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Thread: First real project

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2021
    Location
    Central Pa.
    Posts
    120

    First real project

    Welp… in the world of instant gratification, I wanted to get a workbench in place in no small part due to the fact that I took over my wife’s table last yesr.
    So I see these benches with all the bells and whistles, joinery, (foreign to me) and the like and get intimidated. So I stalled like a heavy freighter dead in the water, sloshing around rudderless.

    Time to s**t or get off the pot. Kept looking online, saw several, all charged for their plans. I’m too cheap and/or the off-brand website won’t take my card. Finally found a woman with a DIY site, simple bench, free plans. Bingo!

    Not for me the fancy joinery, etc. Nice doable 2x4’s.

    20210828_030439.jpg

    Glued it and screwed it… hero of the day was the Bosch impact driver. This pic is after I planed it-got my workout for today for sure.

    Plan called for MDF top, I asked price for 4x8 3/4 plywood and almost fell off the chair.

    I watched just enough vids to know to make it long and slim… 8ft L x 24 in. D. I wanted a top for Real Men, 2x4's glued up on end, did the calculation for the 2x4’s and… forget that. So I laid 2x4’s flat instead. Being flat, of course it is bouncy and sonorous. I kept adding crossbraces until it felt and sounded solid. Wound up crossbraces are every foot. Plan called for one every 4ft. Ummm… no.

    I added the 2x6 support in the center. Had freebie 2x6, very rough and twisted. Enter… Scrub Plane! First time I tried it. Made real short work of what I thought wasn’t a viable piece.

    Here’s my crew:

    20210827_235633.jpg

    Hope I got the order right: Scrub leads the way, Jack makes it flat, Joint mops up, Smoothie makes it over… Yes, no?

    Hero is on the left.

    Jack did most of the work.

    I twisted screws… lots of screws.

    First “serious” thing I built. A nice rush when things I measured dropped right into place. How novel!

    I did the maybe-glue up in place. I don’t have near enough clamps to do it any other way, so I laid the 2x’s out, made sure of getting them lined up and centered, and glued/screwed them down successively, clamping each area as I went along. Only way I could figure out. I clamped hard and drove the screws in deep so the planes wouldn’t commit suicide. I can’t say enough about the impact driver!

    Am I gonna fill the screw holes? Don’t know.

    As a nod to "real" woodworking, I bored a hole in each leg and glued/slammed a 5/8" dowel into each. It ain’t going nowhere! Every last mating surface was glued.

    At least I know what dog holes are for and I thought I might need a thicker surface. I figure I can fab a piece from scrap 2x6 or whatever with the hole predrilled and glue it in place from below with just long enough screws to hold it in place and ream the overflow glue out of the hole.

    I do need help with hole placement and what else I can add and where. In a video I saw it mentioned leaving an overhang for a tail vise, which is out of the question money wise right now. And quite literally forgot the overhang. I’ll make something up, build an overengineered extension, something.) (wife was getting pandemic unemployment but party’s over now, back to subsidence level. Social Security only now) So I need a vise commensurate with that, IOW through kindness or a dumpster.

    Speaking of kindness, a very kind member on another forum gave me a #4 and when I saw the wide open mouth, you can guess the first thing that came to mind! Scrub therapy! Used it on the scrap piece center support. Lots of fun. <g>

    The plan called for casters but no way. So I elected to get retractable casters so I can move it around. Waiting on those now.

    Now I have to mod the table in the background for him and hers! That’s a job for Milwaukee... Hackzall and circular get that job.

    I need learner’s feedback so all polite, constructive criticism is welcome.

    Thanks for the inspiration, all! Enough fat fingering for now. Took 45 minutes to type this…
    Last edited by Richard Hart; 08-28-2021 at 4:05 PM.

  2. #2
    Looks like a perfectly functional bench Richard. Congratulations!
    Now put her to work and make some furniture!
    Fred
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  3. #3
    Looks good and beefy, and I see you managed to pick the good boards ! Looks like the first board might be upside down, it’s best to put
    conifer wood “bark side up” ,then you don’t have sharp feather grain popping up.
    Thanks for being a contributor.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Location
    Lancaster, Ohio
    Posts
    1,346
    Looks like it will get the job done for now
    Nice work
    How about adding a location for yourself
    Ron

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Lafayette, Indiana
    Posts
    1,378
    Congratulations on the build. Looks plenty big enough and solid. You will enjoy having the bench. You have a lot of work holding options without vises. A couple of pistol grip clamps or 12” F clamps will go along way. The one challenge you might have is that there is some law that large flat, clear horizontal surfaces attract stuff. I know this sis a challenge in my shop. Good luck! My guess is it won’t be long until you have a bottom shelf in your bench. Maybe down the road you can create some storage cabinets in that space? Lots of options.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2021
    Location
    Central Pa.
    Posts
    120
    Quote Originally Posted by Joe A Faulkner View Post
    Congratulations on the build. Looks plenty big enough and solid. You will enjoy having the bench. You have a lot of work holding options without vises. A couple of pistol grip clamps or 12” F clamps will go along way. The one challenge you might have is that there is some law that large flat, clear horizontal surfaces attract stuff. I know this sis a challenge in my shop. Good luck! My guess is it won’t be long until you have a bottom shelf in your bench. Maybe down the road you can create some storage cabinets in that space? Lots of options.
    It's a matter of money-plan called for a sheet in the bottom area but right now it's out of the question and yes, I have a "stuff" problem.
    I need the shelf though to store power tools, etc. but lumberyard prices... pfft... fugeddaboutit! Gonna look for reclaimed or scrap.
    Fortunately I got my dad's tools when he passed and I'm ok with clamps, except I need longer ones.

    Thanks for the compliments!
    Last edited by Richard Hart; 08-29-2021 at 5:08 AM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2021
    Location
    Central Pa.
    Posts
    120
    Quote Originally Posted by Mel Fulks View Post
    Looks good and beefy, and I see you managed to pick the good boards ! Looks like the first board might be upside down, it’s best to put
    conifer wood “bark side up” ,then you don’t have sharp feather grain popping up.
    Thanks for being a contributor.
    I'm new at this so I didn't know there's a side, I went on amount of knots and smoothness. Thanks fot the info-I need to learn this stuff. God, I hate this keyboard...

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Richard Hart View Post
    It's a matter of money-plan called for a sheet in the bottom area but right now it's out of the question and yes, I have a "stuff" problem.
    I need the shelf though to store power tools, etc. but lumberyard prices... pfft... fugeddaboutit! Gonna look for reclaimed or scrap.
    Fortunately I got my dad's tools when he passed and I'm ok with clamps, except I need longer ones.

    Thanks for the compliments!
    Ok with clamps? Never thought i'd hear that! Ha! Looks like a nice bench to get going!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2021
    Location
    Central Pa.
    Posts
    120
    Quote Originally Posted by Shad Schreiner View Post
    Ok with clamps? Never thought i'd hear that! Ha! Looks like a nice bench to get going!
    Guess I meant I *have* clamps but could've used dozens on this job!

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