And the march to a new workbench has begun!

[Derek Gilmer]

Found a local cl add with some maple, cherry, walnut and oak for sale and drove out this weekend to check it out. It is definitely a place I will be visiting more in the coming months! Great guy, good prices and good lumber. For the first trip my main goal was to scout out some maple. I've been toying with building a bench for months but as I get more into hand tools the more I need one. The smaller bench I have now is great but it walks away and racks a bit more than I care for. After chatting lumber for awhile it was getting dark so I loaded up and have this in the garage acclimating now. Don't worry it is stickered, this was shortly after unloading. About 100 bf of soft maple in 1.25x12 and 1.25x8 widths all 8' long
178573
*horrible pic I know, stupid iphone in low light.

I'm not 100% on what bench style it will be patterned after most but I've got a few decisions made.

It will be a laminated top about 3.5-4" thick, 24-30" wide and 6 to 8' long.
I may go slightly wider to around 34" if I decide to put a tool tray in the middle. The legs will be flush with the front for clamping. And stability
Stretchers and legs will be made of SYP laminated together


I figure I'll let the lumber acclimate for a few weeks to a few months. Which should give me time to finish up decisions on bench style, hardware, have a baby and finish up the baby's dresser/changing table :)

[Chris Fournier]

That would be a very wide bench and it may make sense depending on what kind of work you intend to do on it. If you're going to be using it for hand tool work to make furniture I think that it is far wider than it needs to be. Again this has everything to do with how you will be using it.

I've made three cabinetmakers benches for myself over the years and each bench has been narrower than the one before. My favourite bench is the last one at 18" wide.

You currently likely don't have enough maple for the top that you've spec'd once you add the waste factor into the mix.

Building a bench is always exciting, keep us up to date on your build!

[Derek Gilmer]

That would be a very wide bench and it may make sense depending on what kind of work you intend to do on it. If you're going to be using it for hand tool work to make furniture I think that it is far wider than it needs to be. Again this has everything to do with how you will be using it.

I've made three cabinetmakers benches for myself over the years and each bench has been narrower than the one before. My favourite bench is the last one at 18" wide.

You currently likely don't have enough maple for the top that you've spec'd once you add the waste factor into the mix.

Building a bench is always exciting, keep us up to date on your build!

Hmm.. never thought about going narrower. The bench I have now is 2'x4' and there are times it would be nice to have wider for glue ups and dry fitting. Do you work from both sides of the 18" bench or one side? This is going to be positioned so that I can get around all sides.

[Paul Incognito]

I'm interested in seeing this develop. I need a new bench myself and while what you're planning would be way too wide for my shop, I like some of your ideas.
Please keep us posted on your build progress.
Paul

[Andrew Gibson]

Hay Derek, Looking forward to following your build.
I just finished up my bench and I have to suggestion... my bench is 24" wide with a 6" tool tray, so that makes the main bench about 16"wide... the back rail is 2". I find that this is a good size and I can get around it to plane wide stock form both sides. I would be hesitant to go wider then 2' unless you have specific projects that demand it.
My bench is 6' long by necessity... Make the bench as long as possible.

[Charles Goodnight]

If you need a wide bench occasionally just to have a wide flat surface, why not plan on making an auxiliary table (maybe even a folding table) at the same height. If you made it right you could clamp the auxiliary table to the bench apron, and have a nice wide table when you needed it. Most times it could just sit quietly in the corner.

[Chris Fournier]

Derek, both of my cabinetmakers benches are against a wall on the back side. Accessing the back side would be of no use to me given my methods of work. When I do have a wide glue up I use T-bars on the bench to get the width that I need. Don't forget that your bench needs to be flat and it's much easier to flatten a narrower bench than a very wide one. When I haul out the t-bars, which is all the time, I can even shim them to take out any wind before I start gluing up my panel or cabinet etc..

I am lucky enough to have a 4'X8' torsion top assembly table with a metal base frame where large work occurs. I can roll this bench around where I need it and access if from all sides.

If your new bench is to be used primarily with hand tools like panel saws, handplanes and even power routers for dimensioning and joinery work then I would try to keep it narrower than wider. A second assembly table may be something to consider for the really big work and other tasks. Both of my cabinetmakers benches have tail and face vises.

Attached is a photo of my main bench which is 24" wide. Except for the storage underneath, I would prefer that this bench was no more than 20" wide. Too late!

[David Keller NC]

I'll second the opinion on making a bench a bit narrower. I'm typically working with wide boards, but even so, I've not found any need in a bench wider than 24" as an absolute maximum. Making one wider just takes up more floor space and more $$$ in lumber.

If you're building a bench for the first time, check out Chris Schwarz's book; Workbenches: From Theory and Design to Construction and Use. There's a heck of a lot of good information in there, and if you wish you can sell it on this forum for nearly what you paid for it.

[John Sanford]

I'm going to go the other direction and defend the choice of a wider bench, although I am skeptical regarding the tool tray.

My first bench was 36" wide, with access all around. Loved it. My current bench is 25" wide, with access all around. Like it. This weekend I was gluing up some large drawers, and let me tell ya, it's really frustrating when the blasted Bessey K-Body heads keep dropping off the edge of the bench.

