The workbenches in the Capital Wasteland and Mojave Wasteland are used to create custom weapons, with those found in the Mojave also allowing the crafting of additional items and the recycling and conversion of Energy Weapons ammunition.
Characteristics
Workbenches, found throughout the Capital Wasteland and Mojave Wasteland, are utility work stations comprising of a two level wooden work table with a metal surface, a rotating bench vise and a pipe or yoke vise. They facilitate the unique feature of crafting homemade weapons and explosives from various junk items. Most workbenches found will have several tools (and in the Capital Wasteland, often a bottlecap mine) on the work surface or lower shelf.
In Fallout 3 a schematic of the weapon or explosive you are trying to create is required in order to make it, in addition to whatever items are required for its production.
In Fallout: New Vegas, along with the crafting of weapons, workbenches also enable the creation of health items, weapon repair kits, the "recycling" of residual expended flame and energy ammunition into fresh ammunition and the "conversion" of energy ammunition into other types of energy ammunition, and their variants. Also in Fallout: New Vegas workbenches are joined by reloading benches and campfires, with each offering different crafting options.
Locations
Fallout 3
- In your house/apartment, after purchasing the My First Workbench item from Moira Brown/Lydia Montenegro.
- Anchorage Memorial facility - On the second floor, against the south wall.
- Arlington Cemetery - In the basement of Arlington House.
- Northwest of the Arlington Library, on the top floor of a destroyed raider-occupied building.
- In the basement of the Talon Company outpost, southeast of the Arlington Library.
- Bethesda ruins - 3rd floor of Bethesda East building.
- Canterbury Commons - In Dominic and Machete's house.
- Evergreen Mills bazaar - Smiling Jack has a workbench in the northeast alcove of his store.
- Evergreen Mills foundry - In southeast room on the upper level.
- Evergreen Mills northern shack - Ground floor, back room.
- Falls Church metro, in the Franklin Metro utility room.
- Fort Independence - In the lower level, all the way down, left door in hall.
- Greener Pastures disposal site - Against south wall in the Office building.
- Hamilton's Hideaway - In the east room.
- Jalbert Brothers Waste Disposal - Just inside the door of northeast office.
- Jocko's Pop & Gas Stop - Northwest of Tenpenny Tower, in the shack.
- Jury Street Metro station - Inside, protected by three raiders.
- Little Lamplight - In the Great Chamber.
- Megaton - Inside Craterside Supply.
- Meresti Metro station - The Family's hideout.
- MDPL-13 power station - Substation shack.
- MDPL-16 power station - Substation shack.
- MDPL-21 power station - Substation garage.
- National Guard depot - One level below the floor you enter on, by a desk. Go down the stairs on the left as soon as you enter. A second one is on the level that you enter, past the stairs, stay left around the hole in the floor.
- Old Olney - In the sewer.
- Paradise Falls - Inside Lock and Load, to the left side as you enter.
- Red Racer factory - Bottom floor of the big central room.
- Rivet City - In the Market, and another in The Capitol Preservation Society.
- Rivet City bow - Where Pinkerton is. On the second floor.
- RobCo facility - In the Southeast area of the Factory Floor.
- Robot repair center - Mechanist's Lair
- West of Rockbreaker's Last Gas - In the sniper's shack on top of the hill.
- West of SatCom Array NN-03d - Downhill, at the destroyed corrugated steel shack that serves as a Outcasts' outpost.
- SatCom Array NW-05a - In the upper levels of the facility.
- In the Taft Tunnel from the Jefferson Memorial to the Citadel, located in a side passage. Note: The area around this workbench is radioactive.
- Tepid sewers - In a room in the NE part of the sewer.
- Underworld - In Underworld Outfitters shop run by Tulip. The Underworld is in the main concourse in the Museum of History.
- VAPL-58 power station - In the power substation (the building).
Fallout 3 add-ons
- Jury Street Metro station — In the back of Hank's Electrical Supply, which is occupied by Raiders. (Broken Steel add-on).
- Mobile base crawler — Behind the repulsion field when you first enter it. (Broken Steel add-on).
- Chinese intelligence bunker — Under the aviary next to Calvert Mansion (Point Lookout add-on).
- Trapper's shack — Inside the cellar (Point Lookout add-on).
- The Pitt underground — right by the access door to The Pitt Underground, near the entrance to the courtyard in front of Haven (The Pitt add-on).
- The Bridge — Mothership Zeta, first time you enter the bridge its to the right, in the Captain's Quarters.
- Engineering core — At the 2nd level where you first enter. (Mothership Zeta add-on).
- Underground lab — At Point Lookout under the Lighthouse. In the reward room after completing the quest A Meeting of the Minds.
Fallout: New Vegas
- Abandoned Brotherhood of Steel bunker - in Elijah's old room, next to a reloading bench.
- Brotherhood of Steel safehouse - inside on the left, along with a reloading bench.
- Cerulean Robotics - next to a reloading bench and the protectron for the quest Wang Dang Atomic Tango.
- Crimson Caravan Company - next to the building southeast of the water tower.
- REPCONN test site - One is in the launch pad viewing room with Chris Haversam, in the basement.
- Goodsprings general store - On the right side (exterior), along with a reloading bench.
- Gun Runners - 3 of them are inside main warehouse, where workers are constructing weapons.
- Harper's shack - West of Ranger Station Charlie.
- Hidden Valley bunker, L2 - In the east workshop, where Senior Knight Lorenzo works.
- Lucky 38 presidential suite - One can be bought from the PC at the presidential suite in the Lucky 38. It will be placed in the kitchen.
- Michael Angelo's workshop - 3 workbenches are in the workshop.
- Nellis Air Force Base - East in the workshop, the middle of three small hangars. with a reloading bench.
- NCR Correctional Facility - To the left after exiting visitors center, courtyard side.
- Nipton - One can be found in Nipton in the house on the left of the City Hall.
- Novac - One is in the Poseidon gas station Garage, another just slightly southwest of No-bark's shack, and another can be found in Gibson scrap yard in the garage.
- Raul's shack
- REPCONN - Two can be found in REPCONN Research Labs top floor of REPCONN.
- Silver Peak Mine - Inside the shack before entering the mine itself, to the left of the door.
- Sloan - Machine Shop, on the left side.
- Southern Nevada Wind Farm - in the Maintenance Shack.
- Veronica Santangelo - Can act as a workbench through dialog options.
- ED-E - Can also act as a workbench if the Lonesome Road (add-on) is installed.
Fallout: New Vegas - Dead Money add-on
- Villa - In a room under an awning on the north side of the Villa, north-west of the entrance to Salida del Sol; the room is just west of a metal gate.
- Villa Clinic - in the basement.
- Sierra Madre Casino - In the executive suites level. South of entering level but must walk around to unlock the door.
- Sierra Madre Casino - In the Cantina Madrid. On your right after entering from the casino back hall.
Fallout: New Vegas - Honest Hearts add-on
- Cueva Guarache - After Joshua Graham leaves his original campsite at Angel Cave, this is one of the few workbench sites in Zion Canyon.
Fallout: New Vegas - Old World Blues add-on
- The Sink - In the room with the Sink Central Intelligence Unit.
Fallout: New Vegas - Lonesome Road add-on
- Hopeville Missile Base - Near the west entrance inside the gas station, identifiable by a Ralphie poster above it.