Thread: My overbuilt workbench

Good looking bench And well thought out.

no way the light fingered gentry will nick that!!

Love it, Chook.

Well done. Well built, not overbuilt!

I like the concept of your sliding light bracket along the back. How well does it work. I have been using an architects light that been adapted to plug into dogholes on the bench. Thinking of putting dog holes in the wall behind the bench, as well.

Some years ago, I shortened the legs of a table and had a hell of a job getting them all the same length.

As a young teenager I "worked" in a great uncles workshop, and he used to lay a couple of planks on the floor to raise my feet. Much easier than chopping the legs. He also used the planks himself for jobs where he wanted to be higher. eg planing, chopping dovetails or mortices, or working on partially assembled carcases.

Love it.




Fair Winds

Graeme

A well built bench

I also dismantled my vice and mounted it so the front apron of the bench was the back of the vice, solves the problem of whipping/ deflection when working on long lengths.

The light in the track would drive me nuts as I tend to work both sides of the bench and my light is a double industrial fluro about 1200 above the bench, works a treat

The light can be removed in an instant. At both ends of the track are loose dowels that are inserted into the track. That way I cannot inadvertently push the light off the track and onto the ground. But the dowels can be quickly removed and the light taken away and used n some way. But in the 3 months since I completed the bench I have never need to do this. I hardly ever work on the back side of the bench myself.

But this shows another reason why we should make our own bench and not buy a commercial one. Everybody has different work habits and what suits one will not suit another. Furthermore I built this to fit my height and the space I had available and to address the issues I had found with my previous workbench. Other people will come up with different solutions to different problems. The height is still an issue for me. Too low and sawing is a problem, too high and planing is a problem. I like the idea that has been suggested of using planks to stand on rather than making the bench shorter. As it is, the height is as low as I was game to go and still have a comfortable stance for cutting dovetails, which I do a bit of.

Actually I cannot understand why anybody would pay $1000 or more for a workbench. I have seen one for this price and it weights about 70kg. You would have to keep the shed door shut so it didn't blow away. Spindly legs and the thing comes as a flat pack to be held with some sorts of bolts. Yuk! So you can pay a bit more up to thousands more and buy better made and heavier benches. But who is the intended market for these things? If you like your hobby to the extent of being prepared to pay vast sums for a bench then surely the passion would extend to the desire to design and make your own work bench.

I spent three months researching and planning before I built mine. I looked at all sorts of designs and did countless sketches on scraps of paper. Finally I did two 3D CAD drawings of the construction. The thing started in my imagination and in my head. Then I sourced all the materials and bought all the bits. Lastly when I had a week off from work, I made it. Really it was the most fun I have had in 2013. Every time I go into the shed I can look with some small pride at the work of my own hands and creativity. It cost me a small fraction of what I might have paid for a shop built bench and does all I want really well. Now I am not a wood working genius. I wish I was but my talents are modest at best. Any thing I can do is within the range of just about anybody.

I do not understand why anybody would buy a bench when making your own is cheaper, more satisfying and can be made to suit your own circumstances exactly. If you were outfitting a school workshop or some commercial operation then I can see why. But for those of us who make sawdust for fun then it beats me.

Very good example of what can be achieved when people put their minds to it.

Originally Posted by chook

But this shows another reason why we should make our own bench and not buy a commercial one. Everybody has different work habits and what suits one will not suit another. Furthermore I built this to fit my height and the space I had available and to address the issues I had found with my previous workbench. Other people will come up with different solutions to different problems. The height is still an issue for me. Too low and sawing is a problem, too high and planing is a problem. I like the idea that has been suggested of using planks to stand on rather than making the bench shorter. As it is, the height is as low as I was game to go and still have a comfortable stance for cutting dovetails, which I do a bit of.

Actually I cannot understand why anybody would pay $1000 or more for a workbench. I have seen one for this price and it weights about 70kg.

I don't think anyone's likely to argue with you on those points, Chook.

Also it was ordained on high:

Thou shalt build thine own workbench.

Fair Winds

Graeme

Great job Chook!

A suggestion regarding the vice jaws.
With the back jaw being part of the bench and made of pine you might find it gets dinged up over time. One way around that is to rout/cut out a space for a hardwood insert that can be replaced if required.
The other is to line the vice jaws with leather which can also be replaced when it gets dinged up. As well as protecting the bench face and the work this significantly reduces the amount of pressure required to grip anything. I used 3 mm thick rawhide on mine but it could be thinner. It doesn't matter that it raises the work slightly off the apron as the dogs will still work. If required a piece of leather can be used to pack out the gap under the work at the dogs and the leather can be used to wrap up under the work so the dog does not mark the work.

It looks like you used some dowels to lock the major joints but you don't mention this in your description, or is that something else?

Originally Posted by BobL

Great job Chook!

It looks like you used some dowels to lock the major joints but you don't mention this in your description, or is that something else?

Lookup Draw boring Bob.

Originally Posted by artme

Lookup Draw boring Bob.

How about that, been using that method for many years but didn't realise it had a specific name.

Originally Posted by BobL

How about that, been using that method for many years but didn't realise it had a specific name.

That was something I learnt from this forum.

Originally Posted by chook

T

Finally I did two 3D CAD drawings of the construction. .

Any chance of putting the drawings on the forum for others to use the ideas.

Originally Posted by BobL

Great job Chook!

A suggestion regarding the vice jaws.
With the back jaw being part of the bench and made of pine you might find it gets dinged up over time. One way around that is to rout/cut out a space for a hardwood insert that can be replaced if required.
The other is to line the vice jaws with leather which can also be replaced when it gets dinged up. As well as protecting the bench face and the work this significantly reduces the amount of pressure required to grip anything. I used 3 mm thick rawhide on mine but it could be thinner. It doesn't matter that it raises the work slightly off the apron as the dogs will still work. If required a piece of leather can be used to pack out the gap under the work at the dogs and the leather can be used to wrap up under the work so the dog does not mark the work.

It looks like you used some dowels to lock the major joints but you don't mention this in your description, or is that something else?

The dowels are part of the draw bored mortise and tenon joints. In a draw bored M&T you make the joint as per normal but then drill a hole through the mortise and through the tenon, but with a slight offset, in this case 3/16 inch. You then drive a peg or dowel through the holes which pulls (because of the offset) the joint tightly together. A draw bored mortise and tenon does not really need glue at all and is much stronger than simply putting dowels through the joint. The key is the offset. There are many good videos on this for example How to Drawbore a Mortise and Tenon Joint and Make Custom Dowels | The Wood Whisperer.

The idea of a putting bit of hard wood into the front apron is a good one. When the time comes I will put a bit of Jarrah into the apron on a dovetail slide to make replacement easier in future.

I have seen the leather used with good effect. Paul Sellars uses a bit of sandpaper. I have pieces of 240 grit paper held onto the back and front jaws with double sided tape. I stops any slippage and pieces will hold with only the slightest pressure.The 240 grit does not mar even the softest timber and can be replaced very quickly evey so often.

Originally Posted by Jim Carroll

Any chance of putting the drawings on the forum for others to use the ideas.

I did it in Google Sketch Up. But this file type is not supported by the forum and so I cannot see anyway of making it available.

Download a free PDF converter (I use doPDF 7), then print/save as PDF. You can then post it in the thread.

Well done on the bench. Would happily have it in my workshop.