Carpentry and Woodworking - I built my first workbench in about 5 hours.

Here are some pics.


<img src="http://atlas.walagata.com/w/thermal/bench.jpg">


<img src="http://atlas.walagata.com/w/thermal/bench2.jpg">



I don't think it came out too bad for my first time. I still have to attach a vise and I'm going to hang some small shelves above it. Whatcha think?

Heyyyy, it looks great. I like the bolt-up. Should give it good stability. Now, since you are using particle board as a surface, be careful with your vice. If you put too much stress on the vice, the particle board will break. Also, when you attach the vice, watch out for your substructure. You may have to lag bolt the front hole and carriage bolt the remaining two.
5 hours!! Not bad. Now, you need a banging table with a 2x6 slatted top to build things on and do glue up. Go for it.

Thanks! I reinforced the corner in the 2nd pic with extra 2X4's specifically for the purpose of mounting a vise. That way I'll have 3 of the corners attached with lags and I may add some additional 2X4's a little further out under the top to secure the 4th mounting hole of the vise. I'll see if I can't take some more pics later this evening.

Man, that looks like a clean job....and a clean work area. Mine stays clean like that for about five minutes.

Another thing you don't want to do is let the partical board get wet.

I think I built one of mine with the junk attached to it from the beginning, and it just won't clean itself up!! Good work

Man, that looks like a clean job....and a clean work area. Mine stays clean like that for about five minutes.

Another thing you don't want to do is let the partical board get wet.

LOL... It's only that clean because I had just finished everything and wanted to take some pics.
:p

About getting it wet....

I need to seal it but am not sure what I should use. Also, do I need to take the board off and do both sides?

A good urethane finish, or even a marine grade paint will give you good service, and coating both sides is a good idea, with humidity. I would go one step further and do something about the edges of the particle board. You could glue up some 1x2's along the edge, or contact cement some formica trimming it with a trim bit in your router. This will be the entry point of moisture as well as the flat surface.

Very nice workmanship! Nice touch notching the legs! And looks like you countersunk the tabletop screws, or screwed them from the bottom, another very important feature!

I recommend a hard gloss finish to resist that first oil stain that is waiting to happen any minute. Either a poly or paint. I prefer a hard durable hard shell oil based enamel, or a kitchen laminate type covering. No need to paint the bottom of the table surface, for many reasons.

Thanks Lugnut. I did in fact countersink the top screws. Unfortunately I sunk one just a little too far. I know it's not the end of the world, but it irritates me nonetheless.... ;)