I had some spare metal shelving units that I used for the base of my island workbench. The shelves are called Gorilla Racks, which I originally purchased at Costco. Each rack comes in two sections that are often stacked. I then made the top from three sheets of MDF and some pine. I cut and notched a sheet of 1/2" MDF to use as a filler for the top shelf of the racks. I made the benchtop using two sheets of 3/4" MDF with an internal frame made of 2 x 2 pine. This was then banded with 1 x 4 pine. The 1 x 4 allowed the box to fit over the top of the racks and 1/2" MDF filler. I also made the band extend 1/16" above the box. This allowed me to top it all off with a 4 X 8 sheet of 16 guage cold rolled steel. I scribed a 1" grid on the steel and waxed it using a paste car wax.

Scott