Free Lumber Rack Work Bench Plans Version 2:

VitalBodies finished the design of a lumber rack / work bench hybrid some time back and used the bench for quite some time.

Not the classic wood workers bench, but a larger bench made to hold a huge amount of lumber and provide a 4' by 8' work surface. There are many work bench plans available, but we wanted one that used less materials, used reclaimed materials, made the best use of space and rolled. Additionally, this bench can be built with little or no power tools, although a miter saw makes the project easier. Storing lumber on a number of levels and sides means the bottom board is never too deep and lumber can dry.

"How about a bench that stores lumber, allows the lumber to dry, makes the lumber easy to get to, has wheels so the lumber can bask in the sun or be moved and has a huge work surface the size of a sheet of plywood? You got it!"

Not your average rack, but a rack that you can load and unload from every side and a work surface to layout fairly large projects. This round we added stainless steal nuts, bolts and washers, bracing to prevent racking and locking swivel casters. The casters are attached to a large "movers dolly" style dolly that the whole rack sits on. There are internal boards to keep the bench from sliding off of the dolly. By building the dolly separate from the bench made the overall construction easier.

These plans are meant to be super simple, for the somewhat experienced. There is no materials list, as you will likely use whatever you have laying around to build this. We do suggest at least 3-6 fasteners at all critical joints, as lumber is heavy. Also, try to make the blocks as tight a fit as you can. This keeps everything more solid. Use at your own risk and use common sense. Safety first!

We built this bench and really like it!

If you build one, send us an image! Below is an image of the small board we used on the interior to make sure the bench does not slide off the dolly. The bench is not attached to the dolly.

Bigger casters would have been better for rolling but takes up more lumber space or raises the bench top height.

Tight joints on the blocking helps. We used perhaps, the worst wood we had (other than the dolly), as that was part of fun of using up the scrap and giving that a new life. This was never intended to be fine wood working...

Loaded up! On version one I did not have bolts and used nails. On version two I had to work around the nails to install the bolts. The top in the images is wider than 48" as that is the scrap I happened to have on hand. This lumber is heavy! Glad this bench rolls. Be aware that a solid block of wood (Douglas fir, dry, weighs roughly 2 pounds per board foot.) 8x4x3 would weigh 3168 pounds...