from my previous bench, and chose to paint the whole thing "onyx black"
with a flat matt finish. The last steps were to wire up the electrical for the different
lighting systems, then cut and bend some aluminum trim for the edges. Now that it's all put
together, let me show you some of the extra features. The electrical power starts with
this surge protected power bar. This is the master switch for the entire project bench,
and helps protect sensitive electronics from power spikes. When the switch is off, there's
absolutely no power whatsoever. But with the switch on, you can see that anything plugged
in, is fully functional. However, the power stations all around the bench only work, if
this 20 amp cable is plugged in, and turned on You can see the cable runs directly to
a secondary master switch which is activated on a timer. This way, if the station is left
unattended, the power shuts off automatically when the time runs out. The secondary switch
feeds power to a 20 amp GFCI. This monitors for faults in all of the accessory outlets,
and can trip off the power instantly, if a ground fault occurs. The GFCI runs in series
with 8 paralleled power outlets around the bench. 6 of which are fitted with diamond
plated aluminum trim. I checked each connection to make sure they were properly connected
and grounded, and you can see, the outlets turn on or off with the flip of a switch.
Now if you looked closely, you may have noticed a hidden outlet on the underside of the table.
This one doesn't have a switch because it's constantly hot, as long as the timer switch
is powered up. You probably saw that the edges, are finished with diamond plated aluminum as well,
and secured in place with hundreds, of truss-head screws. All of this aluminum trim was cut
from a 4x8 piece of sheet metal, using nothing but a humble jigsaw. I fashioned a little
form for bending them to 90º angles, out of a length of 2x8 and an old door hinge.
As you can see, it did a pretty good job. I built cabinet doors on the front and back,
which allow easy access to plenty of cabinet space. The magnetic catches on the sides help
hold the doors securely in place, and you might have noticed that I sanded the edges
to give them a slightly distressed look. Now, if we take a look inside the cabinet areas,
you can see I lined the bottom with a plastic runner. That's to make it look a little more
finished, and a bit easier to clean. I used the built in router station from my last workbench,
but this time I enclosed it in a wooden box, and ran the router's power cable down through
the bottom, and into another outlet tucked away at the top of the cabinet. This outlet
is controlled by a switch that you might be able to see if you look to the top right of
the sign. The guarded switch operates the router safely, and from a distance, and snaps
back to the off position to power down the system on demand. The other switch operates
the backlighting, and you can see the forward position turns one light on, while moving
the toggle switch to the back position will activate them both, effectively doubling the
light. I finished up by painting my bench vise yellow, bolting it down with 4 inch lag
screws, and as you can tell, this isn't going anywhere. I'm pretty excited about this work
space because it's over 6.5 feet long, 4 feet wide, and just over 3 feet tall. A few other
features to see, are this plastic grommet on the side of the bench, which gives easy
access to my air compressor, a fire extinguisher station, and a custom lighted sign for effect.
The back of the bench
is where I hid the dimmer switch, that gives control of the LED sign lighting.
The sign is simply bolted on hand tight. And fastened in place at each of the corners,
with a decorative cap nut. This makes it easy to switch out at any time.
Each inside compartment has 2 puck lights hidden at the top, that light up the interior with the flick
of a finger. There's one last switch, between the other two, that operates the LED strips
hidden behind the table trim. You can see they cycle through 7 different colors, and
these lights are fully dimmable as well. The coolest part is that they come with a remote
control. Well there you have it. The new "King of Random" project station, which should make
dangerous experiments a little bit safer, and hopefully do it in style. That's it for
now. If you liked this project, perhaps you'll like some of my others. Check them out
at www.thekingofrandom.com