it ain't winning any beauty contests, but it's mine and it does its job

[Zahid Naqvi]

So after wishy washing for a couple years I finally buckled down and did it, made a work bench thanks to all the advice offered by fellow creekers. Along the lines of the Roubo, with minor modifications to suit the supplies at hand and perceived convenience. Lots of tearout (it was deliberate to add friction to the top ;)), the end/tail vise top is not exactly parallel to the bench top, the far end still needs to be cut-off etc. small stuff incorporated into the design to add character :cool:

I had seen, and used once, the perforated board/stick with the movable pin which is used as the bottom support on a leg vise. Every time I looked at that I felt a twinge in my bad back, so I cooked up this threaded rod thing instead. In theory it will allow me to adjust the bottom opening by spinning the disk with my foot. I have given it a couple tries and so far it seems to be doing good. Although the threaded rod does not slide through the leg as well as I hoped it would. I may have to enlarge the hole some and stick a narrow copper/steel tubing in it to prevent the threads from grabbing the wood grain.

The planing stop is just a 1/4" thin sheet of Walnut glued to a couple dowels. This I have used quiet a bit in the last 2 weeks and it works wonderfully well. I was hoping with a thin planing stop I would be able to plane thin and thick stock on the same planing stop.

At some point in time I will probably add some storage under the bench, leaving clearance on the top for any holdfast type gizmo if I acquire one. I am still not sold on the holdfast concept.

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[george wilson]

Good idea to line the hole with metal for the threaded rod.

Holdfasts are great. Once you have tried one,you will like them just fine. I used mine all the time when I was in public. They do tend to take hunks of wood around the hole you tighten them into,so you might want to bevel the edge of the hole. That fir will definitely chip out if you don't. I had some chipping in my maple top.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Congratulations on completing the bench. I looks very functional and I am sure you will enjoy using it. How did you join the top to the legs? Did you use 4x4's from the borg for your top? Are you planning any type of finish?

[Matthew Dunne]

Beauty contest or no, that looks like one heck of a great bench. I'm jealous. Enjoy!

[Jim Matthews]

I believe the term you seek is "rugged good looks".

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I remember my high school friends lusting after the Pontiac Trans Am. I drove an International Harvester Travelall.
Didn't look like much, but it got plenty of use...

[Jeff Wittrock]

Zahid,

That looks like a good solid bench!

[John Tallyn]

All that matters is, you built it, it works for you.

[george wilson]

Your bench looks fine. It is a workbench,and a fancy one will just get messed up,cut,scratched,stained,etc. I like to build benches myself,but the way I build them ,the parts are heavy for my old body to deal with. I do have about enough 4" thick hard maple to make another one,but I would have no need for it,or any place to put another bench. Maybe I'll make vise screws,or planes with it. Maple should be better than beech in just about every way. beech was so cheap and common I think they used it for those reasons. The English also made cheap furniture out of beech.

[Bob Jones]

Don't underestimate the fun, value, and usability of a holdfast. I love mine from tfww.

[Gary Hodgin]

Great job! That's a nice looking and functional workbench. I know it takes a lot of work to build something like that.

[Zahid Naqvi]

The top is held in place via a couple dowels through two legs (diagonally across). I have already done a lot of planing on the bench and the top stays put even with two dowels. Yes I did use 4x4 Doug Fir from the local HD. Nope no finish planned. The wood I suspect is not uniformly dry and it will take a few months before it acclimatizes to my garage, I think there will be more movement and hence more flattening. Even after it becomes stable I don't know why I would need a finish of any type, raw wood will provide more friction, very useful for hand tool work.


Congratulations on completing the bench. I looks very functional and I am sure you will enjoy using it. How did you join the top to the legs? Did you use 4x4's from the borg for your top? Are you planning any type of finish?

[David Keller NC]

Even after it becomes stable I don't know why I would need a finish of any type, raw wood will provide more friction, very useful for hand tool work.

You don't. It's an aesthetic choice, of course, but I far prefer a bench with a "patina" of sweat, dirt and oil to bench that looks like it belongs in a living room with a crystal liquor set on it.

[Terry Beadle]

Nice bench !

No dog holes ....?

[Jay Maiers]

Very nice Zahid. I like the idea of the screw adjusted pin replacement. I hope it works well for you.


I had seen, and used once, the perforated board/stick with the movable pin which is used as the bottom support on a leg vise. Every time I looked at that I felt a twinge in my bad back, so I cooked up this threaded rod thing instead. In theory it will allow me to adjust the bottom opening by spinning the disk with my foot. I have given it a couple tries and so far it seems to be doing good. Although the threaded rod does not slide through the leg as well as I hoped it would. I may have to enlarge the hole some and stick a narrow copper/steel tubing in it to prevent the threads from grabbing the wood grain.


McMaster has a large selection of flanged bushings available in a dozen different flavors of bronze (oilite), nylon, and problably a billion other materials. They're really meant to be rotational bearings, but I've used them as linear bearings a number of times with no issues. Adding a bit of a chamfer to the mouth of the bushing would probably smooth the movement even more. They're relatively cheap too, especially for the sub 1" diameter stuff. If you don't want to order from McMaster, a really good local hardware store might have them as well.

[Chris Fournier]

I would strongly consider radiusing all the edges on your bench - say 1/8" to 3/16" rads. I recommend this because your bench will wear better when it gets whacked and it will prevent lacerations to yourself! I would also get some finish on the beast to protect it fromglue and the odd light stain.

