Thread: Cheap bench build - hand tools only

Scott,
It is good to see people making use of what is available and a solid core door does make a good work top. What you have got looks fine. My only concern is what are you using for the long rails and how will you prevent wracking.
The 2 most common designs for preventing wracking are either deep side rails or a deep front apron. Anyhow there are hundreds of bench builds on here to get some ideas from.
Regards
John

Hey John,

Thanks for the advice and for letting me know i'm not heading for a complete disaster.

I'll laminate 3 Mgp10 90 x 45 and m & t the joinery. My only concern is the top will be too lightweight. Maybe the storage shelf underneath will provide some much needed weight to keep the bench somewhat stable.

The good thing is I'm still in the planning stage & am open to any ideas.

Cheers, Scott

You will find a solid core door reasonably solid and of course you can beef it up by fixing a couple of the 90x45s longways under where most of the heavy work will be happening. Most things like chopping joints are done at the front of the bench and almost on top of a leg anyhow. The best way to stiffen a light top is a an apron and this also prevents wracking when plane work is happening.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD39949332C7FB168
The design was common with professional joiners and the benches usually had lightish tops. Usually only about 2'' pine.
Regards
John

Was at my local Bunnings yesterday & noticed that a new delivery of 90 x 45 pine. So i spent over an hour picking through the pile and have decided to go with a solid timber benchtop and give the solid door a miss (or use the door for an assembly bench).

The problem i have is I don't own a thicknesser. I do however own a jointer plane & a smoothing plane and have plenty of time so I will have a crack at laminating the top and flattening by hand. I bought some threaded rod thinking I might use it to help pull the benchtop together (and keep it together) but will see how I go.

This could be a long build but I'm excited by the prospect of it. I plan on going slow as I learn "on the job".

Build inspired by your effort Greg.

I see you're picking up where you left off 12 months ago .... has it reallly been that long ?

I'll keep watching to see how you put your base together.

Go for it! I had a ball doing mine that way (and reckon I worked off the post-christmas potbelly doing the jointing by hand).

Keep us posted with how it comes along.

Originally Posted by michael_m

Go for it! I had a ball doing mine that way (and reckon I worked off the post-christmas potbelly doing the jointing by hand).

Keep us posted with how it comes along.

If I can achieve anythng close to what you produced Michael I'll be a very happy man !

Will post updates (very) periodically.

Had an hour or so last night to put some of the top into clamps. Took it out of the clamps tonight when we got home from painting the father-in-law's cafe today.

Approximately a 3rd of the benchtop.

20140608_202111.jpg

Kind of made it somewhat idiot proof for myself by making sure i got the grain running in the same direction before glue-up.

20140608_202121.jpg

Got both sides somewhat flat. I will leave any further flattening until i have the 3 pieces of the top glued-up.

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My demanding foreman, who hates noise (even the sound of a sharp jointer plane it seems !). I hope to produce a bench that Harry can use himself one day. We'll see how it turns out I guess.

Harry.jpg

I've run out of Titebond so will have to wait until next weekend when Carbatec opens (only supplier as far as i know). I do have some Selley's aquahere exterior, has anybody used this ?

How quickly this bench build progresses is anyones guess. Having an 8 month old means Daddy's garage time is something of a luxury.

A start has been made ....

I got my tite bond from Masters Hardware and it was a bit cheaper than carbatec

I made my bench out of mpg 12 pine last year and it has been excellent. Might I suggest two things.
Firstly use draw bored mortice and tenon joinery. Very solid
Secondly When I made mine I did so such that the front of the bench was in a single flat plane. I then set up my front vice so that the front apron is one clamping surface. That way I can clamp long lengths along the entire front of the bench.

There are pictures of this bench in this forum.

Thanks Chook. Already planned on doing exactly what you've suggested. The full plan is (feel free to advise of possible issues) as follows:

Draw bore tenons on the base stretchers as well as the legs into the bench top. The legs will be through tenoned into the top (and draw bored as mentioned) along with a couple of hardwood wedges. The legs will be flush to the front (& perhaps less importantly) the back also. The rear jaw of the vise will be inset into the top to allow work to be clamped directly against the bench. I will be adding a sliding deadman and some sort of tail vise (undecided on the type at this stage). I would love to build a leg vice but budget & my lack of woodworking skills seem to dictate otherwise. The tail vice may be the HNT Gordon vice that I saw at the WWW show (money permitting). It looked easy enough to install, is low profile for my little garage & was incredibly strong.

Anyways that's the plan. I'm trying to make the joinery as strong as possible while not exceeding my (low) skill level too much.

Any feedback/advice/warnings appreciated.

2nd lamination of bench top. I'll leave the final piece until later as I'm still deliberating about the vice types.


20140609_224047[1].jpg

Cheers, Scott

Originally Posted by Ozziespur

I would love to build a leg vice but budget & my lack of woodworking skills seem to dictate otherwise.

Cheers, Scott

Hi Scott,

I would encourage you to have a go at the leg vice. Mine cost $41 for the screw (from Carbatec) and about $20 for the wood to make the chop. I went for a gee-whiz fancy guide made from threaded bar (another $10 or so), but if you go the traditional wooden guide route, the entire vice shouldn't put you much more than $60-70 out of pocket. And boy, does it have holding power.

As for woodworking skills, you don't need much to build a leg vice. And, in the making of it, your skills will get better!

I have made endless numbers of workbenches mostly for a other people and a few dodgy ones for myself. But the last one I made last year was the Rolls Royce. It weights a tonne. The top is 90 mm thick. I thought about it and planned it for months. I did 3 3D drawings and researched endless articles but in the end the bench came out of my head and represents the best timber work (on a large scale) that I am currently able to produce. Making it was some of the best fun I have had in nearly 60 years of life and every time I use it makes me happy. I hope you get as much fun making yours as I did mine.

Your plan seems good one. If I can I will send you a sketch of the drawings I did for mine. One useful thing I did was to put a 0.5 inch gap right down the middle. I can then put a board anywhere along the entire length as a planing stop. The gap also acts as an expansion joint.

As for a vice I used a straight forward 9 inch vice. Instead of setting the vice into the apron I took the vice apart and removed the back jaw entirely. The apron is the back jaw.

PS
I also mounted a work light on a dovetail slide along the back of the bench so I can position a light anywhere on the bench where I am working