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1.) I would advise not using glue on the table top, but instead screws. Your table top will get dinged up over time. If you glue it, it will be hard to replace the top. But if you use screws. It will just be as easy as removing the screws, remove the top, and screw on the new one.

2.) For your router lift. May look at something like StumpyNubs' Design. This may be more secure than using a scissor jack that your plans call for.

3.) Beef up your legs, 2x4s are fine, but if you place two 2x4s together, than your legs are going to be more sturdy, or switch to just straight up 4x4s. Nevermind, looking at your plans again, I see you have done that.

4.) Look at using plywood that already has a finish on it, like Melamine, this will make the wood coming off the tablesaw, or across the router easier to slide. Otherwise, you will want to wax your outfeed table at least every other month or so, depending on storage and use.

5.) You also want to make sure that you include the ability to use a fence on the router side. Either a custom built one or look at some aftermarket fences.

6.) Make sure to shorten the legs enough so you can add in casters, ideally something like these. It will make moving the bench around easier.

7.) You will want to place runners under your bottom shelf to help support weight.

This seems to come up a lot - enough that the mods should have a sufficient amount of info to create a how to guide at this point. Here's my general default answer to this:

I've always liked The Homestead Heritage
series. It's old and they don't update, but their are some good videos.

Steve Ramsey has some good ones too. Near the end, he seemed like he decided to simply start pimping his bad website instead of really produce good stuff, but his beginner videos are really good.

The English Woodworker if you can get past his accent, he's got a bunch of good videos. His are a bit more advanced, but he goes through an entire project at a time which I find helpful.

William Ng. He's got a very dry sense of humor and his videos are pretty technical, but if you like that sort of thing (I do) then he's a really knowledgeable source, plus he answers youtube comments.

There's also a good simple book called 2x4 Furniture which I really like.

Interesting read. I recommend checking out Good Clean Fun by Nick Offerman (link). The first part of the book has some great beginner info and the rest of the book are projects, with humorous stories peppered throughout.

There's an endless amount of writing on the subject. The book I own is Taunton's Complete Illustrated Guide to Woodworking. Having an abundance of pictures and diagrams really helps to explain to things.

For tools, I agree with u/OSHTechie. Make sure he's really into it before buying tools. If you really must buy tools, make it something that he can use even if he loses interest like a hand drill or a tape measure.

Bill Hylton’s Illustrated Cabinetmaking is only $16 and has hundreds of exploded drawings of furniture of different styles. Not plans with cut lists but the benefit of custom furniture is that it can be sized to fit a specific space and for materials at hand.

If old timey wood working rocks your boat, I highly recommend following Chris Schwarz. He has done a lot to popularize the Roubo bench and other older tools and methods. He also wrote two of the best books on workbenches (https://www.amazon.com/Workbenches-Design-Construction-Popular-Woodworking/dp/1558708405).

There's also a good video about the Roubo workbench at http://www.popularwoodworking.com/video/roubo_workbench_tour

You can follow Chris at:

• http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog
  
• https://blog.lostartpress.com/
  
  His latest research has him investigating Roman workbences (http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/christopher-schwarz-on-roman-workbenches-2) although that's probably not as useful in a home workshop as a Roubo.
  
  If you really want to go off the deep end into traditional woodworking, you also have to check out Roy Underhill's Woodwrights Shop, a show that has been airing on PBS for over 30 years. Chris is a regular guest on there.
  
  http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/home/
  
  If you couldn't tell, I'm a little bit obsessed by all of this traditional woodworking stuff.

Excellent start. Highly recommend getting some rising casters to get it off the wheels when you can.

https://www.amazon.com/POWERTEC-17000-Workbench-Caster-Pack/dp/B00SX3T2LO

Gives you a more solid structure than sitting on the wheels :)

I don't know anything about dowels, but if the OP is talking about the need to drill perpendicular holes, I just picked up this jig and I like it so far for general woodworking:

Milescraft 1312 DrillBlock

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There's another style that might be more precise for dowels since you can buy more bushing sizes. For example:

Dowel drill bit guide

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And if you need more angles than just 90 degrees, there are hand drill guides like this one:

Milescraft 1318 Drillmade drill guide

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Edit: I don't necessarily recommend the specific models in the 2nd and 3rd links. They were just the first examples I came across.

