At last! I finally have a real bench.

**Driver** · 11th January 2007, 09:20 PM

I'm pretty happy with this, for several reasons

1. It's a real bench. I've been struggling for lack of a proper workshop and, even more, from lack of a proper bench.

2. I designed and built it myself.

3. Very few electrons were consumed. I wanted to see how much of it I could do with hand tools alone. In the end - quite a lot. I used a mortiser for the main M & T joints and I used electric drills (tailed and cordless) for some of the drilling and screwing but all the saw work was by hand, as was all the board preparation (hand planes) and shaping (hand planes and spokeshaves). The dog holes in the bench top were drilled with a brace and auger bit.

4. Most of the timber is salvaged from various sources. The legs (oregon), end stretchers and top beams (pine), long stretchers (laminated engineering pine) and parts of the apron (jarrah) came from leftover material from a development being built by my daughter's boyfriend. The rest of the apron and the front vise jaws (jarrah) are from some recycled former roof beams. The end vice front jaw is made from three thicknesses of "Australian Oak" cut from a board I've had lying around for a while. The bench top is 19mm thick exterior grade ply. It's screwed down - no glue - so that it can be replaced when it gets too beaten up. This and the vise hardware are the only major components that cost anything.

A couple of features. The two 10" front vises are different. The blue one is a Groz and it opens much wider (by about another 6") than the green one- which is a Chinese cheapie. I'm not sure how much use I'll get out of the extra opening capacity. We'll see.

I've put plenty of dog holes in the bench and in the end vise. This means I can use the full length of the bench (1800 mm) as a clamp. The two front vises both have built-in dogs which means I can clamp across the width (760 mm) and secure odd shapes when necessary.

At this stage, I'm using plastic bench dogs designed for the B & D Workmate. If these prove inadequate (and I don't think they will), the dog holes, at 19 mm are the right size for most of the proprietary bench dogs on the market.

The left hand end of the bench has the Darkside-approved Derek Cohen planing stop - a very useful feature - thanks for the idea, Derek!

The bench already bears some honourable scars. As soon as it was up to a stage where I could use it as a work platform, I did. So it came into service to hold components as they were added to the bench - the end vise, for example.

I've included a pic of my old mate - the Workmate that I've had for over 30 years. The new bench won't replace it - nothing could. But it is already a pleasure to be able to plane a board without the need to hold down the Workmate with one foot.

The next stage is to build a decent shed as a workshop to house me new bench!

Col

**echnidna** · 11th January 2007, 09:29 PM

Congratulations on a good practical no nonsense work bench

unlike some others who make furniture and call it workbenches,
Golly they must worry about scratching the paint if they use it.

Good to see a commonsense workbench

**Doughboy** · 11th January 2007, 09:30 PM

Well driver since you dont have an adequate storage facility (read shed) I am offering mine in lieu.

Dont stress though I wont charge you any rent at all!!!

Well done great looking workbench mate.

Pete

**Lignum** · 11th January 2007, 09:36 PM

I agree with Bob, its refreshing to see a no frills bench that can be used like a workhorse and you can nail and screw into it and not be scared to scratch it. Well done

**martrix** · 11th January 2007, 09:54 PM

Great job, I cant believe you have the patience to do most of the work by hand

.How long do you think it took you and what have you finished it with?

...............now give it hell

..

**Gumby** · 11th January 2007, 09:59 PM

Terrific Col, she's a beauty.

**Groggy** · 11th January 2007, 09:59 PM

Nicely done Col, I like it. Good design and great workmanship.

**Driver** · 11th January 2007, 10:13 PM

Thanks for the kind remarks, everyone.

Originally Posted by martrix

Great job, I cant believe you have the patience to most of the work by hand

.How long do you think it took you and what have you finished it with?

martrix, I actually don't consider myself to be a patient man. If you spoke to my family and close friends they would definitely confirm this!

. One of the reasons I like woodworking is that it gives me an opportunity to learn and practise skills like hand-planing and hand-sawing. I don't want to get into the old power tools vs hand tools debate but, in fact, I believe a one-off job like this bench can be built with hand tools just as quickly as with power tools.

I started the bench in mid-November and I've worked on it for most weekends. It probably took 6 weekends. Say 6 hours per day x 12 days. That's (roughly) 72 hours altogether.

The finish is three applications of Danish Oil. Most of the boards were hand-planed and not sanded. I used a cabinet scraper on some areas of tricky grain to prevent tear-out. The roundovers on the three sets of vise jaws were shaped with planes and sanded off to a smooth(ish) finish.

Here's another shot which is more representative of what the vise jaws really look like. The earlier photos are a bit distorted by flash.

Col

**JDarvall** · 11th January 2007, 10:16 PM

Looks real sturdy Col.

**Gumby** · 11th January 2007, 10:19 PM

Now you just have to get past that terrible moment in any woodworkers life when you hold a hammer above the bench and know you have to strike something sitting there.

Please, don't let me hit the bench.

**Cliff Rogers** · 11th January 2007, 10:22 PM

Good one ya Col.

**Wongo** · 11th January 2007, 10:34 PM

Captain, you got to be happy with that. It is a big strong workbench. Well done.

**scooter** · 11th January 2007, 11:02 PM

Luvverly work, Col

**Shedhand** · 11th January 2007, 11:07 PM

Nice work cobber. I like the bracing at the leg and rail joint. I'd imagine that racking would be pretty non-existent.

PS: I recently tossed my poor old faithfull B&D Workmate on the tip. It was so badly worn out it was unsafe. Mine I bought in 1975 and it was the one without the footstep so it was an even bigger PITA to plane anything. The new monster bench is much sturdier.

**Ashore** · 11th January 2007, 11:17 PM

Great bench Col great result for the effort

Soooo when are you going to build the one you work on , you know drill holes in , mark , scratch, paint on , etc etc

Rgds

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