Workbench Hutch

March, 2023

Ah, the age-old issue: a cluttered workbench lacking room to do projects. I’ve got frequently-used tools using much of the real-estate of my 70″x30″ folding table. It’s a good table that has served me well for many years – I’ve abused it by drilling, cutting, gluing and other things on it. Currently, I’ve got a book shelf and tool chest on either side. If I can’t build “out”, then I guess I’ll have to build “up”. So, I designed and built a hutch for my workbench over a 3-day weekend.

Design

I stared by using a new, free, online CAD tool that I discovered called MakeByMe by Dassault Systèmes. It’s designed to quickly and easily create basic furniture designs like my hutch. There is a sister-app called HomeByMe that allows someone to easily design a room or house layout that has limited free use, but MakeByMe seems to be totally free (at least so far). I’d say there is a minor learning curve, but I was able to figure it out without consulting online help. One of the best features is that it automatically generates a shopping list and a cut list after the design is done.

For this design, I chose to use 1″x12″ “white wood” lumber for the shelves and plywood for the back. I think “white wood” is a fancy way of saying “pine” or other softwood. Although it looks a bit different than pine, it machines the same. I’m going for function over form here – it does not need to be fancy. I chose a height of 28″ since that will match the height of the bin shelves adjacent. I chose a length of 70″ to match the length of the table. The 1″x12″ gives me just over 11″ depth which was an arbitrary value I selected. As it turns out 11″ depth was pretty good estimate – most things fit well, but my bench power supply doesn’t.

Build

After a painfully expensive trip to the hardware store (building material pricing still very high), I set to work on my cut-list. I made quick work of the lumber and began the process of assembling within a few hours. I had purchased a bunch of L-brackets to support the intersections, but after some dry-fitting, it became clear that it would be much easier to just use #8 x 1.5″ screws that I had left over from another project to butt-joint the pieces together. I was originally thinking L-Brackets to re-enforce the joints, but I was able to put minimum 6 screws in each board and they are not going anywhere.

After assembly, I brought it in to my office to confirm everything. The dimensions looked great! However, this fitting helped to reveal a challenge – the chair-rail molding along the back wall. I’d need to cut some notches into the back of the legs so it can push back all the way against the wall and I can maximize my bench space.

After some notching and another dry-fit, everything was looking good and I was ready for painting. I spread a drop cloth and went to work applying layer of Kilz primer followed by a layer of Sherwin Williams Bright White that I had left over from another project. I used a 3″ roller for this which made quick work and let me get inside each of the cubbies to paint every square inch easily. I was going to stain it, but this colour matches the bin shelf adjacent so I went with that. I’m glad I did a primer coat because this wood drinks in the paint.

Electronics

Part of the challenge with my workbench is the need for a long power strip with plugs and wires everywhere. To mitigate that, I decided to mount the power strip on the underside of the hutch. I used what I call “plumbers tape” which is a roll of galvanized metal with pre-drilled holes. I cut 3 pieces to length and formed them around the shape of the power strip and put a screw in on either side for a very secure fit. I also drilled holes into the upper shelves to allow power cords to pass through easily.

Additionally, I saw an opportunity to further improve my workspace by adding some LED lighting. After some searching, I found a product family from UltraPro that offers the ability to link up to 20 lights together and feed them from a single AC wall plug. I bought a 36″ light bar for under the hutch and two 12′ light bars for the inside legs of the hutch. Each has it’s own light switch and two levels of brightness.

One strange thing about these lamps is that they only work if you connect the outlet a certain way – it’s got a polarized plug (one leg wider than the other) to help with this. It took me some experimenting to figure this out because at first, I thought they were non-functional and feared that I needed an unlisted external power module, but everything worked fine after plugging it in the correct way. The 18″ linking cables were a perfect length for my needs. For neatness, I went in later and put brackets around the wires to pull them up out of view (after I took the photo below).

Conclusion

Overall, I’m very pleased with how this mini-project came together. After the project was over, I was able to return some unused parts to the hardware store to ease the burden on my wallet a bit, but this project still cost almost $350 USD in the end including the lights, but excluding the power strip that I already owned. Now, I’ve got a surplus of room on my workbench and plenty of space to add more tools and gadgets.