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  1. #1
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    May 2009
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    Default Decorate a workbench.

    G'day everyone,
    Well I'm getting closer to making my new workbench (but don't we all say we're going to do that soon? ).
    Anyway, the other night I thought that maybe I could spruce it up a bit by shaping the feet on the legs or running a bead on the legs and stretchers. Nothing too extravagant, it is a work bench after all.
    Looking forward to hearing about and seeing what others have done to make a workbench a little different from the run of the mill jobs.

    Grant.

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Seattle, Washington, USA
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    Default

    Well here's what we did with mine:

    IMG_2418.JPGIMG_2485.JPG

    End of the day, it's not really embellished, per se. The original bench design was on trestles, so I went with the more understated (I guess?) four-legged undercarriage. This changed really nothing functionally. I think that the tusk tenons add a bit of character, and they certainly made it easy to move (which I expect I'll do more than a couple more times).

    The knobs on the vise handles, as well as the "boss" for the wooden screws, are turned with a bit of beading, which adds something.

    There are a couple of places on the bench where dovetails are visible, namely on the front vise and along the left side. I like the way it looks, but it's not really a deliberate embellishment. I suppose you could alter the profile slightly to include more tails, or possibly use mitred dovetails to hide them altogether (not sure if that's possible).

    There's a subtle moulding on the front vise that is kind of a single ovolo and fillet, and the trained eye will notice that that's the same profile as the back side of the tail vise. I can't take credit for this.

    Aside from that stuff, everything else was pretty much just material selection. The only visible hardware, with the exception of some unavoidable (but well concealed) steel stuff, is brass, slotted screws. I think that goes a long way.

    While the bench is mostly Queensland Blue Gum, aka Forest Red Gum (E. tereticornis), there are some spots where we used a more highly figured River Red Gum (E. camaldulensis), there is some Brigalow on there, the turned parts are various Allocasuarina species, and some of the more structural, visible stuff is either Spotted Gum or Tallowwood. I don't think it was ever confirmed one way or the other. Nonetheless, all of it came from Queensland, which is really cool.

    The bench dogs are River Oak/Sheoak (A. cunninghamii), which has really nice medullary rays across the end grain. I think we picked this for its mechanical properties, so that was a bonus.

    I guess my best advice is source some cool material that you appreciate and keep it fairly traditional. The rest will fall into place.

    Good luck. Post photos!

    Luke

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    Bne
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    Default

    For me, I wanted a clean top with sharp edges. I like the idea of providing some shape for the undercarriage. I guess you could do some inlay or peg your joints, even utilise some exotic woods for some finishing touches.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
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    Brisbane (western suburbs)
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    Default

    There's a very long tradition of decorating tools, Brigalow, and a bench is definitely a tool, so why not? Most of us are probably so heavily focused on function when bench-building, decoration is either ignored or happens as incidental, last-minute brain-waves. In fact, if you read through some of the major builds in this section, I think you'd agree that, functionality is often taken to obsessive lengths, so your planning to add bit of individuality ahead of the game is refreshing.. As Luke has pointed out, most bench 'decoration' is confined to a few details like some moulding, or using contrasting woods, but any surface that doesn't have to be flat or straight is yours for applying any sort of traditional or whimsical shaping you choose.

    I did add some 'decorative' touches to my own bench - I used contrasting wood for my vises. At the time, I was starting to get the hang of dovetails, so I suppose I wanted to be sure no-one could miss seeing my cleverness...... tail vise new.jpg

    But that was 30-odd years ago. In the meantime, a few tool-strikes and a few spills have added unintentional decorations, and the inevitable colour-changes that wood undergoes have kind of muted the contrast,& you need to look twice to be sure there are actually dovetails there at all: vise jaws replaced.jpg

    Ah well, I guess I'm looking a bit less new than I did then, too.....

    Cheers,
    IW

  6. #5
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    May 2009
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    Default

    Thanks fellas,

    This is exactly what I was after. I like the idea of subtle embellishments, not in your face fancy stuff, on the bench.

