Starting a Moravian Bench Build

[Steve Boring]

I'm starting a Moravian bench build with the design based on Will Myers's plans. I'm making a few minor adjustments and wondered if anyone had experience with these changes.

- I'm planning to use a Benchcrafted leg vise and crisscross 14 instead of the wood vise in Will's plans. Based on this thread, I'm planning to lower the stretchers by 2"
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....vian-Workbench

- I want a solid top rather than a tool tray, but I still want the bench to be relatively portable. I'm planning to make the top in two sections. The front section will be glued up from strips of 8/4 beech and pegged to the legs as shown in the plans. The back section will glued up the same way as the front. Will's plans call for the tool tray to sit on the legs and to be trapped by wooden guides. The wooden guides are attached to the bottom of the tray and reach under the front section of the top. They're trapped in place by the legs so the tool tray doesn't shift side to side (when looking at the front of the bench). I want the front edge of the top to be aligned with the front of the legs. The pegs should handle that. Any wood expansion in the top will adjust how much the top overhangs the back of the bench. Does anyone see an issue with this approach or have a better way to do this? I'd rather not glue up the top as a single piece because I think it'd be a pain to move.

- I have Will Myers's 57 page drawing of the bench, but haven't bought the video. Am I missing anything major in skipping the video?

Thanks for any input from the crowd

[Monte Milanuk]

I want a solid top rather than a tool tray, but I still want the bench to be relatively portable. I'm planning to make the top in two sections. The front section will be glued up from strips of 8/4 beech and pegged to the legs as shown in the plans. The back section will glued up the same way as the front.

Just a thought... but if you're trying to keep things light-ish and portable, do you *really* need the back half to be full thickness the same as the front? Or could you instead make the back half from a few edge-joined boards similar to a table top, rather than a bunch of face-laminated strips? I believe some other bench designs (Shaker, etc.) may have used this approach, with the front edge that sees a lot of pounding made thicker and stouter, but using thinner planks for the rest of the bench where it's just a horizontal surface for stuff to sit on.

[Steve Boring]

My thought with it being portable was more about when I move house. If I knew it would stay put indefinitely, I'd give more consideration to a Roubo style design. I'd still like the mass of a 4" top across the whole bench. I've been thinking in circles about how to best manage the two benchtops. I thought about doing a split top design, but eventually started leaning toward just treating it the same as the tool tray.

[Tom Bussey]

I am building a Moravian bench at the present. My top is made of Ash and is 4 inches thick. I could pick up the top a couple of years ago but now I cant lift it at all. Will be 78 in Oct. If you want to be able to move it at all by your self then 4 inches is an over kill. Where the dog holes go 4 inches is fine. Hold fast work better on a thicker bench tops also but through the middle 2 to 2 1/2 will be fine.

I am with Monte on this one I would rethink the 4 inch top thickness.