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michael langman
03-04-2019, 8:14 PM
This is a picture of my workbench upside down. One of the legg sections attached to the end.
405013
This next picture shows the barrel bolt and threaded insert I made to attach the leg sections to the top.
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michael langman
03-04-2019, 8:22 PM
405015This picture shows the feet piece to one side of the bench.
3/8x16TPI bolts go up through the feet and attach to the barrel bolt nuts that are in the vertical leg part of the bench. I pressed a 1" bushing into the vertical leg and made the barrel nuts from 3/4" diameter steel with a 3/8x16 thread tapped into the cylindrical nut.
This holds the legs securely without over tightening the bolts. I felt it would be stronger and more reliable then using lag bolts into the end grain of the leg.

michael langman
03-04-2019, 8:29 PM
405016This picture shows the top stretcher piece that attaches to the under side of the bench tops and the tenons on the ends go into mortices in the top of the vertical legs.
1/2"x 13 TPI bolts go through this piece into the 3/4" x 16 TPI inserts that are epoxied into the under side of the bench tops.
I am not going to glue the tops to the legs so I can disassemble the bench for moving or if I sell the bench some day.
The threaded insert I made is on the right and the barrel bolt I made is on the left on top of the stretcher in the picture.

michael langman
03-04-2019, 8:51 PM
I am going to glue and draw bore the horizontal stretchers into the sides of the legs. Then all I will have to do is remove the 4 - 1/2" x 13 bolts from the tops to disassemble the bench. The base can be carried as it is, assembled, and the 2 top pieces also.

I made the bench narrow so I would not have to reach while working. The top laminated sections are 10 3/4" wide and there will be a tool well 6" wide by 3" deep in the middle. The bottom of the tool well will slide out and in. I will use 1/4" plywood for the bottom.
I liked the New Fangled Work Bench, and will be using their idea for a support ledger that will take the place of the sliding deadman with the holes and pegs. Using 1/2" black iron pipe, with a long beam will give full support for whatever I put on it and be completely adjustable for various work pieces.
I will also make a tray that slides along this beam to hold my chisels and marking tools,beside me, etc. while I am working.
The bench is taller then most benches because of my back issues, and I probably will not need a moxon vise for dovetailing and other type work.
I will probably have a crochet on the side of the bench with the planing bbeam support, and a 9" quick action vise on the other side of the bench.
Two home made vises may go in the right side end of the bench to work with dog holes in the future. Quick action and attached with a chain to synchronize them miost likely homemade is what I am thinking.
I am getting excited about having a bench to work at again, and look forward to your opinions, thoughts. Thanks for looking.

William Fretwell
03-04-2019, 10:35 PM
Can’t say I can connect all the bolt dots, some holes are missing? As long as there is room for seasonal expansion and with the top in 2 pieces the should be easy.

Kris Cook
03-04-2019, 10:39 PM
Looking Good. Working in a temporary shop right now and my bench I completed a couple of years ago was the first thing I moved in there. Enjoy your build, and your new bench.

Scott Winners
03-04-2019, 11:41 PM
At each end there is one bolt up through the short stretcher into one half of the top yes? 4 bolts total into both halves of the top? 1 bolt at each corner?

I think you will be OK on seasonal movement, though your tool tray might get wedges in there pretty tight in the summer months.

There is a current thread about a spruce bench in Canada right now, I only got part of the problem teased out, there was a fella at the top of page two in that thread got the whole enchilada untangled.

It looks like you will end up with a nice bench. Is this going into a climate controlled shop?

michael langman
03-05-2019, 11:25 AM
William. I see I made it a little confusing about the metal insert and barrel bolt in my first picture.
Here is a picture of a leg with the barrel bolt coming out of the bottom end. This holds the bottom feet piece to the vertical leg.
405046The leg is in the back ground. The front piece shows the holes in the feet the barrel bolt goes through.
My apologies for the confusion. And I will open up the through holes for wood expansion as yopu have suggested. Thankyou.

michael langman
03-05-2019, 11:27 AM
Thankyou Kris. I will feel spoiled with the bench when completed, for sure.

michael langman
03-06-2019, 8:19 PM
I did my first draw bored mortice and tenons tonight. The tenons are almost 7 inches wide and go all the way through the legs, which are almost 4" thick.Making the mortices were the most difficult part of the bench build for me. I used Aldis chisels and only had to sharpen the 3/4" chisel once I think. The first mortice I did not drill to remove most of the waste, but did drill the last 3 mortices. I ground the primary angle to 35* and it held up great.
I used 1/2" oak dowels 2 per tenon, and did not glue anything. The fit was tight between the mortice and tenon and I offset the dowel holes 1/16" for the draw bore.
These stretchers are quite large and will give the bench it's ridgitity, from racking. One more stretcher to assemble and then it is on to the bottom for the tool well.
Being this is the driest time of the year in my house and cellar, I know that the fit between parts will never get any looser from humidity changes.

William Fretwell
03-07-2019, 9:22 AM
Michael you are right about the massive stretchers for rigidity. Ideally they are half way between the floor and surface being planed. My stretchers are also massive but I went with wedged tenons. When you plane vigorously along the bench those stretchers resist the torsion created and it does not move.
Many U-tube videos show substantial benches bouncing around when being used, all due to poor design, you can’t just rely on mass to gain stability.

michael langman
03-07-2019, 10:41 AM
I was going to put the stretchers in the center between the top and the floor, but it just did not look right to me. I don't know why though.
I moved them down just 2 inches. Hopefully I don't have a racking issue down the bench.
I was more concerned about racking across the bench, with not having a stretcher towards the center of the top to floor on the ends of the bench. I am hoping the top piece attached to the underside of the bench, and the barrel bolts through the feet keep the bench from racking. We'll see soon enough.

William Fretwell
03-07-2019, 11:05 AM
Very unlikely you will rack across the bench, very little force is applied in that direction for most activities. My study of historic benches showed they all put the stretchers in the middle, no drawers and mostly no shelf. This was back when life expectancy was 35 years! No time to waste with drawers or shelves!
I had to make a conscious effort to put them in the middle, mechanically makes sense. Two inches won’t make much difference. I did end up with a shelf that is easy to reach for jigs and mallets.
Important to remember that historically craftsmen had remarkably few tools compared to today’s tool collecting bunch. They just did not need shelves and drawers all over, just a few pegs on the wall.

michael langman
03-08-2019, 5:02 PM
Well I have come down with a nasty cold, flu that my wife has had for the past 2 weeks. This has been the year for colds in my house.

The bench will have to sit for a little while. I'll need my strength to assemble, disassemble the top.

I did get the second stretcher put together, and cut the bottom for the tool well last night though.