In this post, Allison Chang shares how her son Jacob and his friend Arjun, seventh graders on a STEAM competition team, decided they needed a workbench for better organization. They chose the Simpson Strong-Tie WBSK workbench and shelving hardware kit, which provided everything they needed. With some guidance, they finished the project in two hours, customizing it to fit their preferences. This experience helped them gain practical skills and increased their confidence for future endeavors.
Our son Jacob and his buddy Arjun are seventh graders on a STEAM competition team. For their competition last year, they had to work on the ground, and the garage was a mess. Often, they’d be looking for their tools in the mess and couldn’t find them. This year, they decided to be more organized and wanted to build a workbench. We did some research for them and found the Simpson Strong-Tie WBSK workbench and shelving hardware kit on social media.
We were very familiar with the high quality of Simpson Strong-Tie products, having used their connectors for building our backyard shed and deck and smaller projects over the years. We watched some videos on putting the workbench together, reviewed the instructions, showed them to Jacob and decided this was doable for a couple of aspiring DIYers. The best aspect of the workbench is the ability to customize the product, and the boys had endless ideas.
We took one trip to the hardware store and picked up the Simpson Strong-Tie kit, all the wood needed, and a few items to customize the workbench. Jacob and Arjun needed a little supervision with the cuts to the 2x4s and the cutouts for the shelves, but otherwise put together the entire workbench with two drills, a saw, and the instructions — and it took them only two hours! All the hardware needed, including self-drilling screws, was in the kit. Throughout the process, the boys talked about the next steps and what they wanted to do to improve the workbench, and they gave each other tips on what worked during the build. The instructions were the best part of the kit because the boys learned how to read and follow blueprint instructions, which taught them how to do that in their next build for the STEAM competition.
At the end of the build, Jacob and Arjun had added several cool features to make their workbench as useful as possible for them and their team. They added a three-foot shop light to the top of the frame holding the pegboard. They put the workbench on caster wheels with locks so they could wheel it around the garage or lock in place for stability. They added a removable whiteboard tabletop for a smoother work surface and for note-taking — to be removed when they need a harder surface. They mounted a power strip on the side of one of the legs, added another shelf for smaller items, and put another whiteboard on the back of the workbench so they could whiteboard their own build. Jacob even 3D-printed a pencil cup to hook onto the top of the pegboard frame. They completely tricked out the workbench, and they couldn’t be happier with it. The team has already storyboarded on the whiteboards, organized their tools on the pegboard and shelves, and used the shop light and power strip for their meetings.
Jacob “highly recommends” the “lit” organized pegboard and Arjun, thinks the workbench “glow up slays.” Both boys think that the workbench will help keep them organized during their build and beyond. They are really happy that the workbench is sturdy and level and has everything they wanted. They even researched what other kits Simpson Strong-Tie has available to build on their own after their competition is over. Shelves, anyone?
As parents, we had a terrific experience. The kit was all-inclusive, the instructions were clear and easy to read, and the outcome was impressive. Jacob and Arjun are 13 and 12 years old, respectively, and easily put this together on their own. The workbench build also gave the boys practical experience building in a small team and, most importantly, gave them the confidence that they could do something big on their own. The workbench is now the standard for all of their future projects. Even if you aren’t handy, you can put this workbench together if you have basic knowledge of how to use a drill. (You can get most hardware stores to make the woodcuts for you.) Thank you, Simpson Strong-Tie!
