The weekend bench is complete

[Douglas Brummett]

I guess it is somewhat of a misnomer. I dubbed the bench the weekend bench foolishly at the start of it. In the end I have logged just over 40 hours in the build. I started construction on 12/27/2008 and put the finishing touches on it yesterday 1/11/2009.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=106675&stc=1&d=1231780558

I chose design elements that I liked from several benches that I had seen browsing the net. If I were to give it a Shwarz classification then it is a Holtzapffel. Front legs are flush to the benchtop apron. It features a 36in bench height and a benchtop that is 27in x 101.5in. There were definitely some trade-offs made during the construction. Truth be told you need a bench to build a bench. Working with very rough just shy of 8/4 poplar boards I erected the bench with a whole shop full of tools. My hand planes saw some serious use.

The construction is primarily simple joinery (but joints, finger joints, pocket screw). I chose to make it a knock-down. Within about 15 minutes the bench will break down into top, shelf, legs, and vises. The top is a 4 sheet thick mdf lamination wrapped with poplar.

In the end it was a valuable learning project and now I have a much better place to do my work. I made my share of mistakes along the way, but that's part of learning right :D

Tons of photos of the build:
http://picasaweb.google.com/anon102

[Dewey Torres]

Isn't that funny (Weekend this and that). I guess some could do it in a weekend but that means working tirelessly all day Friday, Sat, and Sunday I guess. Maybe Schwartz could do it in a weekend but few DIYers ever do. Having said that, starting after the holiday and being done by mid January is really good IMO.

Nice bench.

[Jim Koepke]

Weekend my #%%!!!

I spend hours sometimes just getting a little detail right on a piece of wood that no one is going to notice anyway.

Everyone has heard of a 5 minute dovetail. Well, my technique has perfected the 3 week dovetail, and I don't even have a job to go to!

BTW, nice bench.

jim

[Carlos Cabrera]

Douglas that is a nice bench !! Can you elaborate on how the screws are mounted on that huge front vise, maybe a picture of the bottom ??

Thanks, Carlos

[Douglas Brummett]

Hey Carlos,
The twin screw is built up lust like a Veritas, but the screws are independent since there is no chain or cogs. The 4 large bolt heads you see in the benchtop secure the mounting blocks of the vise. I also used some 3M super 77 adhesive to prevent these blocks from slipping under heavy clamping or use.

The vise screws themselves are held to the blocks by 4 no12 x3in wood screws on each.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_D1mVNoAxHoI/SWQ5Vj04g9I/AAAAAAAAD7I/HvkZBUJdaMQ/s720/IMG_4472.JPG

The front chock is mounted to the vise screws with 2 no12 wood screws per flange.

I used 3/8in steel rod as carrier pins so that my work doesn't ride on the screws.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_D1mVNoAxHoI/SWmDM9L-S5I/AAAAAAAAD-0/za3i721sNT4/s720/IMG_4485.JPG

The last detail of the twin screw construction is to taper the chock. I had about .100" of distortion when clamping something at the top of the vise. So I transferred this dimension to the chock, struck a line on each side, and used my hand planes to remove the material.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_D1mVNoAxHoI/SWmDLkDVhQI/AAAAAAAAD-k/sinTqSlJK0c/s720/IMG_4483.JPG

[Douglas Brummett]

... Having said that, starting after the holiday and being do by mid January is really good IMO.

That's it, I am showing this post to the Mrs. I don't think she believed me when I told that most guys spend 2-6 months fussing around building a bench. I was feeling good about how quick it came together. Granted, as the title indicates I thought I could do it even faster. It is all the little details that take so much time.

[steve swantee]

Hi Douglas, nice looking bench. Should be nice and heavy with four layers of mdf in the top. Good idea with the carrier pins to keep your work off the screws, I might have to borrow that idea for my bench. I find even simple jobs have a way of dragging on for days or weeks. I have reconfigured my bench about five times now, much to the dismay of the LOML, and I think it has finally had it's final refit. A bench is a very personal thing for us woodworkers.

Steve

[Jim Becker]

So you just didn't know WHICH week the project would end! :)

Very nice looking bench, too.

[willie sobat]

Nice bench. I know what you mean by needing a bench to build a bench. When I first started out I decided to build Norm's bench. My thought at the time was that I would use that one to build my ultimate bench at some point in the future. 15 years later my bench to build a bench is still hanging in there.

