solid-door workbench #2: Making the base of the bench, note pipes in stretchers!

Putting together the underpinnings of the bench, I used some of the ideas from C. Schwartz on Roubo bench, mostly about mass. I did not do true through-the-top timber framing, but did use drawboring on the end assemblies because they are permanent. Stretchers length might change in the future. I chose not to whittle my pegs from stock, but used dowels and a belt sander:

To pull the whole end-assemblies together, I used my biggest drift. Schwartz had a good article on putting shop-made handles on, I just used as-is:

To attach the long stretchers, I used round-end tenons into drill-only mortices. I then used long bolts to pull the stretchers tight to the legs. Normally people make these like bed-bolts, going to a nut squeezing washer onto a flat-faced hole.

However, I wanted to try something I read about in timberframe construction journals, to replace the washers with a piece of big-diameter pipe. Those Boilermakers at Purdue (Dr. Eckelman and grad students) had some good research and this is certainly “small timber”.

Hey, the frame stands up, and is rigid, and has no flex. Had some grief on the non-wood-core door, the round-ended tenons, the drill-press holes not acting well as guides on the stretcher holes…...standard project stuff. perfection is not an attainable goal. Trying to get closer can be.