Building a Proper Workbench
I read stefang's recent blog on how to Improve Your Posts and it reminded me of my first post long ago and, unfortunately, my lack of posts since. I remembered how I was pleasantly surprised that people took the time to look (and comment) on just a silly screened door from a beginner and thought what a great community this could be. And then I promptly forgot to post anything else. Sigh. I can do better…
I came into woodworking with a strong desire to build, but without a lot of equipment. As such, that makes for a bit of extra work to get started on a project. I'm sure other beginners can relate. In my case I only had a pair of wobbly saw horses and a very non-flat concrete basement floor. Here I set out to start this adventure with a place to work. What I ended up with was a flatter than my basement floor, but not quite flat work table that I used as a workbench, an assembly table, and an outfeed table for a brand new contractor saw. This has gotten me through many around the house projects, but I really wanted a proper workbench for building furniture.
Here is the original work table which I still use today as an outfeed/assembly table. One of these days I might even flatten the top properly, but that is another blog entry.
But the point of this blog is not this table, but rather what I produced to replace it as a proper workbench. The problem was, though, that I had no idea what I really needed. I did have a few things decided, however:
What I settled on was Roubo style workbench with a quick release face vice and a cheap tail vise. I would use a stack of reclaimed 2Ă—4s for the top and pick up some poplar or other nicer hardwood for the sides, jaws, and frame.
I wanted to be able to use my tablesaw to cut the square holes and the drill press to bore the round holes, so I glued up the the top in four sections so that they were easier to handle.
These were then glued up together and I built a router sled to go across two parallel sides to flatten the top after the glue-up. Here I used a Whiteside 6220 CNC spoilboard surfacing router bit with a nice 2" diameter cut. This worked really well and I ended up with a nice flat top (and quite a few bags full of sawdust).
Next, I bought some poplar to use on the frame and vice jaws. Eventually I will bore some holes in the sides to be able to clamp things down.
After everything was done, I was quite proud of the results. This, I felt, is something I can use to build real furniture on. It is dead flat and I can hold down just about anything. Next up is a walnut dining table! If you look closely you can see a stack of lumber waiting for this workbench to be finished. As I finish this blog now the table is actually near complete.
Onward!
I read stefang's recent blog on how to Improve Your Posts and it reminded me of my first post long ago and, unfortunately, my lack of posts since. I remembered how I was pleasantly surprised that people took the time to look (and comment) on just a silly screened door from a beginner and thought what a great community this could be. And then I promptly forgot to post anything else. Sigh. I can do better…
I came into woodworking with a strong desire to build, but without a lot of equipment. As such, that makes for a bit of extra work to get started on a project. I'm sure other beginners can relate. In my case I only had a pair of wobbly saw horses and a very non-flat concrete basement floor. Here I set out to start this adventure with a place to work. What I ended up with was a flatter than my basement floor, but not quite flat work table that I used as a workbench, an assembly table, and an outfeed table for a brand new contractor saw. This has gotten me through many around the house projects, but I really wanted a proper workbench for building furniture.
Here is the original work table which I still use today as an outfeed/assembly table. One of these days I might even flatten the top properly, but that is another blog entry.
But the point of this blog is not this table, but rather what I produced to replace it as a proper workbench. The problem was, though, that I had no idea what I really needed. I did have a few things decided, however:
- Must not cost more than $500
- Must have a face vice and an end vise
- Must have lots of ways to hold down items and be pretty easy to expand these
What I settled on was Roubo style workbench with a quick release face vice and a cheap tail vise. I would use a stack of reclaimed 2Ă—4s for the top and pick up some poplar or other nicer hardwood for the sides, jaws, and frame.
I wanted to be able to use my tablesaw to cut the square holes and the drill press to bore the round holes, so I glued up the the top in four sections so that they were easier to handle.
These were then glued up together and I built a router sled to go across two parallel sides to flatten the top after the glue-up. Here I used a Whiteside 6220 CNC spoilboard surfacing router bit with a nice 2" diameter cut. This worked really well and I ended up with a nice flat top (and quite a few bags full of sawdust).
Next, I bought some poplar to use on the frame and vice jaws. Eventually I will bore some holes in the sides to be able to clamp things down.
After everything was done, I was quite proud of the results. This, I felt, is something I can use to build real furniture on. It is dead flat and I can hold down just about anything. Next up is a walnut dining table! If you look closely you can see a stack of lumber waiting for this workbench to be finished. As I finish this blog now the table is actually near complete.
Onward!