These are nine free workbench plans worth building, from hand-tool benches made of studwork to a rolling plywood cabinet. Each one was opened and read before it went on this list, none needs payment, and none comes from a timber merchant or a DIY chain. Most are American, so each entry translates the timber into the sizes a UK yard sells. For the thinking behind a good bench (top thickness, height, vices), read the guide to planning timber for a workbench first.
How to read American sizes
American plans use nominal sizes. A “2×4” is really about 38 x 89mm once planed, which is the same as UK CLS 38 x 89mm. The common conversions:
| American plan says | Actual size | Ask a UK yard for |
|---|---|---|
| 2×3 | 38 x 63mm | CLS 38 x 63mm |
| 2×4 | 38 x 89mm | CLS 38 x 89mm, or 47 x 100mm C16 or C24 |
| 2×6 | 38 x 140mm | 47 x 150mm C24 |
| 2×8 | 38 x 184mm | 47 x 200mm C24 |
| 2×10 | 38 x 235mm | 47 x 225mm C24 |
| 2×12 | 38 x 286mm | 47 x 300mm C24 |
| 4×4 | 89 x 89mm | 75 x 75mm or 100 x 100mm |
| 1×6 | 19 x 140mm | 25 x 150mm planed all round (about 20 x 144mm finished) |
| 3/4″ plywood | 19mm | 18mm plywood |
| 4 x 8ft sheet | 1220 x 2440mm | 2440 x 1220mm sheet |
UK sections are usually a little thicker than American ones and sometimes narrower (47 x 225mm is 10mm narrower than a 2×10), so check any joint that depends on an exact size, and adjust the plan before cutting.
1. Paul Sellers’ workbench (best first bench)
- Plan: How to Make a Workbench, Paul Sellers, a free video series of about ten episodes, with a plans page.
- Suits: a first bench built with hand tools. Sizes are given in metric and imperial.
- Tools: saw, planes, router plane, plough plane, chisels and plenty of sash clamps.
- Style: a laminated top with a recessed tool well, a mortise-and-tenon base and a quick-release vice, about 1680 x 680mm.
- Timber: the top is laminated from 38 x 63mm studwork (CLS or redwood) about 1.8m long; legs are about 75 x 75mm or two pieces laminated.
- Watch out: the drawing and cutting list sit behind a subscriber sign-in on his site. Hand-planing every board is a lot of work for a first project.
2. The Anarchist’s Workbench (the heavy one)
- Plan: The Anarchist’s Workbench, Lost Art Press, the whole book as a free PDF.
- Suits: someone who wants one bench for life and enjoys reading why each part is the way it is.
- Tools: hand tools or machines; the joinery is drawbored mortise and tenon.
- Style: a traditional heavy bench about 2.4m long with a top around 125mm thick, a leg vice and a planing stop.
- Timber: roughly nine 47 x 300mm boards at 2.4m for the top, plus three 47 x 300mm at 3.6m and three 47 x 225mm at 3m for the base. Ask for clear, knot-free C24 or redwood.
- Watch out: the finished bench weighs over 135kg, so build it where it will live. Sizes are imperial.
3. Woodsmith’s weekend workbench (clearest shopping list)
- Plan: Workbench, Woodsmith, a free PDF with a full cutting list.
- Suits: a solid bench in a weekend, with a shelf and optional drawers.
- Tools: a drill and saw for the bolt-together base; the drawers need a router and dovetail jig, and are easy to leave out.
- Style: about 2030 x 760mm and 865mm high, with a top of two layers of plywood or a solid-core door.
- Timber: nine 2x4s at 8ft (ask for 47 x 100mm or CLS 38 x 89mm at 2.4m), four 1x6s for the drawers (the plan’s two lists differ, so check before buying), and 18mm and 6mm plywood.
4. The $175 Workbench (a classic for a reason)
- Plan: The $175 Workbench, Popular Woodworking, by Christopher Schwarz.
- Suits: someone with a few machines who wants a traditional bench quickly.
- Tools: written for a jointer, planer, table saw and drill press. Hand tools can stand in for some steps, but the preparation of the boards assumes machines.
- Style: a laminated top about 73mm thick and 1780mm long, with pegged mortise and tenons and bed bolts.
- Timber: 2x8s at 12ft, ripped and laminated for the top. Ask for 47 x 200mm C24 or redwood at 3.6m, plus eight M10 bolts.
- Watch out: the cutting list is not given as text on the page, and the price in the title dates from about 2001.
