What do you think about adding a vise? Maybe something like a twin screw tail vise? What about putting dog holes in the top? Do you see any challenges with this. I don’t have enough space in my garage for both an assembly table and a dedicated workbench. Trying to come up with something that is the best of both worlds.

Thanks again.

And no, I don’t really see a problem using your base as a foundation for building the top, as long as your base is flat, or shimmable to flat.

I just built the base yesterday, and am now beginning work on the drawers and doors. I followed your instructions exactly, but made the following changes:

* I used a combo of birch ply and mdf to save some cost. The two outer partitions are ply, as are the strechers and toe kicks. The shelves and inner partitions are mdf.

* I placed vertical dados on the inside of the two inner partitions, and slid a 3/4″ mdf vertical divider in place. This divider divides the space where the stack of drawers will go into two equal volumes, and provides an enormous amount of strength in the dimension where the structure was weakest. Resistance to racking is much improved. The height of the divider is such that the middle strecher runs right over the top of it as well.

I’m now finding myself confused about the widths of the drawer fronts and the doors. Here are my questions:

* I assume that, when closed, the outer edges of the doors are flush with the outer edges of the case. Is that correct?

* What is the relationship between a door and its inner partition? Does the inner edge of the door come to an edge of the partition, the center, the center – 1/16″, or something else?

* Is the gap between the doors and the drawers 1/8″?

Oh, and one more… Do you see any problem using the base as my foundation for constructing the top? I was planning on going through the entire process of jointing 2x4s and shimming to get a perfectly true surface, but just thought that the base might work better than sawhorses. Thoughts?