Being so large and bulky, it took up a lot of space and was tough to move. I had finally had enough with it and decided that instead of finishing it, I would make two smaller workbenches that, when combined, would be about the same size. When thinking of the design for my new workbenches, I knew I wanted to be able to move and arrange them around each other. I wanted some ample shelf storage and some small shelf storage. I was also determined to put them on wheels. I would put everything on wheels if I could. Those were my primary goals.

I also got the idea that I wanted to try and make it without using nails or screws. From this experience, I would say use nails and screws. I would have finished this project so much faster if I had. If you have time and want to practice with special joinery, then no need for nails and screws. I wasn’t in a rush, so I decided to try it out.

When I moved into the new house and lugged some of my unfinished projects along with me, I learned the drawback of making items too large. They couldn’t fit through doors or gates and had to be lifted and placed in awkward positions. They took up valuable stacking space when loading a U-Haul. For my new benches, I decided to make each wide enough to fit through most doors in my house. This way, if needed, I can throw a table cloth over them and use them as tables. This gave them a width of 30 inches. I decided to make them each 8 feet long for no other reason than that is the longest lumber I could stuff into my little Toyota Corolla, and I’d save myself a few cuts. I was already comfortable with the height of my current workbench and wanted these to be about the same height. Considering an additional 6 inches provided by the casters (wheels), I would make the frame 24 inches high. I decided to use regular price stud lumber for the frames and MDF for the top and shelves.

 I left one-half of the space under the workbench top completely open so that there was only the workbench top and the very bottom. This left plenty of storage space for large items such as a router table and an air compressor. I put a shelf about halfway in between the other half of the area under the workbench top. These smaller shelves would be for the smaller handheld Items I would repeatedly use for the duration of a project. I would have casters on the bottom so the table would be slightly lifted for some toe space underneath. Never forget the toe space for furniture you will be right up against.

Because I had nothing better to do, I decided to make the workbench frame without any nails or screws. I thought up some special joinery cuts to put them together. I had also wanted to start using epoxy resin and decided I could practice with this. I figured my special cuts made with a jigsaw and drill would not be perfect. I would fill in any space with resin to help prevent any wobble that may come up.

For the 2×4, I cut notches out of each end as well as in the middle. When making angled cuts like this, I like to drill a big pilot hole into the wood at the angles of the cuts. I make sure it is large enough for the jigsaw blade to fit into. This gives me a starting point deeper into the wood to make the cutting easier. The notches were placed so that when the ends of the 2x4s were matched up at a 90-degree angle they would fit in place. Those could then be fitted into large prong-like notches I cut out of the ends of the 4x4s. I used a similar tactic as before, where I drilled pilot holes and made my cuts with a jigsaw. I also cut holes out of the center of the 4x4s so part of the shelving frame could be easily placed in them.