Thread: The Piggy Bank Workbench

Great idea of setting your budget before you start, very disciplined! The merbau I've browsed doesn't seem terribly cheap, but certainly very pretty and should make a nice bench.

I've got no advice to offer, but I'll pull up a seat to your build and eagerly await some pics. Re: the design you have, I spotted a series of blog posts (and youtube videos) from Paul sellers with a similar design. If you haven't read it already, bound to be some nuggets of wisdom for attaching the aprons.

Originally Posted by ironik

.....The merbau I've browsed doesn't seem terribly cheap, but certainly very pretty and should make a nice bench....

Rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis) isn't Merbau (Intsia bijuga), ironik. Merbau would be harder & heavier, but if you prefer a light-coloured benchtop, the rubberwood would serve that requirement.

On a design like you've chosen, 62WB, I'd suggest the apron should be fixed to the top & the legs, so that it adds to bracing the structure. The easiest approach would be to glue the apron to the top, and coach-screw or bolt it to the legs, with the heads recessed to keep them out of the way.

If I were on a tight budget, I'd have considered laminating a bunch of radiata 'economy' studs for the top. If you picked over a pile and selected the heaviest ones, they would make a serviceable top, about as hard & dense as the rubberwood. You would have to spend a bit lot more time & effort laminating them, and you'd need a few decent clamps, but maybe you could save enough to buy a couple of clamps, & clamps are something you're going to need forever, anyway.


Cheers,

I did set a budget, but not a tight one, the $420 was just for timber, as I already have a couple of vices. I had considered a top made from laminated studs, but I don't have anywhere to do it. The bench will be under a carport which sometimes gets rain blowing through during storms, which is why I went for the merbau frame, as it's fairly resistant to the weather. The top should never get wet, so I think the rubberwood should be fine, especially after I give the whole thing a couple of coats of BLO.
Ian, my only concern with gluing the merbau skirt to the top would be that any difference in rates of expansion could cause either to warp, but I'm not sure if it would be a problem or not. Being in South Western Sydney we get extremes in temperature, from a few degrees below freezing in winter & It's not uncommon to see 50C under the carport in summer.

Originally Posted by 62woollybugger

.....my only concern with gluing the merbau skirt to the top would be that any difference in rates of expansion could cause either to warp, but I'm not sure if it would be a problem or not. Being in South Western Sydney we get extremes in temperature, from a few degrees below freezing in winter & It's not uncommon to see 50C under the carport in summer.

Sorry, I mis-read your original post a bit, WB. True, it is usually not a good idea to glue woods of very different density, but it's the humidity cycle that is the killer, not the temperature per se, though of course the two are related. Given where your bench will be sitting, it will cop the full brunt of any rapid humidity changes, without the buffering effect from being in a more enclosed space. If you're worried about a glue failure, just screw the apron to the top as well as the legs, you'll still have a strong joint. Makes it easier to demount it all to a flat pack if you have to move it, too..

Cheers,

From my experience(if I have read the drawings correctly) 200mm of bench overhang is worthwhile so it is easy to clamp wood to the bench top for certain tasks.

Managed to get some time to get stuck into the build over the weekend & cut the rebates in the legs for the stretchers. Here's the machine shop.

The Tools.jpg

I used my router to clean up the bottoms of the rebates & make sure they are all the same depth.

Router.jpg

Stretcher rebates done, mortice & tenons done & drilled for draw boring. I was going to use a bridle joint for the top rails of the trestles, but I think I will just use a lap joint, glued & doweled.

Legs.jpg

I cant open the attachments???

PM sent to 62woollybugger.

Not sure what happened with the pictures, can't edit the post so here they are again, hopefully.

The Tools.jpg
The machine shop

Router.jpg
The Router

Legs.jpg
The Legs

Nice legs!!!

That's better, we can see you now...

I've finally had some spare time to do some work on my bench. Work made me take this week off & as it's too wet to go fishing, bench building it is.
FRAME.jpg
The frame bolted together & finished with two coats of 50/50 BLO & turps. I did have a bit of trouble with the tressles twisting relative to each other when I tightened up the bolts. I think this was a combination the rails having a bit of a bow & the mortice & tenons not being perfectly square. A bit of tweaking the rebates with a chisel fixed it, so now it sits perfectly flat.
TOP GLUE.jpg
The rubberwood panels for the top held together with screws while the glue dries. I'm just hoping that this wet weather doesn't cause it to warp before I can get it sealed with a couple of coats of BLO.
PACKER.jpg
Vice packer made from layers of ply, glued to the underside of the top. I picked up a Dawn 220mm quick release vice, in perfect condition, that someone was throwing away because it kept jamming. I pulled the cover off the quick release mechanism & removed a collection of nuts, washers & a few coins, now works perfectly.

I've got the front & rear aprons glued & clamped to the top now, so hopefully it should be together & ready for finishing in the next day or so.

Hand built with hand tools!! Nice!!!

Looking good!