I found as I was getting older , that sitting at the workbench, hunched over so I could see what I was doing, was causing me all sorts of upper and mid back strain, so earlier this year, I decided to add a small work table to my desk so that I could stand while building models. It has worked out well and I generally have far fewer problems with my back.
But the small table had been placed where I used to have my work area which was directly in front of my tool chest where I normally kept all my daily use tools for building models.It was an open design, but getting to the drawers was a pain and because the table was narrower than the chest, I couldn't always open a chest drawer without having to slide the work table one way or another.
I resolved to improve on this and decided to modify the tool chest into a work table so that the drawers would be front and center and easily accessible. The tool chest is a cheap Harbor Freight chest, so I was not concerned about taking it apart and modifying it.
I basically removed the hinged top, removed the latches, removed the slide out drawer cover (which I never used anyway). Then I created a new wider and deep top for the chest and reattached it to the chest with the original hinges. This way I can lift up the top and still make use of the top of the chest for storing less often used items.
The chest was too short however, approximately 4 1/2" too short so I added some legs to the bottom. I placed them on the sides which creates a nice area under the chest where I can place two plastic trays I use to hold things like sanding sticks, and other tools I need but which are not in the tool chest.
So here it is and I've include a photo of the first table for comparison. I still need to clean up and reorganize my work area, but the space behind the chest is now open and available for use. I have a small set of shelves just to the right in the old table photo. This is where I keep my thinners, spray cans, and miscellaneous larger bottles. I am going to make a slide out tray for underneath this so that this can slide into that open space. This will in turn free up the space next to my computer monitor for some other as yet undetermined use.
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1. First version of the standup table. See how it interferes with access to the tool chest behind it.
2. This shelf will be modified to slide into the new space behind the second version of the work table (see the other photo)
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1. Open space for the slide in shelves I will be making.
2. Tool chest modified into a stand up work table
3. These trays are for other things I commonly use in modeling but which do not have a place in the tool chest.
4. Top is hinged so I can still utilize the space under the table for storing things.