CT's Most Excellent Workbench Adventure

[Crooked Tail]

mpphoto said:

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I did the opposite as you; the cabinets underneath and above are almost ready but I fear assembling the bench

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Hah! Well, part of the plan is to get to use the new bench to make the cabinets! I suppose I should just keep on truckin' and jump right into the cabinets. That way I will get to know the bench before starting on more critical inside furniture. I am sure hoping that after all of this, the new bench will make it considerably easier.

I've heard good things about Watco Danish Oil, but I've never used it. I have used the Teak Oil before, on lots of different things, and I like it. Perhaps I'll just go with that. I'll test on scrap first, of course.

[timgren]

CT...

While BLO /Turps is "traditional" is doesnt really offer any protection from moisture. (coffee/tea spills in my shop are commonplace)

If you are open to suggestion; sealing, and then "sanding in" watco Danish oil using P600 wet/dry paper after you flatten makes for a great bench finish.

That will provide a lot of renewable protection. You'll find that when you flatten... some of the hard maple grain will turn on a dime, causing tear out or will just 'feel' different when you run your hand over it.

Instead of re-flattening the whole surface to account for the tear out (unless it's really deep), a light sanding with the grain of this spot with danish oil fills the grain - and harden the spot. This makes re-flattening later that much easier and forgiving.

After the finish sets for a week or two, wax will protect it from glue drips. I personally like using Watco's new "Satin wax" (An orange can - which is just parafin and turps) first to fill in any open grain, followed by a few heavy coats of canned paste wax.

I'll re-wax my bench everytime I'm done with a project. It's part of my shop clean up routine.

Awsome Awsome work.

[Bob Zajicek]

Don't I have a great eye for design?



The bench is looking really nice. You should be very proud of such an outstanding accomplishment.

I favor a BLO/mineral spirits 'finish' but I think the Watco canned finishes would be fine if that's what you prefer. Just avoid 100% film finishes as they can create a slick surface, not what you really want on a workbench.

Thanks for continuing to share your photos.

[Crooked Tail]

Thanks guys for all your kind comments.

I figure I'll be in clean-up mode for a while. Considering final clean up, what would you do with the edges? Should I chamfer them just a little, or leave them "sharp?"

I'm starting to seriously consider cabinet design. I'm not sure if I want all drawers, or if I want a cabinet on one side. Advantage of cabinet is that I can build dovetail / tennon saw holders and chisel holders into the door. I'm not real sure what I would actually put in the cabinet part, though (but I'm sure I could find something).

I would like to have the drawers/cabinets accessible from both sides of the bench. My bench is in the middle of the garage, not up a against a wall. I use the "back" of it probably near as much as the front, so I'd like to be able to pull the drawers out from either side. However, I don't want to have to worry about accidentally "pushing" the draw too far out the other side when I close it. The cabinet would be simple - just put doors on both sides. I'm not sure about the drawers, though. I don't know... maybe that's not a good idea anyway, because using the drawers from both sides would surely mean that the contents would end up scattered all around in no semblance of order. A tool I put away from the front, I'd have to reach to the back of the drawer, and root all around for it, if I took it out from the back.

Here's the basic thought, with maybe a moveable shelf in the cabinet:




Dimensions are: 16" high x 16" deep x 40" long. The drawers would be approx 6", 4.5", and 3", and about 20" wide.

I'm thinking the drawer dividers and the middle divider will be held in place by what Korn call the "Alan Peters joint," which is a dado with some wedged through-tenons. (If I had a Steve Knight dovetail plane...) The carcase will have dovetailed corners (lots of dovetail practice).

Also, does anyone have any thoughts on how to attach the cabinets to the bench? I've heard people say things like "the cabinets will help add rigidity to the base."

[Skip J.]

Crooked Tail said:

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I'm thinking the drawer dividers and the middle divider will be held in place by what Korn call the "Alan Peters joint," which is a dado with some wedged through-tenons. (If I had a Steve Knight dovetail plane...) The carcase will have dovetailed corners (lots of dovetail practice).

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Mercy...

CT - your workbenches are gonna become collectable... thats a compliment by the way....

[Denny Lawson]

CT,
I did mine kind of like you describe. Tool drawers on on side and a place for saws mallets, etc behind cabinet doors. its worked out very well so far.
Very nice work on your bench

these are old pics...i've actually got some of the stuff hanging up in there now...It really took a lot of self control not to put pegboard in there...but I figured Bob Z. would have a coronary if his beautiful dogwood mallet ended up on pegboard.. ...

[gjohn]

Beautiful bench. Regarding the double sided drawers, the current issue of FFW (#193) had a coffee table on the back cover with a double sided drawer and some comments on pg 110 on the wooden spring catch that was used. It might give you some ideas.

[msweig]

I'd be leary about putting a rack for chisels in a cabinet door low on a bench. Chances are your toes will be close to the door when you pull out the chisel. If it slips out of your hand while grabbing it you now have a sharp pointy thing directly aimed at or near your foot. Even if it misses, the next target is a concrete floor. Saws/mallets/markings tools would probably be fine in a door that low. Drawers might be better for the chisels though.

Bench looks good.

mark

[Crooked Tail]

Skip, you flatter me waaay too much. My skill level will need much improvement before anything of mine becomes collectable to anyone other than my mom. What's scary is that you already know that I already know that I will make more benches... I'm working on this one and thinking... "the next time I make a bench, I'll do xyz instead."

Denny, that is an awesome bench! I like your idea for the shallow cabinets in the back. How do your drawers work? Are they on metal slides of some sort? I can't see exactly whether there are dividers between them.

qjohn, thanks for the reference to FWW. I guess I'll actually have to subscribe one of these days. Unfortunately, my free trial membership thingy just expired. I didn't even get a chance to use it really. I've been way to busy.

[Toscageoff]

Greetings

A really beautiful bench and I hope it gives you many years of pleasure.

Thanks for the fascinating story and when you have finished this 'write up' may I suggest that you print it all off and put it into a folder so that one day you can show your grandchildren how you learnt so much and how you overcame your difficulties

Finally please, please, please get some 'proper' chisels before you do any more morticing - I really felt for those poor little butt chisels

Regards

Toscageoff

Work Safe