Cover fronts of plastic drawers with 1/4" plywood, matching the sliding doors (see exploded view). If possible, cut fronts from one piece of wood so that grain pattern is uniform throughout. Attach with contact cement.

To make top of workbench, use a good, solid piece of pine or fir. This is one of the most important parts of the workbench. Cut it to dimensions shown in exploded view. Then, make shoulder strip for tool recess of 3/4" plywood, 1 3/8" wide and 12' long, and glue and nail to bottom of workbench top, flush with back edge as can be seen in Fig. A.

Fasten top to workbench assembly with 1 1/2" No. 14 flathead screws through top front mounting strip. Keep back edges flush, so top extends 1" at front.

To make tool recess, cut tool recess bottom to dimensions in exploded view. Mount with glue and nails to upright panels, partitions and end panels

Cut tool recess back strip to dimensions in exploded view. Keeping back edges flush, attach back strip to bottom piece with glue, driving nails upward through bottom piece.

Next, cut a sheet of 1/4" tempered hard board exactly same size of workbench top (see exploded view), and mount to top, using glue and 3/4" No. 16 brads. The author used Presto Set white glue. Keep all edges flush.

For all sliding doors in workbench, author used fiber sliding door strips with fiber shoes for the bottom and aluminum T tracks for the top. First, cut sliding door bottom strips to dimensions in exploded view. Make two grooves in each, 1/8" wide, 1/4" deep and 1 apart.

Fiber sliding door rails, along which sliding door shoes slide, are available in 6' lengths. Insert rails into grooves in bottom door strip.

Attach completed sliding door bottom strips to work bench bottom, 1/8" in from front edge. Then, mount aluminum T rails to top of workbench directly in line with grooves in bottom strips (see chapter titled HIDEAWAY BAR, photos 37-41).

Cut 3/4 plywood shelf, 17 ½ wide, 28" deep, and insert in far left section over drawers. Make all front edges of plastic moulded drawers flush and insert on metal slides.         

The two large wall cabinets over work-bench are of simple box frame construction. Cut top, bottom and side pieces following dimensions in Fig. E. Mount top and bottom pieces between sides, keeping back edges flush. Use glue and 6d finishing nails.

Fig. E. Dimensions are the same for both large cabinets over workbench. Shelf rests on permanent cleats.

From 3/4" plywood, cut two mounting strips for each cabinet, to dimensions in Fig. E, and attach them with glue and nails inside top and bottom of cabinet, flush with back edges. These strips will be used to attach cabinets to wall. Cut two shelf mounting cleats, for each cabinet, 3/4" by 1/2 by 10", and attach one on inside of each cabinet side at desired height of shelf, Cut shelf from 3/4" matching plywood to dimensions in Fig. E, and place on mounting cleats.

After cabinet is squared up and glue is dry, plane front edges even Front edges may be covered with a matching wood trim. Weldwood wood trim, with Weldwood contact cement was used in this project. To make wood trim surface even, use a rubber roller, or a rolling pin.

Following directions for sliding door assembly in chapter titled HIDEAWAY BAR, photos 37-41, cut bottom strips and make 1/8"-wide grooves in them. Then, mount aluminum T rails to cabinet tops in line with grooves on bottom.

Insert fiber sliding door rails into grooves.

Sliding doors are cut from 3/4" plywood to dimensions in exploded view. Cut grooves in tops of sliding doors to depth of T rail. Again, referring to sliding door assembly in HIDEAWAY BAR, prepare bottoms of sliding doors and attach fiber shoes, and insert doors in cabinets. To make finger grips in sliding doors, see HIDEAWAY BAR, photos No. 42 and 43.

Cut 12'-long tempered hard board strip to dimensions in exploded view and tack to paneled wall, flush above back strip of tool recess. This will prevent wall from being scratched.

Fit workben ch into place against wall. Then, cut plywood end filler strip to dimensions in exploded view and mount to right end panel of workbench.

When mounting vise to workbench, cut hardwood reinforcing blocks if vise weighs more than 40 lbs., and attach to bottom surface of workbench top with screws. 2 1/2" No. 16 screws were used here to attach an 80 lb. vise. These will give extra support to the long screws or bolts, depending on which manufacturer supplies, used for mounting vise.

Cut 3/4"-by-l 1/2"-by-48" strips and mount them to cabinet tops along front and sides, flush with front edges. These serve as shims between cabinet tops and ceiling beams. Also, crown mouldings may be mounted to them after ceiling has been installed. Next, mount cabinets to walls with screws through top and bottom mounting strips into studs.

Fig. F. Small right end cabinet, with perforated doors, extends from center cabinet to right wall.

Make small right end cabinetwhich is the same depth as the other cabinets, by cutting top, bottom and right side piece to dimensions in Fig. F. Assemble with glue and nails. Then, cut and attach top and bottom mounting strips and pine plywood adjustable shelf. Mount right end cabinet to wall and to right side of large center cabinet, keeping front edges flush.

Sliding doors in small right end cabinet were mounted by author into grooved top and bottom strips. To make these, cut two 2"-wide sliding door strips and make two grooves in each, slightly wider than width of perforated hard board used for sliding doors. Make 1/2"-deep grooves in top strip and 1/4-deep grooves as in bottom strip to allow doors to be lifted into top grooves first, then lowered into bottom. Cut grooves 5/16" wide, 1/4" apart and 14" from front edge. Be sure grooves on top and bottom correspond exactly. Then, mount strips to top and bottom of cabinet.

From perforated hard board, cut two doors to dimensions in exploded view. Make finger grips by drilling a 3/4" hole at same height on each door; then, sand smooth. Fit doors into top and bottom grooves.

To finish area above small right end cabinet, mount cleats around space between ceiling and cabinet, 3/8 in from cabinet front.

Cut a piece of 1/4" plywood paneling the shape of "" space to be finished and mount flush with cabinet front. To install lighting panel and cover ceiling, see chapter titled lighting techniques to finish workshop, see chapter titled how to finish your built-ins.

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