Finally done with the bench. As you will see in the pictures, I got the “Workbench Book“ before making the thing. The wood is birch, the stretcher are 9 inches wide, and are bolted with telephone poles bolt that my grand father had in a shed. The dimensions are 84 x 26 x 34 high. The legs assembly is pegged tenon, and I did not use a drip of glue to assemble the legs.
I’d appreciate your comments.
Bob in Sherbrooke, Province of Québec
Replies
Great job! I'm very envious...
How thick is the top and is it glued up out of 1" lumber?
Scott C. Frankland
"This all could have been prevented if there parents had just used birth control"
The top is 2 3/8 thick, laminated from piece 7/8 thick
Bob
That is really nice work. I am sure it will make all of your projects more enjoyable. What type of furniture do you build ? A new work bench is on my list of projects, right now it is just a solid core door on 2 x 4 frame. Did you follow one of the plans from the book ? How many hours did it take to build, what finish did you use ?
Robert
Hi
I did not use a plan from the book, I was just inspired by some of the ideas in it. I built almost anything, but mostly case-goods (night stand, dresser, etc. ) In that shop I did not built a lot yet, I just finished my final (I hope) shop lay-out. It took about 20 hours to built ( I have access to a professionnal shop) and the finish is catalysed lacquer.
Thanks for your comment.
Bob in Sherbrooke, Province of Québec
Looks great, Bob! Maybe I just don't get out enough, but I have never seen a tilting vise like that--is there anything in particular that you do on it?
/jvs
That's quite a work of art. That's also quite a hunk of figured wood in that vise, as well. I'm something of a newby, so understand when I ask, is that maple?
I hope that I can make something as nice one of these days (probably when the kids are in college)...
Rob
http://www.geocities.com/robntweber
It is bird eye maple all right !!!
Nice piece of work. Question: How is the birch working out for the top? I just came into some 12/4 birch, and a friend wants a workbench, but was leaning towards maple. Be interested to see if the birch works well for you. Love the figure on the tail vise. And, the tilter has 1/2 the function of an Emmert, at a bit less price, I would think. Again, nice job.
The birch is good. Understand that I took the bench home last week, so time will tell if it is good, but the wood was given to me, so I took it. Also, the tilting give me half an emmert, as you say, for about 50$ (45$ for the vice and 5 for the hinges)
Bob
My bench is solid birch built out of 12/4 stock. One corner did twist up about 3/8" when I moved but has since settled back down. It is very solid but I still have not fastened the vises on yet as I wanted to see what the top was going to do.Scott C. Frankland
"This all could have been prevented if there parents had just used birth control"
i am always in such awe of those fancy workbenches.
every bench i've ever had has been a frame of sistered 2x4's with boards or ply on top.
my current bench is 5 years old, framed as mentioned above, and has an easily replacable top of 3/4" AC plywd. when it gets too many kerfs cut into it, or too many stains from finishing, i just replace it and use the plywd for my remodelling projects.
it is on lockable wheels so it can move around my 1200sqft shop easily, is the same height as my table saw for an outfeed table, and works great for holding the beers when my buddies come over. it's quite easy to clamp or screw anything down to work on it, and you can make template marks on it for making multiple parts.
one of those fancy workbenches wouldn't last too long in my shop.
good luck rg
Please note that I kept my old workbench, a somewhat crude table made with construction materail (2x4, rough ply-wood) as an out feed table for the table saw, and I'll do all the bench-destroyer task on the old one.
Bob
Only thing I see wrong with the bench is that its not in my shop- I bet it will be a Great Bench.
I like the idea of the tilting vise, I bet it will be real handy.
Looks like some fine dove tailing is that all hand work?
If I ever get the room I want to build myself a large bench.
I cut the tails with my scroll saw, and the rest is hand work indeed.
Bob
Excellent look and feel.
Curly Maple in the tail vise along with those dovetails looks terrific.
I would mount some baltic Birch ply either on top of your stringers or even down inside for a floor. You could put planes, sanders or other frequently used tools. I keep my electric sanders, the spool holder for rolls of replacement sandpaper and an Ulmia small vise that fits in the tail vise for small work on such a shelf. Catches a little dust but not bad.
I used mine in my living room for a year or two while waiting for my tools to be shipped east.
What hurts is when the first gauge or scrape occurs. You don't have kids do you?
Make sure everyone knows how special you think it is and perhaps they will respect it as well.
Best wishes for many years of satisfying wood working.
Ted
I once had a bench with a shelf, and it was crowded with stuff the I did not remember I had, so I kept the old bench as an outfeed table, with all the junk on the shelf, and I will keep that one clean for my more humble woodworking...
Bob in Sherbrooke, Province of Québec
Hello Bob,
You did incrediable work! the dovetails on the tail vise look impossible to put together. Was it glued together around the pins?
have fun using it,
Chuck
The wood piece from the top and the one from the side are chamfered, they meet at a 45 deg angle. I glued all of it in one shot, a little sanding, et voila !!
Bob
Bob
Excellent....
sarge..jt
I haven't seen a tilting vice like that before. Did you get the idea from the Workbench Book? What type of hinges did you use? I seems that door hinges would be too loose.
Beautiful bench.
I got the idea in the book, and those are door hinges. I screwed them a wee bit out of alignment, so they are more thight this way
Bob
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