[RickM]

I've made a few benches as described above as well.
My favorite is the one currently in my basement. It's an L shaped bench made from butcher block style formica kitchen countertop. I happened upon it a local hardware store which was going out of business. The main bench is 10' long and the side bench is 5'...joined at a 45, just like a kitchen countertop. I then purchased two sets of pre-made steel bench legs and assembled. With the built in back splash it's real easy to keep things tidy.