Work Bench on the Cheap

Step 8 Cut Your Top and Shelf

Cutting a 4x8 piece of plywood isn't hard, but keeping a straight line is a bit tough for newbies. Be very careful and take all precautions necessary.

At this stage, now that you have the skeleton of your table finished, measure it again to cut the top. Before you cut, measure once more. Just for good measure.

Your top is the easy part. Just bang out a rectangle. Personally, I like to cut the length and then cut the width. No reason.

If you make your table 30" deep, you'll have 18" of your 4' wide piece of plywood left. Follow that? 48 - 30 = 18. You should have 18" left for a nice little shelf. Cool.

Now, you have legs in the way and it probably won't be a big deal, but it will look a bit odd if you ran your shelf up to your legs with a big hole in the back. Plus, from a support standpoint, it will be a lot stronger if you attach your shelf to the braces than let your shelf float.

So here is what you do, if you are using 4x4's for legs, cut a 5x5 square out of the corner of the shelf. It will slide in there real nice.

Finally, put the top on the table. This is the easiest part. I'd recommend screwing it on because it will (should) take a beating and you'll want (need) to replace it at some point.