That's a cool bench, but for $2K? We build race cars for less than that.. 
Every club needs a clubhouse, every race team needs a shop, and every project car needs a home.
So far, our 2003 Ford SVT Focus has completely eschewed the company shop in favor of something far more, well, average. Most kids in college don’t have unlimited access to a full-fledged restoration shop, so what use is it building this project car like they do? Instead, our little Focus is being worked on in a one-car garage with fairly basic tools.
As the projects mounted, though, things started to fall apart. We cobbled our workshop together from yardsale finds, hand-me-downs, and stuff pulled out of the trash. Yes, it worked. But it was fairly miserable to accomplish anything in. The straw that broke the camel’s back came when our work bench, a carpenter’s bench built by Suddards a few generations ago, shed a board halfway-through a welding project.
It was time to take a break from working on our car, and work on our workspace. At the very least, we needed a new bench, but we also wanted to get rid of the rest of our rickety tool-storage arrangements. A toolbox can only lock you out of the ratchet drawer at midnight so many times before you get too frustrated to use it any more.
We faced a delimma: buy a pre-assembled workbench, or build our own. We went to Lowe’s to do some research, but weren’t impressed. Building a workbench sounded great in theory, but then we faced the music: working full time and carrying a full course load really doesn’t leave a lot of extra time for carpentry, and we’re terrible carpenters (sorry, dad). Plus, we knew that building our own benches wouldn’t let us squeeze as much into our tiny workspace, as there was no way we were capable of building drawers.
Having drained all hope in the lumber aisle, we headed towards the garage organization section. Things weren’t too bright here, either. We were interested in something like this, but $1800 seemed like a lot of money for something that seemed to be aimed squarely at retired people who like to pot plants in their shed. It just wasn’t sturdy enough to rebuild a transmission on or subject to years of abuse.
We left Lowe’s dejected, then went home to pack for the PRI Show. A few days later, we found our answer on the show floor. A new company, Fantasy Garage, had exactly what we needed on display. A full-sized workbench that seemed to be built like a tank, and is actually strong enough to park a car on (they showed us the design criteria). Alongside it were absurdly well-built rolling carts, one of which had a bluetooth speaker up top.
And standing next to the workbench were car people. Like, actual people who work on cars. Enthusiasts. And that showed in the company’s design. Electrical outlets were everywhere we needed them, and the drawers have electrical outlets in them for laptop charging. The wheels weren’t cheap and tiny. Almost everything is welded together. The drawers are big enough for a rack of sockets to fit without hitting. The wood wasn’t 1/4” thin. The hutch is sized so something long like a torque wrench has a little passthrough and will fit. There was even a paper towel holder.
The price for the workbench, hutch, and two carts? $2047. A little more than what we’d seen at Lowe’s, but within reason. Why buy an expensive setup like this for your garage? Because working on things you’ve pulled out of the trash is miserable, and buying things over and over again gets expensive in the long run. They were offering 10% off and free shipping on anything ordered at the show, so we walked up with our wallets in hand.
Does our credit card even have that high of a limit? Luckily, we didn’t have to find out. Turns out those car people we were talking about read GRM, and they offered to send us a display model for free. In return, we told them we’d share our honest opinions with our readers.
It’s been a few weeks and a few projects, and so far we have nothing but nice things to say. Now that our workspace is, well, workable, it’s time to get back to our Focus. If we’ve done this correctly, we won’t be thinking much about the garage itself for years to come.
| Not a subscriber? You’re not reading the full story. Each magazine contains everything you’re missing and more. Subscribe to Grassroots Motorsports now. |
That's a cool bench, but for $2K? We build race cars for less than that..
That bench only has a wood top, the rest is metal. Forget carpentry, you should have broken out the welder! I'm very dissapointed in you
Looks like the setup that Costco sells occasionally. Decent solution if you're looking to kill it with money (which is not a bad thing, really).
Not sure its much better than the bench I built out of a couple of Gorilla racks and some chunks of 3/4" melamine backed fiberboard. With the exception of the drawers, which honestly is why God created toolboxes and parts bins, I'm not sure I'd find it a worthwhile expenditure.
Had HomeDepot rip the wood for me and I screwed and glued it together and bolted it to the racks.
Bolted a cheap HarborFreight vice to one corner.
Added shelves and a keyboard drawer to control the garage PC.
Wall-mounted the monitor so I can stream races and/or look up information about what I'm working on while in the garage.
Bought a cheap little rolling cabinet and built a rotating tool stand for the grinder, sander and table top drill press.
Slotted the cheap toolboxes next to the tool stand and I've got an ok corner to work out of. Used it to rebuild my 924 (that was IHROTM not long ago) and maintain my 951S and now my 740iL.
Probably took a couple of weekends with some time spent during the week noodling things to figure out where to put things and how.
FWIW while I sell insanely expensive tools and boxes for a living my garage work bench is made from the oiliest real 2X4s I've ever seen. Pretty sure it was built when the garage was new in 1959 and it'll probably still be there in 2059. I'll get a picture this weekend when I clean all the crap off it.
My bench is made from 2x4s, double layer plywood, 20 ga sheetmetal and deck screws. It is strong enough to hold a lathe fly cutting tool steel w/o shaking. It cost probably right around $250 to make because it's 24' long and 4x8 sheets of 20 ga steel were $34 each at the time. It exactly fits the space because I built it to fit.
Maybe you should buy a circular saw and save the fancy pants furniture for when you need a showroom?
For that amount of money you could buy a better combo of chests, carts, tables from Costco or HF and pegboard and cabinets from Home Depot or Lowes...or do what most of us do...build it better...cheaper...to truly maximize space and versatility...
But you didn't really spend that kind of money, did you? You got it for free. I'd take it for free, as well, but I'm not interested in paying $2k for it. For less than that, I built a huge workbench out of 2x4s and plywood with a melamine floating top that can be replaced. I've had several engines and transmissions on it with no problem. And for the remaining $1700 in that number I also got 12 cabinets, including four large floor cabinets, four wall cabinets and four base cabinets. Yes, they are made out of coated particle board and not steel, but damned if I can tell that they are any less useful for it. I'd post some pictures, but it is late, and I'm tired, and I can't face going through that host then post procedure.
turboswede wrote: Bought a cheap little rolling cabinet and built a rotating tool stand for the grinder, sander and table top drill press.
I DEMAND a build thread on that rotating tool setup. Your like a wizard.
You guys built your benches with store bought wood and welders? Ametuers. When I wanted a workbench, I planted a tree and waited 7 years. Built a forge and a 1000 ton press.
Mitchell wrote: You guys built your benches with store bought wood and welders? Ametuers. When I wanted a workbench, I planted a tree and waited 7 years. Built a forge and a 1000 ton press.
You forgot to mention mining the ore, and smelting the metal ...
Displaying 1-10 of 30 commentsView all comments on the GRM forums
You'll need to log in to post.
