You’re not hallucinating. I really did build a fold-up (literally) workbench. It’s 7′x2′, 2′ off the ground (perfect for long, sitting projects, or holding other tools like a table saw or router table), and folds up to less than 6″ thick hanging on the wall. Oh yeah, and I can stand on it, so it’ll at least hold 200lbs, even if it does sag a bit in the middle under that type of load. I may add another set of folding legs in the future.

This entire project was completed with scrap wood and spare parts I’ve had left over from other small projects around the house. It’s total cost for me to build was basically 0.00$, since I had already spent the money on other projects.

It may not be the prettiest thing, but it’s solid, it’s almost free, and it’ll do exactly what I need it to.

This is how the finished product looks hanging on the wall.

Here’s a shot of the workbench folded up and locked in place. There’s a 2×2 that swings across the underside (front in this image) of the workbench and a long bolt slides in and out of a hold to lock it in place.

This is with the locking arm swung out a bit. You can see here how it opens.

This is a shot of the locking bracket closed and relocked once the workbench is in the down position. This sticks out about 6″ from the wall at it’s deepest point.

Here’s how the workbench looks when lowered into position. It hinges nicely on a few bolts with flat separator washers between the wood. The bolts that anchor the table to the wall are the same size bolts I used to build the shelving unit, only the holes were widened so that the bolt could turn a bit easier. I had these leftover from building the shelves.

Here’s an upclose shot of the folding leg hinge assembly. I had the long bolts leftover from when I thought I might need to suspend the back of the alumnium server rack from a 2×4 behind the ceiling. That was unnecessary, so I’ve had these bolts, washers, and nuts laying around for ten months.

Here you can see how the leg hinge works. The downward 2×2 acts as a stop, while the whole thing pivots on the bolt. The stop adds support to the leg, and keeps the legs from bending past 90 degrees. Once fully unfolded, the only way this workbench could collapse is if the outer wall of my garage collapses. If that happens, I’ve got bigger things to worry about than my workbench being totaled. Once the leg is fully folded up, the 2×2 lays flush parallel to the 2×2 that supports the workbench top.

This was a fun one to make. I’ve had the idea for quite a while, but hadn’t gotten around to figuring out the details. Making the measurements, cuts, and designing the whole thing all at once was a fun challenge. I got to use a bit of the geometry I remember from my school days and some common sense. Finding the center of rectangular areas, and getting all the parts to line up was fun.

The investment I made in getting a good aluminum bubble level has fully paid for itself this week. I’ve used that thing a lot lately.

I also have a wall mount for my Mr. Heater. Combined with the 5′ hose that attaches to a 20lbs. propane (LP) gas canister, I’ve had hours of comfy warmth to work in out in the now fully insulated garage. I had to open the door to cool it off in there this afternoon. I got it a bit too warm at one point.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 30th, 2006 at 1:19 am and is filed under Core Dump, Home Improvement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.