Workbench queery

[Wild Dingo]

So... Ive been wandering all over the forum checking out the workbenches... seems before I drilled my finger I had started what I now think was a bench not sure if it was a workbench a router table or something else of a bench nature... but Im pretty sure due to financial constraints just presently and not having built a bench in a few months... what can I say I need another bench :roll:

Soo... of the present 4 benches I have the two long benches 12ft x 26in x 30in have two sheets of 1/2in ply bunged on them... not flash and just servicable... the one I made back in Mandurah of Tuart 8ft x 26in x 30in has Tuart planks running lengthwise... and the other is my most used since its in the doorway where the light is... mmm must get power to shed must get power to shed must get power to shed... is an old post office desk steel frame with 4 sheets of 4ft x 5ft x 1in formply on as a top which has just reminded me that I must screw that buggar down one day.

So anyways... Im thinking its about time I made myself an annully retentively artistically created one :; You know get the FINEST Jarrah boards in the stack match em perfectly then get the most stunning peices of Durian for the legs some of that Sepiature for the rails some fine Sheoak for the drawer fronts etc etc etc... you know go all out!!! :2tsup: so I have a couple of questions

As I said Ive been oggling the workbenches on the various threads and Ive come to the conclusion that since I will be using Jarrah boards for the top

1) there doesnt seem to be a concensus on which is better for the top... some have the planks running full length ala my Tuart one while others seem to have gone across the table

2) I cant seem to get a handle on a consistant mode of making the front panel peice for attaching the vice

3) Whats best should I make it somehow for future updates like big tail vices and such or just make it and be buggared with a vice?

mmm yeah thats another thing I gotta buy one of these days have a small vice thats about good enough to hold a flea while the dog bites it but thats about it so it wont be going on as it hasnt gone on any other the others damned if I know why I hold onto the sodding thing

Id like to incorporate cupboard and open storage above the bench and was wondering about doing it with high say 2.4mtr back uprights and make a cupboard to attach between like those bars you see with the glass rack uptop that sorta thing... whats your thoughts on these ideas of mine?

first

Im going to make a bench and use the best of the timber thats laying around to make it... I have no intention of using ply formply chipboard or mdf for the top... I have Jarrah and a ton of the stuff... thickness may be an issue the planks I have are 1in thick... but I do have 5 Jarrah sleepers I could if I got adventurous enough and wanted to shell out for a new set of blades on the jointer and thicknesser run them through and use them? but would prefer to use the boards rather easier on the machines eh wot!... so... I would like to make the top AT LEAST 2in thick... dont ask me why... so do I just join a couple of the boards together with glue... or do I make one 1in top and offset the other on top of it?... next do I tongue and groove them to each other leaving an small gap for movement?... next do I make the front with a larger panel say if the front rail is 5in wide then the panel around 10in wide but for a length of say 20in instead of the whole length of the front? ie a false front where the vice will eventually fit

Oh I got a couple of those dog things but think I will use the method Ramps uses on his bench square pegs in a square hole seemed to me to work bloody well so I will go with that.

Hope thats clear as mud?

Reason for building another bench? to FILL THE FRIGGIN SHED!!! see if I fill the shed to brimming and cant work in there and make HER her stuff then theory is she will come to the party once the cash flows again and let me buy a BIGGER SHED!!! eh? :U gawd I love it when I get a plan :2tsup:

[Pat]

Ding, put the power on in the shed first!


It sounds like you are going to have to laminate the top, to get the thickness you want.

Try to find an old Dawn vice.

[Wild Dingo]

Laminate??? mmm several meanings to that Pat... so you reckon my idea of making one top of the 1in boards and makin a second and offseting is the way to go?... so they will be T&G so do I glue and screw the two tops together or just bung them together making the bolt hold downs go through both... or maybe just use those wooden cleats and dog things underneath and the edge band to hold it all together?
Or maybe strip plank a bench top? mmm could be an interesting exersize I guess...

Talk to me boofhead #1!!! :2tsup:

ooooh woe is no one interested in me success or failure at this willst none offer helpful advice and considered thought?? sigh :C

[McFly]

Gidday Wild Dingo.

If you have 1 inch thick jarrah then I think you are better off laminating them face to face.
Rip the boards to just more than the thickness you want the bench (75mm is a good thickness to start with but somewhere between 60 and 75mm seems to be good). Only problem is that you will need a lot of boards to make up a decent width of bench - 28 for a 700mm wide bench.
If you glue a few boards together at a time (less than 300mm width) then you can run them through a thicknesser to get an even, smooth thickness of bench top. Another thing that will make it much easier to keep everything flat during glueup is to drill holes through the boards so you can run a length of threaded rod through and tighten with nuts on each end. Much better than using pipe clamps. Also use clamping cauls above and below which will keep everything flat as.
I'm building a bench now which has a top of laminated 45 x 60mm boards (45mm thick on edge and face glued). Only less than 1/2mm off being flat before final flattening straight after glue up.
I hope that I'm not blabbing on about what you already know.

