Thread: Daniel's European work bench (WIP)

I hope the photos are working!

By the way... I want to add dog holes. Any idea on the best way to do this with a battery-powered drill? I'd love to know how to get the holes perfectly straight into the bench top.

Hi Daniel, sounds like you're really enjoying yourself, you could be hooked I'm enjoying watching, and I agree, it is a great forum.

Yes I am enjoying watching as well. Keep the photos coming !

Hi Daniel, you want the dogs to tilt 2 degrees toward the opposing bench dogs, so the slots must be at an 88 degree angle to the bench surface. i cut mine in with a table saw with a sled that works like a box-joint jig using a 3/4'' dado blade in the last 2+4 before i glued it on. you need the angle so your work pice wont slep up and pop out hope this helps..
Gary....

Thanks for the compliments, and Gary, thanks for the kind advice. Will definitely have to remember that.



Progress report:

• Everything has been fitted and glued and occasionally screwed.
• I made a small modification to the design - it is now wider to accomodate a 2 level well board - the deepest part is next to the thick bench top. Then there is a slightly higher part at the back between that and the apron. This will allow me to keep a pencil, ruler and maybe a book/plans handy without being covered by tools or shavings. I also didn't use a housing dado on the aprons like planned because I'm lacking a router, the stock I bought from Bunnings ("we have everything as long as you're ok with it being 19mm thick") was too thin, and I was impatient this morning )
• Almost stuffed up the fitting... glued the leg around the wrong way. Wondered why it wouldn't seat properly, until I saw the haunch was on the wrong side! Just barely got the joints apart... Phew!
• Well board has been fitted without glue or screws - just held in by some quad nailed to the bench top so there's a few millimeters of space under it for expansion/contraction.
• Bought a double fluoro light and chains to hang it on above the bench
• Bought hooks for running electrical cable and a cord to raise/lower the light
• Have also decided to mount a fan to the wall for summer.
• Have bought some Cabot's stain & varnish in Australian Jarrah colour. I saw a sample in the big green shed - it looks great on pine. I hope 1L is enough.
• Just need to plane and clean up surfaces before staining tomorrow.

Remaining work to do:

- Plane bench top
- Clean up all surfaces from glue and pencil
- Final fitting of wellboard area
- Stain & varnish after removing the silly bloody stickers they put on every piece (and you'd think they'd use stickers which don't TEAR APART and make you go insane!)
- Finish taking off sharp edges everywhere
- Chamfer bottom edges of legs to prevent broken fibres
- Fit the vise
- Put table in final position, standing on rubber anti-skid things
- Install light and power above bench
- Have my first beer in a month and decide what to build next.




Oh, and Bunnings is soooooo much more tolerable late at night. Except when no-one is around to cut a length of chain for you since they padlock the bolt cutters...




Daniel

Looking good. That's going to be one beefy bench!

Good work, keep the photos coming.

The assembly is now complete. All I need to do is plane, sand, stain, and install the vise. Oh, and drill some dog holes and buy dogs.

I also did the light this morning too. It makes such a difference having a flat, solid, stable, well-lit place to work. It's amazing!

Nice bench Daniel.

Nice bench.
How long did you spend at the green shed sorting through boards to get enough that didnt have massive knots

If you are a novice, what can we expect to see when you get experienced?
Great work
Cheers
Wolffie

Thanks for all the kind compliments! ClintO, it took 3 different stores before I found one with anything resembling the right measurements let alone knot-free. I hid a few knots and some others are visible. The front apron is cupping, which frustrates me severely since it's not sitting flush with the leg and I didn't notice when I did a dry fit. Oh well.

I certainly didn't do a very good job on hand cutting the mortises and tenons. There are a few gaps, but they are nive and tight still... and it took ages. The pine was very brittle, so even chiselling with a freshly sharpened chisel turned it into splinters. Maybe it's just my lack of experience cutting them. Time will tell.

I should be cleaning up the garage this weekend, adding the power outlet and height adjuster to the top of the light, and hopefully doing the finish. )

My brother said he was amazed I managed it. Hehehe... My tradie mate saw my pile of wood at the beginning and when I told him what I'm building, he said "I'd like to see that"... so I think he'll be surprised too.

Thanks again for the nice comments and support. It has certainly spurred me on while building )

Daniel

Nice bench!

I have 'encouraging' tradie mates too. I also like proving them wrong