2x4basics 90164MI Custom Work Bench and Shelving Storage System, Black

I began looking for a solid workbench some weeks ago as I relocated my garage workshop into my basement. The problem with workbenches is that the good ones cost a lot (for the jointers' benches, it can be [...]) and the cheap ones are REALLY cheap. I spotted the 2x4 Basics workbench probably the same way you found this review. I went to Amazon, punched in Workbenches and there it was. I ordered the kit and went to Home Depot for wood. HD cut the wood right to size for me, I didn't even have to cut the 2x4s to trim. First of all, the construction of the workbench goes really easily. You need two people, one to hold, one to screw it together. My wife and I put it together in about 20 minutes. The basic parts are the black plastic legs and 52 long screws. The instructions were fair (designed NOT to need to know a language) but on the 2x4 website, there is a cut list available that shows what you need to get to make a table of any size. the link for the cutlist is ([...]) at least at the time that I wrote this review. Since the bench will be rectangular, all the corners are 90 degrees so there's no math or engineering involved. The screw holes are angled so that the points of the screws will be buried in wood with no worries about sharp points protruding. The wood itself (2 x 4s and 1/2" plywood) is able to take the plastic implements they include but I believe they will also accept a proper metal clamp. I intend to cut holes to allow cables and plugs, may include a drop in cup for pencils and the like. I made the 6'x4' bench and it is excellent. The only thing I did not do that I had in mind was to use MDH for the top of the table, but I can always switch it out later if I want. That's an advantage. If you later need a different sized table, you just need to unscrew the screws, obtain the wood and you're good to go. For the 4x6, I spent [...] in wood, plus the cost of the kit itself. The 2x4s that I bought were premium wood studs. I needed 10 of the 2x4s and three of the plywood sheets. Haven't made the shelves yet, but I will sometime soon. The result is a very solid table with two shelves. Because the table top is plywood, I will be drilling holes to accept bolts to clamp down my sanding belts, drill press and miter saw. All in all, it is exactly what I needed. If you are considering it, I suggest that you go ahead. Its really good, pretty easy to construct and you can adapt it without worry. If you don't wind up happy with what you've got, you can reconfigure it according to need. Last, the table itself is attractive (or would be, except that plywood itself is not that attractive). I only point this out because I am now considering a number of the company's other products(tables, benches, etc). With a little work (paint mostly), I believe they will make attractive and durable outdoor furniture that will be easy to make and replace.

I bought this to build myself an electronics workbench. This kit is well worth the money and I am very pleased with the result. I have built tables/benches in the past, but since the only wood-cutting tool I own is a circular saw it is difficult for me to get all the legs exactly the same height to make the table level. I consider myself a beginner to intermediate woodworker and this kit was a breeze to assemble. This kit took me an afternoon (6-7 hours) all told to assemble and that includes 1 or 2 trips to Lowe's. I made the desk about 4.5 feet wide by 2.5 feet deep. I bought some nice plywood for the desktop and it cost me about another $100 for all the wood I ended up needing. The kit came with all the screws and brackets necessary to assemble it. The instructions are not very detailed but give enough instructions that I had no questions once I took a look at all the brackets. My instructions came printed poorly so it was hard to read, but if you go to the "2X4 Basics" website, they have digital PDFs you can download with clearer pictures. The way the brackets are made allows for a lot of customization. Since I wanted to be able to use a chair or stool while working at the bench, I left the bottom and front totally open so I could put my legs under the table. I was worried it may be wobbly because of this, but it is extremely sturdy. I added a strip light and a 10 outlet power strip under the shelf. With these small upgrades, this workbench is exactly what I needed/wanted. I could have probably gotten a workbench from IKEA or Walmart for cheaper, but this one is extremely sturdy and the exact dimensions I wanted for my work space. Being built entirely out of 2X4s, I expeceted this to be a little on the heavy side, but it is much lighter than I expected. I can move it around my work space with minimal effort and it does not scratch my wood floors.