[Wild Dingo]

mate I was fine up to this

...better off laminating them face to face...
after that you bought in the metric stuff and I lost the plot...

So Im thinking your saying that I should glue two boards together face side to face side right? and so on till I reach the bench width?... and bolt them together during glueup right? so Im confused are you suggesting the bolts go through lengthwise or through width wise?... okay so the boards will by the time theyre ready for that be down to about 7 1/2 or so inches wide this is okay or do I need to cut them back to 3 or 4in wide for easier handling?

Thinking about it after jointing and thicknessing the boards will probably be around 3/4in thick rather than an inch... this thick enough once joined together the top would be 1 1/2in thick... or should I make a third row to bring the thickness up to 2 1/4in thickness?

Cheers

[McFly]

Say for example if you want the top 2 inches thick. Rip your 1 inch thick boards so they are 2.5 inches wide. Turn them on edge so the 1 inch dimension is pointing up and down (like a 4x2 joist or a beam). The 2.5 inch dimension will be the thickness of the top.
If you glue the faces together rather than an edge joint like a traditional table top, then the thickness will be more than the 1 inch you started with.
See Sketchup drawing attached.43975
In the picture I have used 3 inches as the thickness but same idea.

[Wild Dingo]

aaahh so!! got it now :2tsup: ... man Im gonna be burnin up a fair whack of Jarrah boards eh? :roll:

So what to do?... mmm well while muckin about abusing the livin shyte outta the flamin mongrel 15in thicknesser which I finally gave up on and went and found the little 12in one in the seatainer and am now happily using that... just slides the Jarrah through while the damned big basturd groans moans whines and stops which caused me to swear curse fume spew and generally start to pull it apart like a demented chook... at which point I decided to hell with the bloody stinking thing!! (check out the for sale section immeadiately after this post is up!) :~

Anyway while planing away at the boards I thought... mmm need a desk inside dont we? sure do at present were using a door on two saw horses against a wall... wouldnt mind the saw horses back... sooooo

Its now gonna be a desk!! :doh:

So given that I think maybe I can get away with just one level of boards laid flat side by side rather than as shown?

I will now file that pic away under "for when I do the new workbench" :2tsup: Cheers!!
Shane

[JeffG.]

I have Jarrah and a ton of the stuff... thickness may be an issue the planks I have are 1in thick... but I do have 5 Jarrah sleepers I could if I got adventurous enough and wanted to shell out for a new set of blades on the jointer and thicknesser run them through and use them?:2tsup:

I've got to say... I love this forum LOL. I can't even tell you how much it would cost me to build a top out of jarrah. I'd love to see pics when you are done.

I haven't built myself a decent workbench yet, I've got a couple that I use but nothing thats really craftsman quality. Part of the problem is I can't ever decide what I want, ever time someone posts a pic of their bench I change my mind. :D

Good luck with that project.

[Wild Dingo]

Gidday Jeff
Well Im presently undecided if this will end up a bench or a desk... SHE wants a desk I want a bench... Im in limbo

Its gonna be upto the day I have the thicknesser working properly and I go out there and mutter to meself... "well me boyo what am I gonna make of you" at which point the Jarrah will either say "Shane mate make me into a ..." and thus it will be so :2tsup:

Of course the answer I give the Jarrah will depend on the amount of influence SHE puts on me between then and now :roll: But Im hopefull of making a bench cause Im master of the cave and all that comes out of its doors... Im tuff Im THE MAN :2tsup: :2tsup: :2tsup:

although SHE does make some sence when she mutters "take one of the other blasted benches apart toss the ply top redo the timber and put it together again and make a top to fit that... then do the other bench the same put doors and draws on the things for all I care... BUT MAKE ME A BLOODY DESK!" :o :C

[JeffG.]

Well.... I hate to tell you this... I had almost the exact same problem, and here's how it worked out for me.

She got this:

http://www.mindspear.com/woodworking/images/anniesoffice.jpg

and I got this

http://www.mindspear.com/woodworking/images/bench1.jpg

thats an old $20 piece of office furniture with a vice bolted on the front.

I figured if I built the a bench first she would be for the several months it took to build the bench, plus another few months to build the desk afterwards, plus a few more months just for general purposes. You know how they are, like elephants... they never forget anything. LOL

Or I could build the desk and be a hero. Though I have to admit hero status around here is short lived :D