10 Jun 2025
I built these cabinets and benches for the 'dirty' section of my workshop. Construction is painted 2x4's and a variety of metal office file cabinets along with MDF for the tops. This turned out to be a great combination of function and form.
The main tool bench holds the machines - drill press, lathe, mill, grinder, belt sander, buffer.
It's 12' long, 36" high, 24" deep.
The framing is all 2x4 painted.
The metal cabinets include 3 large metal 2-drawer lateral files that I got from a used office furniture store. I painted the cabinet frames black but left the drawers their original beige. They are great for holding large tools and the short drawers on tops hold smaller things like bits and blades.
The other metal drawers are stack-able card files. Each cabinet has 2 drawers and are great for items like glue, tape, sand paper, blades, etc. They were all bought at garage sales, sanded, then painted black and grey. A couple were painted an amber color just for looks. One of the metal cabinets is a 6-drawer parts cabinet used for nuts and bolts.
This is my main work bench. Construction is painted 2x4's with and raw MDF top and a single shelf below. On this bench I have mounted a sheet metal bender, a rod bender, and a vice.
The material cart holds 4x8' sheets on both sides, plus boards on the interior