I'm eager to make my workbench. Creating a workbench is a right of passage for the craftsman. There's even sub-reddit forum dedicated to it. Going from sawhorses to a solid, sturdy workbench must feel great.
It starts with Mike haggling with some used tool collectors for good deals, and then he teaches how to clean + prepare the tools for work. He then teaches how to build some solid sawhorses, and then a very sturdy workbench. This is all with hand tools. The whole thing was really cheap! Under $400 for me to get all the necessary tools and materials.
In all honesty I would caution against thinking you are going to just slap a bench together over the weekend, especially if you are just now looking for plans. Building a workbench is not the "hello world" of woodworking. If I can be so bold I would suggest you use the weekend to do a little research into different designs, think about your skill and space constraints and what you ultimately want to build.
Perhaps if you already have tools, a work area, and decent skills you could do this. But speaking as a beginner who had a similar idea not long ago, I realized a workbench required a level of skill I would be unable to achieve without more practice and, well, a workbench. In fairness I do strictly hand tools, so it's it a bit harder and the bench must be much nicer.
If anyone is interested, I ended up just getting this apartment friendly bench for hand tool use. You do have to hold your foot on the leg when planing but it works great for the size/money.
You should grab three or four bags of playground sand to add weight to the base. For less than $20 you would not have to worry so much about movement while planing. For a little bit more you could get some dumbbells and not have to lose all the flat space under the bench.
