I’m in the final stages of building a workbench, and need a little design help with the skirt board for the workbench top.
What I’ve done so far is build a trestle base out of some clear, vertical grain Doug fir. I have a salvaged slab of 1 3/4″ laminated maple for the field of the top, and I’ve milled flat and square all of the skirt board stock from 8/4 maple.
The bench will not be large, approx 24″ wide by 60″ long. I have already purchased two vises and will be using the Veritas twin screw end vise, and an 18″ wide wooden jaw face vice. The skirt boards are 5″ high by 1 1/2″ thick.
My dilemma is what joinery method should I use to join the corners of the skirt board. I plan to glue and screw (with plug covers) the side skirts to the side of the slab. Since its long grain to long grain, I should be fine on the side skirt. For the end caps I will run a full length dado on the inside of the end skirt, and mill a full length tenon on the end of the slab. I’ll either glue the center of the end skirt to the slab, or use elongated screw holes and plugs.
I think my construction technique is sound so far, but I’m stumped on how to handle the corners of the skirt board. I would love to use handcut dovetails like the bench on the cover of the last FWW Tools and Shops issue, but frankly I believe that joinery to be beyond my skill level at this time.
I don’t really like the look of simple butt joints, and I’m concerned about expansion if I mitre the corners. I’ve considered a joint like a drawer lock dado which I’ve done before, but I’m worried about strength on the small piece of end grain that would be exposed at the corner.
Right now I’m leaning towards using finger joints cut on my table saw. I’ve done dozens of finger joints on various projects over the years, and know how to build a proper jig to get accurate fingers. The problem I have with this method is that I will have to build a fairly large jig, probably with double runners for my table saw mitre slots in order to accommodate a five foot long piece of 5″ by 1 1/2″ maple held upright on my saw. If I do use this method, I will take my time, build a very strong jig, and clamp the skirt board to the jig for each pass. Even with these precautions, it still makes me nervous to run a heavy board like that through my table saw with a half inch dado blade stack.
Is there a better way, and does anyone have advice to share? Thanks.
Replies
merc,
Dovetails. You won't learn any younger. Glue your dado at the front 2" or so, screws or lags thru slots from there on back.
Regards,
Ray
Are you planning on skirt boards front and back? If so dovetails and finger joints are pretty much out of the question as they won't allow for expansion and contraction. For front and back skirts a breadboard end configuration glued at the center only is probably the best option. You could use finger joints but would have to leave the unglued and with proper gaps allowed for movement. Not really a traditional way to do them.
Tom
Douglasville, GA
Merc
It's dovetails or fingers. I'd go with dovetails and treat it as a learning exercise. With big DTs, like on a bench, it's much easier to hide small mistakes and they don't need to be as precise as those used for a box or drawer.
woodworking is not really difficult, it's only about cutting and paring to a marked line — I think I'm paraphrasing Rob Milliard who occasionbally posts his superb creations in The Gallery.
You can also cut finger joints by hand. Same basic process as dovetails, cut one side of the joint, transfer to the other board and hand cut and pare to you have a set of mating fingers.
I'd glue the front corners together and let all the movement occur at the rear.
Ian
Thanks for the replies and the encouragement. I've had poor luck with previous dovetail attempts on drawers, but I guess it never occured to me that larger dovetails would actually be easier. I'm using some pretty nice figured maple for the skirt boards (boy was that a pleasant surprise when the rough stock went through my planer), so I was concerned about wrecking the joint and ruining a beautiful piece of wood.
I know that if I do use a butt joint now because its easier, I'll regret it everytime I see the bench, so I guess I'll get out my dovetail saw, bevel guage, marking knife and sharp chisels and cut some dovetails.
I'll take the advice and only glue the front of the skirt, but I have one more question. I want to put a skirt board on all four sides and am wondering about wood movement on the slab. It is an old slab glued up from 1 1/2" strips and quite dry. I am planning on putting a tool tray on the back side. If I leave exansion room with the board for the tool tray, am I safe to dovetail all four corners of the skirt?
Ahh, the tool tray makes all the difference. Dovetail the front and the back board, leave room in the tool tray bottom for expansion and use a spline at the ends of the slab to keep the end caps aligned and flush with the top. That is the traditional and time tested method. As I understood your original post there was not a tool tray and that would cause serious issues with a front and rear skirt with dovetailed corners. Sound like you have a plan now. Remember, cutting dovetails is nothing more that cutting/paring to a line.Tom
Douglasville, GA
Thanks for the reply Tom and sorry for the confusion about the tool tray. I was trying to include all the details in my original post, but I forgot to mention the tool tray. My fault.
If I can figure out how to post pictures, and the results warrant it, I'll upload a few shots of my bench.
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