Mark Mazzo
03-14-2003, 11:28 AM
I worked for a long time without a decent workbench (i.e. simple plywood top on some rickety 2x4 legs and no vise). This was pretty frustrating at times, so I knew I wanted to make a better bench. I read both <u><i>The Workbench Book</i></u> by Scott Landis and <u><i>Workbenches</i></u> by Sam Allen. Obviously, there are lots of styles and potential features for a workbench. I quickly realized that if I thought too long I'd never actually make a bench, but instead I would get paralyzed by analyzing what I might want to incorporate in my bench. I knew that anything would be better for my woodworking than what I currently had and I also felt that I'd learn a lot about what I like and don't like in a bench by actually making one and using it. So, I forged ahead and built one.
My bench is based on the Veritas bench design from Lee Valley. I liked the design and some of the functional elements of this bench, so I went with it.
I made the base by gluing up and squaring standard dimensional lumber from a home center. The nice thing about this design is that the base components are assembled with threaded truss rods set in groves made in the base parts. This design has two advantages: first, it can easily be disassembled and second, it can be easily re-tensioned if it loosens due to wood movement by simply tightening the hex nuts at the ends of the rods. Assembly was easy too. After milling the stock, I cut the groves, squared the ends and added the rods and hex nuts. The uprights for the legs also have a lag bolt on each end to keep them from spinning about the truss rods. You'd be surprised at how much tension and rack resistance can be applied with this design.
The top and skirts are made from some rough Hard Maple that I got at a good price. It needed a bunch of work due to imperfections etc. but in the end it worked out pretty well. I ripped the rough Maple on the bandsaw and then jointed and planed it square. I flipped the pieces so that they were oriented with their edges up and glued up the two slabs in the top separately, one piece at a time! My plan was to run these slabs (about 10 3/4" wide) through my planer after they were glued up...unfortunately that didn't work. After one light pass I discovered just how much Hard Maple chips out! Luckily, I have a friend that works at a commercial woodshop and he ran these through their wide-belt sander for me. The finished thickness of the top is about 1 3/4". All of the 3/4" dog holes in the top were drilled with a VS hand drill, a drill guide and a Forstner bit. This was a LONG, slow process but the results were good. I use a combination of the Veritas round dogs and some 3/4" hardwood dowel pieces. You can see that I did not plug the screw holes in the skirts (nor did I glue them on). I wanted the option to be able to remove/replace/modify them at a later time. The end skirts are fastened to the top with lag bolts through elongated screw holes, the rest are just fastened with wood screws. The center tool tray is a piece of Maple that I milled down to 1/2" and it sits in a rabbet in the bottom edge of the slabs. It is held on with wood screws through elongated holes too.
The face vise is a Record 52. The back jaw of the vice is mortised into the top and the front skirt lays over the top of it. The other jaw is just a piece of leftover Hard Maple and is screwed on to the other vice face. The vice is mounted from underneath with a glued up spacer of hardboard and lag bolts. You'll notice that there is no tail vice. I have thought about adding the Veritas Twin-Screw vice, but I think that I'll get two of their Wonder Dogs first and use the bench like that for a while.
The finish on the top is a few coats of Tried and True Varnish/Oil. On the base is a wiped on 50/50 Poly and Naptha mix.
Now a few pictures. First from the left side...
My bench is based on the Veritas bench design from Lee Valley. I liked the design and some of the functional elements of this bench, so I went with it.
I made the base by gluing up and squaring standard dimensional lumber from a home center. The nice thing about this design is that the base components are assembled with threaded truss rods set in groves made in the base parts. This design has two advantages: first, it can easily be disassembled and second, it can be easily re-tensioned if it loosens due to wood movement by simply tightening the hex nuts at the ends of the rods. Assembly was easy too. After milling the stock, I cut the groves, squared the ends and added the rods and hex nuts. The uprights for the legs also have a lag bolt on each end to keep them from spinning about the truss rods. You'd be surprised at how much tension and rack resistance can be applied with this design.
The top and skirts are made from some rough Hard Maple that I got at a good price. It needed a bunch of work due to imperfections etc. but in the end it worked out pretty well. I ripped the rough Maple on the bandsaw and then jointed and planed it square. I flipped the pieces so that they were oriented with their edges up and glued up the two slabs in the top separately, one piece at a time! My plan was to run these slabs (about 10 3/4" wide) through my planer after they were glued up...unfortunately that didn't work. After one light pass I discovered just how much Hard Maple chips out! Luckily, I have a friend that works at a commercial woodshop and he ran these through their wide-belt sander for me. The finished thickness of the top is about 1 3/4". All of the 3/4" dog holes in the top were drilled with a VS hand drill, a drill guide and a Forstner bit. This was a LONG, slow process but the results were good. I use a combination of the Veritas round dogs and some 3/4" hardwood dowel pieces. You can see that I did not plug the screw holes in the skirts (nor did I glue them on). I wanted the option to be able to remove/replace/modify them at a later time. The end skirts are fastened to the top with lag bolts through elongated screw holes, the rest are just fastened with wood screws. The center tool tray is a piece of Maple that I milled down to 1/2" and it sits in a rabbet in the bottom edge of the slabs. It is held on with wood screws through elongated holes too.
The face vise is a Record 52. The back jaw of the vice is mortised into the top and the front skirt lays over the top of it. The other jaw is just a piece of leftover Hard Maple and is screwed on to the other vice face. The vice is mounted from underneath with a glued up spacer of hardboard and lag bolts. You'll notice that there is no tail vice. I have thought about adding the Veritas Twin-Screw vice, but I think that I'll get two of their Wonder Dogs first and use the bench like that for a while.
The finish on the top is a few coats of Tried and True Varnish/Oil. On the base is a wiped on 50/50 Poly and Naptha mix.
Now a few pictures. First from the left side...