My First Workbench Build - A Journal

[Chris Hachet]

Thanks, Nick! I can already tell that the practice is making a difference. I still have a long way to go, but it's helping a lot already just to use my planes and get used to them.

It took me awhile to get the feel for them also. But now, I rarely harm an electron in my shop....

[Tom Bussey]

Why not put a stretcher a crossed the top of the legs also. The put two cleats on the underside so they are touching the stretchers at the top. Screw the cleats on . you will have to elongate all the holes except for the first screw. That way the top just sets there on the legs. To move the bench all that is needed is to lift the top off and if you make the legs knock down you can mode it very nicely. Most benches are never built with moving to a different location and or fasten it to a wall also and then they have a mess.

This is just my personal opinion but I feel a person should be able to work on all four sides of a workbench.

[Eric Schubert]

Tom, I was actually planning to put a stretcher across the tops of the legs so that I could lag screw the top slabs down to them, making a split top. I might still do the double dovetail/tenon joint on the outer edges, just because I'd like to try it. But, the top slabs will rest on the stretchers, and I'd still use lag screws to hold the slabs down.

I also plan to put the casters on the legs such that I can lift and roll the bench around, if I need to. That way I can keep it in the center of the open area and work on all sides (I very much agree with you on this!), but I can also roll it out of the way if I need more room for some other reason.

I've also poked around a bit on bench styles, and I like the concept of the Roubo and 21st Century benches. I want to be able to clamp through the center of the bench. But, I also was intrigued by making a box or two to sit in the gap for holding items, or so I can flip them upside down and use them to fill the gap and make a full work surface without a gap in it.

[Eric Schubert]

So, managed to get just a bit more done on the final leg of my bench. Unfortunately, the second side I'm working on is significantly convex, so it's going to take some time to get it flattened out. It's getting there, but I tired out before I could finish it. I'd say I need to take the center down by somewhere between 1/4" and 1/2" to get it flattened out.

[Eric Schubert]

Really just updating my journal here, not much exciting. Finally got back to it a bit. I put in a couple of hours working on flattening the convex side of that board again. It's nearly there, but I just ran out of gas. Next time I should have that side flattened and squared.

[Eric Schubert]

I finally got off my butt and started working on my bench again. I've been sidetracked by various other projects, traveling, and so on. It feels good to make progress again. The final leg of the bench needs some serious flattening and squaring. I managed to get the second side flattened (the first side was already done). Then, I went back and checked the first side again and it was twisted. I'm not sure if moisture released and the wood moved, or if I just hadn't checked it for twist, yet. In any case, I'll need to go back and redo that face again.

[Eric Schubert]

More work on the bench build today. About two hours. I have 3 of the 4 sides of the final leg smooth and square. I ended up having to re-square one of the other faces, as it was a bit off. It should be pretty close now. Only one more face of this leg to finish and I can start work on assembling the two sections of the bench top. The legs will still need to be cut to length before assembly, but I'll take care of that when it's time to begin assembling the base.

[Eric Schubert]

Things have been busy this summer, but I can't really make excuses for not working on this project more often. I've just been lazy.

However, I got off my butt and finally finished squaring up the last leg of my bench. They still need to be cut to length, but I'll worry about that later. My next task is to start working on the bench top slabs. I'll smooth and straighten an edge on each board that will be glued to its neighbor. Then I'll start gluing up the two pairs into slabs before I smooth them out. Once they've been glued, I'll then start smoothing out the rest of the faces.

[Joe A Faulkner]

If you are not in a hurry you might want to glue up your first pair, and then add one board at a time to that slab. This approach will give you the best shot at getting each piece aligned nicely with the slab and minimize the planing that might be required if you build up the top by joining pairs. A pair will be fairly rigid, of course if all the boards are nice and flat and true and retain that feature from one day to the next the this is not much of an issue, but if you have to "pull" things together a bit then adding one board at a time will give you the most flexibility. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[Eric Schubert]

Weird... My last post got deleted somehow.

Anyway.

Joe, thanks for the suggestion. But, I plan to have two separate slabs for a split top. Each part will be only a pair of boards, so no need to glue up multiple times. Otherwise, I'd definitely use the method you've described.

On a side note, I noticed clamps were on sale at Harbor Freight today, so I went and snagged a bunch. My clamps aren't really appropriate for woodworking anyway. And I needed a bunch more to glue my top together. So timing perfect. I also grabbed wood glue.

[Eric Schubert]

I did a dry-fit test run, and things seemed to be pretty close. I figured my gaps would close up with clamping pressure. Overall, I'm happy with the glue-up, aside from the fact that these two boards were of different thicknesses. (They're from the same 6x8 beam, so I must have just ripped it in half off-center a little.) Otherwise, I got a glue bead nearly the entire length of the seam. It was hard to check the underside, but I think it was similar there. I had one or two small gap areas that wouldn't quite close up, but I imagine it should suffice. It's tough to get a nice, straight edge with hand planes (especially for a beginner), so I'm pretty happy with it.

Also, it's really good that I got all of those clamps! You can definitely tell they're not professional quality, but they're better than what I had. And, I believe Paul Sellers mentioned stuffing the center of the extrusion with wood to stiffen the clamps a bit more. I may just end up doing that.

[Eric Schubert]

Time for another update.

This afternoon I managed to smooth and flatten both halves of my second bench top slab. Then I glued them together. This time the glue-up went more smoothly, because I was more mindful of gaps and trying to eliminate them during my dry run.

Next thing I need to do is start planning out my base. I have 4x4 boards for it, but I don't know how picky I will be with straightening them out. I'll square and smooth the sides, but I think straightening them out might be more trouble than it's worth. The length of each board may make that impossible, if there's too much of a bow. If I straighten any of the boards, it will probably only be on the outer face of each one.

Anyway, much to contemplate. For now, I'll sleep on it.

[Eric Schubert]

After deliberating how to build my base, I've decided to use barrel nuts to secure the long stringers to the legs. I'll then glue the end frames together. This will make my bench fairly solid, yet I can knock it down if I need to move it.

In order to utilize barrel nuts, I'll need the capability to bore deep holes. From my reading, it sounds like I'll need a brace to do this. I hit up four flea/antique markets nearby, and while they had some old tools, they did not have any decent braces for sale. Looks like I'll have to find something online...

Anyone have suggestions on where to find a good brace? I've already contacted Patrick Leach (may have another of the one I wanted that was already sold), and taken a look at Hyperkitten. I'm hoping for other avenues without resorting to eBay. Preferably some sort of reputable online shop.

[David Eisenhauer]

Jim Bode Tools dot com may have one. He has in the past at any rate.

[Eric Schubert]

Thanks, David! Jim does, in fact, have a couple of these braces. They're a little pricey, but I'm assuming Jim is a reputable seller and only sells tools of good quality. If I grab one on eBay, it'll be a crap shoot whether I get a good item or not, at best.