[David Keller NC]

Ha! There are no "weekend" projects in the woodshop, unless it's a project to polish and hone your plane irons (and even that might not be a weekend, depending on whether your shop's oriented towards power tools or hand tools).

Doug - I've a comment you may (or may not) find useful. Since you elected not to put chains and sprockets on your vise screws to have them drive in/out with one handle, there's a modification you can make that allows you to rack the vise to hold un-even parts without tearing up the screws and threaded collars. Essentially, you remove the screws from the outside collars so the chop's not bolted to the vise screws, then add a reasonably sturdy little hardwood block as a bearing surface against the chop. You may also have to drill bigger holes in the chop for the vise screws to permit the whole assembly to rack.

The downside is that the vise chop won't automatically come back when you back off the screws, but I rarely find that to be an inconvenience - when the screws are backed off, the flex of the vise chop springs it back enough to release the clamped piece. The only time I've had to manually pull back on the vise chop is when I've got a substantially bigger piece that requires a several inch wider opening in the vise.

This is typically the way twin-screw wooden vises work. The holes in the chop are drilled a fair bit larger than the screw diameters, and there's a mortised garter that allows the user to lock the chop to the vise screws if so desired, then remove them to allow non-parallel operation of the vise.

[Douglas Brummett]

Thanks for the comments guys. It is going to take a bit of a get-to-know my bench period to work out any additional kinks. For now it is up and running, but needs some more dog holes here and there.

David, that information is useful. I did contemplate something along those lines, but I am going to save that exercise for the day that I need more skew on the vise than I can get now (maybe 5-10 degrees, I haven't actually measured).

In the end I think the details of the bench flushed out well. I would do things a bit differently next time. For a novice's first attempt at a woodworking bench I think it turned out as good as it could have. Of course now that I have a bench it would be much easier to fabricate another :)

[glenn bradley]

That's it, I am showing this post to the Mrs. I don't think she believed me when I told that most guys spend 2-6 months fussing around building a bench.

My bench is based on a "weekend" bench form Wood magazine (I think). Four layers of MDF like yours and construction fir for the frame. It took several weekends and evenings. Yours looks great.

[Ken Higginbotham]

Cool pictures. Nice bench. I'm jealous :)

ken

[Jason Tuinstra]

Great looking bench. I'm sure you won't be able to figure out how you lived without it. Pretty wise in making it so that you can break it down easily. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[Douglas Brummett]

Wise or not, just the way I am programmed. Over the last decade I have lived in more than 10 places. Hopefully I won't be moving any time soon since we have bought a house. But better safe than sorry.

It does suffer some on rigidity and vibration due to this construction over glue and mortises. But it is worlds better than my HF clamp on vises on my cabinet workbench. I think it will serve me until I run out of furniture projects in the house, maybe then I will return and do up something nicer.

[Douglas Brummett]

Put some BLO on the bench last night. She looks pretty nice oiled up :p

[Hank Knight]

6 1/2" shy of 9' MAN! I love aircraft carriers. Nice bench. Lots of room on top.

Hank

[Douglas Brummett]

6 1/2" shy of 9' MAN! I love aircraft carriers. Nice bench. Lots of room on top.

Hank
Well, working with MDF and not being length restricted it would just be silly to have chopped the length down :)

I was also trying to coordinate the bench length with the typical 8-9ft board that I get from my lumber yards. It was really a disappointment to score the poplar for under $1/bdft and then have no way of working it. Hopefully this bench will prevent most of those situations in the future.

[Carlos Cabrera]

Douglas,

I just wanted to ask you if you are happy with the 2 single vise design as opposed to the Veritas twin screws that have a chain. I am trying to decide whether to get the Veritas twin screws or just use the 2 single screws like you have for considerably less cost. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Carlos

[Douglas Brummett]

Douglas,

I just wanted to ask you if you are happy with the 2 single vise design as opposed to the Veritas twin screws that have a chain. I am trying to decide whether to get the Veritas twin screws or just use the 2 single screws like you have for considerably less cost. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Carlos
Well, considering I got the screws for $8ea I don't have much of a leg to stand on and complain from. It is a bit harder to cinch up two independent screws, but that is my only observation so far. I don't see chain devices on older benches and a lot nicer work than I make came off of them. So at the end of the day it is a vise and it holds wood. I am as happy as can be :)