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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Canberra - West Belco
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    63
    Posts
    646

    Default Long general purpose workbench

    Hi all

    Logged in to write this up and noticed it's been nearly 4 years since i had logged in.

    In that time we have moved into our own home with a freestanding double garage (metal), when we move in there was a very makeshift bench at the back near the side door, surprisingly solid but really needs to be replaced.
    This was not such a big issue as I've been doing a lot of things besides woodwork so it went on the back burner, besides already have a 2200 x 900 router table that doubles as assembly/work bench. The router table has 4 layers of melamine covered chipboard making a top thickness of approx 70-80mm, don't recall ever measuring it.
    been building bookcases and speaker cabinets at the moment and keep looking at the old bench and have decided to replace it.

    A quick measure up shows i have just under 4000mm from the beer fridge to a couple of metal cabinets so allowing for a few inches spare at each end I have settled for a 3800mm x 900mm bench. Height of the finished top has been decided at 920mm and is based on the current router table that I find to be a good height.

    I have a significant quantity of solid 19mm hardwood floor board so we have decided to rip them into 50mm wide strips and glue them up into a panel. as a majority of the boards are 900mm to 1100mm long I have provisionally thought to run the boards across the bench rather than along the bench top.

    The picture attached is a partial google sketchup design showing the 8 legs, top rails and rear bottom rail.
    Legs are 95mm square, all top rails are 95mm x 38mm, bottom rails 70mm x 19mm. shelf support 70mm x 19mm.
    Shelf material will be 16mm MDF for easy replacement when it gets damaged.
    There is no need for this to be knock down so with that in mind all frame joints will be glued. Not planning to use any mechanical fasteners if i don't have to.
    The router table uses a similar frame construction but only using framing pine and yet after 5-6 years of abuse is as solid as, with no racking or twisting regardless of the abuse it has received.

    Top is planned to overhang the top rails be 100mm all round as I love the ability to use the overhang to clamp things.

    I'm very much a dark side person so vices are so low on the priority as to not even be considered at this time. I guess the question is... is this being short sighted? bearing in mind that i have never owned a woodworking vice nor really felt like I have missed one.

    I plan to cap the front and rear to protect the end grain though the floorboards are as hard as.

    One end of the bench will have a 900mm x 1800mm x 10mm glass top that has been taking up space in front of the existing bench. This will give a nice working surface for some electronics work.
    I also have a 1800 x 1000 piece that is destined for a dining table.

    The other thought bouncing around for advice is the maximum span between the legs, with the 8 legs it is around 1050mm at the moment, I keep looking at the plan wondering could i get away with just centre legs?

    Two legs have been glued up, sized and sanded smooth so this could nearly be a WIP thread.

    Thanks for indulging me by reading this
    Cheers
    Phil

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Newcastle
    Posts
    287

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Aussiephil View Post
    I'm very much a dark side person so vices are so low on the priority as to not even be considered at this time. I guess the question is... is this being short sighted? bearing in mind that i have never owned a woodworking vice nor really felt like I have missed one.
    I have a 90% finished bench, the top sits on sawhorses waiting to be mated to the base, but already the vises mounted to the top have been used a lot..... I'd never had a woodworking vise until now either.... I feel I'd miss them already now if they were removed. I'd be inclined to have one somewhere, or at least have provision to mount one 'after-market'....

    3.8m - that's a big bench!

    Lee

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    McBride BC Canada
    Posts
    3,543

    Default

    That will be a good bench! I didn't attach the top to the frame of mine (75cm x 240cm) as I guessed that gravity would keep it from floating away, only 50mm thick.
    Drilled patterns of holes all over it to bolt down power tools when needed. That has been an issue as I used (probably) too many frame cross stringers under the top, they always seem to be right where I need to drill a bolt hole. No wood vise and don't care.
    Also use the holes for eye-bolts to use strap clamps on bigger carvings.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Albury Well Just Outside
    Posts
    13,315

    Default

    Gravity will keep it down.

    Big bench is right.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    27,757

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Aussiephil View Post
    .
    I'm very much a dark side person so vices are so low on the priority as to not even be considered at this time. I guess the question is... is this being short sighted? bearing in mind that i have never owned a woodworking vice nor really felt like I have missed one.
    .
    I used to be a "no vice - clamp everything" and then I got a proper vice, - as soon as I had used it I immediately got another - now they are the most used clamps in my shed.

    On my most recent bench I made 5 years ago. I built the basic frame and bolted a vice to the frame and used it to build the rest of the bench.

  7. #6
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    North of the coathanger, Sydney
    Age
    68
    Posts
    9,417

    Default

    Phil

    was wondering

    if you laminate the boards across the bench as your piccy suggests you are going to get a lot of expansion.

    Should you laminate lengthwise?
    regards
    Nick
    veni, vidi,
    tornavi
    Without wood it's just ...

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Canberra - West Belco
    Age
    63
    Posts
    646

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Astrodog View Post
    I have a 90% finished bench, the top sits on sawhorses waiting to be mated to the base, but already the vises mounted to the top have been used a lot..... I'd never had a woodworking vise until now either.... I feel I'd miss them already now if they were removed. I'd be inclined to have one somewhere, or at least have provision to mount one 'after-market'....

    3.8m - that's a big bench!

    Lee
    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post
    I used to be a "no vice - clamp everything" and then I got a proper vice, - as soon as I had used it I immediately got another - now they are the most used clamps in my shed.
    Lee, Bob guess i'm getting a little bit swayed, thinking back on tasks over the years there has been a few times were a vice would have been handy.
    Going to look at providing mounting option near one of the middle legs. This is also an incentive to add a shallow tool draw in the middle as well.

    Robson Valley: I suspect that gravity should hold my top in place really well but the crrent plan is to attach it to the frame. Guess i can leave that till i test it though

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Canberra - West Belco
    Age
    63
    Posts
    646

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Sawdust Maker View Post
    Phil

    was wondering

    if you laminate the boards across the bench as your piccy suggests you are going to get a lot of expansion.

    Should you laminate lengthwise?
    Nick

    Now that's a question that opens the proverbial can of worms, I have read so much on here and other sites about seasonal expansion and contraction that would say the answer is a very solid yes, and had me really think long and hard on it....... but...

    In this instance, the floor boards i am using have been stacked in the same order as they will be laminated at around 1.5+ M high in the same garage as the bench will be. Looking at the dust markings on the wall they are stacked against would indicate next to zero expansion expected on the long dimension of the bench.

    Writing this up did give me a thought, what about using a couple of strips of softer timber like pine evenly spaced to provide a sort of expansion joint?

    Guess i will find out once the top is built.

    Phil

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