We’ll know how to completely reorganize garage space, including building a workbench and an awesome drill charging station.

The garage has been my workshop. Since I was lacking some organization and more importantly mobility. So I started to get things organized with some of craftsmen’s Versa track hanging storage as well as one of their suite tool chests but things still weren’t quite dialed.

What I really needed was a better way to move my workbench and miter saw station out from against the wall to work on projects then back against the wall when I was done so that my wife could get her car in.

To solve this issue, I whipped up a really quick mobile base for the workbench and I kept the base super simple just using 2×4 for the platforms and 2×6 for the legs to build the base.

I first got the pieces to size over at the miter saw. After cutting the parts for the platform’s size, I could get them assembled with 3 in. screws. These platforms are essentially assembled like a miniature wall and I just added two screws at each joint and it’s also really helpful to pre drive your screws here since it can be pretty tricky to hold the piece in place while trying to add these long screws.

After getting the first platform assembled, I repeated the process on the second platform until all the pieces attached.

I could get the legs cut to length from a 2×6 over the miter saw and once those pieces were cut to size, I could get the legs attached to the two platforms.

To complete the base structure, I did add some glue to these joints for a little bit of added strength and added 5.5 in. screws per joint and this was probably an overkill but this thing ended up super sturdy.

I also made sure the legs were nice and square and flushed them up with the ends of the platforms before adding the screws. I repeated the process in the other end of the base and then mounted the other two legs on the opposite side of the base. I changed the orientation of the structure and this are few of my reasons.

One, it was easier to get the piece of plywood I would be using for the bottom shelf into this opening. It would be easier to access the items on the shelf from the front of the workbench and having the legs oriented. This way helps prevent it from racking side-to-side. Once the legs were on, I can flip the base over and add some 4 in. locking casters from Rockler. These are my favorite casters by far and it helps make an easy to move workbench that locks down super securely.

When it’s time to get to work after adding the casters, I flipped the base over.

Next, I could get everything moved off of my existing workbench so that I can move the work top over onto the new base. This work minge is actually a commercially available system from fastcap. Now obviously, most of you don’t have an existing workbench top like this but you could easily make the legs on the base a little bit taller.

Add a piece of plywood or MDF on the top and you’d have a simple, sturdy, workbench. After getting the tops moved over, I centered them on the base and then attach them to the base using an inch and a quarter screws and it was a little tricky to add the screws inside the tops at first.

But I picked up this craftsman flexible bit holder and it worked great for this. After driving these first few screws, I actually just ended up running the bit holder through one of the holes in the top of the workbench and basically just using it as a bit extension rather than trying to bend it to get inside the top and this worked even better.

Next, I could get the piece of half-inch plywood for the bottom shelf cut to size with my circular saw and then I installed it in the workbench and I made the cut a little bit long so I had to persuade it a bit to get it into place but it ended up fitting well in the end and I attached the plywood to the base with more of the trim head screws I used for the shelving and I’m really excited to have all this storage under the workbench.

Now, my b20 miter saw fits perfectly on this bottom shelf and I can keep my larger miter saw setup on the workbench and then use the smaller miter saw for more mobile use.

So with that, the workbench was good to go. I can move on to the last bit of garage or a drill charging station. I found a great simple design from my friend over at her tool belt and I just modified it slightly for my needs and use up the plywood scraps that I had on hand.

First, I cut the sides and shelves to size over the table saw using some larger scrap pieces of 3/4 in. plywood I had left over from the laundry room countertop I built a few weeks ago. Once those pieces were cut to size, I ripped strips to width to be used as the dividers and hangers for the craftsman b20 drills, impact drivers and cordless nailers I would be storing in this charging station. With the parts I couldn’t cut to with the table saw, I could cut them to length at the miter saw.

 I’m using a lot of Craftsman tools in this project including the V 20 cordless 2 tool combo kit, the V 20 18 gauge cordless brad nailer and their home tool kit, all of which are available on the Amazon Holiday Gift Guide and any of these tools would make the perfect gift for that special DIY or woodworker or just all-around handy person in your life.

Next, I laid out where the dividers will be mounted on the lower shelf using a speed square and in this design the dividers are spaced apart about3 inches.

I’d probably add in another eighth or quarter of an inch between the dividers just so I can have a little bit more flexibility in which tools would fit into these slots in the future. The first things to actually assemble on the drill charging station were these little t-shaped sections which are what the tools hang from and the easiest way to do this was to use a few pieces of 3/4 inch plywood to help center the piece below and then clamp the pieces down and tack the piece together with some brand-new tools. Once it was tacked together, I came back with more of the trim head screws to make sure everything was permanent.

Next, I could start getting the hangers mounted to the underside of the bottom shelf and I used a square along with my layout lines from before too help make sure everything was in the right spot then I clamped it in place flip the whole thing over and tacked the hanger in place and I repeated the process for the rest of the hangers making sure my spacing state even and then I could test the fit and everything seemed to fit well. With the fit looking good, I added some more screws to connect the hangers permanently before attaching the sides to the shelves.

 I needed to add a three-quarter inch by three-quarter inch strip to the bottom edge of the sides. This will act as half of the hanger for the two tools at either end of the charging station and once again I attach this strip with brad nails and screws.

Next, I could get the bottom shelf attached to the sides and hopefully now you can see what those little strips from the last step were for.

Basically, just completing that hanger structure I made sure at the bottom of the hangers and the bottom of the sides were inline, clamped everything together and then tacked the parts together. Once that was done, I could add the two upper shelves. The spacing on these Is completely up to you and I decided to go with one slightly taller shelf for all of my batteries and one shorter shelf for holding my drill and impact bit sets.

Once again, I just tacked everything in place temporarily and then after deciding everything looked good, I added screws to tie it all together. I didn’t actually have enough plywood on hand to create a full back panel so I decided to just add this off cut from the bottom shelf on the workbench as a back panel for the two shelves. That way stuff isn’t falling off the back of the shelves. I’d also planned the mountainous charging station using an integrated French cleat, so the whole thing sat flush on the wall but it turned out I didn’t have any plywood strips long enough, so I had to get a little bit creative. So instead of using a French cleat, I ripped a 2×4 down so that it had one square edge and then mounted that at the top back edge of the charging station.

Finally, I could get the charging station mounted on the wall and of course I wanted it to be near an outlet.

Once it was mounted, I could spend some time getting the charging station loaded up with my various chargers, batteries, bit sets and of course the tools themselves and also added a power strip to the top edge of the station so that I can have all the chargers plugged into that leaving my outlet freed up for other corded tools.

With a few odds and ends the garage was complete.

DIY Garage Workbench