My first workbench was a door on two sawhorses. It wobbled every time I pushed a plane across it, and I spent more time chasing it around the garage than building anything.

The bench I have now came from one sheet of three quarter inch plywood and four two by fours. It has survived six years and a lot of abuse.

The cut list

• Top: one piece at 24 by 60 inches, doubled up for thickness
• Legs: four pieces at 2 by 4 by 33 inches
• Long rails: two pieces at 2 by 4 by 60 inches
• Short rails: two pieces at 2 by 4 by 21 inches
• Lower shelf: one piece at 24 by 57 inches

That is the whole bill of materials. With a decent sheet and framing lumber you are usually under ninety dollars.

Assembly order

1. Build two leg frames. Each frame is two legs plus one short rail near the top and one near the bottom. Glue and screw.
2. Connect the frames with the long rails. This is your base. Check it for square by measuring diagonals and adjusting until they match.
3. Add the lower shelf across the bottom rails. This is what stops the whole thing from racking side to side.
4. Glue the two top pieces together and screw them down through the rails from underneath.

Squareness is the whole game. An out of square base makes a bench that rocks no matter how heavy it is. Measure the two diagonals and get them within an eighth of an inch before you add the top.

Making it actually useful

• Set the height to your wrist, not to a standard. Stand up straight and let your arms hang. The bench top should land right at your wrist crease.
• Overhang the top by a few inches on the front so you can clamp things down.
• Add a strip of hardwood along the front edge if you plan to use hand tools. It takes the beating instead of the plywood edge.
• Level the feet with adjustable glides or shims once it is in its final spot.

The mistake I made the first time was making it too light. I built a bench that I could pick up with one hand and then wondered why it walked across the floor when I used a hand saw. Heavy is good. Add a shelf and fill it with your tool boxes.

If your garage floor slopes, which most do, put the bench against a wall and shim the front feet. You will forget you did it, and that is the point.