Framed Pegboard Build

Disclaimer

When working with tools, always make sure to take appropriate safety precautions. Always wear safety glasses and any other appropriate PPE. Make sure you have a comprehensive understanding of how to use your tools safely.

This video/article just documents how I approached a problem. This is not necessarily the proper, or safest way to do something. If you see something that looks unsafe, let me know! I'm always happy to learn a safer or better way to do something

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Introduction

So my workbench tends to get covered in a real mess of tools and project detritus. This stems from the fact that I (like most people) tend to take whatever tool I'm not quite finished with and set it on the nearest flat surface. I'm hoping that by adding a pegboard, and giving my most frequently used tools a home that's always close to hand, it will help eliminate at least some of the mess...

For this build I'm using:

  • A half sheet of pegboard (2'x8')

  • Three 8' 2"x4"

  • One 8' 2x6

My workbench and the shelf above it are both 2'x8' which I like for convenience since I can get sheet goods ripped in half the long way when I buy them at the lumber yard, and the supporting lumber can be used without cutting anything down to length. The dimensions of the framed pegboard will be 2'x8' as well so that it matches. This has the added benefit that everything can be stacked up on the workbench for easier transport in the event that I need to move things (which is something that's always in the back of my mind...) This is a pretty straightforward build but there are a few neat tricks that I used to get things put together.

Dimensioning

First I cut all of the main members down to length. That's:

  • 8' for the two main cross rails

  • 21" for the 2x6 verticals

  • 22" for the 2x4 verticals

  • 83"x22" for the pegboard sheet

Short Dado

The first item was to cut dados in the 8' cross rails for the verticals. To do this I clamped the two rails in parallel and set the depth of cut on my circular saw to 1/2" and marked out the area where the dado would be on the workpiece. Next I used the circular saw to make repeated cuts parallel to remove about 50% of the material. This allows the rest of the waste to be easily knocked out with a hammer, and the floor of the dado can be cleaned up with a chisel.


Long Dado

The long dado is a little trickier to cut, but by making clever use of the offcuts from the sheet of pegboard you can make your life a lot easier. I made this cut with the boards still clamped in parallel, but this time I placed a shim (pegboard offcut) under each end of one of the boards, lifting the board up to act as a fence. I then made the cut down the length of the board, with the depth of cut still set at 1/2". Then I took to more small pegboard shims and placed them between the two rails. This spaced the rail out by the width of the pegboard. I then ran the cut again. The result is two saw kerfs spaced apart by the width of the pegboard. You can then clear the waste out with a chisel and you have a groove that matches your pegboard (plus a little extra.)

Final Assembly

With everything cut it's easy enough to screw everything together! If you've done things right everything should fit together well, and you can run screws in. I used 3" #10 construction screws and ended up hanging it between the two cabinets on either side of my workbench, but mounting it directly to a wall would also work well, just make sure that you're mounting directly to the studs.

And as a final disclaimer, be careful to not overload the board. This is a fairly sturdy build, but nothing made of 1/4" chipboard (i.e. pegboard) is going to be all that strong... I would never trust chipboard to hold up anything that's particularly heavy, or expensive.