Thread: Reclaimed Redgum Workbench..........

There are 2 MDF cabinets to fill the inside of the frame with 4 doors and adj. shelves.

Should hopefully get it done this week.

Pity to see it go out the door though, it crpas all over what I use as a workbench.

The front vice jaw is book matched and laminated 2" thick redgum all cut from the one-piece.

All the redgum was milled up using my chainsaw mill and the BP 16A. I used a hook 3TPI blade, but I think next set I get will be 1 1/4 TPI....that particular blade is now stuffed..

Pic 1.
ahh, the joys of working from a shoe-box. Not only is it too small too swing my cat, its also always the same temp as outside.

Pic 2.
Had some 1/2" steel plate lying around so I used that for the mounting plates for the Fallshaw Castors (95kg each). Managed to start a small fire in some redgum that was lying around when I cut it up with the angle grinder. Man I wish I had an Oxy set up.

Pic 3.
Castors attached with M8 Hex head bolts......way strong.

Pic 3 & 4.
Ready to sanded and oiled. Thankfully I don't have to oil it.

This is a pic of the first time I used Sketchup to draw it up. Did I say I love SU.

Originally Posted by martrix

This is a pic of the first time I used Sketchup to draw it up. Did I say I love SU.

Looks like a closely matched bench and drawing, but the grain doesn't match

Solid looking bench

Nice job on the shaker style bench.

I started one very similar to that but I dont have the time to finish it.

You say you are not going to keep it. Can I ask why?

I like what I see. Show us more.

Originally Posted by djstimber

Looks like a closely matched bench and drawing, but the grain doesn't match

Solid looking bench

Ta, it is like a rock if I don't mind saying .......I wish it was as easy to make as it was to draw. I honestly think if I was doing it in a factory with some decent space, I could have done it in half the time.

Originally Posted by boban

Nice job on the shaker style bench.

I started one very similar to that but I dont have the time to finish it.

You say you are not going to keep it. Can I ask why?

I guess it does have a little shaker style about it. I never set out with that in mind, though I guess I must be influenced. I just designed it to be strong with lots of storage and to be very functional. It has 75mm overhang all round for clamping and you can also clamp to the timber jaws on the vice.

I built it for a relative who has a new shed.

The beauty of the shaker style is obviously the storage but more importantly for the hand tooler, no racking because of the frame and panel configuration. Practically bracing all round.

Lucky relative.

Fantastic job matrix. looks great.

What did you use in SketchUp for the fill on the redgum legs, don't think my version has that colour/texture ??


Cheers...................Sean

Looks good Martrix.

Bloody good fumpin bench that! Well done, I like your detail for top leg connection - intelligent use of Domis.

Hey - you could request a name change to "Domimatrix"

Originally Posted by scooter

Fantastic job matrix. looks great.

What did you use in SketchUp for the fill on the redgum legs, don't think my version has that colour/texture ??


Cheers...................Sean

Hi Scooter, you can use your own textures from any pics you have on file. I just quickly grabbed a pic of redgum I had on file and used that. I could get it much more realistic if I take some pictures of the grain and photoshopped them to a more realistic scale.
When its finished, I might try taking some close up shots, and then redraw the bench and texture it using the real photos.
I'm using SU V.6.0 free.

Looks really solid mate
Must weight a ton!
I'd like to see a finished pic of it.

Boyoboyoboy! That's a bear and a half. Nice and solid.

Cutting 1/2 inch plate with an angle grinder? I think I'd use 3 or 4 cutoff wheels for each cut, and need a new wheel to reach the bottom of the last pass. For version 2.0, I'd suggest eliminating the base plate, especially as I've never been fond of screws in end grain anyway. Glue some dowels crosswise near the end of the leg, and use wood screws or lag bolts through the caster plate to engage the dowels.

Joe

Originally Posted by joe greiner

Boyoboyoboy! That's a bear and a half. Nice and solid.

Cutting 1/2 inch plate with an angle grinder? I think I'd use 3 or 4 cutoff wheels for each cut, and need a new wheel to reach the bottom of the last pass. For version 2.0, I'd suggest eliminating the base plate, especially as I've never been fond of screws in end grain anyway. Glue some dowels crosswise near the end of the leg, and use wood screws or lag bolts through the caster plate to engage the dowels.

Joe

Gday Joe, yeah I think I went through 2 &1/2 cut off disc's to cut all 4 to size. Cut through 3/4 on one side then flipped it over. I only used the 1/2" because I had a biggish sheet laying around. Plus the bonus now is that I have a nice rectangle of plate steel.....mmm, might use it for a router table.

Agree with screws not to flash in end grain, but they are 3" screws and as all the weight is pretty much down on them, they act like locating/fixing pins....

I didn't like the idea of fixing the castor's to the leg using the holes in the castor plate because they are too close to the edge of the timber and there is a risk of a screw blowing out the timber.

Although it might be a little excessive, I am confident that they way I have done it, it will be very unlikely to ever fail. Also, if the castors spit the dummy, it is an easy job to replace them with an allen key.

There are 2 MDF boxes + doors + shelves to go inside the bench, plus what ever else gets stored inside( its a good sized storage space), so there is going to be a lot of weight.