Building My First Bench

[Tom Henry]

Recently I came across a 54" x 64" x 2 1/4" thick hard maple top and thought I could take advantage of the situation and build my first bench. Here is the top (http://www.mapleblock.com/detail/industrial-arts-benches-29/) found on craigslist for $75.:eek: I removed the rods and cut the top in half.:rolleyes: I am planning on trimming all sides and marring the 2 tops together to make a 63" x 26" X 4 1/2" top. That would make the top alone 210 lbs. I am planning to cut out a tool trough from the top piece before glueing the 2 together then drilling round dog holes as you see in the PDF. With the wood removed for the tool trough I was going to use for the front vise and the ramps in the tool trough. So any thoughts or comments would be great. :D

[Bill White]

Tom, May want to think twice about the tool tray. IMO they just collect crud and take away from the working area that you have. Why ya gonna make it so thick?
Bill

[Mark Stutz]

Tom,
I think benches are very personal, and you'll probably get as many suggestions as there are creekers who reply. Having said that, I think the features depend in large part what type of work you are doing. I've had 2 fairly lightweight benches, both with and without the tool tray. As I've moved more and more to the "dark side":D and saved money on electricity:eek: , I've found I like the tool tray and will again have one on my next bench. The double thickness top will be great for hand work, but probably overkill if you don't do any hand planing and other hand work.

Mark

[Jim Becker]

Bally makes a nice top. Personally, I agree with Bill about the tool tray, but this is a personal preference item and dependent on the way you work and what you plan on using your bench for. Mine does double duty as an assembly surface, so I chose wide and flat. I did the three parallel rows of dog holes for the same reason. Your pictured bench is a good "joiner" bench, but will be less practical if you need to use it as I do. IMHO, of course...and you know how much you paid for it!

[Jerry Olexa]

Its a matter of personal preference as to how you are going to use it.....as discussed above. Top looks good but IMHO you don't need 4" thick. It'll be a fun project in any case

[Bob Johnson2]

Nice buy. Drilling thru 4.5" will be a job, hope you can do it in the drill press, clamping down the wood. I had to go 1/32 over to get the dogs through without a hammer.

[Clinton Findlay]

I think a single layer would be more than enough, you will add a few stretchers/rails for the base..... and it will be more than strong enough.
210lbs for the top alone will make it an interesting object to move.

As I understand it, you'll cut out a tool trough from the top layer only? If its a 2 1/4" deep tool trough it may not be real user friendly.

Have you considered a removable tool trough? You can remove the trough for when you want to use under the bench top edge, in the trough area, for clamping, bench hooks and the like.

You can also drop in a leaf so you cover the trough and have the entire top flat, if that suits you at times.

Also, if you plan on putting cabinets under the bench later, the removable trough can be fitted with a funnel type arrangement, leading to a bin. So you can remove the trough, sweep waste into the trough area, replace trough tray and forget about it.

A full trough will also let you fit a (removable) vacuum pump set up to the bench for a vacuum veneering rig.

The other half could be more beneficial for making another table at the exact same height as the first, or your machine's bench tops (if you have them).
Or cut it down again for several small tops for grinder/router/sharpening station benches.

Have fun, its always good making a bench.