building a new workbench part one

[tablesawtom]

I sold my work bench so I have to build a new one. This will be my fourth and hopefully the last bench I build for myself. My pictures got deleted so they are farther down in the post.

Okay, so where does one start when making their, first or last, bench? Probably the most often asked question  I see asked on wood working forums, is how high do I make my bench? The answer to that this question is how tall are you? But this is not the place to start, it is only one of the many details. The first question should be how is the bench going to be use. As on can see I prefer a cabinet makes style bench.

 How the bench is going to be used and the actual size of the top is the first consideration. And only the person that is going to be using the bench can answer that question. A wood carver, a person who only makes toys, a cabinet maker, and any other disciplines that was left out, will all have different size and height requirements.

First off the actual size, foot print if you please, should fit the environment. There are lots of plans from magazines, books, and so on out there on the market. And they all want to sound authoritative on the subject. They are all good for ideas and within reason construction ideas and details, but.

Most people can't visualize actual size, me included. I can look at an area and have a good general idea of what will fit  but my wife can't. There is nothing like buying a dresser at an auction and finding out, when it gets home, it won't fit. In other words cut a piece of plywood and then fit it to the space intender for the bench to reside. It can be placed on some saw horses and a person has a temporary bench to work from.

The last bench was 78 inches long and I know that the area will support a bench that is 8 foot long. So I cut a sheet of 3/4 prefinished plywood in half. There is always a use for a 1/2 sheet of plywood so forget the other half.
Since a 1/2 sheet is easier to use than a one that is narrower I left it at a half sheet.  it is easier to add a board or two to the side to make it wider. One can shorten the piece to make it fit the space for length. but do it gently. In this case it is better to shorten it four time to get it right than to add on after the fact. And you will understand this fact as I progress through the build.







To this half I am going to layout all of the information needed to build the bench, full sized blueprint if you please.


This is part one. let me know if a person it interested enough for me to continue or just for get it

[Coffee Man 2]

No please keep it coming

[cputnam]

Bench builds are always in order.

[tablesawtom]

1. When building a bench a lot of thought and planning should go into it. I was planning on making my bench 8" long. Why? because my area sill support an 8 foot bench, And nobody builds them 8 foot long except me. I am going to make the top out of hickory. Why? because I bought a pile of it at an auction a few years back and I haven't had anything else to use it for I checked the length on each board and they are all over 8 feet closer to 9 feet. Not looking forward to making it flat though. And who in their right mind would build a top out of Hickory?

1.  I figure since it measures right at one inch wide using a tape measure I am hoping they will finish out at 7/8 inch for gluing. I am not sure what the final width will be when it is all said and done. I know a lot of plans call for 1 1/2 wide or even 2 inches wide, a lot less gluing. 6/4s or 8/4 are is a lot harder to work. One inch thick boards, even if they are a little bowed can be pulled in with clamps. The one thing never mentioned in the plans is that 6/4s board command a much higher price per board foot and that the cost of the board can be charged as 2 board feet because the board feet can double because of the thickness. If a person is on a budget they could get a big surprise when buying thicker boards.

1.  Anyway I had it all figured out and then I said to my wife that I planned on entering it at the county fair and quite possibly the state fair. And she asked how how I was going to get it there. I said in my pickup truck, it has an eight foot bed. And she asked will it fit since the handle will stick out. You can't close the tail gate. To which I said, back to the drawing board. 

1. If one looks at one of the pictures up top, you will see that the end of the vise, along with the shoulder support sticks out and I would not be able to shut the tail gate. So I decided I would go 7 feet long and not 8, So I laid out my top at 7 foot. And I was fine with that until just for fun I places a 2 1/4 inch wide board at the end of the plywood top which represents the wood tail vise support for a lack of any thing else to call it. and also placed the end of the vise screw where it should go only to find out I needed less that 6 inches of to make it fit in the pickup and not 12. Now I had to tape over some of my layout and lengthen the layout 6 inches. As this bench unfolds you will come to see why I wish to close the tail gate during transport.. And why, am I making a inexpensive, research and development actual size model. It will just make less problems when in the actual build. I though I had it all figured out and then my wife asked a question I hadn't considered and it changed dimensions.

          
         
        
         
        

1. Tom

[Mr Eddie]

8' 8/4 hickory will give you a good workout if you have to move much of that around.  I don't envy you flattening a hickory bench top.

Lonnie

[tablesawtom]

Probably the most often asked question I see asked on wood working forums, is how high do I make my bench? I stated this in the opening part of the original post and now the time has arrived. So I will restate it.

Probably the most often asked question I see asked on wood working forums, is how high do I make my bench? The answer to that this question is how tall are you? Taller people need a higher bench and a shorter person needs a shorter bench. And only you can decide the height.

