Veritas Apartment Workbench

[Donald L Smith]

281259281260281261I am thinking about building a copy of Lee-Valley Apartment Workbench. It seems doable ( by me) with the exception of the workbench top. I plan on using hand tools for much of the work. I am currently working on boxes and relief carving projects that I can do in house where it is warm in the winter and cool in the summer as opposed to my garage workshop which is neither. The workbench indoors would allow me to work more comfortably all year round. My current thoughts on the workbench top is to either use a ready made laminated maple top and cut it down to size or use laminated baltic birch plywood. I am not confident in my ability to make my own laminated maple top. The plans call for the top to have a 1 inch deep by 3/8 groove on the back side where it meets the rear tool trough (for wood expansion I believe) with a 1/2 inch rabbet, but my plow plane will only cut 1/2 deep grooves. I am reluctant to try to make the groove using my table saw and dado blade as it would be a heavy piece to hold up on end. The pre made top I'm looking at is 60 by 30 by 1 3/4. The top I need would be 38 by 10 by 1 3/4. So I thought I could cross but the top to 38 by 30, try to make the groove and rabbet in the side and if successful, then rip the top to the 10 inch dimension. That way if I screwed up the groove and rabbet cuts, I could always rip off the few inches of my blunder and try again, since I have 30 inches to play with. If I used the plywood I can cut and laminate the (4) pieces to automatically form the groove and rabbit without any joinery work. Just a lot of gluing. The plywood would be about 1/3 the cost of the laminated maple top and less work. But not as nice. The plans discourage the use of a solid wood flat sawn top because of seasonal humidity fluctuations. What about quarter sawn oak with only one or two laminations to get the 10 inch width. Any suggestions? Has anyone built this workbench? Any advice would be appreciated.

[Jim Koepke]

Howdy Donald,

Welcome to the Creek. Your profile doesn't indicate your location. You may live near another member who is willing to help with your project.

Sounds like your workshop is like mine. I just bundle up in the winter and do my glue ups in the house or save them for warmer weather. I have given a little thought to getting a wood stove in the shop, but then I would likely need to find some space for it and cover the walls and ceiling.

jtk

[Brian Holcombe]

I met someone who was building a split top workbench of 12/4 rock maple boards that were 12" wide and attached to a trestle base. I thought that was a genius idea and would be easy to take apart for transport.

This is the only thing I would have changed in making my bench, given the chance I would build a split top. Easier to work with, take apart, easier to flatten and more stable.

My second choice would be to use full length boards and laminate them, minimum 3" thick.

I use a laminated top that I bought and ended up having to build a full length 5.5" tall spine to support it.

[Jim Matthews]

You need room to stand up close and personal with your bench.

Having so much of it dedicated to storage will compromise utility.
Benches with access for clamps along the top are flexible.

I would recommend unconventional solutions, if space is limited.
A simple Japanese style planing bench and sturdy sawhorses would be the thing, in my opinion.

If you need more mass to hold things steady, sandbags could be placed on the bottom.

I like the VIKA folding bench, but it's not as refined as what you're contemplating.