It's a bench!

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Well, it's still got a fair bit of work; (deadman, shelf, bench dogs and leg vise) but hey! It's on it's own feet!

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Maple top (and vise chop) poplar bottoms, hardware by Lake Erie and Jorgensen. Danish Oil on the maple, although I haven't done the vise chop or the work surface yet, and milk paint and Danish Oil on the base. Time will tell if the milk paint was a bad call, but despite my best attempts, it doesn't seem to rub off on things. If it does, maybe I'll coat the working surfaces in the front with a film finish.

I was thinking about getting some UHMW or something, and applying it as spacers underneath the guide rods for the end vise to help counteract droop and drag as it's pulled out. I don't know if that will actually do anything or not.

[lowell holmes]

What is UMHW?

[Jerome Hanby]

What is UMHW?

I think it's a scramble of UHMW (Ultra High Molecular Weight plastic). Super slick stuff they often make dollar store cutting boards out of. Great for jigs and setup blocks

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Oops, yeah, I meant UHMW.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Great looking bench Joshua. It looks like you have a comfortable setting for it as well.

[Jim Matthews]

I used UHMW spacers above and below the parallel guide of my leg vise (instead of rollers).
It works fine. I can even spin the vise closed, in the last two inches of travel.

It will work, you can apply it with 3M 77 adhesive spray and a couple of woodscrews (countersunk, for clearance).
I have to wonder if you would get similar results with a heavily waxed hardwood shim...

[Paul Saffold]

Nice solid looking bench Joshua. You'll enjoy working on it I'm sure. Looks like the bench is getting a cat scan.

[Jim Neeley]

Be careful around those scansm Joshua.. or you'll become catatonic! :rolleyes:

Nice bench!! :)

[Bruce Page]

Very nice. I think you could support a building on it!

[Curt Putnam]

Dimensions?

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Dimensions?

Small. Maybe 20-24 inches deep and, just over five feet long. (At work, so I can't measure) Top is something like 3 and 5/8" thick.

I ended up buying a fellows maple benchtop lamination for dirt cheap on craigslist; he had made two and only used one in his shop. It was wider than I needed, so I sawed it in half, face glued it to double the thickness. (surfacing prior to this glue up was a hassle as the grain wasn't going the same way in every piece) then added a few more strips of maple to make the dogholes and a couple in the back to get at a depth I liked.

The whole thing started as lark after buying that maple on CL; I was going to do something else with it and ended up making this. I would like longer, but I'm not sure how much longer would fit in my workspace, (as it is, I need to reorganize the back room to make a bit more room for me to work at the end vise end of the bench) and for the work I do, I might only really need longer when I'm doing something like making moldings.

The girth of the base is really just sized around the lumber I used; I could have made things smaller, (although I was a bit afraid of removing weight from a bench on the small size - I hate when your worksurface skitters away under heavy planing) but the poplar I used was cheaper than spending more time trying to rip things down. Not that it was that bad ripping that stuff compared to the maple.

FWIW, the only power tools I used was a corded drill in a couple spots (making a relief hole for the extra length of the screw - after the bench was assembled - my brace didn't fit!) Not out of any sense of duty, but simply because that's all I have access to.

[Chris Griggs]

Looking good Joshua! That big wood screw going to make an AWESOME vise - if ever redo my leg vise that's the route I would take. Looking forward to seeing the completed bench.

The shop cat will make a nice work holding accessory as well - plus it has built in scratch awls

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Joshua

Nice bench. Solid. I have seen that colour scheme somewhere .... :)

My previous bench was 4'10", and I built some large pieces on it.

Looking forward to the rest of it.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[george wilson]

Good and sturdy!! I hope you didn't use up too much vise capacity with that thick maple jaw. Probably 1/2 that thickness would be o.k. for the dog hole.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Yeah, it's actually that thick to get the end of the rods on the vise to clear the legs when fully closed, while still having the vise pushed over to the edge. Half poor planning, half making due with the pieces and parts I had.

If I find myself wanting more capacity, I might see about making a thinner vise jaw and augering a hole for that one guide rod to tuck itself into the leg when closing the vise. I think it's just one rod that interferes.

[Tony Shea]

I really like the bench. I think the color scheme is real nice, and the milk paint will look great after some heavy use. Something about milk painted surfaces that have been used really appeals to me. But if you're are worried about the paint rubbing off I would add a thicker film finish to just those surfaces. I doubt that the film finish would affect the functionality of the base of a workbench. Many people prefer the thick film surface on the bench top. I am not a fan of putting a film finish on the top, but have no reservations doing so on the base. Be sure to post pictures of the bench with the vise chop installed. And using UHMW is a good idea. Should work almost as good as wheels.

And the shop helper in the first photo is great. I also have shop cats that I couldn't live without. They may not be able to run a hand saw but they sure do help keep me amused in my shop.

[Wilbur Pan]

That looks terrific. The best thing is that you can use your not-quite-complete bench to make the rest of the parts for itself. I still remember when I got to this stage, and I could not believe how fast and easy making the rest of it (leg vise chop, sliding deadman and rail, platform for storage mounted on the stretchers) was.

[Matthew N. Masail]

I really like it :) if the black paint holds I think it was a good choice.