On Sun, 27 Feb 2005 10:20:41 -0500, "Edmund M. Hayes"
wrote:

I need to build or buy a work bench/area in my 2 car garage.
I have about 4 feet at the front of garage I can utilize.
I was thinking of something about 6 or so feet long.
I saw some products called Renegade Garage Storage Cabinets by
O'Sullivan Furniture (
http://www.everythingfurniture.com/r...e-storage.html ) that
looks real nice.
Sears also has something similar which I saw on TV that has some of the
sections on wheels.
Any suggestions or comments?
Thanks



A few comments based on the page above.

The bench surface is smaller than I would like. I'm betting it's also
not that rigid. If you think you'l occasionally want to drive a nail
on your bench top, you'll want a really solid top. The top has no
"lip" or overhang on it. I built my bench with such an overhang so I
can easily clamp stuff to it.

The tool board also looks a little small. Mine is a couple of pieces
of regular plywood, rather than pegboard. I hold my tools with a
variety of screws, hooks, magnets and some small wire shelves (great
for screwdrivers). In my experience with pegboard hooks, they
sometimes come out of their holes when you grab for the tool. You are
also somewhat limited as to spacing. Lastly, you can pretty much ONLY
use pegboard hardware, as the pegboard won't hold regular screws well.

$500 + shipping would buy quite a lot of lumber to build a custom
workbench. If you really want a neat looking shop, with closed doors
and drawers, I agree that it would take a fair amount of work to build
something like what you're planning to buy. But if open storage is
acceptable, you could save a good deal of money without too much
effort.

I made a very solid 30" x 80" bench out of a solid core door, 2x10s
and 2x4s. It was a couple of hours work. I'm sure the materials came
to under $80. I also bought 3 steel open shelving units, each 36" x
18" x 6' tall. Each one has 5 shelves. They were $55 each a few years
ago. They hold a heck of a lot of stuff.

Greg Guarino