New-Fangled Workbench

phouse77 | Posted in John White on October 17, 2007 07:38am

Hello John,

I have read the article, watched the video, and followed various discussions regarding your New-Fangled Workbench. The design appeals to me for its simplicity of construction and the features that lend itself to using hand tools. I have no room for stand-alone machines, so I need a flexible platform for planing, joining, chiseling, etc…

One question I have is the material of construction. The local supplier carries some really nice clear vertical-grain douglas fir dried to 9-12% roughed to 2×4, 2×6, and 2×8. It is expensive ($5/bf), so should I consider other woods (I’m in Central California)? Doug Fir framing lumber as you described doesn’t seem to be available in the sizes you described in your article.

Also, would it be unadvisable to use one straight-grain wide board (say 8″) instead of three 3″ boards along the back of the bench? One thing I didn’t follow in the article was how those 3 edge-jointed boards jointed to the face of the adjacent board were afixed to each other such that all the fasteners were accessible for adjustment due to expansion/contraction. Did you run a through-bolt, or am I missing something?

One final question: due to the peculiarities of my anticipated work area, the top would need to overhang 6 inches (wrt the base) on the backside to be flush with the wall. Would this be excessive for this design?

My questions certainly shout out that I’m a novice and for that, I apologize.

Thanks,
Paul

Replies

JohnWW | Oct 22, 2007 05:50pm | #1
Paul,

With the possible exception of very soft pine, you can use almost any softwood or hardwood for the bench. With some design changes it could also be built out of plywood. I used construction grade Douglas fir because it was readily available at a good price and the 12 inch wide boards at the yard that day had quite a bit of clear straight grained wood in them.

You can use a single board for the back of the bench if you can find one in a species and grain orientation that isn't likely to cup in your climate.

The three boards along the back of my bench were screwed to each other one at a time so two of the rows of screws were hidden in the final assembly. A year or so after the bench was built I disassembled the back extension and snugged up the screws in each layer, they had slightly loosened from shrinkage, and they have stayed tight ever since. The boards could be joined with a threaded rod or glued to each other.

I built the bench as an experiment so I used the quickest and most easily modified assembly method I could think of to build it. There is no reason that you couldn't use more traditional methods to build a similar bench.

A long back overhang would only be a problem if there was a lot of weight or down pressure on the back edge, neither of which is that likely. If the bench doesn't feel stable after you install it, attaching it to the wall would make it very stable.

John White

pilotlon | Nov 27, 2007 06:12am | #2
John,

How did you afix the bench top to the legs. There's nothing showing in the article.

Thanks,

Lon

JohnWW | Nov 28, 2007 03:51am | #3
Lon,Like most everything else in the bench, the top was attached to the legs with sheet rock screws from underneath. They go through the crosspiece at the top of the legs into a similar crosspiece on the underside of the benchtop.John W.

Edited 11/27/2007 7:55 pm ET by JohnWW

pilotlon | Nov 28, 2007 04:50pm | #4
John,

Thanks. I figured as much, but just wanted to be sure. I'm going to start on my own version of the bench within a week, or two. The one thing I still have to work on is some casters at one end, so the whole bench can be "wheel-barrowed" out of the way when not in use. I'll send along pics when it's done.

Lon