They're sturdy enough to hammer on, smoother than anything we could build on short notice, and cost-effective: even doubling up 3/4" plywood would have been about as expensive and less solid. For the top surface, we decided on fire doors. At the right end, we planned to mount a vise at the end near the storage shelves.
In the middle disassembly zone, we provided space for a whiteboard and a high shelf for a camera and plastic bags underneath, we included an empty drawer box for holding work in process off the bench surface. To support the zone concept, we allowed room for leg clearance and deleted the middle shelf for 4 feet of workspace at the left end, with a computer shelf above with an undercabinet light to support fine work. We left a 4-foot fixture hanging in the center of the room, and moved a second 4-foot fixture from the corner where the new build was to take place to a position across the room above an existing workbench. Looking back, adding a third strip might have been a good idea: in a basement, it's hard to have too much task lighting. The existing room was pretty dark, so we decided on two 4-foot fluorescent fixtures to hang above the 12-foot bench. We read somewhere that 42 inch countertops might find a following, but the point here is to build a height that fits your ergonomics, tasks, and taste. Kitchen countertops are usually 36 inches, but that figure dates from the 1940s when a) women were the primary users of those counters and b) both women and men, on average, were shorter. Because we're both fairly tall, and because we wanted a stool to fit comfortably, we set the benchtop height at 38 inches. We settled on on a 28 inch depth as a compromise between usable workspace and ease of reaching the pegboard above the work surface. With a long wall available, we decided to make a 12-foot long bench with shelf storage underneath. This allowed us to see where we had the most space available. To aid in designing the shop, we created a model of the room in Google SketchUp. ripping large pieces on a table saw -cutting 2x lumber on a chop saw -wiring hanging lights into an existing circuit -shortening power cords with aftermarket plugs -drilling holes into wood and plastic with power drills -using a level, tape, framing square, and other measuring tools -soldering and other electrical and electronic skills for the power supply project The doors we used for benchtops, for example, weighed about 100 lbs. That being said, here are the skills we drew on in the process of building our shop: -we needed two adults for many parts of the project, so if you are working solo, consider inviting a friend over for certain phases.
Also, electricity can kill you and/or cause fires if you make a mistake, so call a professional if you are not sure of your abilities in house wiring. If you are not comfortable with power tools, get proper instruction before attempting to use them. Also, this service makes hauling plywood much easier if you don't have a truck or large vehicle at your disposal.
The project could be accomplished with hand tools, and if you don't have a table saw, we have found that many lumber yards will cut 4x8 sheets for a nominal fee. We used power tools to make quick work of tasks like ripping plywood and cutting 2x4s to size.
We now have 5 different bins of hardware, and another cabinet full of electronics parts. We were especially careful to sort through old pieces, parts, and hardware: our scrap drawers served us well in the project as we were able to find corner irons, odd-size screws, and other bits that saved us a trip to the hardware store.
After we cleared out the room and swept it clean, we assessed the space: how much room was there for bench space, for shelving, for hanging storage? How was the lighting? What existing functions of the room did we need to work around? (That whole-house vacuum tank to the right of the breaker boxes was exhibit A in this department.) We looked for things that might have needed repairing, but the room was in pretty good shape. Organizing what we wanted to keep took a long time, but was very helpful later on as we tried to design storage and set priorities for the kinds of activities we wanted the workshop to support. We threw out abandoned projects, broken parts, and other odds and ends. For us, site preparation began with a big cleanout.