Books like this specifically for beginners has been a great resource for me.

Much better than anything I have found on the internet

Check out a pocket jig kit. They are about $40 on Amazonhttps://www.amazon.com/Kreg-R3-Pocket-Hole-System/dp/B000J43A7W?th=1&psc=1
Add a drill, some wood glue, and a few clamps and you can build a nice flat desk that shouldn't buckle or warp. bottem of my desk.

Good luck

I got this for Christmas. It’s plans for a ton of really small projects. Not a lot of “here’s how you use a miter saw” stuff in here. For that I’d recommend YouTube. But this book would give you a good set of projects. If you want some YouTube channel suggestions let me know. I’ve bookmarked tons of videos for certain topics that I go to when I have questions. Helps me weed through all the crap I’ve watched but didn’t get anything from. The Big Book of Weekend Woodworking: 150 Easy Projects (Big Book of ... Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1579906001/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_s72BCbPBKC6DZ

Something like this (https://www.amazon.ca/Milescraft-1318-DrillMate-Drill-Guide/dp/B014A1Z92I/ref=asc_df_B014A1Z92I/?tag=googlemobshop-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=292949808887&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6187848914128197040&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9000694&hvtargid=pla-437180793075&psc=1) would be cheaper but would drill straighter holes than free handing it

Have you considered a drill guide block like the drillblock? Mine works pretty well and was cheap to boot. It has metal bushings to guide the bit straight. Only thing I don't like is that it stands about an inch tall so if you are drilling deep, you have to follow up with the old drill against the quick square.

drillblock on amazon

What kind are you looking for? Something like a T-bevel? Or a digital level? I've got both, and they work fine for their particular applications.

R. Bruce Hoadley's Understanding Wood should be required reading, and not just for woodworkers.

For anything else, especially anything specific to joinery, I've found it's basically six of one, half a dozen of the other. A solid foundation of how wood behaves (which you'll get from Understanding Wood) will let you filter out almost all of the bad information yourself, and every book will have bad information. There's value in almost any book that looks like it has value.

The one set of books I'd recommend you definitely not get is Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking; that one is consistently garbage and guaranteed to end in personal injury. Unfortunately, it's also a set that gets recommended in threads like these in a lot of places, because Tage Frid was associated with Fine Woodworking (the magazine, not the practice) for almost three decades and therefore has a lot of visibility.

There is special hardware that allows the tabletop to move as necessary.

Here is one style. With this type, you use a Forstner bit to make a little recess in the apron to allow for a flush-fitting, and then attach as normal. You put them on the 2 opposite sides that do not expand/contract as much (width of the boards), and then leave them off of the 2 sides that expand/contract more (length of the boards).

While I like and respect Paul a lot, the Aldi thing is one of Paul's brain farts, he has them from time to time. They will hold an edge for 10 minutes, then you are back at the stones, and heat treatment is spotty. Cheap chinese lowest bidder junk. Three Fat Max at Home Depot cost you $25, and at least you know that these have some quality control. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Stanley-FatMax-Thru-Tang-Wood-Chisel-Set-3-Piece-16-970/203735946 Or buy four Narex chisels for $40, that's all you need and they will be with you for a long time. https://www.amazon.com/Narex-Republic-Woodworking-Chisels-863010/dp/B00GPC74ZQ/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=narex&qid=1574689456&s=hi&sr=1-2

Something like this?

Drill press is obviously the best answer, but if one isn't available and you're strapped for cash, this will work: https://www.amazon.com/Milescraft-1312-Drill-Block/dp/B00F1ZJFZK

The joint book is what your looking for. I just picked it up and am itching for chisels so I can start to play.

If you're willing to go up to $39, how about some chisels?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GPC74ZQ/

This?

The Woodbook https://smile.amazon.com/dp/3822817422/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_PSn1CbJ68ZMZ1

you can make one

or buy one

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Manual-Woodworking-Albert-Jackson/dp/039456488X/ref=sr_1_3?crid=DK69C7CGSONH&keywords=the+complete+manual+of+woodworking&qid=1556768108&s=gateway&sprefix=the+complete+manual+%2Caps%2C180&sr=8-3

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The first chapter of this book should answer all your questions.