The Maker Workstation

A modern workbench system

Most workbenches come with a little history. This history is personal. My very first woodworking project was Tom Casper's clever and simple, "Workbench in a Weekend" workbench article in the long gone and revered Woodwork Magazine. It's a great bench. It got me excited about woodworking. Later while editor at American Woodworker, Tom updated it and designed a clever box beam MDF workbench.

Several years later – over a few beers of course, Tom challenged me to create my own plywood workbench. Being a designer who likes a good challenge, I said I’d think about it. And, so I did. For several years, in fact. The result is a new kind of workbench designed for modern woodworkers and makers. The Maker Workstation. A modern workbench system.

What is a Maker Workstation?

What makes the maker workstation different than conventional workbenches is the various ways it can be modified and the different ways it holds workpieces. Its key feature is that it’s adaptable to different needs and is customizable. It’s a system that uses workstation “furniture” to position and hold work, customizable top and side plates, modules, fixtures, hardware, tool holding capability and accessories.

Unlike traditional workbenches, the Maker Workstation is made out of plywood with a MDF top. Instead of hardwoods and classic joinery, it takes advantage of the stability and strength of Baltic Birch plywood, stack lamination, torsion box and I-beam construction, and the flatness and surface hardness of MDF. Instead of joinery, it’s assembled with a handful of Festool Domino joints, glue, screws, and a lot of T-nuts.

The top is a complete structural unit that performs like a heavy-duty torsion box. It’s heavy, flat and stiff. The middle and bottom layers are 3/4" plywood separated by five-layer-thick, glue laminated risers. The replaceable work surface attaches to the middle layer with screws and T-nuts. The laminated plywood base utilizes the strength of the top unit, has no long stretchers, is stiff and stable and is completely open in the middle.

What can the Workstation do?

The maker workstation handles traditional woodworking tasks and adds new capabilities for modern power tool woodworkers. By combining a grid of dog holes and workstation furniture the user can hold a work piece of any shape and position it where it’s most comfortable to work with. With modules, plates, and tool sets it can adapt any woodworker or maker task or project.

Traditional vs New Workbenches

Refined over centuries, traditional workbenches are a superb platform for hand tool woodworking tasks. They really work. I’ve used them for decades and built several. With heavy hardwood construction and a flat top, they handle the physics of chopping, cutting, and planning. Parts are held with vises, stops, holdfasts and clamps. As good as they are for working with hand tools, there are a few shortcomings when working with other tools. Work height, part positioning and holding and adaptability to task are top of the list.

What’s Different About the Maker Workstation?

For improved power tool control and closer observation without bending over, the maker workstation is about 2" taller than a traditional workbench. Unlike a classic bench where parts are held down to the top with holdfasts and clamps, the workstation uses dedicated furniture, hold downs and accessories to control parts both laterally and vertically.

A major design goal is the ability to position and secure any size or shape work piece for using modern power tools like Festool’s Domino joiner, track saws and tasks like carving or project assembly. “Position” is key here. Because the workstation grid requires CNC accuracy to build, that accuracy is available to the user as a tool.

All components are designed around a precision grid system. A grid system is a system of lines and intersections based on a set of standard dimensions designed to enhance a task. If the work surface and components are all accurate to the grid, they can interact. In the case of the maker workstation, the dogs, hold downs, furniture and plates can quickly be moved around to position and secure workpieces for various tasks.

Primary grid lines are spaced 4" with 3/4" dog holes. Sub-grids sit underneath. (NOTE: A 96mm/20mm metric version of the maker workstation will be available soon.) Combining known spacing, measurement and reliable 90° angles let the user position and square a workpiece anywhere on the bench for work and project assembly. From a designer’s perspective, a grid-based system opens up a lot of exciting possibilities. Yes, there’s a lot more to come.

Workstation System Components Workstation Furniture

Most maker workstation furniture is 2" wide and dog holes are spaced 4" apart. This allows users to position and square workpieces in convenient and comfortable locations. Work can be secured with wedges, dog clamps or threaded hold downs.

Top Plate System

Rather than a sea of holes interrupting the work surface, add-on top plates give users flexibility. A high density or custom arrangement of dog holes and hold downs can be added by mounting a top plate as needed. The plates register to the work station via dogs and can be attached via hold downs. The 72" workstation is designed for three 23" top plates. A great use of top plates is to add extra holding versatility as needed. Added dog hole density gives the user flexibility to hold smaller or odd-shaped work pieces. Custom arrangements, specialty fixtures and hold downs allow the maker station to adapt to the task.

