Boatmaker style bench

[rick carpenter]

I want to build a boatmaker’s bench (long and narrow) against the outer wall of our garage. I have 15’ of wall to work with. I have two halves of a homemade(?) desk top I acquired. It is 1.875" particle board skinned with 1/8” cheap veneer and banded with perhaps 2" pine. Each half is 16” x 6’, not banded on one side and on one end (I had cut off one end a while back for an abandoned project). I plan to mount them to the wall with an open space between the two that I can slide in my chopsaw, my small tablesaw, or my router table between them so the benchtops act as wings. I also want to band them with a 1x8 or so skirt for vertical workholding. I have a few questions though.

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Do I want to double-stick tape down some 3/8” mdf tops or can I leave them to lay there fixed in place but un-adhered?

Do I want a deeper skirt? I need some storage underneath it. I'm borging this whole project, so the skirts can be clear pine or poplar or oak. Which do I want?

What thickness top and skirts do I want for holdfasts? I will route out areas in the tops for glued in hardwood plates top and bottom for holdfast holes, so I can make the total thickness whatever I want.

Thanks for any thoughts.

[Paul Saffold]

You might want to check out the blog by bob-easton (dot com). He made a 12' Nicholson bench for shipbuilding out of 2x construction lumber. Good luck.

[rick carpenter]

Not getting much help here, but thanks Paul! I went to the Bob Easton website, good stuff there.

Since I've been looking over the web in the meanwhile, maybe some other questions will generate responses. For the mdf, do I want to flood the surface with BLO/wax/turpentine or BLO/varnish/mineral spirits? Will this give adequate protection against condensation from the occasional bottle of beer I might accidentally place on it? Do I need to treat both sides of the top piece?