I've been threatening to build an auxiliary bench for my shop since the recent small renovation I did that removed the big, old miter station in favor of more shop space and a "dedicated" work surface for my guitar building. Well...yesterday, I started the task. While I plan a cabinet to be part of this setup, I'm starting with the bench top because I can use it on top of the MFT that's temporarily in service in that spot for as long as I need to since I want it to be a little higher up anyway.
The design for the top is a general structure of maple with two 25mm thick MDF inserts that will be setup with a typical MFT-type grid of 20mm dog holes on 96mm centers. There will be one row of .75" holes down a piece of maple that will be about in the middle so I can use my hold-fasts when they are the right tool for the job. I may or may not put a vice on the top...most likely if I do, it will be on the end rather than the front face so I'm not banging into it. I may use a Moxon or other "attachable" vice on top of the other end for when that method of work holding is appropriate. Here's the basic idea for the top with some refinement still in the works:
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I grabbed about 17 board feet of 6/4 maple yesterday from a local supplier and milled it up to use for the bench. The nominal thickness of the bench will be 65mm (about 2.5") and the width of each strip of maple is 35mm (not quite 1.4")
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While I established the general dimensions for the top in the above drawing and my head, there's nothing that substitutes for using the actual material that will be assembled together to ascertain exactly what the width is going to be. That started with laying a bunch of milled pieces next to each other so I could establish what the exact width would be. This was done at the end that is "solid" laminated maple...the utility area where heavier work can happen and where a vice might potentially live if I do decide on a face vice. Final width came in at 560mm which is about 22"...a narrower bench than my primary, but perfect for the intended task
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From there, I started cutting things to length, such as the shorter pieces that would be laminated for the solid end of the bench top. Using the stop on the fence insured they were all exactly the same size.
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It was then time to reassemble the laminated end to perfectly size the end piece that would be perpendicular to the laminations. I clamped things together tightly like they would be during the future final assembly and then measured with both the rule and by eye to get it exact. Three of these pieces get cut to the same length as the other end is a "double".
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That pretty much completed the cutting and allowed for the first dry-fit.
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It's easier to do sub-assemblies for something like this, so that's what I did...many clamps got to go to work here.
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