Bench/Outfeed Table/Assembly Surface more or less finished.... (with pics)

[Jim Izat]

I lack a shelf between the lower rails because it's not essential and I haven't decided what to make it out of yet. And I lack a coat of wax on the newly oiled surfaces. I'll be waiting two or three days for the last coat of BLO to sure thoroughly. It was a challenge to build from the large mortise and tenons to the endless boring job of making the dog holes but I'm pleased overall. I got to practice just about every skill I've learned and a few I didn't know yet. I figured it was better to practice on a shop fixture than a piece of furniture. Total cost: 169.95 for the Veritas Twin Screw vise, I already had everything else lying about.

Jim

[Jim Izat]

It's a columbian I've had for three or four years. It was on my last bench (doesn't seem like it was much of a bench now) ;^)

Jim

[Jim Izat]

Believe it or not the hardest part of putting this tool together was aligning the holes on the inside of the front and back jaw inside faces for the 3/8" stell pin the holds the work off the screws....

Jim

Yea, I know, the handles aren't marching in step. I couldn't figure out how to line them up.

[Jim Izat]

Lag screwed on. It had some curl, which only showed up as I was milling an otherwise spalted unremarkable piece of ash.

Thanks for looking....

Jim

[Ken Wright]

Well done ..... would love to have one of those .....

How many hours????

[Jim Izat]

Originally posted by Ken Wright
Well done ..... would love to have one of those .....

How many hours????

That's a really good question! There might be between seventy- five and a hundred hours in the project from rough lumber to nearly finished project, broken up over about six weekends and quite a few nights. Most of it's a blur now.

Jim

[Jim Becker]

Beatiful job, Jim! It looks solid enough to take a beating "forever", too. Use it well...and often... :D

[Bruce Page]

Jim,
Great looking Bench/Outfeed Table/Assembly Surface Table. I don’t think you will be moving it very often!
What are the dimensions and how did you end up drilling all those dog holes?


Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest. -- Isaac Asimov

[Brian Matthews]

Awesome job!

Can't wait to build my own...course i need a shop area first.

Damn this rented apartment.


Brian

[Jim Izat]

Originally posted by Bruce Page
Jim,
Great looking Bench/Outfeed Table/Assembly Surface Table. I don’t think you will be moving it very often!
What are the dimensions and how did you end up drilling all those dog holes?

Hey Bruce,

The overall length of the surface is about 73" not including the handles of the end vise and it turned out to be about 38-39" wide.

Drilling the dog holes was an adventure. I used the jig below which is comprised of four layers of 1/2" BC ply nailed together and drilled through. I laid out, in pencil, to lines corresponding with the centers of the outside dog holes on the back jaw, and eleven lines corresponding to the lines of holes along the length of the bench and then aligned and clamped the jig to line up the marks as exactly as I could. I used a 3/4" twist drill to drill the holes. Drill 11 or 12 holes, switch out the battery drill 11 or 12 more. There are three or for holes that had impediments so I'm gonna drill through with a long 3/8's bit I have and install a pusher made from 3/8's dowel to push the dogs out if I need to. I used the same jig perpendicular to the lengthwise lines to drill more closely spaces holes for the face vice. Last thing I did was use my thumb and some 100 grit paper to knock the sharp top edge off each hole.
When I get my dogs from Lee Valley I'll get to see if it all works. The biggest problem for me was that the bottom of the 3/4's bit I used was nearly flat. This made it very difficult to precisely place the bit to drill the original holes in the vice faces.

Jim

[Ken Wright]

I'll just go ahead and show my ignorance once again ....

I've never seen a REAL bench live and up close .... and have already stated my admiration for your work on this one Jim ...

The two dadoes obviously serve some specialized purpose ... would you share that with me??? I even went back and looked at the pics again .....

[Jim Becker]

Originally posted by Ken Wright
The two dadoes obviously serve some specialized purpose ... would you share that with me??? I even went back and looked at the pics again .....

Jim is using the bench as an outfeed table, too. Those grooves are to accommodate the miter bar when it's used on the table saw for cross cutting. If they were not there, the miter bar would chunk into the side of the bench!

[Ken Wright]

See ..... I knew I'd be ..... but now I know .... Appreciate the info and help!!!

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

Jim,
That really looks substantial and beautiful.
May you have lots of years of good work with it.
It is really a massively great piece of work.
:cool:

[Randy Gleckler]

Jim,

That is truley an awesome bench. I really like the size, and way you set it up. Very nicely done. Thanks for sharing.

[Bob Oswin]

Very nice job Jim.
How do you line it up with your tablesaw? I can't see the saw base so assume it is on a caster mechanism?

Bob

[Keith Outten]

Jim,

Very Nice!

I really like the way you incorporated the outfeed table and workbench. Since my tablesaw takes up almost 25% of my workshop with the 62" sliding table on the left side and 50" right side extention this idea would be a real good use of space. I could essentially pick up another wookbench that doubled as an outfeed table and if I design mine in an "L" shape it could serve as a support system for the slider. I have also been giving some thought to building storage lockers under the bench, you just can't have enough storage in a shop.

Great Idea, Thanks,

[Jim Izat]

Originally posted by Dr. Bob Oswin
Very nice job Jim.
How do you line it up with your tablesaw? I can't see the saw base so assume it is on a caster mechanism?

Bob

Hey Bob,

As it is pretty heavy (maybe 300 lbs) I just slide it across the floor into a position where the slots in the bench top line up the the slots on my table saw. I did route the dadoes a bit wider than they really need to be in case things aren't perfectly lined up for some reason. I have been thinking of using a short lag screw to index it to the back rail of the fence as I already have drilled a couple holes in it that used to be used to attach my previous fold down outfeed table.

Thanks for the kind words,

Jim

[Lee Patz]

Jim,

That bench/outfeed table looks great!!!!, and the multi-use idea really makes it unique. It ought to serve you, and probably your grandkids for a life time.

Outstanding Job,
Lee

[Jim Izat]

I just wanted to thank everyone for the kind words on my project. It's the largest, most complex furniture type project I've completed so far and the support I recieved from the folks here helped make it's completion possible!

Jim