5. Matthias Wandel’s door-top bench (cheapest route)
- Plan: How to build a simple sturdy workbench, Matthias Wandel.
- Suits: getting a sturdy bench up fast from studwork and an old door.
- Tools: circular saw, drill, square, clamps and a chisel.
- Style: a simple frame with a solid-core door as the top.
- Timber: 38 x 89mm CLS or 47 x 100mm for the frame, and a heavy old or solid-core door (a fire door is the usual UK equivalent). He warns that modern interior doors are too flimsy.
- Watch out: no overall sizes or quantities, so measure the door first and plan the frame around it.
6. Ana White’s portable workbench (small spaces)
- Plan: Portable Workbench “Woodshop in a Box”, Ana White.
- Suits: a flat, a shed or a shared garage; the legs fold into a box that stores on a shelf.
- Tools: circular saw and drill, with a brad nailer and sander on her list.
- Style: a 610 x 1220mm top on folding legs.
- Timber: two 2x3s at 8ft (exactly CLS 38 x 63mm at 2.4m), two 1x6s at 6ft (25 x 150mm planed all round at 1.8m) and a 610 x 1220mm piece of 12 or 18mm plywood.
- Watch out: the top is only 610 x 1220mm, so it suits assembly and power-tool work better than heavy hand-planing.
7. Rex Krueger’s English joiner’s bench (hand tools, low cost)
- Plan: The Incredible English Joiner’s Bench, Rex Krueger, with free plans on his site.
- Suits: a full-size traditional bench built almost entirely with hand tools.
- Style: a traditional English joiner’s bench from framing timber, put together with construction adhesive and fasteners.
- Timber: framing timber; 47 x 100mm or 38 x 89mm covers the 2×4 parts. Check the free plans for board widths before ordering.
- Watch out: the free plans are ordered at no charge through his online shop.
8. This Old House mobile workbench (all plywood, with storage)
- Plan: Build a Mobile Workbench, This Old House.
- Suits: a garage workshop that needs storage and a bench that rolls out of the way.
- Tools: circular saw, pocket-hole jig and drill.
- Style: a plywood cabinet on locking castors with a 2440 x 1220mm top.
- Timber: five sheets of 18mm plywood (the plan uses 3/4in, about 19mm), plus eight 75mm locking swivel castors.
- Watch out: a full-sheet top is too big for most UK garages. Scale the cabinet down before buying sheets.
9. Woodworkers Institute beech bench (the British build)
- Plan: Crafting the Perfect Workbench, Woodworkers Institute, a metric build article by Mark Dunning.
- Suits: an experienced maker with machines who wants a hardwood bench with dog holes and two end vices.
- Style: about 2m long with a 70mm beech top.
- Timber: beech worktop blanks laminated to 70mm. Ask a hardwood yard for 40mm beech or oak worktop, or 50mm prepared beech.
- Watch out: this is an account of a build rather than a plan, with no drawings or cutting list, and it relies on two Veritas vices and a Festool Domino.
Which one to pick
- First bench, hand tools: Paul Sellers.
- First bench, power tools, quickest: Woodsmith or the door-top bench.
- Small space: Ana White’s portable bench.
- One bench for life: The Anarchist’s Workbench.
- Storage and a workshop on wheels: the This Old House mobile bench.
What to ask the timber yard
- Is it kiln dried? Kiln-dried construction timber is dried to about 20% moisture, wetter than a heated workshop, so it will still shrink and may twist indoors. Stack it with spacers in the workshop for at least two weeks (longer if it felt damp) before planing and laminating, and check it with a moisture meter if you have one.
- Can I pick the straightest lengths? For a laminated top, straight grain and few knots matter more than grade.
- What are the actual planed sizes? Check before adjusting an American plan.
- Can you cut sheets down? Many yards will cut plywood to rough sizes so it fits in a car.
Sources
- Paul Sellers, workbench plans and FAQs (sizes, timber, tools)
- Lost Art Press, The Anarchist’s Workbench (design, weight, timber)
- Woodsmith, Workbench plan PDF (cutting list)
- Popular Woodworking, The $175 Workbench (sizes, joinery)
- Matthias Wandel, How to build a simple sturdy workbench
- Ana White, Portable Workbench (cutting list)
- Rex Krueger, English joiner’s bench
- This Old House, Build a Mobile Workbench (cutting list)
- Woodworkers Institute, Crafting the Perfect Workbench