Side Plate System

Side plates are 3 1/2" x 16" and mounted via 14 side plate mounts

along the sides of the workstation. Side plates can be specialized and make it easy to add tool holders or modules to the workstation.

Dogs

The workstation uses commonly available round bench dogs and dog accessories that are typically 0.74" in diameter for 3/4" dog holes. I purchased several different kinds. The orange ones came with the Worx sidekick and the dark gray dogs have tabs on the end and cushioned tops. The black dogs are slightly smaller at 0.72" for a looser fit. Every dog has its place. I recommend workstation builders acquire a couple of types and build a starter set of eight or more plastic dogs before beginning construction.

Not finding bench dog designs I liked, I created several new designs for specific workstation tasks. I 3D printed and tested dozens for the maker workstation. Though the dogs may be plastic, they’re tougher than they look. I have yet to break one. All the 3D models I created for the maker workstation are free and shared at www.thingiverse.com.

I print dogs in different colors to indicate function at a glance. Black and gray dogs are standard shapes and mostly used for workstation furniture registration and holding. Red dogs have different face shapes are used for bench stops. Dogs with ridged handles for grip are tight fitting for registering templates and layers during workstation construction. Indented dots, like those used on dice are imbedded into dog tops to indicate dog length so when stored on the workstation legs, I can grab the ones I need. One dot is one plywood layer high, two dots, two layers high, etc.

3D printers are great design tools and handy for creating jig parts, tool holders and other useful things around the workshop. I created a number of 3D printed parts for cam clamps, vise handles, prototypes of a hand rest that improves the Rockler Portable Drill Guide, soft plastic cushions to make the adjustable feet stickier and spacer sets for the upcoming workstation Festool track saw module that integrates the tool with the maker workstation.

Building the Maker Workstation

The maker workstation is designed to be built by experienced beginners to advanced woodworkers as long as they’re comfortable with basic woodworking tools and tasks. Being primarily made of plywood, it costs around $300 or so to build.

Though plywood construction might imply casual, building the workstation demands a commitment to working at a high level of precision, CNC level precision.

Since many woodworkers don’t yet have access to digital woodworking tools, I designed this project to be made with Cnc-made templates and power tools. DXF template files and PDF drawings are available with the companion online articles. With that in mind, I’ll take you on a tour of how the templates work and a new woodworking tool I used to build the maker workstation.

First, I Built a Bench to Build a Bench On

Among the challenges building my first workbench were two classic woodworkers chicken and egg questions: How do you build a workbench without a workbench to build it on? How do you build it without a shop full of tools? I struggled with a rickety Workmate and too much time working on the floor using just an old Skillsaw and a drill for tools. It was a great bench but not fun to build. So, in honor of this being the 25th year since that first bench, I approached this project in much the same way— as a new woodworker without a bench to build on and minimal tools. This time I put together a modern toolset and used a Festool Tracksaw, a Rockler Portable Drill Guide, a router and cordless drill.

First, I built three small workbenches to build the 72" workstation on. The Maker Side Bench is a smaller, simplified version of the Maker Workstation—same concept

and construction with less parts, make it a great warm up for the main event. Plus, when you’re done, you have same height side benches that expand the physical boundary of the maker workstation.

I started off by using the excellent, 32" tall Worx Sidekick portable work table as a foundation. Using a template, I built what I refer to as a “stack” that mounts onto the Sidekick, that turn it into a portable woodworking workbench with many of the features of the full-sized maker workstation.

Precision is Key to Maker Workstation

For the workstation grid system to work, every component has to be precise. Precision templates are the critical ingredient to making the workstation. Armed with a Cnc-made template and a new tool, the Rockler Portable Drill guide, you can come close to CNC accuracy. The templates use dogs for registration to step along the 72" workstation layers.

Conclusion

The workbench system will continue to grow and evolve. The maker workstation is just the first in a series of planned maker work surfaces.

Modules that integrate the

Festool Track Saw into the workstation system, marker panels for the Shaper Origin CNC, a machinist vise module, a router table module, bench cookie plates, plates for metal working and more are planned for the near future. New accessories and modules will be announced in the online companion articles at www. popularwoodworking.com.

1-6 The bench is versatile and adaptable, for assembly, workholding in all planes and keeping yourself organized.

7-9 Dogs, furniture and a cheese plate. A workstation collection should include several lengths of furniture and wedges for workholding. Furniture, dogs and dog-clamps or wedges secure this panel for some carving.

