Garage Workbenches - A Workmans 2nd Best Friend

The garage workbench is a very important fixture in any home workshop. They provide great assistance in completing projects, allowing your designs, inventions, and blueprints to come to life. There are many kinds of garage workbenches that you can buy, each serving a great purpose for any amateur or professional carpenter, you may even consider building one yourself. But whatever kind of workbench you choose, you will definitely find it an indispensable tool for any hobby.

Different Types of Garage Workbenches

Garage workbenches come in different sizes and shapes; they are good for crafts, woodworking, and building other things for the home. They are widely available at any home improvement and DIY (do-it-yourself) stores. Here is a run down of the most common types of garage workbenches you are most likely to encounter.

1. Table Workbenches - this is the most common type of workbench and pretty much resembles a normal table. However table workbenches are made of very strong materials that can withstand the pressures of carpentry and woodworking. The tabletop can be made of hardwood or steel, the legs are usually made of sturdy metal.

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2. Cabinet Workbenches - these workbenches have storage spaces in the form of cabinets or drawers under the top. While a little more expensive than table workbenches, these benches makes use of the wasted space by providing a compact means of storage. A cabinet workbench can be perfect for home workshops with limited space or for people who would want all their tools within their reach.

3. Power Strip Workbenches - for the more advanced hobbyist who uses power tools this is the perfect type of bench. Good power strip benches have electrical outlets with circuit protection and heavy duty electrical cords. Some power strip benches may also have small drawers for holding tools.

Doing it Yourself - Building Your Own Workbench

If you have the time or the workmanship bug has bitten you, you might consider making your own workbench. There are many garage workbench building kits available on-line, each having everything that you will need to assemble your own bench. The kit would also contain instructions for assembling the pre-cut pieces. You have to conform with the designs provided in the kit, but usually the design is sufficient enough to serve the benches purpose.

If you want to be more hardcore, you can make your workbench from scratch by buying your own materials, cutting the wood yourself or having them cut at the store. This way you can put your creativity to work and you can control the outcome. As for the design, there are plenty of good workbench plans for purchase and probably even find some free downloadable bench designs from the internet and follow their directions accordingly.

When building your own garage workbench, it is important to get the best quality of wood and metal you can afford. For wooden tops excellent choices would be hardwood plywood or oak. To protect your tabletop, you can use several coatings of polyurethane, it will make your bench easy to clean and resilient to wear.

Plywood used for a workbench top should not be thinner than 3/8 inch stock. The thicker the better, and half inch or even one inch will be that much more durable. Also consider that you may want to be able to stand on the workbench top to reach garage rafters for storage. Design accordingly, keeping this possiblility in mind when deciding on thickness.

Garage workbenches are definitely essential for any workman’s workshop. Whether you buy it or you build it yourself, your garage workshop would never be complete without it. So you better start making room in your garage to welcome your workbench - your best indispensable friend in the garage workshop.

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