CT's Most Excellent Workbench Adventure

[Crooked Tail]

It has begun! I skipped off to the hardwood store yesterday, tape measure and cut list in hand to get my bench materials.

Well, they didn't have what I wanted.

After a good deal of head scratching, I left with about 40bf of hard maple and 8bf of purpleheart... yep, purpleheart. The bloodwood was almost $11 / bf and the paduak was $8 something for 8/4.

Given the pieces I have to work with, I cobbled together a whole new plan. It is mostly based on the Veritas traditional bench, with some thrown in from the Workbench Book, and some ideas from Gabe's bench.

I also got some doug fir from Lowe's, for the base. I think I will start with the base. I'm almost afraid to cut into these nice boards until I've quintuple checked my measurements.

Anyway, here is the "vision." There is also a link to the sketchup file. I tried to draw as close to real life as possible. You can even take the tail vise apart and see all the different parts. Making the dovetailed endcaps makes the tail vise joinery a lot more complicated than it would be otherwise. But maybe not as bad as in the Workbench book, where the core of some of them is milled from one big block.
Let me know what you think, and if you see any problems / mistakes.



Sketchup file

[CedarSlayer]

It's gonna be pretty.

Bob

[Skip J.]

Crooked Tail said:

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Given the pieces I have to work with, I cobbled together a whole new plan. It is mostly based on the Veritas traditional bench, with some thrown in from the Workbench Book, and some ideas from Gabe's bench.

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Hey Ct;

You're way out in front..... I would say with 3 dog holes that's one big face vise... I can see the work-holding benefit, don't know about any drawbacks tho...

[FordPrefect]

That'll look very nice!

[Bob Zajicek]

I'm not a big fan of wide bench skirts as they suck up clamp capacity. I think your front vise is at least 25% wider than it needs to be. How wide is it actually? Mine is 19" and it could easily have been 16 from living with it the last 6-7 years. I noticed you've got dog holes right in front of your front vise for the tail vise. I hope the dogs do not interfer with the front vise mechanism.

If your stretchers are going to accomodate a storage chest at some point, they are fine where they are. If not, they are way too low, will catch your shins and inhibit broom action for clean up. I didn't notice a tool tray anywhere, and that's OK. I like them, some think they just attract clutter.

Good luck with the build and post some pictures when you're done.

[Crooked Tail]

I am a little concerned about the size of the tail vise. Since the bench is only 6 feet long, it makes it sure look unbalanced. However, it is very close to the dimensions in the Veritas instructions. In fact, it is a little smaller at 22.5" inches, including the end plates. The Veritas bench is supposed to be like 80" long when finished, with a 24" tail vise. My bench is only really 8 inches shorter... so hopefully it will be ok.

I would have made the tail vise shorter, like 17-18", but the wood I got pretty much dictates the size. I'd have to draw a picture of how I'm planning on cutting it, because it would take too long to explain.

After looking at the Veritas plans, I really considered a tool tray. It would work better with the size and shape of the material I have to work with. But I don't think I want one because it would mean I couldn't clamp anything with like C clamps along that side. My current bench is setup so I can walk all the way around it, and I often clamp things to the "back" edges or corners. Since this bench will have two vises taking up most of the front edge, I wanted to leave the back edge accessible and clampable.

The stretchers are low because I would like to put some cabinets in there. That would be a lot of storage, and storage is good. Do you think I need a set of upper stretchers too?

Thanks for looking guys.

[John Clifford]

Upper strechers are not a bad idea. A lot of benches don't have them and they seem to work fine. I built mine with a trestle style base with upper and lower strechers and before I put the top in it I swung on the upper stretchers like a gymnist just to check it out and it was rock solid. I wouldn't try that with a base that only had lower strechers, wait a minute you couldn't try that without lower stretchers , you know what I mean .

I agree with BobZ about the height of the lower strechers. I intentionally kept mine up a bit so I wouldn't be kicking my shins into them. You'll have a little less room for a cabinet but your shins will thank you for it .

John.

[John Clifford]

Oh I forgot, I'd think long and hard about the tool tray. I've been dead set against them since I've began woodworking, all of 4 years ago. I bought into the notion that all they do is collect junk. I made my first bench without one. Then a week ago I used a bench with a tool well at the Marc Adams school of woodworking. I didn't get to use it a lot but I used it enough to say I've changed my mind. I found it very convienient for keeping tools out of the way but close at hand. I'm planning on making another bench for the basement workshop and this one will have a tool well. The bottom of the tool well will be removeable so it will give me more clamping opportunities.

Just my .02

John.

[msweig]

Quote:

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I'm planning on making another bench for the basement workshop and this one will have a tool well. The bottom of the tool well will be removeable so it will give me more clamping opportunities.

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That what I did with mine. And, I made the bottom in 4 or 5 sections, so I can slide the bottom out of the way in one section for clamping, but still have a functional tray. (More info on my website)

mark

[John Clifford]

Mark, that's what I was thinking. Several sections that rest on a cleat that have the ends ship lapped so there are no gaps. This way I can remove just one, two or however many I need to get the job done.

John.