Cole Goben Leather Craft

Quality Handmade Leather Goods

This site is to show off some of my leather working projects I have worked on. I'm always open to questions, tips, suggestions, and custom orders. 

Harbor Freight Workbench

For the longest time my work area had consisted of whatever was available to me at the time. This could include everything from a small desk that I had made to my bed or futon. None of these provided a good enough work surface to get anything done. The bed and futon were, quite possibly, the worst pieces of furniture that I could use.

Being budgeted on how much I could spend, it was difficult to buy materials to make my dream leather working station. So I started looking for a small workbench that suited my needs. I found the workbench on sale while at Harbor Freight while looking for other supplies to fix my air compressor. It fit the budget and looked sturdy enough. A major plus was that it was the right size for the area I had in mind. I have a limited area so saving space is a big concern.

It took about 2 hrs to put together by myself and came out much sturdier than the display at the store. The drawers are not extremely heavy duty, but fit all the tools I could pack in them well enough. I don't believe I will ever have enough weight in them to worry about it so it's only a minor concern. The felt lining is a perk and the bottom is designed in a way that won't allow an individual sewing needle to find its way to the floor. The vise isn't meant for much more than an extra set of hands. I wouldn't use it anything more than a stitching pony on small projects. I tried it out just clamping a scrap piece of wood. Just before I got it tight enough that I couldn't move the wood I heard a crack. I stopped at that point because I'd rather have a usable vice than torture test it. 

The top has several holes for wooden pegs and small "anvils" that came with the bench. I don't mind the holes since most of them are normally covered up with granite or a cutting surface. I haven't needed the pegs or anvils yet but I'm sure they will come in handy sometime. The top is thick and absorbs sound well so I don't worry about waking the wife up during an afternoon nap or some late night inspiration. 

The bottom shelf holds quite a bit but I wouldn't recommend loading it down with power tools. I store larger bottles of liquids and thread there. Basically anything that won't fit in a drawer. If it wasn't required for the extra sturdiness I would remove it and use storage totes. (I do not recommend removing bottom shelf and supports)

I would recommend this to anyone who has limited space or a tight budget. It would work great for a hobbyist looking to move off of the kitchen table.

Click here for the Harbor Freight Workbench.