Any serious DIYer should have their own workbench, so why not use your DIY skills and make your very own.

Legs

Cut the legs to length. A good height for a bench is 900mm. Our benchtop is 50mm thick so we’ve pre-cut the legs to 850mm.

Frame

For the frame, we’re using 3x2 rails that are 75x50mm. The rails need to fit flush with the legs so we need to cut a rebate into the legs so this can happen. To do this, first mark out the rebate: at the top of the leg draw around the rail with a pencil ensuring the top of the rail is flush with the leg. For the bottom rebate, measure 100mm up from the bottom of the leg and mark with a pencil on the top where the rail sits, this will be where the bottom of the rebate will be. Draw another line parallel to this first line to mark the thickness of your rail and then mark the thickness of the rail on both sides of the leg. Square up all the marks so it is clear what you need to rebate.

To cut the rebate, use a circular saw (or drop saw). Adjust the blade to the depth of the rebate, then use a series of small cuts across the width of the leg to create fins. With a chisel and hammer, put a slight indent along the pencil line on both sides of the leg then snap off the fins by levering them from either side with the chisel. To finish, tidy up your rebate with the chisel.

Next, cut to length each rail and side and cut a 45 degree mitre angle on the ends of your rails. The bench is 1.7m long and 700mm wide so the rails should be cut to these lengths to the end of the mitre points.

Fix the rails into place using the coach screws. The side rails should have two screws at each end placed 22mm from the inside of the leg and 15mm from the edges. The end rails only need one screw on each end, which should be in the centre of the rail (35mm) and 22mm from the end. Remember to pre-drill the holes for all screws before inserting them into place to avoid the wood splitting.

You should now have the frame for your work bench. Check it is square, by measuring both the diagonals. The measurements should be the same. You can straighten up if you need to by shuffling the frame.

Handy Hint Once the frame is made make sure you measure the diagonals to ensure the frame is square before putting on the top boards.

Support Rails

You now need to put in the support rails. You’ll need one to go across the width of the top of the bench and one to go the length of the bench at the bottom. Measure the distance in between the rails, width and length and cut your two support rails to size. Screw into place with two screws at each end, remembering to pre-drill your holes first.

Shelf

Create the shelf with the 200x25mm palings. Cut these to the width of the bench. Lay out as many as you can, flat along the base frame and then measure the width of the gaps remaining. Divide the total gap width by two and then cut your remaining palings to this width – this ensures you have two even palings on each end. The bench legs are 90x90mm so you need cut this out of each end of the outer palings so that they fit around the legs.

Next, pre-drill the screw holes to secure the palings in place. They should be 25mm from the end of the board and 35mm from each edge. Start at one end and work your way to the other.

Bench

Now complete the top of the bench. We’ve used three 300x50 planks and cut them to 1800mm long to create a 50mm overhang each end of the bench.

Handy Hint If you wish to make a bench top that is higher on the sides add another 75x50mm to each side to allow this to sit up higher.

Place the planks on top of the frame and use a sash clamp to secure the three planks together. Then use a ruler to measure the 50mm overhang at one end and then check the measurement at the other end. Use a bench vice to secure the planks down on to the rails.

Now we need to screw the planks in. To do this we are going to screw from underneath, through the rail and up into the bench top. You need to secure each board with two screws. The middle board will have two 50mm from each end while the two outer boards will have one 50mm from the end and the other on the outer side of the leg. Do this on both ends.