# Harbor Freight Tools Work Bench affordable and useful



## PurpLev

nice!

those bench dogs you are asking about are planing stops I believe. for planing with the grain without the need to clamp/hold the wood between dogs, or clamps.


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## a1Jim

Looks like it will work fine. Just thinking isn't crazy that to build a bench you need a bench.


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## rsharp

For sale: One used door and two speakers. Been there…oops! Still there.

Thanks for the review. I've eyed that product myself. This is helpful information.


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## davidroberts

You're gonna love those drawers. I'm getting reading to build a cabinet of drawers under my bench. But at 105F today, I'm kinda lazy. Your right, $159 is a good price. You can always add a little support if necessary. MDF is stable so your drawers probably won't stick. Those broom handle cut offs stuck in the table is to show the bench actually has precut dog holes. Otherwise they wouldn't show up well in the photo. Just a guess. Even drilling the bench dog holes yourself is no a brainless task, so that is a really good deal. Hey, wait a minute, that bench is made for woodworking, not just another garage work bench!


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## michaelray

Thanks for the review. I've looked at this myself wondering if it would be worth it if only to save the time of building a new bench.


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## Workbench_Warrior

Those bench dogs appear to be the ones that go in holes on the legs to hold long items. On my bench they are on the vise side so that you can put one end sideways in the vise and the other end rest on the dogs.
I have some benches very similar but with two vises each but no drawers that I got at JOB Lot on sale for $60.00. A great deal either way I whish mine had some drawers but such is life! I'll have to check out my local HF to see if they have any.


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## GEORGE6149

I also own the same work bench.It's a great deal and very sturdy. I thought that the long wooden dogs were for holding taller projects on end. The drawers are roomy.


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## gwurst

I've seen that bench at HF and it looked like a decent deal for the money. If I didn't already have a bench or had room for another one I'd pick one up.


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## alt_bob

Looking into building a workbench and found this review. Can I assume the bench-dog holes are 3/4 inch diameter? If so this appears a great deal just for the top to put on my current stand and then add on the tail-vise I am sort of dreaming to build with new one in concept stage. I can use the stand lumber for it or part of it.


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## Steve_B

I would have liked a bit bigger bench but after this review and others I decided to pick one up. It won't be here for a week or so as it's being drop shipped. I may end up buying another and bolting them together as 20" sounds a bit small to me. I just didn't want to build a bench right now though.


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## RvK

I just saw a coupon for this in the latest Wood magazine, think I'll go take a look at it, was planning on building two workbenches about that size but at that price (the cost of the plywood alone for what I had in mind was $150) I may get it. I'd try enclosing the shelf and making that area into cabinet storage. I don't mind the MDF drawers. If nothing else as Bob said I can just mount the top to a bench of my own design, plus get a vise and some oak lumber out of the stand for other projects out of the deal.

Meh, no sense planning too far ahead, I'll stop in this weekend and take a look, the coupons good until May anyways LOL.


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## RvK

I went in to take a look at this today and decided against it, its not a bad bench for the money but was much smaller than I imagined (only 20" deep) the drawers were around 12" deep on 3/4 slides. Like he mentioned in the original review the top was not as thick as pictured (the edging on the sides is about 1 1/2" thick, but the top itself seemed maybe 3/4". Seemed fairly sturdy, and if you need an auxiliary bench or worktable its pretty good for the price ($140 with the latest coupon) but for what I have in mind wouldn't work out unfortuanetly.


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## badger

Thanks for the details on this, I was curious about the thickness of the top of the bench.

I need something thicker, but at that price it was a little tempting.

badger


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## WmD

I'm having problems getting the drawers into the bench. They have gone in 1/2 way and are stuck. I'm new to this sort of thing, obviously. What's the fix for these drawers?
Thanks in advance!


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## Abbott

I have good luck with Silicone spray from the hardware or auto parts store. The stuff I use is made by Prestone but I imagine other outfits make it as well.

Welcome to Lumberjocks!


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## bobasaurus

I just got one of these benches and finished putting it together today. Overall, I'm quite impressed for the price. Despite the drawers having MDF sides/bottoms/supports, they are surprisingly sturdy. The drawer slides only extend roughly half way, but it's enough to access my tools. The bottom shelf is also MDF, trapped in two dados along the long stretchers. As this was a little weak, I added 3 cross beams with pocket screws on the bottom, making it super sturdy. Everything else is made of some Chinese hardwood (it's definitely not oak, but looks somewhat similar and seems pretty dense). I also added two 3" casters and two rubber feet with supports to make them the right height, allowing me to pick up one side and roll this thing to where I need it easily. It's pretty solid for the relatively light weight, especially if I wedge the two casters. The legs are 2.5" square stock. Every edge is rounded and every surface finished nicely. Some of the parts came scratched, and some of the MDF pieces had split corners… nothing that some sandpaper and an exacto couldn't flatten out. The directions are very clear (rare for harbor freight / Chinese goods in general), and the entire bench seems very well designed. The vise hardware seems sturdy, but the holes are a bit large and cause some racking. The threads on the center rod of the vise were a little rough, so I sanded and steel wooled them smooth, followed by some wd-40. I put some paste wax on each screw before driving and on the drawer runners to make things go smoothly.


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## Howie

I have this bench and for what I use it for you can't beat the price. If you look at other "woodworking outlets" the pictures they have in their catalog is erriely similar. That little Chinaman gets around.
Enjoy


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## Mike_B

Got this bench for $127 ($159 minus 20% coupon) at Harbor Freight. You can find these coupons in various "guy" magazines or sign up for their email list. I didn't have much difficulty putting it together. I glued the drawers to make them more sturdy. I have to say, this is one heck of a deal. The cheapest I've seen a comparable Sjobergs or equivalent bench is $299 (on sale on Sears website). Sure the others might be made of slightly better wood- but for $170 difference I can add 1 1/2 inch butcherblock top ($109 from Sears), add a cabinet underneath (1 sheet of MDF) and beef up the legs- making it A LOT better than the Sjobergs. Then add a front vise of your choice for an additional whatever that costs (cheap as $25 on Amazon).... I love this bench- rock on, Harbor Freight…..


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## HiltonHeadHacker

does anyone have the assembly instructions for this bench. I bought one and there was no instructions in the box?


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## Odiferous

Too late, I'm sure, but the instructions can be found here.

I bought this a year ago while in an apartment with too small a kitchen for some additional counter space. If you can ignore the dog holes and leave off the vise, it's a fairly attractive wooden counter with drawers, and way cheaper for the real estate than any kitchen cart available.

Now it's finally made it out to the shop, and it's still a nice, sturdy bench. The vise is extremely sloppy, but I haven't looked at it too hard yet, so it may be an easy fix. I've been wanting to make a hold-down clamp for use with the benchtop, but the dog holes aren't big enough for the clamp bar-they're 1/2", I think. Still scheming ways to do a decent job of enlarging them.


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