Craig's List Workbench

[Mr_Mac]

I have been trying to clean up my garage to make way for my '52 whenever I get a chance to go pick it up and bring it home, but at the same time I knew I'd be needing more storage space and a better work surface than the old 2X4 frame with ¾” plywood over the frame. So, we started to watch Craig’s List for old kitchen cabinets. My wife spotted a set one day while I was sleeping (work mids) and surprised me when I woke up that evening. There were four base cabinets and one corner base with a Lazy Susan.

I got the cabinets set off in the corner, leveled and attached them to the studs. While I was working on that she called me in to the house to look at another ad for some hardwood flooring someone had left over from a project they were doing and all they wanted was for someone to haul it off. I called, drove over and met with the guy giving it away and saw a nice stack of solid oak (from MO mind you) flooring that would be perfect as a work surface on top of the cabinets.

So, here it is my free work bench and storage cabinets from Craig’s List!

Laying down ½” plywood as a base over the cabinets.


Adding the flooring over the plywood as the new work surface.


All cut even with about 1 ½” overhang in case I need to clamp something down.


I had to use screws through the surface in places to hold it down. Otherwise there are screws from under the plywood.


I then ripped a couple of floor boards wide enough to cover the exposed edges and to allow for a small lip to prevent things from rolling off the bench.


First coat of honey maple stain and high gloss varnish. I will be adding quarter round trim to cover the bottom edge of the peg board.


Still to come will be my Chevy decal that I will set in the last coat of varnish while still wet and then follow the whole thing with one final coat of clear varnish to protect the decal.