My Dream Bench (until my next dream….)

[chris carter]

I just built my new bench – which is my second hand tool bench. My first one was built when I knew nothing of hand tools – it was intended for a different purpose, but I was able to convert it into a very serviceable hand tool bench when I caught the hand tool bug. Prior to that I was basically a homeowner with some tools that I needed for taking care of the house. That bench had a lot of flaws, but it served me well for three years and I built a lot of great stuff on it. For the past year I’d been planning for a replacements and meticulously going over exactly what I wanted. It’s finally done and I’ve been using it gloriously for the past week.

It’s a split-top Roubo and measures 42” tall and 26” wide (I’m six and a half feet tall). Including the outer chop on the end vise it’s 67” long (77” with the tool tray). It’s as big as I could possibly get away with in the space I have available for woodworking. After a lot of thought, I made it out of doug fir. I have an oak wall bench that I used for all kinds of homeowner stuff and much preferred the previous hand tool bench I had that was made from construction lumber. The vise is made from ash.

I did the bulk of this with hand tools and thanks to a busted right elbow I've been slowly working on it since December.

1 bench front.jpg
2 bench front end.jpg
3 bench front.jpg
4 bench back end.jpg

[chris carter]

I won’t bore people with the usual fare of stuff everyone already knows and does the same and instead just highlight some of my more interesting decisions.

First up, the vise, because I know ya’ll are thinking “pipe clamps”?? Yes, pipe clamps. I knew I wanted a twin screw end vise and I looked at all the hardware options out there. I was pretty much set on the Veritas twin screw, but when I weighed all the pros and cons, I just found that the pipe clamp twin screw won out. It wasn’t a cost decision, just how I like to work the pipe clamps work better for me. These are Bessey clamps, but I cut off the feet and then painted them black for aesthetics because the red was really driving me nuts. These required a cutout under the bench to screw the back of the clamp and a groove as the placement had the pipes ate slightly into the bench top. It was easier to cut the grooves the length of the bench that trying to do a stopped groove. My method for those huge grooves was to plow a quarter inch on the left and right and then use an unfenced rabbet plane to hog out the middle – which made for a surprisingly fast operation. The inner face of the vise is bread boarded and pinned to the bench top and then dovetailed to the sides of the bench top.
grooves.jpg

Next, the tool tray at the end of the bench. I need a tool tray because in my multi-purpose basement I have no way to store tools near the bench. In fact, anything that doesn’t live on the bench is 12 feet away and through a doorway – not very convenient. I don’t need a huge tray like those that run along the back of the bench; just enough for the core tools. Putting it at the end of the bench means that it really doesn’t collect almost any wood chips. The one exception being when I’m doing some surface planing against the bench stop, but those are generally huge curls that are very easy to fish out if too many get in there. It also allows me to work from both sides of the bench, which is a requirement for me.
5 bench tool tray.jpg

Aprons. I have a 10.5 inch apron on the front of the bench and that’s because I don’t have a face/leg vise (and sliding deadman). So far it’s been absolutely amazing. In fact, while I was waiting forever for the black paint to cure on the end vise hardware it was all I had and I could probably get away without any vise – except that I’m a big fan of convenience! There are two pegs squirreled away into those holes for assisting various quirky holds. There is a seven inch apron on the back side that serves no purpose other than adding rigidity to the 4 inch thick bench top while providing enough clearance for the handle of my thickness planer. The thickness planer is the one power tool I still actually use on a somewhat regular basis. It adds a solid 80lbs to the bench and I also have no other place to conveniently put the thing (total weight of the bench, with tools and the thickness planer, is calculated at about 350lbs). The aprons are a smidge under 3 inches thick.
7 bench apron.jpg

Planing stop. I wanted a traditional blacksmith one, and the DIY attitude in me had me convinced that I could make one without any blacksmithing experience or the proper tools. It should shock no-one that I failed spectacularly so I resorted to just screwing one on. It was made from some quarter inch mild steel and the wood was from a beech tree a neighbor cut down a couple years ago. To keep the screws from working out of the end grain I inserted a one inch oak dowel and drove the screws into that. The stop is angled very slightly down in back and the teeth have a subtle back bevel. Most of my bench planes are wooden so in theory, in a worst case scenario, should I not pay attention and hit the stop I’ll simply skate over that little peak instead of taking a chunk out of my plane sole. It’s not painted black, but rather, I burned boiled linseed oil on it to make it black. Aside from rust-proofing it, it completes all the visible hardware on my bench being black. I opted for 8tpi recalling something Derek said about his bech dog planing stop in some post long ago. The grip is awesome and the marks left on the wood are minimal.
8 bench planing stop dowel.jpg9 bench planing stop.jpg

With the gap stop, I didn’t actually put much in there for tool storage. I actually don’t like the idea of storing tools ON the bench top where they get in the way. That’s part of why I have a tool tray! I just have two six inch slots toward the end so when I’m doing something like cutting dovetails or whatever, there’s a convenient place to stick the saw and a little extra. I’ve left the rest of the gap stop solid so it doesn’t add to the chips that fall through the dog holes. I was originally going to make it from ash like the vise, but I didn’t quite have enough and well, COVID-19 kept me from getting more so I made it from pine. The gap stop elevates to ½ inch and flips over for a slot to cut tenons. Many people don’t like split tops and it was the biggest question mark for me, but so far I really like it.

