The project
The amazing folding workbench for small workshops. A surprisingly easy project that is a great solution for small work spaces where a static workbench is not suitable as it takes up too much room.
Every D.I.Y. enthusiast needs a workbench and now there isn’t an excuse not to have one, especially if you are like me and only have a single-car garage.
Steps
Step 1
Cut the pieces and assemble the two end frames. It's pretty important to get these exactly the same as they need to fold neatly in together.
Step 2
Patch all the holes and imperfections with Spakfilla. Apply an undercoat and then follow that up with two coats of gloss black enamel.
Step 3
Cut the pieces of Formply for the folding arms. A great way to get these nice and straight is to clamp a straight edge to the formply and run your saw up against it. Of course, if you have a table saw you can always use that. Once the pieces have been cut it's time to assemble and connect to the two end frames.
Step 4
Give the folding arms a test. As you can tell from my facial expressions l was pretty surprised by how well it all folded together.
Step 5
With the frame now complete it's time to cut the formply for the top. I've added some thickness to the edge of the bench top by screwing a strip of formply to the underside of the bench top.
Step 6
With a router or even some sandpaper, chamfer the edges of the benchtop to get rid of the sharp edge.
Step 7
Make up the stabiliser blocks for the folding arms. These prevent the arms from folding in and keep the arms straight.
Step 8
Attach the wheels to the underside of the end frames. One word of advice is to offset the wheels. As you can see in the photo, l originally didn't do that causing the wheels to occasionally clash when when wheeling it away which was a little annoying. I have since offset the wheels and it now works a lot better.
Step 9
As you can see it folds up to a very slim and tidy 180mm which is small enough to even store inside a cupboard when not in use.
Step 10
Here is the finished product.
It works really well and is surprisingly easy to make. A lot of us have very limited workspaces so it's perfect for that. It's also a good thing to have if you are ever entertaining and need an extra table.
Bunnings also seems to have a plentiful supply of the black formply which is also good. I love the look of the stuff and it's mostly straight which is a bonus.