10-12 The top plate is one of the most versatile accessories to clamp objects of any shape. A bonus is that the plate is completely removeable without having to unclamp the workpiece.

15 Because the workstation and base use the same grid system, top plates can be used horizontally and vertically. When mounted to the base, the plates are flush to the edge of the workstation top.

13 Top plates can also be created for specialty fixtures and jigs or as spoil boards that protect the top for track saws, drilling and routing.

14 Stacks are units that turn a Worx Sidekick work table into a side bench that can extend the workstation’s work space. They can also be used as elevated, open-sided work surfaces for power tools, assembly and more. Dog holes and Microjig dovetail clamps can be combined to position and hold any work piece to the workstation base.

16 I made a side plate with a magnetic strip on my right side to quickly stash hand tools or hold metal parts. 17 Side plates can also mount modules such as a vise module. Rather than permanently mounting a woodworking vise in a single location, instead the vise is mounted to a module that can be moved to your choice of 10 locations around the workstation. It’s attached with two knobs or screws to the side plate mounts. 18 Side plates can be simple or specialized. For those that like to organize their tool sets on French cleat walls, cleat plates can be attached to the workstation. This makes it possible to swiftly move tool sets to the bench as you need them.

19 Off the shelf bench dogs from Worx and other manufacturers.

21 The full complement of bench dogs, threaded knobs and other accessories. I used Rockler's portable drill guide to drill dog holes at a perfect 90° angle.

20 Though not required, I 3D-printed bench dogs specifically for the maker workstation, including round, square and notched versions.

23 A portable drill guide is one highly recommended tool for this build. Rockler's is one of the best out there.

24 A track saw is also an indespensible tool for making this workbench. It's easy to make precise, repeatable cuts, and it's much easier to bring the saw to the plywood and try to cut full-size sheets on a table saw.

22 The bench build starts on an inexpensive worktable (that's turned into a more versatile worktable once the bench is built).

28 Four extra dog holes align the “stack” to the Worx Sidekick.

26 Aligning the Rockler drill guide to the template, 3/4" dog holes are drilled.

27 Side bench riser blocks are made from offcuts, four stacks of plywood thick, and elevate the working surface to match the Maker Workstation.

25 A dedicated offset block helps align the track saw track.

30 Align the template on one side of your top (start with the middle, plywood layer) and use the drill guide and a 3/4" Forstner bit to create grid holes.

31 The template aligns with the holes you previously cut and is positioned with a pair of bench dogs.

29 A CNC made MDF template ensures you are able to accurately drill all of the grid holes.

32 The process is repeated for the last part of the top.

33-34 With the middle layer done, it becomes the template for the top and bottom layers.

35-36 Countersink the top’s alignment holes. When finished, you chould have three 72" top layers that line up. 37 The holes between dog holes are for built-in hold downs. 1/4"-20 T-nuts are pounded into position. Buy a box of 100. The workstation uses a lot of then. 38-39 Risers are five-layer stacks of 3" x 4" laminated plywood. Build glued up strips first, then cut to size. Plywood has sharp edges so round the corners of the risers. 40 Drill a 1/2"-deep registration hole in the center of each block to keep things aligned.

45 The top is attached to the middle layer with screws and T-nuts. Once attached, it's flush trimmed and the top rounded over. Dry plugs hide the screw holes.

41 The riser blocks are positioned and aligned square to the sides with small pieces of dowel, leaving an open space between the tops.

42 The side plate mounts are positioned along the open sides of the bench to hold side plates for workbench tools and modules.

43-44 Assembly and squaring layers with 10 risers and 14 plate mounts is a little fiddly at first. Thankfully, no glue is involved. Just a lot of 2" screws.

46 Finish is applied to protect the MDF top. The MDF top is also designed to be replaceable if needed (another reason it's just attached with screws).

47-48 The base uses similar construction metods as the top unit. Each leg is built by lamination and open box construction.

51-52 Squaring the base during glue-up is important. The top attaches to the base with 8 bolts.

49-50 T-nuts in the foot of each leg let you add adjustable metal feet (for those uneven shop floors).

53 Side stretcher panels connect each half of the base with Dominos.

55 Glue the side stretchers in place and make sure the base is square by measuring the diagonals (and adjusting your clamps as necessary).

54 Alignment of the Domino mortises is critical to creating a square base.

56-57 Base leg options: Either, but not both. Instead of adjustable leveling feet, you can also use removeable wheel plates (a caster mounted to a piece of plywood slides in a dado).