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The $300 Woodworking Bench

Tom McKenna, senior editor

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The bench is  31 in. wide by 81 in. long by 36 1/2 in. high. It weighs about 350 lbs.

Courtesy Jerry Beafore

Vises in, ready for the top.

Courtesy Jerry Beafore

It all started with a bunch of free hardwood scraps from a local cabinet shop.

Courtesy Jerry Beafore

The bench is  31 in. wide by 81 in. long by 36 1/2 in. high. It weighs about 350 lbs.

Photo: Courtesy Jerry Beafore

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Here’s a workbench that just might fit into our Furniture Lab theme. Jerry Beafore, a hobbyist woodworker in Fairmont, West Virginia, had been using an old wooden door perched on two sawhorses as his primary bench for too many years. This year he finally decided to make a change and build a true woodworking bench—one he’d be proud to show off and one that would challenge and showcase his 40 years of woodworking experience.

He wanted a classic style, with lots of functionality, but he was on a strict budget. The solution came in the form of wood scraps discarded by a local cabinet shop. Beafore was able to get a few pickup-truck loads of hickory, poplar, maple, red oak, and cherry, ranging in size from 3/4 in. to 1 in. thick by about 10 ft. to 12 ft. long. Three weeks after getting all the wood, he’d meticulously pieced together his dream bench, and you won’t believe the cost. Here’s the breakdown:

Nice job, Jerry.

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Comments (7)

goodguy writes: Three weeks... from all those scraps? Amazing!
Posted: 3:53 pm on July 11th

goodguy writes: Well congratulations! Nice job, especially using cheap materials. I can easily see how you had to use $72 worth of glue though if you used all those small scraps!

Perhaps you should figure in the cost of electricity to mill all those pieces too...
or did you do that by hand in less than a year? ;-)
Posted: 3:50 pm on July 11th

woodchuck2010 writes: Great job Jerry, but how did you spend $72 on the glue.
Posted: 6:37 pm on May 27th

coolreed writes: I would like to see more detail on this. Potentially, a great article. Need better pictures and more verbage on the process. Thanks, Reed
Posted: 8:45 am on May 20th

uueagle writes: I agree with Tom and Dean7. Would really like a good look at the craftsmanship needed to create the bench from that amazing pile of "scraps". Inspiring workshop piece.
Posted: 5:41 pm on May 19th

Tom writes: Dean, I'm hoping to get high res images from Jerry so folks can get a better look.
Posted: 12:03 pm on May 19th

Dean7 writes: For some reason the pictures of the workbench are quite small. It would be nice to have larger pictures as well as a few more pictures of Jerry's workbench. Otherwise, I enjoyed reading the article. Thank you, Dean

Posted: 10:22 am on May 19th

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