# Converting an old desk to a workbench?



## ppworkshop (Jul 20, 2015)

I found an old desk that I want to convert into a workbench. It is 34" x 60" x 30" high. I already pulled the veneer off the top and two sides. My tentative plan is to add a laminated maple top ON TOP of the existing pine top. I thought I could let the new maple top overhang the existing top on one side, so I could put the vice on that end. I would probably add two new legs to the overhang part of the table. I also thought about adding a small sleeve/foot to the existing legs to bring it up to the height of my table saw, so it can double as an outfeed table. Has anyone done this kind of a project? What approach did you take? If not, what approach would you take if you were me? Thanks.


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## ppworkshop (Jul 20, 2015)

Forgot to post a pic of the desk. Here it is…


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

If the desk is, as I'm guessing, about 60" wide, it won't be very big.

But it'll work! You've already got your drawers, too.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

I've seen old desks repurposed as work benches for several different crafts.
If it is old enough to be solid hardwood it will make a fine brnch.
A friend of mine bought 4 trailer truck loads of solid oak desks that were built in the 1940s and 1950s.
They came from a "Mental Hospital" that had been closed and the equipment and furniture liquidated.
I bought 4 of them for $25 apiece. Still have two of them. The other two were so big and heavy I just left them with the property when I sold it. They all could have been made into work benches.
Your's looks like a good sturdy old desk.
If I was to make a workbench out of that desk I'd add another top above the existing one. Two reasons for that. 1. To get the top at a good work height. I like my bench about 34 1/2" high. Most desks are only 30" high. 
2. So I could put dog holes in the work top and then not have chips and dust fall into the drawers. That stuff would fall on the bottom top.


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## ppworkshop (Jul 20, 2015)

Thanks all. Crank49, thanks for the comment/info. I think I'm going to go with your approach. I am heading to the saw mill tomorrow to pick up the wood.


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## DKV (Jul 18, 2011)

rwe, if you had read the op you wouldn't have had to guess 60".


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## dawsonbob (Aug 5, 2013)

I used to have an old solid oak desk that I used as a workbench. It weighed about eleventeen hundred pounds, and was solid as a rock. When I retired and sold that business, the desk went with it. If you have one as solid, it'll make a great bench for you.


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

> rwe, if you had read the op you wouldn t have had to guess 60".
> 
> - DKV


I did read it, so that makes it even worse….......;-)


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