Restoring an Old Beat Up Workbench 

As a woodworker, all I could think was “man I wish I could run the top through my planer before he glued it back together. Could have saved this man hours of sanding.” 😮‍💨

I’ve worked in a manufacturing environment for nearly 20 years and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to get my hands on one of these old lista benches lol. Nice work, now i need to try harder when i get the chance again. Nice work 👍

My dad has a smaller Lista work bench he inherited from his old work place. He worked for Parker Hannifin. They had an old building, and they were getting rid of a lot of old equipment before moving into a newer building back in the early to mid 2000 range. There was an old Lista work bench he wanted. The workers were going to throw the bench in the dumpster. My dad saved it and restored the work bench kind of like you did. He repainted it all black with a clear coat. The wood top was restored and was given a honey oak polyurethane finish. He still uses the work bench to this day. You did a lovely job with this one. Nicely done.

Overall it’s a decent table. If you’re not using it for big heavy projects. Its gets unstable when using my jigsaw and handsaw. Table starts to shake and lifts off the ground. Maybe I’m doing something wrong?Also the folding mechanic works great ru-vid.comUgkxyFZUPFEey-PuqsPMxqaykBhgA1LWxFHh when setting up, but I can’t get the table to fold down. It gets stuck 3/4ths on the way down.

The steel top is a nice add on . The wood glue is stronger than the wood itself, biscuits or dowels help with alignment and that's about it. If the glue fails in your lifetime, you'll be glad you didn't use either of those. As for wood finish, you did well, any product will need to be touched up or redone in time. Solvent finishes do make the wood look nicer, water based polyurethanes hold up very well and are easy to reapply when needed. The only other upgrade I'd see as useful is a back panel to increase rigidity in the long run. Nuts and bolts will loosen over time and use. I had a metal cart that had nuts, bolts, lock washers. As a job-site cart it got moved frequently, it always needed tightening. Solution, tightened them all one last time, welded every joint and lap, removed nuts and bolts.

I did something similar back in the day. When you start to reassemble it much easier to do upside down. Place top on the floor with bottom facing upward. You’re not fighting gravity that way. Very nice work, really like the castors!👍🔥

Finally somebody restoring something gigantic that isnt a vehicle or random stuff and that can genuinely be used for actual work/projects

Good work, with exception of the paint job.

I really enjoyed your restoration. I am into manufacturing new machinery but watching old stuff being restored have a special place in my heart.

If that old work bench couldn't tell you stories of glories and victory

WOW! This was so satisfying to watch you redo the whole work bench to its original look. I found it so satisfying...beautiful top...the final touch was the castors. Thank you for sharing this...enjoyed the video very much.

I enjoyed the entire video, but the creation of your custom emblem was awesome. I didn't realize it was that "easy". I was kind of partial to the beat up wood block. The new, sanded, and varnished slab looks nice, but the old surface had more character. Either way, nice work.

Watched this ages ago but had to come back again as I found it so worth while. Thanks dude

Great work Restoration Station!

Over three summers, I had to find another desk for a teacher in the workshop. More areas were being used for academic rather than practical lessons. Every year someone had got a brand new modular desk and the old worn beat up desk was being tossed. Mostly particle board construction with a veneer, I have new life to those desks with four coats of satin yacht varnish. Each coat was rubbed down and the finish was great. Thank you for this video. I have an old workbench in the garage I need to update…

One of the most satisfying videos I've seen in a long time.

From the way you use the belt sander and how you use the brush, in addition to the neatness in your way of working, I already realize that you are a professional👍, I don't see the video as a hobby, I care about learning and I pay attention in the details.

Just the right amount of restoration. It doesn't need to be perfect, just functional and presentable.

This guy does heavy collision and body work foooooooor sure

I really love utilitarian restoration: industrial tables, boxes that hold precision machines, industrial table lamps, etc Also, with the right tools, and this guy has pretty much all the right tools, jobs like this just require some meditative patience. The right tool for the job is always key.

Very nice restoration.

I love the look of a used wood surface. Nice end result either way though!

That work bench is too beautiful to work on!! Great restoration!!

Good video ready for another 20 plus years.keep it up 👍👍😎😎

Lista, that's top of the line industrial stuff.

Pretty good. People need to be reminded that this will be used to work on. It is not supposed to be a showpiece.

I'm getting a jack of all trades vibe from you and I like it. Good restoration vid!

Great job, though to be honest I liked the patina

While a workbench by nature is supposed to take a beating, still, at some point, they get to the point of "ya know what, workbench? You deserve better!" Great restoration, great modifications!

The addition of the locking casters was a good move. Cleaning up around the unit will be so much easier.

Well done. It looks great. I’d love to get my hands on one of these old benches.

BETTER THAN BRAND NEW, EXCEPT I LIKE THE BLUE BETTER!!!

nice and extra shiny clean workbench

Wood is such a cool medium to work with, all new just a few 32nd's below the surface. Nice job.

My old USAF shop had all new Lista benches in the mid 90s. Nice stuff.

Great job with the refurbishment and upgrades. I love the red casters. Happy making.

Lista is still in business in Holliston, Mass and making virtually identical work benches like this today in 2022.

