Hopefully this is ok with the content suggestion guildlines, since actually implementing this is wayyy beyond my technical ability.
I propose we entirely get rid of workbench uis.
there are 3 functions we want to emulate inside the table
material placing
you should have a little placing box on the square you hover over. right clicking with the material in your hand should place it on the square
tool switching
hovering over this side of the workbench should make the crosshair change to a switch icon thing
crafting the result
hovering over this side of the workbench should make the crosshair change to a hammer
the why i think this makes crafting more immersive and also makes it visible to other player which adds a social aspect which i thought was missing, multiple people could collaborate on a tool. its also one less ui we have to worry about.