building a new workbench part one

[Tom Bussey]

I sold my work bench so I have to build a new one. This will be my fourth and hopefully the last bench I build for myself.

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Okay, so where does one start when making their, first or last, bench? Probably the most often asked question I see asked on wood working forums, is how high do I make my bench? The answer to that this question is how tall are you? But this is not the place to start, it is only one of the many details. The first question should be how is the bench going to be use. As on can see I prefer a cabinet makes style bench.

How the bench is going to be used and the actual size of the top is the first consideration. And only the person that is going to be using the bench can answer that question. A wood carver, a person who only makes toys, a cabinet maker, and any other disciplines that was left out, will all have different size and height requirements.

First off the actual size, foot print if you please, should fit the environment. There are lots of plans from magazines, books, and so on out there on the market. And they all want to sound authoritative on the subject. They are all good for ideas and within reason construction ideas and details, but.

Most people can't visualize actual size, me included. I can look at an area and have a good general idea of what will fit but my wife can't. There is nothing like buying a dresser at an auction and finding out, when it gets home, it won't fit. In other words cut a piece of plywood and then fit it to the space intender for the bench to reside. It can be placed on some saw horses and a person has a temporary bench to work from.

The last bench was 78 inches long and I know that the area will support a bench that is 8 foot long. So I cut a sheet of 3/4 prefinished plywood in half. There is always a use for a 1/2 sheet of plywood so forget the other half.
Since a 1/2 sheet is easier to use than a one that is narrower I left it at a half sheet. it is easier to add a board or two to the side to make it wider. One can shorten the piece to make it fit the space for length. but do it gently. In this case it is better to shorten it four time to get it right than to add on after the fact. And you will understand this fact as I progress through the build.

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To this half I am going to layout all of the information needed to build the bench, full sized blueprint if you please.

This is part one. let me know if a person it interested enough for me to continue or just forget it

[Dave Anderson NH]

Please continue Tom. Every bench thread offers folks the opportunity to pick up new ideas. I like your "Jake the Russian" holdfasts. I love mine too.

[Nathan Johnson]

I am right in the middle of my first woodworking bench build, so yes, I would read with interest.

[David Eisenhauer]

Yes please, and, especially the reasons you choose the options and dimensions.

[Jim Koepke]

+1 on the above.

jtk

[Stew Denton]

Tom,

+1 on what the others said. Things guys like you do help guys like me learn.

Right now I want to build a bench, but that has to wait until I build a shop, and that has to wait until things calm down at work....too much work, too few people. I don't know when I will get the time, but am hoping sometime this year.

In the meantime, reading things guys like you write, and the pictures you post help me to learn ways to improve.

So please, yes, there is a lot of interest.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[James Pallas]

Please go ahead Tom. Benches are like ice cream, lots of flavors. Everyone usually has a new topping to boot.
Jim

[michael langman]

I am starting my first bench Tom, and appreciate any bench build threads. Being 60 years old and spending more time doing the necessary parts of life that keep me from the shop, these threads are important. Time is running out!

[Doug Bowman]

I am all for it - always love a good bench thread

[William Fretwell]

Tom, your first bench has it all so I really wonder what you are going to build this time?

[Josh Nelson]

Tom, I'd love to see what you come with. I really like how the bottom slide adjustment works on your old bench's leg vice. I may try that myself with my next bench.

[Tom Bussey]

When building a bench a lot of thought and planning should go into it. I was planning on making my bench 8" long. Why? because my area sill support an 8 foot bench, And nobody builds them 8 foot long except me. I am going to make the top out of hickory. Why? because I bought a pile of it at an auction a few years back and I haven't had anything else to use it for I checked the length on each board and they are all over 8 feet closer to 9 feet. Not looking forward to making it flat though. And who in their right mind would build a top out of Hickory?

I figure since it measures right at one inch wide using a tape measure I am hoping they will finish out at 7/8 inch for gluing. I am not sure what the final width will be when it is all said and done.

I know a lot of plans call for 1 1/2 wide or even 2 inches wide, a lot less gluing. 6/4s or 8/4 are is a lot harder to work. One inch thick boards, even if they are a little bowed can be pulled in with clamps. The one thing never mentioned in the plans is that 6/4s board command a much higher price per board foot and that the cost of the board can be charged as 2 board feet because the board feet can double because of the thickness. If a person is on a budget they could get a big surprise when buying thicker boards.

Anyway I had it all figured out and then I said to my wife that I planned on entering it at the county fair and quite possibly the state fair. And she asked how how I was going to get it there. I said in my pickup truck, it has an eight foot bed. And she asked will it fit since the handle will stick out. You can't close the tail gate. To which I said, back to the drawing board.

If one looks at one of the pictures up top, you will see that the end of the vise, along with the shoulder support sticks out and I would not be able to shut the tail gate. So I decided I would go 7 feet long and not 8, So I laid out my top at 7 foot. And I was fine with that until just for fun I placed a 2 1/4 inch wide board at the end of the plywood top which represents the wood tail vise support for a lack of any thing else to call it. And also placed the end of the vise screw where it should go only to find out I needed less that 6 inches of to make it fit in the pickup and not 12. Now I had to tape over some of my layout and lengthen the layout 6 inches.

As this bench unfolds you will come to see why I wish to close the tail gate during transport.. And why, this is why, I am making a inexpensive , research and development actual size model. It will just make less problems when in the actual build.

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[David Eisenhauer]

Brave man Tom. I have been slowly (very slowly) working my way through the remains of 1,000 bf of Pecan I bought years ago for a run of cabinets for a client that then backed out of the deal. As I understand it, Pecan and Hickory are 99% the same species and I have found that running Pecan through a planer, jointer and shaper is a different horse to ride using hand tools only. Hard is one thing, but grain reversal does not shame this wood at all and I do not claim to be an expert of yours and many, many others on this forum. Fortunately, I had already settled on a chisel/plane iron sharpening scheme that works for me several years ago, so that was one hurdle cleared. It should be a he%#-for-stout bench when you get through with it.

[William Fretwell]

I'm trying to wrap my head around designing a bench for a ride in a pick up truck! You can build a 2x4 angled carrier for the bench in the truck so 8' fits easily! Then you still get the bench you want.
Hickory will be superb for a bench. It is good to suffer!

[John Kananis]

Hi Tom: Looking forward to this build; must say... I really wouldn't want to flatten an 8' hickory top, wow.