: What town are you near? We may be able to find some 4xx8 sheets
: near you. The Lowes could probably order some for you if you
: ask. Ordering plastic-covered panels is much simpler than
: ordering natural wood. They are all uniform. Big sheets of
: plywood and particleboard can have the corners damages during
: shipping. The Menards store near me puts these damaged panel in
: a special bin and slashes the prices on them. If you are not
: using a full sheet and don't mind amking another cut, you can
: save a lot.

: Getting materials in a size that you can actually take home with
: you is something people tend to overlook. I bought a 4x8
: trailers many years ago (about $200 for the frame plus $60 for
: wood for floor and sides) and drag that behind my compact car
: when I go to buy lumber. It was a more-economical arrangement
: than buying a pickup truck. Some day I'll build a boat rack on
: that trailer frame. I don't need to carry that many boat right
: now, but i can see mor use for it.

: 36" is a good size for most workbenches because most
: workbenches cn be moved away from the wall so the builder can
: approach things from either side. If you haven't gotten much
: further than your pictures indicate, stop now and re-assess
: three elements of your design. One would be the overhang of the
: top, next would be the kickspace under the bottom shelf. Then
: consider whether you want the workbench permanently fastened to
: shelves.

: Looking at that last point first: Vibrations from powertools, like
: routers, and orbital sanders shake the workbench. Een very
: sturdy workbenches will transmit those vibrations to the
: shelves, and you will have small boxes actually walk off the
: shelves and fall onto your work. the last thing you want is for
: a small box of screws to fall onto your powertool. It is bad for
: blades, and a table-mounted router will chew through the box and
: spit out screws like shrapnel. With a 36" wide top you say
: you can just reach the back of the table. How are you going to
: reach the back of a shelf 18" or more above the tabletop?
: Climb on the workbench? Set a ladder next to the workbench and
: then lean 3 feet out to get to the shelf? Nothing safe in any of
: these scenarios. I'd strong ly suggest you build a free-standing
: workbench you can push in fron of your shelves, or pull out if
: you need access to the shelves, or the back edge of the
: workbench. You'll need to add two more legs to your design, and
: remove the few boards you have attached to the wall uprights. At
: this point it won't be a lot of work or great cost. In fact, you
: can probably save money by making the frame 30 to 28 inches wide
: and getting a 3" to 4" overhang on each side. That
: also gives you better shelf and top support and a kickspace of
: over 4".

: Take a look at the drawing below, and in the next posting. This is
: how I think you'll like the top, and the next one is how I think
: you can do the shelf under it. I made the top an inch wider
: (37") as that is what you get when using 4 2x10 boards. If
: you want to stick to 36", rip an inch off of one of the
: 2x10s in the middle. The frame is narrower and maybe a bit
: shorter than what you planned. This gives a nice overhang on all
: sides so you can clamp things to the edges of the workbench. You
: are working with 2x4s for the legs, and that should be fine, but
: there are a lot of benches with 4x4 legs. Feel free to upsize or
: to use doubled 2x4s for the legs. If you double up on 2x4s,
: place your second 2x4 directly under the crosspieces which
: supports the top. That gives them added strength.

: Make the length to fit the same space as you are planning now and
: the freestanding workbench will slide into place. I also think
: you should consider a 2x6 for the front rail of the workbench.
: This is the area where you will be doing most of your pounding,
: and it should be strong. If you want to, go with a 2x6 for the
: back rail, too. I'm not sure how long the bench is going to be,
: but anything over 5 or 6 feet and you might notice some sag if
: you just use a 2x4.

: Judicious use of 3/8" bolts will make it possible for you to
: disassemble the workbench should you ever move. I suggest making
: the bottom shelf frame and top as one unit, and bolting that to
: the legs. The workbench top is a second unit. Just unbolt the
: legs and the thing becomes manageable pieces.

: Lots of my opinions here. I hope some of them help.

: PGJ

I like to make 8' x 24" workbench tops so that I can do two layers of 3/4" plywood glued and screwed together... you put that over a 2"x4" frame, and it's rock solid.... for glueups I created a 4'x4' table constructed the same way...