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This post is a continuation of last week’s post on how to make a table top jewelry bench.  Here’s how you do it!Materials

1. For the bench top, I used a folding wood snack table that my neighbors left when they moved.  You can buy a set of four here.  You can make your bench and have three  snack tables left over.  The top is a thick, sturdy piece of wood you can bang on when you make your jewelry.  The legs of the folding tray, also made of the same sturdy wood, can be sawed up to make the other components of the bench.

2. For the sides of the bench, I used a discarded Ekby Hemnes bookshelf from  Ikea. Click here for dimensions.  Any board with similar dimensions will work.

3. You will need a board for the pull out shelf, I used an mdf board from another discarded piece of Ikea furniture.  My board was about 24” wide and I cut it to 20” to fit inside the bench.

4. A wood slat 2” X 21” and ¼” thick for pliers rack. (I used a wood paint stirrer I already had.  You can buy them here.

5. Wood screws in various sizes.  I used 2 ½” and 1 ½”

6. Feet to  raise the bench if desired.  I was going to fashion something out of screw-in cabinet knobs before I discovered that I had a set of screw-in furniture levelers I saved  from an old metal shelf.   They are less expensive than buying legs or knobs. You can get a set similar to what I used, here.

Tools

1. A portable electric jig saw like this one is handy for cutting out the top.  You can get by without one since there are only straight cuts, but it is easier with the power tool.  You can also use it for all your cutting.  I used hand saws the rest of the bench because I felt I had more control over them.

2. C Clamps to hold the wood as you saw.

3. Straight saw or hack saw

4. Drill and various sized drill bits to assemble the bench and attach the feet

5. Cordless screwdriver

6. Ruler, retractable tape measure, pencil and permanent marker to measure and mark.  I am horrible at measuring.  Take your time with this.  As a matter of fact, take your time with all of it.

7. Mallet and nail pry bar (to help disassemble the wooden tray)

8. Beeswax or soap to lubricate your saws and drill bits. You will not  believe how much easier this will make the job

9. Safety glasses and dust mask.  (Unless you like breathing in sawdust and getting it in your eyes.)

Some preliminaries about this project.  I am not a wood worker.  I do not have access to a wood shop.  I do not know anyone with a wood shop who I would ask to make a bench for me.

I  learned most of my skills (and that’s being charitable) on YouTube University.  What few tools I do  possess, I either inherited (like a couple of great saws that belonged to my Father-in-Law, which sat in my basement for 25 years before I realized I should use them),  bought at house sales (an ancient portable jig saw) or scored at discount stores (like my drill that is not even cordless and which I have been threatening to replace for some time now).  My modern tool is the cordless screwdriver which no home should be without.

I smoothed out some rough edges. You could use a file, but this was faster.

The finished top

I sawed my bookshelf board in half,  and attached it to the bench top with screws.  I positioned them so there would be a lip to keep things from falling off the top of the bench.  Then I sawed two lengths of wood from the snack tray table legs and screwed them to the back of the bench to form the pliers rack.

I cut two more lengths from the table legs and screwed them to the inside of the bench to accommodate the shelf.  I cut the shelf to fit and added a lip at the back to prevent things from falling out.  The pliers rack on the rear of the bench keeps the shelf from falling out the back.

I added a strip of wood from the snack tray leg to the back of the bench top to make a lip to keep things from falling off the back of the bench.  Then I cut the paint stirrer and screwed it to the back for the pliers rack.

Last, I drilled pilot holes into the side boards and screwed in some adjustable feet which let me level the bench and adjust the height.

Here’s a side view of the bench that shows where I screwed the sides.

I attached the bench pin with clamps.  I also made a nifty little forming tool with a piece of wood and some metal furniture knobs.  Clamp it in a vise and shape yourself some metal.  It’s also handy for riveting.

If you are interested in trying to make one of these yourself,  I have drawn up some rudimentary plans for you to download.   Feel free to share the plans but remember where you got them.