It looks sturdy but a bit rough and that's the builder's call! Plain brown wrapper is good in many cases.

You certainly won't regret storing tools in the space between the trestle stretcher and bench top. You bench won't move and neither will you, it's a very efficient work station when you go this route.

I'm certain that you'll get plenty of payback for your efforts.

[Jim Koepke]

It looks like a good strong functional bench.

I hope I can finish mine as quickly.

My holdfast get a lot of use. They are a very good and fast way to secure something to a bench.

jtk

[Zahid Naqvi]

I eased the edges with a hand planes, just enough that they would not be sharp to the touch. So why do you think radiusing the edges allows the bench to wear better.


I would strongly consider radiusing all the edges on your bench - say 1/8" to 3/16" rads. I recommend this because your bench will wear better when it gets whacked and it will prevent lacerations to yourself! I would also get some finish on the beast to protect it fromglue and the odd light stain.

[Leigh Betsch]

It's a good looking bench too me.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

The planing stop is just a 1/4" thin sheet of Walnut glued to a couple dowels. This I have used quiet a bit in the last 2 weeks and it works wonderfully well. I was hoping with a thin planing stop I would be able to plane thin and thick stock on the same planing stop.

I pondered making one of these for my bench..... I think that you have inspired me to give it a try. I already have the dowel for it (purchased for exactly this purpose). I will admit, however, that it had not occurred to me to make it this large.... I was thinking single dogs with a square top. What you have done makes much more sense. I have a bunch of maple sitting around that would be perfect for this.

[Adam Slutsky]

Zahid:

It looks like a great bench -- thanks for sharing it with us. How do you like using the leg vise?

[Zahid Naqvi]

@Andrew: I could claim that the design was well thought out, but alas that was not he case. I just happened to have this board lying around, leftovers from some resawed materials. I needed some kind of plaining stop for the lumber I was dimensioning for the leg vise, I was just thinking something that is wide enough so that I do not have to adjust/move the work at hand to keep the single dog hole behind the plane, and thin enough that it does not create a problem for the 3/4" material I was working on. It just worked so well during that process I figured I'd keep it as a permanent plaining stop. So I kinda stumbled into it, more than designed it.


I will admit, however, that it had not occurred to me to make it this large.... I was thinking single dogs with a square top.

@Adam: I really haven't used the leg vise much. So far I like the fact that it opens up much wider than any front vise, plus it is much deeper as well. But most others who have used one think it is more functional than the typical front vise.

[Chris Fournier]

I eased the edges with a hand planes, just enough that they would not be sharp to the touch. So why do you think radiusing the edges allows the bench to wear better.

It all comes down to PSI. A radiused edge will spread the impact over more surface area and reduce the PSI and reduce the resulting dent potential. Of course dents can all be steamed out if they bother you as they can bother me.

[Conrad Fiore]

Zahid,
I finished my bench last year and used the BLO/Bees wax finish. The only reason I opted for any finish was to aid in keeping any drops of glue from sticking to the benchtop.

[Jake Rothermel]

Zahid, that looks great!! Coincidently, almost exactly the design I've had sketched hanging above my desk. Simple, functional, sturdy. Like Andrew and others, I give a hefty +1 to your plane stop. Well-thought out or not, it looks like it does what you need just about perfectly. Have you had any issues with it shifting on you since the dowels go all the way through? I assume they fit pretty darn tight into the walnut.

Anyways, I'm glad to see you "finally" got over the hump of design indecision and built the darn thing! Hope it lives up to all your expectation!!

[Zahid Naqvi]

Well I was unsure it will hold up to rough use since the glue surface area between the dowels and the Walnut was not much. But surprisingly it seems to be pretty stable. The dowels go all the way through and are pretty snug. Before drilling the dowel holes I clamped the Walnut strip to the bench and then drilled the holes right through both. I knew with a hand held drill I will not be able to get perfectly aligned holes. Conincedentally the plain stop only fits one way if I turn it around the dowels do not line up :eek:


Have you had any issues with it shifting on you since the dowels go all the way through? I assume they fit pretty darn tight into the walnut.

[Dave Anderson NH]

I have used that type of planng stop on both of my last 2 benches and it works extremely well, particularly for wide boards. Mine is a bit thicker at 1/2", and I use scrap cutoffs of 1/8" and 1/4" masonite and plywood as shims when I need to plane really thin stock. This gives me a bit more surface area for the through hole dowels glued in the holes whick were drilled undersized by 1/64" to allow for a force fit. I first found this type of stop shown in Sam Allen's book on benches almost 20 years ago. I also have a couple of stops where the board is a 3" square and uses a single dowl to fit in my front row of dog holes. I know you are reticent to try holdfasts Zahid, but I urge you to do so. They add so much extra versatility for clamping.

[Zahid Naqvi]

I'll add that to the "things to look out for" in the upcoming Dowd's vintage tools sale.


I know you are reticent to try holdfasts Zahid, but I urge you to do so. They add so much extra versatility for clamping.

[anthony wall]

my bench was put together in a similar fashion also with a leg vise which is great i also used the threaded rod at the bottom but put a larger wheel on it that sticks out past the chop each side so that it can be spun in and out with my foot ,it works surprisingly well