I checked the height of Sjoberg's benches out of Wood Craft and they ranged from 32 
something to 35 1/2 for the high dollar ones. It is close but still to high for me.

I started by making legs and stretchers out of 2 X4 material to make a frame to support the plywood top that hopefully was cut and sized to fit the area allowed for the bench.

I knew from experience with my last bench that 36 inches was to high so I decided to start with 35. and I cut the legs at 34 1/4 so that when the 3/4 top was added it would be 35 inches. But after I screwed everything together I decided I should cut everything to the same height. I knew all I had to do is set the fence for the distance I needed. But I also know that not everyone has a say fence that will allow a cut like that so if following in my footsteps you will have to figure out what works in your shop. If you use this method, shorten a blade width at a time drop offs from the legs are the last thing you need


Then I bolted the frame together because I figured I might have to shorten the legs some more and needed to be able to take it back apart.




At this part I would like to speak about rubber mats to stand on. bench use covers a lot of different tasks and a person can find that a lot more time can be spent standing, working at the bench than though possible. Most people"s, and I say most because this is my disclaimer, shop has a cement floor and the floor can take a toll on the feet and legs over time. And after 50 years working on cement floors I strongly recommend a rubber mat at the bench. I picture a solid 2 foot by 5 foot mat I see in catalogs. I borrowed it from in front of my jointer . The other is a put together. If going that way, specking from experience I would glue it down very well on a 1/4 " plywood. one can also lower the bench top by putting more or different sizes of plywood under the mat.





My point is both measure about 3/8 " thick and if one adds a 1/4 " piece of plywood and if used the matting can lower the height of the bench 3/8s to 5/8s inch. Your bench stands on the floor while you stand on the mat. So if you are going to use one stand on it when determining your bench height.


Then I screwed a short piece of 2x4 to the end of the bench to act as a stop and turned the bench so that the planner would stop the bench from moving while I tried out the height with a hand plane and a gents saw.








Frank Klausz said in his video, Dovetail a Drawer that a the correct height for a person is when he or she stand at the bench with their arms straight but relaxed can place their hands flat on the bench and I found that to be true.



When my wife took the picture of me showing my hands flat on the bench I forgot to bring the mat back over to stand on. Anyway as of now my height is 34 1/4 to 34 1/2 from the floor.

How am I doing so far?
In my second addition I mentioned my tail vise screw and making allowances for it in length. Yes, I prefer an actual tail vise but the same principle holds true for any type of end vise of your choosing. On a personal note: I can not conceive of building a woodworking bench without some type of end vise so please disregard my references if you bench is not going to have one. A wood carver, a person who only makes toys, and any other disciplines may not have a need for one.

And again if I may e permitted my personal opinion which is: A workbench should be used as a work bench, Period. Nothing about it is sacred. However it should be that which automatically draws the eye of anyone entering my shop. Here I put my best foot forward. Paying attention to all the little details. If I am permitted, what I call the wow factor. An example is the dove tails on the tail vise and bench pictured above. They are big and anyone who knows anything about woodworking knows that they were not cut with a jig. They are half blind to the eye (eye factor) but actually they are through dovetails cut on a table saw and band saw, then a 1/4 wide piece glued on. Just like in everything there is a small learning curve but anyone can cut them if you have a table saw. A band saw is nice but can be done without one with a little extra work.

I do plan on covering all that if people are interested.

Tom

[rwe2156]

???

Why you would sell a great bench and then build (what looks to be a vastly inferior) one out of plywood and 2x4's?

[tablesawtom]

If a person really reads to post in stead of skimming, they will find out that this is a temporary bench design to keep some problems out of my next build. In the process I found out that 34 1/4 to 34 1/2 height is a better height for me than the old one of 36 inches. And people sometimes don't consider a foot mat. Or sizing the top so in case I decide to sell it, the top will fit inside of a truck with a 8 foot box.

I decided to add a leg vise to the last one and  a lot had to be done just to get it to work, see picture above. It looks just like it is an add on. And later the thought came to me I should have made it left handed. Because there are times when left handed would come in handy. And the fact that if a bench has a tail vise and a shoulder vise, why not have a leg vise on the other side. Why not work on all sides of the bench if space allows.

This post is to help someone build his or her bench and give ideas usually missed on a first bench build.

Tom

[tablesawtom]

I somehow ended up with two pictures of each photograph of my old bench in Photobucket, so I deleted one of each and it seems I deleted the wrong ones so here they are again

.





Sorry about that.

Tom

[tablesawtom]

There has been a couple of posts about which glue and shelf life. Usually I use titebond 1 but my shop roof leaked and it caused me some problems. So I bought a new bottle of titebond 11 for my next bench build. One never knows when he will spill his coffee.

Tom