Shed workbench/desk

[transatlantic]

I want to build a workbench/desk for my shed. It would mostly be used for carving, where I'll be sat down. What I want is something like the picture below, so drawers on either side and then a space in the middle for a chair. I don't want the drawer in the middle though, so ignore that.

I want this is to be more heavy duty than your average computer desk though, so like in the picture, I'll be using solid wood for the legs and rails, and then a thick 18mm ply for the panels.

For the top, I want it to be easily replacable, so was going to go with some 25mm MDF, with a solid wood border around the edges.

My question, is how I should attach the top to the drawer units?

My initial plan was to build the drawer units, and then have some kind of rail that connects the two, but also adds support for the MDF top to stop it sagging in the middle.

Can the rail just be screwed to either side of the drawer units? or should it span across the top of the drawer units?

 

[Gerry]

I would fix a permanent top of 18mm MDF with a 43mm deep edging then simply drop your 25mm MDF sacrificial top in side that.
Put a couple of larger fist sized holes in the 18mm sub top in an accessible place so you can push the 25mm sacrificial top up for replacement.

Gerry

 

[ED65]

There's a bench/desk thing almost exactly along these lines either in a PDF or in one of my books, I'll try to hunt it down and post a pic or two in case there's anything you might find useful.

Edit: as per Gerry's suggestion above it features a sacrificial replaceable sheet over the benchtop proper. Because it's an American publication I'm fairly sure they used 1/4" tempered hardboard, which is what I would have gone with myself on both my benches if I could have found any!

 

[AES]

It MAY help if I say that when I built my (mainly general/metal work) bench over 10 years ago now, I too looked for quarter inch tempered hardboard and couldn't find any. So I settled for the standard eight inch stuff. I'm only now thinking about replacing it with a new bit - as said, after probably more than 10 years, during which time I can't exactly claim to have been careful with it.

Cheap, easy, and quick to replace as often as required (though I could wish for the "original" quarter inch stuff - what's happened to it)? It was freely available in UK when I last lived there 30+ years ago.

 

[ED65]

Thanks AES, that's good to know. 3mm is what I ended up going with as it was all I could find. Untempered in one case, which I don't like for this but it's holding up to light use adequately, just gets grotty too easily.

Off-topic anecdote: every place I asked I got confused looks from the staff, not all young and wet behind the ears, when I even said the words "tempered hardboard" so it was clear they hadn't stocked it in quite a white, or they knew it as something else maybe. But all the time I looked I didn't see a single sheet of the dark-brown stuff (at either thickness) that you can walk into any hardware store or home centre in the US and buy.