New bench planning

[Richard Hutchings]

I have a piece of laminated maple approximately 2 X 24 X 39.5" that a friend gave to me. The ends are split a little so I'm considering cutting them back. Got me thinking about the end piece I see on a lot of benches with the beautiful dovetailed face. What is the purpose of it? Doesn't it just make it more difficult when it comes time to re-plane the top? Should I include them?

Thanks
Dick Hutchings

[lowell holmes]

Are you talking about the front apron. I put a 2x12 apron on the face of my bench allowing apron clamps to be used.

[Richard Hutchings]

No the end caps

[ken hatch]

I have a piece of laminated maple approximately 2 X 24 X 30" that a friend gave to me. The ends are split a little so I'm considering cutting them back. Got me thinking about the end piece I see on a lot of benches with the beautiful dovetailed face. What is the purpose of it? Doesn't it just make it more difficult when it comes time to re-plane the top? Should I include them?

Thanks
Dick Hutchings

Dick,

I'm not sure of what you ask but that has never stopped me from having an opinion :). If installing a wagon vise the slab needs an end cap other than that I can think of no useful reason for a cross piece on a bench top. There are two broad approaches to building a work bench. One is build a practical, useable bench quickly with little embellishment. The other is to build a bench to build a bench and show off your woodworking skills. Both approaches are valid it's just depends on what blows your skirt. I'm in the first group and have found over many bench builds the simpler the build the more useable the bench. Of course as with all things wood....YMMV.

ken

[Jim Koepke]

I have a piece of laminated maple approximately 2 X 24 X 30" that a friend gave to me. The ends are split a little so I'm considering cutting them back. Got me thinking about the end piece I see on a lot of benches with the beautiful dovetailed face. What is the purpose of it? Doesn't it just make it more difficult when it comes time to re-plane the top? Should I include them?

Thanks
Dick Hutchings

Hi Dick,

The dovetail on the end is usually only one lamination deep, the rest can be done like a bread board end.

An end cap will help to protect the end grain. It may also help to mitigate any tendencies for the top to cup or bow.

With a dovetail the end cap will not separate. This can be important especially with a wagon vise.

If done as the lamination is assembled it can be done at both ends of the end cap. In your case you could add a couple more pieces to the lamination if this is desired.

There is a similar piece of maple, 30 X 30", in my shop. It was formerly the top of a dishwasher. My plan is to use it as a top on a kitchen cart/rack for the wife.

jtk

[Richard Hutchings]

Another thing, I remeasured it, it's actually 39 1/2" long not 30". I can't decide if it's large enough for a planing bench as is or if I should make a mini bench to use on top of my existing bench. It's too big for a mini, I would have to cut it down. I'm not sure it would be stable enough for a full bench being so short.

[John Kananis]

How about using it for a small joinery bench (taller obviously than you regular bench). Or, a carving station (if you do that sort of thing).

[Brian Holcombe]

A bench is pretty thick and not usually very wide, so if it's made out of good material you don't need an end cap.

[Richard Hutchings]

387095Maybe I should change the name of the thread to bench planing! This has become my daily workout. I'm almost there now. I started getting the high spots with a #2 with a heavy camber. Followed up with a cambered #5 and now I'm using my #6. I don't have anything larger that's ready to use. Am I doing this right?

[David Eisenhauer]

Use of the #2 is somewhat unusual, but I wasn't there so if it worked for you, alls well that ends well. Straight edges and winding sticks along with the #6 (after the #5 took the worst out of it) should work to end up with a flat, wind-free surface. Longer planes like the #7 and #8 perhaps make the work go a little faster, but if the #6 is all you got, then it will do. The bottom surface need not be as good as the upper (work) surface, but don't forget to address any areas that stretchers may rest on. Looks like you should be headed towards fabbing the base pretty soon.

[Richard Hutchings]

David, I used the #2 as a scrub plane for removing high spots. I have a wood/metal, I forget what you call these hybrids, #7 or 8, not sure, that I need to sharpen. I'll try it after the #6.

[lowell holmes]

If you don't have a scrub plane, go to the BORG and buy a narrow iron and breaker, put a radius on the iron and put the iron and breaker
in a wider plane, and you have an excellent scrub plane. Don't laugh, it works.

[David Eisenhauer]

Like I said, I wasn't there, but I would have been tempted to use the #5 for the rough work but maybe your material was rougher than I am imagining and your #2 scrub plane did that work for you. It worked, so keep on with the process. Lowell does bring up a good idea for using a larger plane (that may fit your hand better) as a scrub plane in the future. For whatever reason, I tend to go from the #5 to a #7 and skip the #6 all together. I don't know why, but there you are. Lots of ways to do the same work. I am interested in seeing your frame design next.

[Richard Hutchings]

I am interested in seeing your frame design next.

Me too :-)

[William Fretwell]

Over time the end grain of a bench will dry out faster with humidity changes than the rest. This shrinking may lead to cracks in the top. A breadboard end will help to slow down the drying and prevent cracks. Thorough oiling will also help; and you can do both.

In my case the front part of my bench is 5 inches thick but the majority of the top a little over 2 inches, the breadboard ends are 5 inches and add a consistent look to the bench.

[Richard Hutchings]

I had a thought this morning. I'm now considering splitting the top in half lengthwise and joining them for long narrow bench with a tool tray. I think this will be the best use of this beast. It's way too heavy for a mini bench top bench.

So cut it in half, cut a 1/2" dado all the way across to join them and possibly a bow-tie on the front face or just add another board to the entire face. Then I'll start thinking about the base and possibly mortising the legs into it.

[Robert Engel]

AFAIK end caps on workbenches are mostly for looks, then I'll say "but".

On this bench the top is flatsawn boards and the endcaps are splined onto the ends of the top, similar to a breadboard end.
387251

On this bench, the endcap is simply applied for looks to cover the end grain, which had tongue and grooved (it was a section of bowling alley).
387252

[Richard Hutchings]

I made it a little smaller, it's now ~15 X 37". It's still large enough for a small stand alone bench. I think I would need to splay the legs though. I'm still thinking on it.
387339
I got my 26" transitional working, it was a bit fiddly but once everything was right it cut effortlessly. I'm really getting up to speed on all of my planes with this and I'm loving that. The 28" woody behind it is next to get operational. It's got some cracks I'm planning to fix by cutting and inserting wood or epoxy.
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[David Eisenhauer]

I have often thought of fabbing up a second smaller and taller bench dedicated to joinery tasks where I need my eyes closer to the targets. Something along the size that you just cut would work for me.

[Jeff Ranck]

Now this post I can relate to. I've been working on flattening the top of my new bench on and off for a while. The glue up of the two halves that make the top didn't go quite as well as I thought and there was a valley between the two sides. I started off with my cambered #5 jack to hog off the high spots as quickly as possible. I'm on to my jointer now and may stop there.

Lots of sources out there on how to flatten a bench top with hand planes. https://www.finewoodworking.com/2012/10/25/flattening-a-benchtop as an example and lots of youtube videos.

[Richard Hutchings]

I now have a drawing that I created in Sketchup. I wasn't sure until today what I wanted from this little top. This will be more stable than the single piece I had.

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