Ash Workbench

[Keith E Byrd]

I am alsmost done! This is an ash workbench. Top is laminated ash 2 7/8 thick, 28wx76l. 2x 4 1/2 in rails for a total top dimension of 32x80 with an 18" shoulder vise and a 32 in tail vise. base is made out of 3 1/4 in sq ash.
Still have to sand the top, drill the dog holes and put a finish on it.

[John Thompson]

Very solid design and extremely similar to my current bench Keith. The basic difference is I have a SYP top and old growth Doug Fir base from a recovered beam in an old civil war warehouse in Atlanta that was being torn down years ago. I did use through M & Ts and bride joints on mine in lieu of the lags (?) but that bench shold last a life-time.

Great work and you reap the rewards of the time invested...

[Bud Millis]

Looks solid. Not going to move that puppy when hand planning. Nice job.

[Dave Cav]

Nice looking bench. Should work very well. I made my workbench top out of ash (legs are alder) a couple of years ago and I'm very happy with it. The top is glued up boards about 1" x 4" and planed down; final thickness is about 3 1/2".

What vise hardware did you use? I like the spacing between the guide rods. I have a conventional vise in the tail vise position and would like to go with something wider.

[John Keeton]

I would say your bench will get the job done! Very nice, and it would really look good with a nice oil finish!

[Keith E Byrd]

Sarge - thanks for the comments. Questions: What is an SYP top? I used M&T on legs but not familiar with a bride joint - what is that?
I have the stretchers attached with a combo M&T with carriage bolts (for knockdown)

[Keith E Byrd]

John what would you recommend for the finish? I am thinking about Minwax Tung oil?

[Keith E Byrd]

I'm guessing it weighs in around 250.

[Jim Eller]

Mine is ash also and this is what I used to finish it.

As for the weight, I would think it weighs more than that. Mine is 25x96, with a 2 1/2" top and weighs approximately 350 pounds.

I used some UHMW on the bottom of the legs so I could slide it around on the concrete floor if needed.

Jim

[John Thompson]

SYP is southern yellow pine (long-leaf) which is very cheap down south. It is used in home construction.. very sturdy.. very heavy even though a soft-wood by nature. I have seen SYP studs in older homes that when throughly dried would be difficult to drive a nail in without bending it.

A bridle joint is.. picture a mortice at the very top of a.. say leg. If you cut it so the mortise just opens into the top of the leg in lieu of having 4 wooden walls surrounding the cavity is no longer a mortise joint but a bridle or in some circles called a Saddle joint. Picture the letter U but don't curve the bottom of the U. The tenon simply is dropped into it as there is no need for a shoulder at the top of a leg which is left open. It can be used when you need no structural should support upward as the case with the top of a work-bench leg.

I use watco on my benches also which is basically boiled linseed oil and a hint of resins. Watco will give off an slight amber tint (yellowish) as any linseed based oil. I suspect the Mini Tung Oil is tung oil with a touch of resins also. Tung oil dries very clear in lieu of amber so if you want to keep it clear is is a good choice over the Watco.

Note.. BLO (boiled linseed oil) take a while to dry. The oils will keep coming back up out of pores until they completely set or harden so you need to occasionally wipe the beads that will appear off every now and then with a towel. And if you use Tung oil is it notorious for true dry time. It may take a week for Tung to dry depending on conditions at your shop.

PS.. my trademark bench is using what I call a "whale-back" beam running from one top end stretcher to the opposite end stretcher in the very center under the top. This cuts the weight of the top in half of the weight is on each side of the beam. That pretty much insures no sag in the middle of a bench down the road as the beam is supportive of the center of top lenght-wise.

[Keith E Byrd]

Dave,
I'm not sure who manufactures the vise. The plan and vise kit is sold by American Furniture Design as the Acorn Bench - you can find it at americanfurnituredsgn.com

[Keith E Byrd]

I have one more coat of finish to put on my bench - will post new pictures when I get done. I used Woodriver 100% tung oil and mineral spirits. After 2 coats I am impressed - went on easily, dried fairly quickly (6-8 hours) brought out a little yellow tint to the wood.

[Ryan Sparreboom]

Looks good, but sorrym where's the shoulder vise?
I see a front vise and a tail vise, but you said there is a shoulder vise???
That would be a nice addition for sure!

Ryan

[Keith E Byrd]

My bad - I thought what I had was a shoulder vise. I did a quick google search and I guess I have what people call either a face or front vise.

[Keith E Byrd]

What are the over all dimensions of your bench - it looks very heavy and solid. How long have you had it? Did you make it?

[Todd Beaulieu]

I love it. I'm just starting out with woodworking and I'd love to make my own bench.

I looked into the plan you mentioned. The legs are quite different. I like yours better (no, I'm not hitting on you). Did you improve it, or was it an alternate design in the purchased plans?

Could you give me a ballpark cost for the materials?

Thanks!

[Keith E Byrd]

Thanks for the comments. It does not come with an alternate plan. I modified it myself. I made the top bigger and thicker - then adusted the other the dimensions on the other parts based on the new thickness. I put carriage bolts on the stretchers instead of the wedges and built a shelf into the stretchers. The plan and vises I think were $295 and I used about 130 bd ft of wood - I bought it from a friend who had a sawyer cut up some of his trees - and air dried - pretty rough wood and I planed a lot down. I think I have a total of about $500, plans, vises, wood, finish. Best part of the bench - I made it!

[Dave Haynes]

Keith.....

