Just finished my workbench

[Mike Whelan]

Hello everyone I've been a memeber on this site for a few years now and I haven't done much in the way of posting but I just finished building my workbench and I thought I'd share it with you. I've learned alot from all of you and I really think this site is an invaluable resource. My WONDERFUL mother sent me "The Workbench Book" from Scott Landis a few years ago and on the cover is the shaker bench. When I first saw it I thought WOW that's a beautiful bench. So I built one. I got most of the lumber from a jobsite 3 summers ago that had 9 foot planks of various hardwoods. I took them home and dismantled them. That was a job in itself!!! It's mostly oak. The drawer fronts and panels on the doors are, I believe soft maple. The top is 8'8" x 28" and it's 3" thick. The apron is 4 1/2" thick. It's 34" high and the base is 6'9" x 23". My shop is only 9'5" x 22' but it fits just fine over in the corner:). Anyway thanks for looking. Any critiques are more than welcome. I hope these pics turn out this is the first time I've done this

[Joe Shinall]

Mike, I have one really huge critique! It's not in my shop...:D

Beautiful. I couldn't imagine nicking it up. Looks better than my dining room table. You should really enjoy using that. How many hours do you have in it?

[Mike Whelan]

Thanks Joe. I'd have to guestimate maybe 300-400 hours. Took me about 10 months from start to finish but I had times where I took a break from working on it.

[Michael MacDonald]

holy moley that is beautiful.

[John Keeton]

Very nice work, Mike, and extra points for salvaged material!! Nice looking dovetails on the top, vises, and drawers.

[Keith Young]

Mike, well done!! It is a beauty. Make sure you sign and date it, I'm sure this will be pasted down as a family treasure.

Keith

[John Tomasello jr]

Wow that is a fantastic bench you did a excellent job

[Jerry Olexa]

Very nice results!!! Excellent!! Now, use it...:)

[Terry Hatfield]

Awesome!!! I love it. Looks almost to good to use. If it were me, I'd go ahead and but a big scratch on it just to get it over with. I know I cried the first time I scratched mine. It's well worn now.

t

[George Sanders]

Fantastic! That's what I dream of having.

[John Thompson]

Not much to critique Mike. Good joinery on a solid design and you chose a design that fits well in your limited space shop to gain storage in lieu of dead space with that large a bench. But.. time to look beyond the beauty of new and put it to work meaning.. don't be afraid of scratching or denting it as that is function it serves. Character is only achieved after the bench leaves the showroom. ;)

[Jerry Balzell]

Recycle material can't beat it, nice work.

[gary Zimmel]

Beautiful work on the bench Mike.
I bet it is going to give you many years of service.

[Anthony Anderson]

That is very nice work Mike. I would like to have a bench like that someday. I am sure it will serve you well. I have a couple of metal tool boxes right now, but maybe in the next year or so, I will build one like yours. I am envious.

Thanks for sharing.

[Mike Whelan]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate it. I'll use it soon enough and I really don't mind it getting scratched and beat up. That's what it's for anyway right?

[Mark Stutz]

Good looking bench Mike. I suspect that you will find it a little more functional if you can move it away from the corner. I often find myself using the face vise with stock extending past the end of the bench.

Mark

[Jim Kountz]

A bench can be a hallmark of a woodworkers career and I think you have more than achieved that with this one. Excellent job all around!!

[Keith E Byrd]

Fantastic! Great job on the bench. I just finished mine a few weeks ago and started my first project - the bench was a great add to my shop. I am certain you will too - again great job!.

[mreza Salav]

That's a solid fine looking bench. Well done! I hope I build one for myself some day....:rolleyes:
I thought you could put it somewhere in the middle so you can use it from all side.

[Dennis Lopeman]

AWESOME - I love work benches!!!

One Question:

What are those holes in the floor (see pic 005)?

are they for Floor Dogs? haha!

[Dennis Lopeman]

OH - I also like that you tried different dovetails for your drawers... were you practicing or showcasing?

[Louis Bois]

Excellent job on the bench Mike! May it serve many future generations of Whelans.

I would also like to echo Mark's remark about moving it away from the corner. In any event, you'll discover its optimal location once you start working with it and it's a relatively easy thing to move later as the need arises, assuming you have four weightlifters available for the task!:eek:;)

[Mike Whelan]

thank again for all your replies. Dennis, I built the floor in my shop because it's a concrete underneath it and the concrete slopes toward a drain on one side of the room making for a very unlevel floor. Besides I'd rather be working on a wood floor anyday. the floor dogs (what a concept :)) are just for air flow under the floor to prevent condensation. and the dovetails in the drawers were for practice. I figured since this was my bench it really doesn't matter to me that they're different and that I wanted to get a feel of different dovetails. I've only tryed doing dovetails once before but I did do some practice cuts.

[Thomas love]

Nice bench Mike,

[Dennis Lopeman]

Mike - the reason I noticed the dovetails was b/c I was thinking of doing the same in my shop, once I get to the drawers! However, my difference is that I'm not doing them by hand... I got this new jig from Peachtree woodworking (like the Rockler one, I think) and bought a couple fun templates. So I will try them all. I also wanna try the dovetail holder jig thing I got from HarborFreight a long time ago... (am I the only person that buys tools and doesn't use them for sometimes YEARS!!!????) I'm crazy like that. I buy them now, b/c later they will be more expensive... yeah... that's why... it's an investment...

OK - I digress.

That's a good idea with the floor - venting - I would not have thought of that. When we bought our house, it had a "workout" room... 20x20. It already had the white and black checkered "school lunchroom" tiles. That will do me just fine.

Back to the dovetails - I REALLY like your triangle ones! you know which ones? Those are really eye catching and are what drew my attention to your different ones!!!

[John Lytle]

Mike,

Thanks for posting this. I am planning to build a very similar version (likely flipping ends to fit my space). Seeing yours makes me want to build this even more.

Great job.

John

[Tri Hoang]

Beautiful plan & good execution. I love the details on your tail vise.

[Van Huskey]

I love the bench, I keep planning to build one but never seem to make the time.

[Charlie Kocourek]

That is a fantastic looking bench, Mike.

I did a lot of research before I designed my bench. I have 3 or 4 different workbench books and I think Scott Landis' book is far and away the best of the bunch.

Congratulations on the great job!

Charlie