DIY Wednesday: Jeweler's Bench

As I mentioned in my "Craft Room Evolution" post, I have a new DIY project.Today I'm bringing you my brand new DIY Jeweler's Bench! EEP! I'm so excited! 

I have been needing an upgrade in my craft room, because trying to solder and complete metal smithing techniques on a plastic utility table is no bueno!
Sooo, I began searching for a good jeweler's bench and nearly lost my cookies at the prices! They were so expensive, and didn't seem to be very well-made or sturdy.
So I began searching for DIY options and came across this AMAZING tutorial called Frankenbench.
So I began scouring Craigslist <<Oh Craigslist...how I love thee!>> for a "solid wood desk" and found this gem. 

Solid wood, super sturdy...it was perfect!
For the project I called in the BIG GUNS aka my hubby and father-in-law.  They were definitely more skilled with the power tools than I, so I was super grateful for all of their help.
Here is the desk after the riser had been finished.  This was before it was attached with the L-brackets, as we still had to put the plywood down on top of the drawer area.

The next step was to make the ellipsoid cutout from the middle of the desktop.  To do this we used the tack and string technique.  You put a tack in, and tie some string around it, then allow it to guide the pencil in a perfect half circle shape.

Since I wanted my cutout to be a little bit deeper than wider, we dimply moved the tack about 3" in, then did the tracing again to get our ellipsoid.  This is explained super well in the Frankenbench tutorial.
Time to cut!  We used a handheld scroll saw.  It was so loud!

Next up was sanding, and I am a pro at this.  I even got to use my father-in-law's "Mouse" sander.  It was so easy, and AWESOME.  I want one!

Here you get to see the overseer of the project...little miss Mango making sure Mama is on-task!

Next up was to remove the top (it wasn't attached yet) and put down the plywood to cover up the drawers and add a storage space under the desktop.

And then to attach the top using L-Brackets:

Justin then used the Miter Saw to make my File Holders:

It was set so that it would not go all the way through the wood:

Here it is all set up in the craft room!

As you can see we added a plier holder using a bent metal bracket. 

 We also put up pegboard to hold all of my tools

  Here is the file holder all attached (still need to put the rest of my files in there)

 Some more views: 

You can see that middle drawer in this picture.  We cut it down so that it wouldn't be sticking out into my work area.

I AM BEYOND ECSTATIC!
The total cost of this project was $85 for everything, screws, wood, desk, EVERYTHING, including the pegboard!
AND
don't forget to enter my giveaway for some amazing <<AND FREE>> DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING SOFTWARE!
Giveaway ends 1/12 at 12:01a.m. CST

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