I am plotting my next bench, and it will be a bit wider, somewhere between 27"-30". Pull out the 24" K-Body, extend it all the way, set up a couple of 'em on the bench and go to town.

[Benjamin Heuer]

My bench, which is also my first, is 30" wide, and it seems to be good for me. I have access to all sides, and since I have "ape arms", it seems to be a good width for me and my needs for the time being. I wish I had made it longer though. I didn't think I would need more at the time, but it seems like I run out of space on it quickly at 80". I think another ft. would've been better.

[Steve LaFara]

My current bench is 36" x 72" with access all around and would not think of going any smaller. In fact I want my next to be 36" x 84". I tend to work on multiple projects at a time and the extra available space helps a lot. My rule of thumb is go as big as you have room for. :)

[Pam Niedermayer]

Hmm.. never thought about going narrower. The bench I have now is 2'x4' and there are times it would be nice to have wider for glue ups and dry fitting. Do you work from both sides of the 18" bench or one side? This is going to be positioned so that I can get around all sides.

I prefer to have a separate assembly platform. Trying to assemble, even briefly, on the main bench provides way too much hassle for me.

Pam

[Derek Gilmer]

Looks like I'll stick to around 24" and build a seperate assembly area. You can kind of see to the left in the picture a large raggedy looking object. It is my outfeed table/DH wood kiln. I will probably remake the not so flat top it has now into a torsion box and use it for assembly/outfeed.

A question for tool tray lovers and haters. What are the pros and cons of having a tool tray on your bench?

[Matt Radtke]

A question for tool tray lovers and haters. What are the pros and cons of having a tool tray on your bench?

I'm not a tray lover, but I did build my bench with a tray. In general, I think I like it more with that I would without. I keep knocking stuff towards the back of my bench and the tray catches it everytime.

I think that every bench you make is a reaction to your previous bench. I was stuck with just a Workmate with dogs that were over 1" tall or my "homeowners" bench with a undulating OSB top with a piece of maple I nailed on for a stop.

I kept running out of room for my tools on the workmate (not to mention the lack of size and weight for actually working) and the uneven top of the other bench made for some funny lumber.

My reactions were: 1) I need dogs, lots of them, but they will be able to sit flush when I need them. 2) I will have a place to set tools during work 3) the top will be able to be flattened 4) Big and Heavy.

I'm sure I'll come up with more reactions the more I use this bench.

[Derek Gilmer]

Well some progress was made today. After doing a little math it looked like a rough thickness of 3.75 inches would maximize the widths I had in maple. So me and the table saw got to spend some quality time together. I did use a hand saw to cut all the boards to length. But I don't have a good rip saw so I didn't even want to attempt ripping these all to size.

I ended up with 32 boards that are 6'6" to 7'8" long, 1" to 1.25" thick and 3.75" wide. There about 3 to 6 other boards that are close to right and will be desperation pieces. I figure after jointing and planing coming out with a 24" wide laminated top should be fairly easy. If I loose quite a bit to warping I'll put in a tool tray or trim up some oak and or walnut I have laying around to add "decorative" accents ;)

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[Chris Fournier]

My last bench was made because I had bought a very large hard maple log for a waned edge project and the inner 4 flitches were not useful for my clients commission. The log had a horrible wind to it and I really couldn't get any useful lengths over 48" out of the inner flitches of the log once the commission was done. I didn't want to waste so much hard maple so I thought that I would build a bench with a patternmakers vise but I wanted a bench that was at least 7' long.

I decided to take the short rough billets and scarf joint them at a 20 degree angle. I made a simple jig and had at it, trying to keep the grain direction consistent while I glued up longer blanks - this was not always possible. In a couple instances I had two scarf joints in one finished length.

The end result is that I have the most stable bench top that I have ever built, it has remained very flat.

Perhaps you could use the same technique to get the bench length that you want and use up all of your lumber. In my opinion it's well worth the extra effort and truthfully you have to point out the scarf joints to people. I used one long piece for the front of the bench to hide my trickery. I cut the scarfs on a tablesaw with a dedicated sled/jig fixed at 20 degrees - easy.

[jamie shard]

Smart idea!

[Pat Barry]

Scarf joint, eh? I wish I had seen this last weekend. A question though, how did you get the scarf to overlap just right during the glue-up? Not slide out of the correct position?

[Derek Gilmer]

After measuring, remeasuring, gnashing my teeth and setting up a 6, 7 and 8 foot long plank on saw horses around the shop I decided the bench will be 6' long. It is the biggest I can reasonably fit in my garage shop now with out crowding everything else out. So the scarf joints look neat but hopefully I won't need them for this go around.

[Chris Fournier]

How'd I do it?

I laid the two pieces on a bench top and lightly clamped a caul over the joint overlapping both pieces that kept the faces aligned. I then put two cauls that covered the edges of the scarf joint and then lightly clamped them as well. Then I took a long pipe clamp and applied significant pressure at both ends of the pieces to firm up the joint.

Once the glue had set and all the joints were done I machined the billets down to final dimension and was off and running.

This is my best recollection.

[Pam Niedermayer]

Scarf joint, eh? I wish I had seen this last weekend. A question though, how did you get the scarf to overlap just right during the glue-up? Not slide out of the correct position?

You can also make keyed scarf joints.

Pam