**** Updated to 5 Stars***** Finally, I found the time to complete my first workbench. And it turned out to be great! There isn't much to add except, make sure that you get all your wood cut to the same length and everything else will follow suit accurately! I had to make an end stop for my mitre saw before I started cutting. And that time spent turned out to well worth it. I got a wobble free and solid bench in the end! One thing to keep in mind - if your wood isn't sitting flat against any of the corners, it is possible that there are remnants of the manufacturing process and you may have to cut the extra flashing off of in some places. But I would not consider this a major issue. The bench once completed is really solid! I have another kit already sitting in my garage ready to be worked on next spring! -- My Original Review -- Finally, managed to unbox this kit after its quarantine phase. I am impressed. This item is so simple, yet looks so versatile. The parts are pretty simple and intuitive and come with a whole bunch of hardware. And the instruction sheet just as the product is pretty straightforward, focused and to the point! Three stars on easy to assemble criteria because I haven't gone through it yet, and so I have been fair by voting down in the middle. My next step is to plan the dimensions of my workbench and plan the cuts. I don't have a table saw and therefore will need to get the sheets cut at the home improvement big box. Overall this looks great and I'm thinking of going for one more for my basement.

I built my workbench this morning, having cut the 2x4's myself yesterday, but having the Big Orange Store cut my 3/4 inch plywood (30x72 inches). Thoughts: 1. Materials are excellent quality. Thick uniform resin legs and good quality screws. I haven't put on the hooks and do-dads that also come with this kit. Others have observed that these extras are a joke. Fine. 2. +1 for using clamps to hold lumber to legs before fastening. +1 also on having two people do the job. The latter is convenient at project start; imperative when you go to attach the front to the sides/back. 3. Be very careful if you're using an impact wrench. I drove one screw nearly right through one of the legs and nearly went nuts trying to get it out. (I.e., couldn't drive it through the leg and couldn't back it out.) 4. Yes indeed, it is possible to drive the screws deep enough that they come out the other side of your lumber. Another reviewer who complained about this was informed condescendingly that the screws have to be driven at a 45 degree angle. Well, duh, it's impossible to do it any other way given how the screw holes are drilled into the legs. And, duh, even at 45 degrees I was still able to over-drill. 5. So. If there is one thing I would change about the parts, it would be build in some sort of metal washer-like stop such that you couldn't overdrive screws. OTOH, being able to slightly "customize" the depth of your drive actually helps lock everything more tightly together and helps compensate for imprecise lumber/plywood cuts. 6. My workbench ended up costing $175 (kit + $100 worth of lumber). However, I could have saved 25-30 bucks by buying one less sheet of plywood and a couple fewer 2x4's (bad math on my part). 7. As I was completing the build, my wife observed that the two 30-inch deep shelves down low on the bench would be a real b.otch to use as built. I mean, basically, I'd have to get on my knees and reach in 2.5 feet to reach something at the back. Point taken. Looks like some customization is in order. 8. As I said, I've now built 3 2x4 Basics shelves, plus the workbench, and couldn't be happier. With the workbench, I need to wait and see how the legs withstand the slight variations in screw depth. One reviewer reported that one of his legs developed a crack. Hope that doesn't happen here. 9. OK, so it's done. It feels bomb-proof. And I could've pulled it off for $150 bucks. Good deal. This is a win-win for buyer and seller. Seller profits by overcharging a bit ($70 bucks for four plastic legs and hardware); Buyer spends a mere $150 and gets a $250 bench. Score one for capitalism. *Edits/additions* 10. Despite a couple of crappy cuts on the plywood (off by > 1/8), the bench came out almost perfectly square (diagonals within 1/32" of each other). It's as if the kit is designed to be self-correcting. 11. The folks at Blitz (Gotta love that company name) even went so far as to *not* require a mitre cut on the top diagonal brace. How user friendly is that? 12. I knocked off one star b/c I'm stilled p*ssed about that one screw.