So every Navy shop I was in had these. The damn things will fold up unexpectedly if you over load them. My frist supervisor taught me this, get some descent wood, fit it to the J channels that make up the legs and make them fit tightly, drill and fasten with carriage bolts. This prevents the metal from folding, provides rigidity to the legs and if you decide to mount a vise mount one or two additional wooden supports to that one legs exterior. Also along the back side, run either a wooden rail or a steel rod with ends threaded and bolt the rail in place. Putting anything heavy can deform that bottom metal shelf and pull the legs inward and ....well....thats one reason why the damn things collapse. BONUS, adding the wood makes that thing quite down otherwise if you hammer on anything it can be like hammering a bell.

Very nice! Your restoration was spot-on! I would have cut the metal bench surface in half and hinged each piece so I could have dual work surfaces if I wanted, but that's just a preference thing. Otherwise this looked incredible!

Beautiful & solid restoration! That bench will last forever.👍👍👊

Looked better blue

Amazing work!!! Would love to see you show it off a little more in the end 🙌🙌 You deserve it!

I got one one of those Lista benches out of my Mother-in-Law's garage! Might have to add a restoration project to my to-do list after this! Beautiful work.

Lista is great quality.

@ Restoration Station, You did it again. Many subscribers wanted you to plain it, but the thing is.......All those extra effort you put in this bench, will pay you back in the end. And now you know every Cm2 of that top. Amazing job...as always. Greetings from the Netherlands. Bert

It was a great restoration and the castors and steel top “add on” was the icing on the cake!

Well that turned out gorgeous. Expected nothing less. Great job 👍👌

Whew. I felt so relieved when you packed those bearings with grease 👍😂

Usta word for craftsmanship

Looks good. I would attach a magnet or two on the wall so you can leave rhe bench in place and simply life the metal top off when you want/need to work on the wood surface.

I loved the blue paint and was so sad to see it get sanded and powerwashed off - I'm so glad you repainted the metal parts red!!

From a wood working perspective it would have been best to use biscuits or dowels to join the split pieces back together and then 3 coats of oil based polyurethane but that's just my opinion though, it turned out really great.

That looks new to me!

What an awesome old workbench

Excellent job! That bench looks amazing

I have a 3 drawer Lista cabinet with a pull out work surface. It’s in the garage it’s solid as a tank.

There is something really satisfying for me watching things look new again. I’m thinking of starting a business doing this.

Nice finished project. A good bench to start with and reasonably well cared for. Other than the top, little damage. Looks good finished.

That metal top is genius

tightbond changed the way i think about working with wood. it works really well

Fantastic job. I don't remember him asking to use my tools. If he asked, I would have suggested bench dog holes. Maybe he will be asking to borrow my mag drill for the holes. Great job 🤣👍👍

We have Lista desks at work, super nice. Well worth the time to restore one.

Sanding down that bench top made me sad, all those memories of projects past. Finished product looks great.

Great score, Lista is top notch stuff.

That thing has some great bones. I prefer the original blue. To each His own. Great job

Sweet restoration, nice touch adding the steel top on hinges. Makes for an excellent work surface option. Thanks for the video.

I really enjoyed watching this video. Thanks.

Now THAT'S a workbench! I'm so jealous :O Amazing work you done a wonderful job! Looking forward to seeing it in action in future videos :)

That is just wonderful!! 10-stars, and then some.

So good, I had to watch it twice!!

Looks great. Maybe you should have 4 swivel casters instead of two.

I dig the color change from blue to red! Great job!

Nice job!

I was surprised to see you didn’t sand off the old glue before you added new glue.

You sir are a brilliant craftsman and artist.

Happy to see you save this bench... l worked in a restaurant , in the garage in the back was one of these benchs, it was always cool to go back there and use the "shop" . Would love to be able to grab one now that l have a house and a garage... great work , thank you.

Good work 💪

Nice, very nice, love watching your work, it’s always so good!

Beautifully done,love the red color.

The fasteners you took off looked brand new. Perhaps the previous owner had the same idea but less fortitude :D

Wow! that looks great

Beautiful job. Way more work than I have time for though. My only suggestion is all four casters to be swivel. You even had a prime example in the video. You had to lift the fixed end to get it out. That will be way to hard when it's in use and full. Ask me how I know😉 I switched the fixed casters to swivel and life is better. A little harder to roll straight but way more maneuverable.

Fantastic !!!

We had these types of benches in the tech school I went to.

Lista is top end stuff, really built to last. When putting it together, I find the easiest way is to lay the top on the floor face down (on top of protection) and assemble the legs that way. Saves working from underneath. Then just turn the whole thing over. Would also save jacking up the drawer cabinet. Brilliant idea with the steel top, hinged as well! Good restoration though, great to watch.

Very nice..Know send it to me..haha

From OTC blue to craftsman red. Nice work.

Lista is a very good brand of work bench, and tooling cabinets also!!

Wow, that table top, would have made a beautiful dining table. 😃

Beautifully done!

5:38 I see you, Cheeky transition, I see you. Loving these vids.

Great work! There’s nothing more satisfying than doing these types of restoration projects imo… man I gotta get me some of those tools 😂

Verly nicely done. Makes me think its time to clean up my bench.

this should have an Oscar, beautiful pictures

Nice 👍🏿

Very nice resto job. I'm sure it will give you many years of good use.

my favourite part of this: why not both?! amazing video bro thank you

Brilliant 😊

Wow! Great transformation.

nice job 👏👏👏