OOPS! So there are three rows of dog holes. There are only supposed to be two and that third row was SUPPOSED to be drilled where the second one is. After cursing up a storm for being so stupid as to not pay attention to such a simple thing, I decided to bore the correct second row with as few dog holes as I needed. In use, those extra holes have actually come in kind of handy and it doesn't look nearly as swiss-cheesy as I had initially feard. So now I just say it was all part of the design! The second row are basically my hold fast holes. I use hold fasts nonstop for probably 95% of my workholding, so that second row is probably the most important holes on the entire bench.

[Graham Haydon]

Looks like it will do you well. Great work!

[Jim Matthews]

Is the bottom of the tool tray fixed, or fitted for removal?

[chris carter]

Is the bottom of the tool tray fixed, or fitted for removal?

It slides in (from the bench side) exactly like a drawer bottom. It just stops short of that 1/2" tool slot so that long tools (like that Veritas carcass saw) can slide through and poke out the bottom.

[David Eisenhauer]

Good looking bench Chris. Looks like it will work well. I like the idea of the tool box hanging on the end (out of the way, but close enough). I saw those wooden planes hanging out, waiting on traffic. I like my Steve Voigt planes and have mine hanging out nearby as well. I don't use a metal toothed stop, just a less-than-a-quarter inch-tall stop fitted into a couple of dog holes drilled at one far end of my bench, but yours looks like a winner that should work well.

[ken hatch]

Chris,

Congrats, beautiful workmanship on the bench.

When I looked at the first set of photos my first thought was "ain't no way any work can be done, the place is way to neat". The second set cleared that up .

ken

[Terry Wawro]

That bench looks sturdy enough to hold a tank. Good job.

[Jim Koepke]

Interesting bench, how far can the vise open?

jtk

[scott lipscomb]

Nice bench Chris, I like how you thought about what will work for you and made it. I have a vise like that, and its surprisingly versatile and useful. Mine can open way up, if needed.IMG_1613.jpg

[chris carter]

Good looking bench Chris. Looks like it will work well. I like the idea of the tool box hanging on the end (out of the way, but close enough). I saw those wooden planes hanging out, waiting on traffic. I like my Steve Voigt planes and have mine hanging out nearby as well. I don't use a metal toothed stop, just a less-than-a-quarter inch-tall stop fitted into a couple of dog holes drilled at one far end of my bench, but yours looks like a winner that should work well.

On my previous bench I started out with a wooden planing stop using two dog holes. Then I got one of those aluminum spring loaded toothed planing stops that you can find anywhere – I think I got mine from Lee Valley for like $10 or something. That, along with a doe’s foot was a GAME CHANGER for me because it really lined up with how I wanted to work. But I hated how that stop would get chips stuck in it which made it a pain to close at least 25% of the time. So I decided to go old school with a fool proof design. As a bonus, the grip is SO much better than that spring loaded one. The difference in holding power is dramatic, particularly when planing across the grain with a fore plane (perpendicular to the planing stop). I never hit the aluminum one even once so I think I'm pretty safe with the mild steel - the beveling is just extra insurance.

[chris carter]

Interesting bench, how far can the vise open?

jtk

Right now I think it's about 27 or 28 inches or so, which is already pretty ridiculous. Theoretical max is over four feet because that's where the pipes would hit the left upper stretcher (I didn't cut notches in it for the pipes because who needs over four feet of throat???). Swapping out pipes for longer ones in some unforseen situation is a 2 minute operation by borrowing from one of my longer pipe clamps.

The screw travel is about 2-1/4 inches, which covers about 98% of my clamping needs without extending the vise. But extending it is as simple as flipping the tabs which are easily accessible just reaching under the chop. It's about as much effort as moving a pin in a leg vise I suppose.

[chris carter]

Nice bench Chris, I like how you thought about what will work for you and made it. I have a vise like that, and its surprisingly versatile and useful. Mine can open way up, if needed.IMG_1613.jpg

The versatility of a twin screw end vise along with the versatility of using pipes is a double whammy of versatility goodness!

[Rob Lee]

Hi Chris -

Great job executing a thoughtful design! You can be very proud of your work!

Cheers -

Rob

[Tom Bender]

chris

You have a very creative bent, you must make interesting things.