The assembly instructions may be a bit flawed depending on what you are trying to create. I wanted to treat every surface with polyurethane and create something my wife was willing to have in the house. The total dimensions are 96 inches x 40 inches. After sanding and treating the top work surface, I set it aside and started working on the bottom and middle panels. The first step was prepping all those 2x4's (9 8ft pieces) with a belt sander. For each panel I went through the following steps: Assembled the frame on the garage floor, then glued the plywood panel. I have a stash "flower-bed-framing" bricks I've never used (almost 90), that I used to "clamp" everything with gravity. I then used the belt sander to make the plywood edge completely flush with the 2x4 frame. A co-worker gave me a roll of 3/4 wide oak laminate, which I applied to the plywood edge with a monocote iron (which I also did to the top surface.) Finally, 4 coats of polyurethane with the requisite sanding between coats as appropriate. Regarding assembly, I realized that I could create 4 fixed-length "jacks" to pre-position the middle panel above the bottom. When you place 2x4 scraps under the bottom panel with 14-inch jacks holding up the middle panel, the legs just slide into place! Once the panels were finished and moved into the basement, it was easy to screw the legs into place. The top panel was then glued. The shelves were harder to figure out. The instructions weren't entirely clear, but I knew I didn't want to use 2x4s. I bought another 4x8 plywood sheet and got it cut into 3, 16 inch wide, sections. In two of the pieces I cut holes where the 2x4 supports could go through. I made 3 "feet", 3 inches x 16 inches, out of extra 1/2 inch plywood. Again all these pieces (2x4 and plywood) were sanded and polyurethaned. Assembly of the shelves was a little tricky. The total height was about 45 inches so I decided the two shelves as guides to get the 2x4s correctly aligned. One positioned at the bottom and one at the top with just enough 2x4 poking through to screw the feet and top panel into place. Then I screwed the LED shop light into the 9 inch-wide plywood pieces. Once assembled and moved onto the bench. I carefully shifted and leveled the shelves to the positions shown in the pictures. With a full-time job and occasionally doing other fun stuff on the weekends, this whole project took almost 7 weeks. I am pleased with the results, but not necessarily how slow it was to sand and treat so much surface area.

Great for beginner woodworking. Easy to understand instructions for assembly. I’ve had the bench together for 2 years now with no issues.

After 2 years of constant use the table I built using the 2x4 Basics workbench kit is holding up great. I started a printing business a little over 2 years ago. I need a large, flat table so I could lay out large items and work on them. Pre-made tables were a few hundred dollars. I found this kit, and ordered since I am somewhat handy with tools. Putting it together was simple. The directions included are rather thorough, but honestly it is pretty self explanatory how to put it together. I went with a 4'x6' table. I just used a 3/4 inch piece of OSB as the top, and opted to not use any of the lower shelves, so I could store totes under the table. You still need the 2x4's where the shelves would go for stability, but there is a large enough gap between them to pull totes in and out. I ordered a 4x6 cutting mat that fits perfectly on top, and allows me to use my X-acto knife anywhere on it without worrying about cutting through the top. (The picture shows the cutting mat, sorry it's the only one I had on my phone). The finished product is a very flat and stable surface that perfectly fits my need. My shop has a short, gray, office type carpet. Although the table is heavy due to all the wood, I can put a little weight into it and move it if I need to move anything around. That was a pleasant surprise, that has come in handy a few times. The only damage that the table has suffered over the past 2 years is on leg has cracked at one of the screw holes. It in no way has affected the use or stability of the table. I am 99% sure that the reason the crack is there in the first place is that I used a drill driver to assemble the table, and drove the screws too hard. I snapped the heads off a couple of the screws that came with the kit, and used some deck screws I had laying around instead. In hindsight, I would say that if you are breaking the included screws, you should back off a little bit with the drill. I can't fault the kit for that. I am extremely pleased with this kit. I haven't had the need for the shelving kit yet, but have it on standby in the garage. I have since introduced my brother to this kit and he uses it as 4x8 shipping table. He loves it for it's size and stability as well. I would recommend this kit if you are looking for a simple way to build a flat, sturdy table.