Your bench looks very similar to mine which I built early last year. The two primary differences are that I made mine from hard maple instead of ash and my tail vice is not full width of the bench like your is. You can read about mine and the building process article on my website if you care to at: http://www.oldaveswoodshop.com/Workbench.php

I know you will get plenty of good use from your bench as I have. My only problem at first was to actually do any work on it for fear of messing up the finish...........dumb huh? You should see it now though!

Great job!!

Dave

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Keith, Nice bench! Dave, thanks for posting a link to your build blog. I enjoyed reading it and found some info useful as I'm in the middle of my own workbench build.

[Todd Beaulieu]

Keith,

Do you think the plan/package you bought was better than this free plan from popular mechanics? Of course, I'd need to buy a vise or two, as well.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/woodworking/1302961.html?page=1

Does their plan include more step by step instructions for idiots like myself, or is it just a plan, assuming the builder has a clue?

I'd love to build one of these. I think I'm going to struggle trying to put the wood order together. I looked on Rockler and so far haven't been able to figure out what I'd need, what the wood cost would be. I hate being dumb.

I need to fast forward through the utter rookie phase this summer!

[Keith E Byrd]

Actually the plan at popular mechanics looks a lot like the plans I got - for $295 you get the plan and the vises. The plans are ok. I had to reread several parts to get what they were talking about. The vise assembley instructions - especially the tail vise were confusing - I would give the plan discriptions a C grade at best - the drawings of the parts etc were good and well laid out. I modified the table and ended up doing final assembly and vise installationon my own. Don't overrate your rookiness - I am sure you have much more skill than you give yourself credit for.

[Keith E Byrd]

Here are a few pictures of the final project! Now I can get to work. I have a question - I have few dog holes that the hold fast won't grab in - any ideas why? They have all been drilled with the same bit.

[Keith E Byrd]

Dave, just finished viewing your project - great job! I enjoyed observing the progress - I kind of relived mine as I went through yours!

[John Thompson]

Nice end result Keith.. that should do ya for the next several hundred years so.... :)

[Brian Tymchak]

Here are a few pictures of the final project! Now I can get to work. I have a question - I have few dog holes that the hold fast won't grab in - any ideas why? They have all been drilled with the same bit.



Keith,

Nice job on that bench!

WRT to your question about the dog holes, I read recently on the Grammercy website that their holdfasts worked better if you lightly sand around the post (not lengthwise on the post). I also read in another forum that the thicker the top, the harder it is to seat a hold fast. I can only offer the advice based on my reading. I am still midway thru my bench build and don't have any practical experience yet with holdfasts.

I noticed that you chamfered your dog holes and my curiosity is peaked. I think this is the first time I've seen that done. What led you to do that?

Thanks, Brian

[Keith E Byrd]

I chamfered the dog holes for two reasons: 1. I saw it on another bench and it looked good. 2. I had a few holes that had chewed edges from the drill bit and wanted to clean them up! (Appearance-ego?)
What you read was sand around the top of the holdfast shaft?
The dog holes are in the rail and they are 4 1/2 thick. That is where I have most of my problem but a few of them do hold. I will try to sand the posts and see what happens. Thanks for the tips.

[Van Huskey]

Very nice, I love the ash. Almost makes me wanna go neander.

[Rich Aldrich]

Keith,

Nice workbench. Ash is nice to work with and strong.

However, I don't think the vise you refer to as a shoulder vise is a true shoulder vise. It is in the position of a shoulder vise. A true shoulder vise allows the wood to be held through the vise vertically. There is no hardware to get in the way.

See the pictures below.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=139535&d=1264293582 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=139535&d=1264293582)

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=139534&d=1264293564 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=139534&d=1264293564)

[Neil Brooks]

Keith-

Excellent result.

I _keep_ seeing these benches popping up on the various ww sites.

They're calling to me.

They're haunting me.

I ... I ... I think I'm going to HAVE to build one.

I've found a few semi-local sawyers, too, including a guy with a *whole bunch* of historic, turn of the century doug fir.

If I go that route ... I can only hope that mine looks as good as yours!

Thanks for the additional inspiration.

Cheers!

[Brian Tymchak]

I chamfered the dog holes for two reasons: 1. I saw it on another bench and it looked good. 2. I had a few holes that had chewed edges from the drill bit and wanted to clean them up! (Appearance-ego?)
What you read was sand around the top of the holdfast shaft?
The dog holes are in the rail and they are 4 1/2 thick. That is where I have most of my problem but a few of them do hold. I will try to sand the posts and see what happens. Thanks for the tips.

Keith,

Sorry for not getting back to you. Was out this weekend. Here's what I read on the ToolsforWorkingWood website which sells the Gramercy holdfasts:


"Note: we have discovered that while the holdfasts work great they will work even better and in more benches if you just rub a little 150 or 220 sandpaper around the stems (not up and down, round and round)"

Here's the link:

http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=toolshop&Product_Code=MS-HOLDFAST.XX&Category_Code=

I also picked the following comment up off a forum called Family Woodworking (which sure looks a lot like SMC..)


"I seem to remember an "Old Codger" telling me something about the thicker the top is, it needs to have a "SLIGHTLY" larger hole than a thin top to get them to hold, since the holdfast cocks off of vertical and binds on one side of the hole at the top and at the opposite side of the hole at the bottom. With the THICK top and a small hole, the holdfast can't cock sideways enough to get a grip."

Here's the link on the thread from that forum: http://www.familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6962

Re: chamfers - Asthetics are important! I was wondering what bit of woodworking wisdom I was missing out on. I hadn't really considered what I would do if I messed up a dog hole :eek: when I drill my bench top. Maybe now I have a plan... Thanks!

Brian

[Alex Shanku]

I have a top slightly thicker than 4" and my holdfasts work just fine without any additional tinkering.