Bench 1.0

[John Crawford]

Hi Folks:

I have been fooling around with tools for several years, always using the kitchen table and the stairs (great sawbench, as I'm sure you and your significant others will agree).

I got it in my head last Sept. to make a bench, and have finally finished it.

I made dozens of mistakes (stock selection!), but the result is still a very stout and functional bench. Here it is bathed in the natural light of my studio....I mean the fluorescent light of my basement.

Thanks to all of you who answered questions along the way!


289640

[Federico Mena Quintero]

Nice bench! Very tidy looking. You won't miss the kitchen table one bit :)

[Judson Green]

Looks real nice, John. Now maybe your pancakes won't have sawdust in em.

[Matthew Hills]

Nice.
Are you going to mount a tail vise?

I spotted the bench hooks and the deadman on the shelf. Planing stops are the other bench apparatus that I really like (something like the veritas plane stop, or a homemade equivalent).

Also recommend adding a big trash can at left end of your bench.
And keep a bench brush close at hand. (I've got one from HF, or sometimes use mason's brush that I have lying around)

Looks like you added finish to your bench. I haven't gotten around to that yet.

And I see you ended up making the decorative notch on the vise chop -- what technique did you wind up using?

Overall, nice work!

Matt

[Matthew Hills]

PS--what are the pads underneath your bench legs?

Matt

[John Crawford]

Hey Matt: I get some occasional water in my basement; my idea was to put some sacrificial blocks under the bench to preserve the legs. It turns out they just absorb all the water and then eventually pass it up to the legs anyway. I'll try something else.... I don't think I'll do an end-vise for now; just a financial decision. I'll be making some fixtures like a batten and definitely a planing stop. For the vise notch, I just sawed it out, and then used rasps to round off the corners. It worked out pretty well.... Probably should have used hardwood instead of Doug Fir scraps for the chop, but we'll see....

[lowell holmes]

[QUOTE=John Crawford;2268318]Hey Matt: It turns out they just absorb all the water and then eventually pass it up to the legs anyway. I'll try something else....



How about some small plastic buckets under the legs? If they were small they wouldn't look that bad.

That's a fine looking bench.

[Dan Phalen]

Very nice, efficient. How did you attach the stretchers to the legs? M&T or bolts or???

Yours is about the same size as the one I had to leave in Oregon when we moved last year. Current space is limited, so yours inspires me to go forward.

[Chris Griggs]

Looks like a great bench John. The planing stops you are planing on adding will be very useful! Congrats!

[Steve Voigt]

Looks terrific! I like the slats on the shelf; I wish I'd thought of that. My gapless shelf is forever full of sawdust.
About the blocks under the legs: Why don't you just glue a piece of rubber to the blocks? Maybe to both sides, to be safe.

[Pat Barry]

Looks terrific! I like the slats on the shelf; I wish I'd thought of that. My gapless shelf is forever full of sawdust.
About the blocks under the legs: Why don't you just glue a piece of rubber to the blocks? Maybe to both sides, to be safe.
Good plan - Use some old hockey pucks!

[John Crawford]

Very nice, efficient. How did you attach the stretchers to the legs? M&T or bolts or???

I just used regular old lag bolts and washers. I eyed all the fancy bench-bolt systems, but was trying to keep cost down, and these seem plenty sturdy.

Good ideas on keeping the water away everyone. I've got a Canadian friend; I bet he has some hockey pucks around....

[Pat Barry]

I just used regular old lag bolts and washers. I eyed all the fancy bench-bolt systems, but was trying to keep cost down, and these seem plenty sturdy.

Good ideas on keeping the water away everyone. I've got a Canadian friend; I bet he has some hockey pucks around....
Yes - Canadians always have hockey pucks. LOL