World's Longest Work Bench Project: Done

[Dick Latshaw]

The bench is based on an article by Tage Frig in the Fall 1976 edition of Fine Woodworking. It is constructed of hard maple and pretty much follows the FW plan except for the length, which is 88 inches. (No such thing as too large a bench -well, sort of). I started on the bench in 1978 while living in Maryland. My records from the time indicate I payed the outrageous price of $1.68 / bd. ft. for 8/4 maple for the stock. I finished the legs the first year and worked on it off and on over the next five years, completing the leg assembly, the glue up of the main top piece, and the rough cut out of most of the remaining pieces.

We then moved to Florida, and I glued up the tail vice in 1983. A move to a town house forced me out of woodworking for about 18 years. Finally started working on it again this year and finished the bench dogs today.

The first picture show the top resting on my old bench whle I was trimming the tail vice. The others show the completed bench. I really enjoyed this project. The only real chore was aligning the tail vice.

IMG_0119a.jpg

IMG_0128a.jpg

IMG_0126a.jpg

IMG_0124a.jpg

IMG_0130a.jpg

[Mark Hulette]

Hey Dick-

Nice work! Good job keeping with it. A lot of people would've chucked the whole thing and made firewood or something out of that nice maple.

Nice touch with the FWW cover and your last picture.

[Allen Bookout]

Dick,

You might have a world recond there in terms of time. You deserve a prize or something special for determination.

Allen

[Larry Cooke]

Dick,

You may be slow but you're good! I won't tell you how long it took me to remodel my house but suffice it to say I started in 1978 (when we bought it) and......

That's a great bench, you done good!

Larry

[Corvin Alstot]

Great job. Was it worth the wait?
I am on your same timetable right now, so I probably need to pickup the pace.

[Hank Knight]

I thought the year it took me to complete my bench was a long time. You win the determination prize. Great looking bench. I'm glad you're back woodworking after a long layoff. You'll enjoy the bench for years to come.

Cheers.

Hank

[Don Baer]

Thats not such a long bench. I've seen longer ones. Oh you ment in terms of how long to build. Sorry I miis read the title of your post. Yes you take the prize for time to completion. Worth the waite from the looks of it.

[Frank Pellow]

Now that's what I call a LONGGG running project. I bet you are glad that you stuck to it and completed the bench. It certainly is a bench that I would be proud to have built.

[Frank Pellow]

... I won't tell you how long it took me to remodel my house but suffice it to say I started in 1978 (when we bought it) and......
...
Larry

Thats not long Larry. We bought our house new in 1972 and it has constantly been in the state of being modified ever since -and some of the renovations have been BIG.

[Mark Pruitt]

Well....now I don't feel so bad that my bench is taking a while to complete! Seriously, I love that bench! Nice job!

[Jay Knoll]

Nice Nice work, and you are a patient man!

Jay

[mark hannibal]

one could add longer side rails and a wide piece behind the trough, which is what i did after building one. now i have two. they help in assembly and longer glue ups. the only disadvantage to the design is that the lower leg longitudinal stringers or braces are set too high to build in drawers etc, but can support a shelf for storage.