Quick Heavy Duty Workbench

This is a good way of whipping together a very durable and heavy workbench very quickly with
almost no tools. Everything but assembly is done for you at homedepot or lowes with the exception cutting the notches for the lower shelf. The assembly is pretty modular so it can also be modified to fit longer table tops, or change the leg lengths and height. The only negative aspect of building a workbench this way is that the components are fairly expensive. Total cost for the project is around $200.

You will need:
8 pieces of 6" long 1 1/4" pipe
4 pieces of 24" long 1 1/4" pipe
1 piece of 36" long 1 1/4" pipe
8 flange connectors
6 T-connector
1 sheet of 3/4" plywood cut twice:
 - cut 2' from the length to make a 2'x4' piece and a 4'x6' piece
 - cut the remainder lengthwise to make 2 2'x6' pieces

screwdriver
* saw & screw gun recommended

I chose to use 1 1/4" black gas pipe to make it heavy duty without being total overkill. It would have been much cheaper & quicker to go with 1" pipe since more of the parts are available pre-cut. Either way you'll need to buy more pipe than you really need from their 10' pipes: 10 = 4 legs & 2' scrap or 3 legs, 1 center part, & 1' of scrap. Maybe you'll get lucky & find the extra foot or so in their cutoff bin.The main table top really only requires 1 piece of 2'x6' plywood, but doubling that up makes it much sturdier and the scrap from that sheet can be made into a lower shelf.

Assembly is fairly straightforward although you'll want to start from the center and work your way out from there so you don't have large parts which must be screwed together at the end. Once it is assembled the table legs will add leverage to really tighten down the connections.

1. A T-connector goes on each end of the 3' pipe.
2. Each of those gets a 6" pipe for the lower leg and a 24" pipe for the upper portion.
3. A flange connector finishes off each end of the legs.
4. Put the 2 6'x2' plywood sheets on top of one another with the side you want exposed facing down.
5. Flip the pipe assembly onto the table top so that the short leg sections now point up.
6. Position all the flanges so that they are spaced a couple inches from the front & rear edges.
7. Screw the flange connectors to the table top with 1 1/2" screws. If you do this step first without assembling the pipe structure, you won't be able to put it together correctly.
8. Flip the table back onto its feet & either adjust the leg lengths by tightening / loosening them or putting shims under the wobbly foot.

*Optional:
9. Mark & notch the corners of the scrap plywood to fit on the lower pipe brackets.

Now that it's done you can load it up with really heavy equipment and it should stay rock solid. This one is not meant for working at while seated, so lower storage was a great added benefit. Just make sure you don't overload one end or the other - the 18" overhang will still flip the table given enough force.