A few pictures of my completed bench – finally finished the drawers. I still have some work to do to make organizer trays for my meager collection of tools. The bench works like a dream and has become the most used tool in the shop. Thanks for looking.
Ian
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Nice work - - are you cutting dovetails by hand or with a router+bit?
Nicely done.
Great job. I especially like the drawer inside detail.
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That's a fantastic idea that is now in my "idea book" for future use. Thanks.
Edited 1/1/2008 12:11 pm ET by basset-hound
Wow! Excellent work!
Hi Barrel;
That bench of yours is an "eye-popper"!
Exceptional work, thanks for posting!
Best,
Jim
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
Ian- Stunning work!
Are the drawer fronts walnut? My monitor makes them look very dark
It looks rich.
Dave
Nicely executed Ian. The cabinet itself is beautiful.
I'll be curious to hear from you in a year or two on how you like all those bench dog holes (looks like you have 4 rows to accommodate a twin screw end vise?).
When I built my bench I did the same thing, Veritas twin screw end vise with 4 rows of dogs. I thought they would be useful in the event I wanted to put that twin screw to use clamping frames and such.
After about 5 years of use I had finally had enough of the screws and small parts falling into the holes in the center two rows. I also realized that I almost never (not even a handful of occasions) used the center dogs. I needed to refresh the finish on my bench top one lazy saturday afternoon, so I took the opportunity to drive in some dowels with wedges to fill those middle rows.
The funny thing is that I don't regret putting all those dog holes in to begin with because now the plugs and wedges look wicked cool. If I were to build another top (unlikely, the first one was enough work) I think I'd put the dowels in to begin with. :)
Very nice bench... looks very similar to my dream. I have a few questions:
What are the dimensions of the bench top?
Do the drawers go all the up to the underside of the benchtop or is there a gap?
Are the drawers mounted on wooden runners or metal slides?
What is stored behind the doors at the front vise end of the bench?
I see that you made fitted compartments in your drawers. What happens if you buy another tool?
Chris @ flairwoodworks
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Thanks everyone for the comments.The drawer fronts are walnut. You can't see it in the pictures but the drawer fronts are all matched, right to left. I cut them by hand as there is a total of 11 drawers it didn't seem too time consuming. The drawers open from the front of the bench and are about 21 1/2 by 16 deep and graduated in height. The back of the cabinet has walnut panels. The doors cover narrow shelves running between the legs. The legs are close to 4 inches thick so I took advantage of it for storage. The whole bench is 28 wide by 80, excluding the vices.There is a space about 5 inches high between the cabinet and the underside of the bench for more immediate storage of tools being used and to free up any dogs that may become stuck. There are walnut half rounds there to prevent tools from rolling off.The drawers are mounted on maple runners, including the wide one below the lower stretcher.I agree that I haven't used the central dog holes so far for clamping long pieces using the twin screw vice. I do, however, use them a lot in combination with hold downs when sanding or gluing so I think in my case they were worth drilling.The bench is based on one featured in FWW on the essential workbench, with modifications to suit my space. I tried to use wood scraps I had on hand and most of the hard maple was purchased as seconds to keep the costs down.In the future I will probably add some holes to the left front leg in order to support drawers that I am working on.The tool tray I am working on now will hold my small collection of chisels and will be adjustable, for when and if I purchase better quality chisels. As for the marking and measuring tools. I guess I will make another french fitted tray as required. It seemed silly to wait until I had purchased all my dream planes and chisels to make drawer organizers, as that day may never come and will no doubt constantly change anyway.I thank everyone for their kind words. The bench was a lot of work - but well worth the effort.Ian
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