    Luke, I like the idea of the brass screws and the small attention to detail of having the slots all orientated in the same direction.

    Grant.

  7. #6
    Join Date
    May 2007
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    North of the coathanger, Sydney
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    Default

    I've seen some fancy scalloping on a couple of leg vices (at least one here on the forum which I can't find atm)
    I googled leg vice and only found this one

    link

    leg vice.jpg
    regards
    Nick
    veni, vidi,
    tornavi
    Without wood it's just ...

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2019
    Location
    Melbourne
    Age
    36
    Posts
    156

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Brigalow View Post
    G'day everyone,
    Well I'm getting closer to making my new workbench (but don't we all say we're going to do that soon? ).
    Anyway, the other night I thought that maybe I could spruce it up a bit by shaping the feet on the legs or running a bead on the legs and stretchers. Nothing too extravagant, it is a work bench after all.
    Looking forward to hearing about and seeing what others have done to make a workbench a little different from the run of the mill jobs.

    Grant.
    Hand cut dovetails in contrasting timber are a sure winner. These are from my roubo bench i built. All 4 corners were done this way. IMG_20191031_230805_303.jpg
    IMG_20191015_084301_546.jpg

  9. #8
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    Mar 2004
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    Brisbane (western suburbs)
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    77
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Siggykc View Post
    Hand cut dovetails in contrasting timber .......
    IMG_20191015_084301_546.jpg
    Now that certainly is decoration, Siggy, but I hope the dovetails under the veneer are a bit more substantial & workbench-like.....


    Cheees,
    IW

  10. #9
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    Nov 2019
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by IanW View Post
    Now that certainly is decoration, Siggy, but I hope the dovetails under the veneer are a bit more substantial & workbench-like.....


    Cheees,
    Hey IW......its not veneer sir. Thats a 40mm thick piece of maple. 20190911_161653.jpg

  11. #10
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    Nov 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by Siggykc View Post
    Hey IW......its not veneer sir. Thats a 40mm thick piece of maple......

    With such figure you used it on a work bench.

  12. #11
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    Nov 2019
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    Melbourne
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    Quote Originally Posted by Christos View Post
    With such figure you used it on a work bench.
    Hahaha, Christos that piece was being used as a shelf in a shipping container. I figured its was better to use it on a workbench that i will use, look at everyday and care for, than to have it sitting in a storage rack for a decade before i figure out what to do with it. But thats just my way of thinking sir.

    Siggy

  13. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Siggykc View Post
    Hey IW......its not veneer sir. Thats a 40mm thick piece of maple. 20190911_161653.jpg
    My mistake - I was confused by the growth-rings on the (Walnut?) tails - they don't seem to line up...
    Cheers,
    IW

  14. #13
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    Default

    and a 3 year old thread jumps to life again............
    I would love to grow my own food, but I can not find bacon seeds

  15. #14
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    Nov 2019
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by IanW View Post
    My mistake - I was confused by the growth-rings on the (Walnut?) tails - they don't seem to line up...
    Cheers,
    All good IW, actually the end cap is 2 pieces of 40mm thick Blackwood that was milled down to size after being laminated. I was not able to source a single thick chunk of Walnut or Blackwood here in Melbourne.
    The whole benchtop is solid timber with no marquetry/inlay. This was for strength. The end caps have monster hidden tenons allowing the end caps to be bolted on and giving space for timber movement in the top

    Cheers,
    Siggy

  16. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by IanW View Post
    My mistake - I was confused by the growth-rings on the (Walnut?) tails - they don't seem to line up...
    Cheers,
    IMG_20190817_203021_878.jpg
    IW, i tried to find another picture that illustrated it, but this was all I had. You can perhaps just make out that there are two pieces laminated together Sapwood to Sapwood - hence the end grain is not continuous
    The hard maple top too is laminated Sap to Sap, Heart to Heart.

    Cheers,
    Siggy

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