I have very little experience as a do-it-yourselfer working with wood. None-the-less, I got a GREAT result with this. Since you buy all the wood youself to put this kit together, this means you can custom design and build this to your exact needs and specifications - up to the maximums specified by 2x4Basics. This is a HUGE advantage. In my case a little careful forethought and time with a tape measure revealed that I could fit a 7' x about 25" workbench neatly into a space between 2 poles next to my basement stairs. This is a nice trick as my basement space is very limited. While I was waiting for the delivery of my kit, I visited the 2x4Basics website and downloaded the instructions to peruse. While these are only pictures, with careful examination most assembly steps become clear. I did encounter a few pitfalls, however. TABLE 1) The total dimention the depth of the workbench is the lenght of the front-to-back side pieces PLUS the width of the front and back 2x4's (side-to-side). In my case my side pieces were 24", but my total front-to-back depth wound up being 27". 2) The 23/32" AC plywood that I purchased for the table top (7' x 27") was slightly warped. Therefore I bought #6 x 1-1/4 Galvanized Deck Screws to hold down the edges of the table top. I put them in at every 1 foot, and a little pressure with my electic drill/screwdriver resulted in these being nicely countersunk for a flat, smooth table surface. 3) I wanted to be able to put large items underneath the table, for example, my cordless electric drill & saw set case. Therefore I OMITTED the bottom front 2x4 and both of the bottom shelves under the table. 4) This meant the that lowest 2 side pieces (front-to-back) needed to be an ADDITIONAL 1-1/2" (width of the back 2x4). In my case this meant instead of 24" (top 2 side pieces), the bottom side pieces were 25-1/2". 5) With 3 back pieces, 6 side pieces, one front piece and a 83-1/2" diagonal, plus the 23/32" AC plywood table top (7' x 27"), the table is as strudy as a ROCK. SHELVES 6) It took me a while to relize that the bottom 2 shelves have 2 full lenght and 2 shorter 2x4's to accommodate the 4 shelving uprights. These are 6-7/16" shorter, in my case, 6'5-9/16" long instead of 7'. 7) A number of the screws that are driven into the shelf kit pieces require getting your Phillips bit driver into small spaces. A BIT EXTENSION is almost certain to be necessary. 8) I made my total shelf height 31-1/2" above the top of the table (36"). I did this after trying several experiements with taller dimentions, but felt that I needed to be able to clearly see and reach what would be on the top shelf (I'm 5'10" tall). I also took into account the height of the ceiling. 31-1/2" seemed to the the maximum height that would work well with all of these considerations. 9) In my case I wanted my selves to accomodate small items that could fall in between the 1/2" gaps in the 2x4's. I therefore purchased 3 cut sheets of 1/8" Masonite Preswood as a hard shelf liner surface (7" wide x 16" deep). 2 of these (for the lower shelves) had to have additional cutouts at each of the corners to allow for the shelving uprights. After much trial and error, the dimentions of these 8 cutouts wound up being 3-3/8" wide (7' width side) x 4-1/8" deep (front-to-back side). Only a good lumber yard with the right tools (NOT just a table saw) can do this properly for you. 10) I nailed down the Masonite liners with 5/8" x #18 Wire Brads, spaced at each 1 foot. This small nail size allowed for the Masonite to be held firmly flat, while providing for negligible disruption of the flat shelf surface. GENERAL 11) If you're like me, you don't have the tools or experience to cut your own materials. You can have the lumberyard do it all for you. This requires, however, careful forethought and a detailed Bill of Materials. In my case, my revised, corrected Bill of Materials was: 2x4Basics #90164 Workbench and Shelving Kit Project 7' (wide) x 27" (deep [front-to-back]) workbench BILL OF MATERIALS v.4 TABLE 1A - Table surface - 7' wide x 27" deep x 23/32" thick (AC plywood) x 1 1B - Front & back - 1-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 7' long (no bottom front) x 5 1C - Sides - 1-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 24" long (top & middle) x 4 1C - Sides - 1-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 25-1/2" long (bottoms) x 2 1D - Diagonal - 1-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 83-1/2" long x 1 SHELVES 2A - Top shelf - 1-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 7' long (wide) x 4 2B - Bottom shelves - 1-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 7' long (wide) x 4 2B - Bottom shelves - 1-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 6'5-9/16" long (minus 6-7/16") x 4 2C - Uprights - 1-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 31-1/2" long (tall) x 4 2D - Upper shelf surface - 1/8" Masonite Temp. Preswood 7' long (wide) x 16" deep x 1 2D - Lower shelf surfaces - 1/8" Masonite Temp. Preswood 7' long (wide) x 16" deep w/4 cutouts @corners 3-3/8" wide x 4-1/8" deep x 2 HARDWARE #6 x 1-14" Phillips Galvanized Deck Screws - 1 box #18 x 5/8" Wire Brads - 1 box In my case the total for my materials was slightly over $135. The result far exceeded my expectations. While most of the steps can be done alone, a couple are MUCH EASiER with one additional person to help you, briefly. I am just delighted with the results, some difficulty in assembly notwithstanding.