Replies

1. 
   RANGERP75R | Oct 27, 2003 01:01am | #1

   Rog

      Go to page 54 of the Work-Bench book. First paragraph of right column.

   "For a utilitarian object like the work-bench, Frank uses inexpensive wood wherever he can, preferring to use the good stuff where it will count the most".

      He also made the base of utility grade hard-wood. Enjoy your new bench with the solid maple tool-tray. ha..ha..

   sarge..jt

   Don't forget the pics..... 

   
   

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   Edited 10/26/2003 6:07:34 PM ET by SARGE

2. 
   TomMGTC | Oct 27, 2003 03:50am | #2

   Solid wood will be fine. Just leave some room for expansion. I used olid wood in the tool tray on my bench cause it's what I had laying around. The whole bench was made from a mismatch of materials left over from other projects and a salvaged section of bowling alley. I think that is the beaty of many benches,  they are built using what one has on hand.

   Tom

   Douglasville, GA

3. 
   RANGERP75R | Oct 27, 2003 08:08am | #3

   rog

      BTW, Tom that just posted has a bench that in case of all-out war can be used to land F-18's on if an emergency arises. In peace-time, you can just bowl on the top when you're not using it for WW'ing. ha..ha..

   sarge..jt

4. 
   Ricky_Yu | Oct 27, 2003 02:29pm | #4

   I have read that in order to resist splitting, splines should be inserted so that their grain is perpendicular to the pieces they are joining. Therefore, the use of hardwood splines would require cross-cutting numerous narrow pieces of stock for all the splines that will be needed to join a workbench. Plywood essentially gives you a much wider "board" to make a longer spline with a single cut. Also, because the plywood layers alternate in grain direction, orientation of the plywood splines is not as important, although many suggest the face veneers still be perpendicular to the grain of the pieces that are to be joined.

5. 
   Steinmetz | Oct 27, 2003 10:18pm | #5

   Rog, Rickie was right. Use baltic birch ply as all the plys are top quality ( No voids)

   No need to make the spline's width equal to the sum of the grooves. (Trapped glue, chunks of wood etc. Stein.