| Project by Ron | posted 01-03-2015 08:45 PM | 11442 views | 23 times favorited | 22 comments |  |
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Workbench
This bench is 88” long x 25” wide and 34” tall. It has a 3.5” thick top. The base members are tight fitting mortise & tenons. The frame and top are made from Angelim Pedra from Brazil. Angelim Pedra is stronger, harder and tougher then White Oak. It is most commonly used for truck beds in the US. I completed construction about a year ago and have had no issues. The bench is rock solid and weighs approximately 450 pounds. The top was laminated from two layers of 1.75” x 1.25” pieces which were glued up in an eleven step gluing process.
I incorporated a air flotation design into the four feet. It allows one person to move the bench around the shop. It requires a large volume of compressed air at low pressure to “float” the bench. My shop floors are not as smooth as needed for optimal performance but it works. I can only move it a bout four or five feet before I have to let my air compressor catch up.
I built a four drawer tool storage cabinet under the bench from Red Oak with Poplar drawers and full extension ball bearing slides. I installed a front and side vise. The entire project was sealed with Watco Danish oil and wax.
The only thing that I would do differently today would be to invest a little more in the vises. They work OK but they are not quick release.
I would estimate that I have about 100 hours in construction time and about $300 in the project.
-- Ron,Ohio,
22 comments so far
lepelerin
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498 posts in 3334 days
#1 posted 01-03-2015 10:05 PM
Very nice and welcome back to the future for the air flotation.
I envy you, I wish I had room for such a workbench. One day I hope!
Andre
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4292 posts in 2815 days
#2 posted 01-03-2015 10:20 PM
Looks real Good! Four Drawer? How did you attach the top to the legs? I am building something very similar out of Birch and Maple but will but a tail vise on it and some sort of sliding deadman for the face vice.
-- Lifting one end of the plank.
MAKZ06
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#3 posted 01-03-2015 10:48 PM
Love that air flotation design. Nice work.
Ron
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11 posts in 2337 days
#4 posted 01-03-2015 11:03 PM
There is a top shallow drawer not shown in the pictures. I attached the top with lag bolts in oversized holes in the frame to allow for movement of the top. Thanks for looking, Ron
-- Ron,Ohio,
Buckethead
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3196 posts in 2877 days
#5 posted 01-03-2015 11:13 PM
Not only is it an amazingly beautiful bench, it’s a hovercraft!
Nice!
-- Support woodworking hand models. Buy me a sawstop.
RogerBean
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#6 posted 01-03-2015 11:23 PM
Nicely done.
Roger
-- "Everybody makes mistakes. A craftsman always fixes them." (Monty Kennedy, "The Checkering and Carving of Gunstocks", 1952)
TysonK
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154 posts in 2811 days
#7 posted 01-04-2015 02:24 AM
I’ve never heard of floating the bench with compressed air, how very cool! Beautiful bench, price is right! :)
-- -- Tyson
bch
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302 posts in 3698 days
#8 posted 01-04-2015 02:37 AM
Floating bench!? Planing on it must be like planing a cloud!
-- --bch
mike1950
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364 posts in 2807 days
#9 posted 01-04-2015 02:43 AM
Nice bench
-- "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is."– Albert Einstein
CL810
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4107 posts in 3997 days
#10 posted 01-04-2015 04:48 AM
Very nice bench Ron. Very innovative with the air flotation.
-- "The only limits to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today." - FDR
stevo_wis
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128 posts in 4036 days
#11 posted 01-04-2015 05:00 AM
Very cool. What all is involved with the air floating? I can see the air fixture and the holes and grooves. Is there a lot more to it?
-- Stevo
CharlieM1958
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16292 posts in 5227 days
#12 posted 01-04-2015 02:26 PM
Wow! It’s stunning enough just to look at, but that air flotation system really puts it over the top.
-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"
hotncold
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#13 posted 01-04-2015 03:01 PM
This is an absolutely beautiful bench. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one with air flotation. What a great idea!
Very nice!!
-- Dennie - Tennessee
HillbillyShooter
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5811 posts in 3301 days
#14 posted 01-04-2015 03:07 PM
Outstanding—and I have, to agree wit Charlie that the “air flotation system really puts it over the top.”
-- John C. -- "Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth." George Washington
itsmilesdavis
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#15 posted 01-04-2015 04:02 PM
This is great. I hope to have a quality bench like this some day. For now, I have to stick with my (pathetic) plywood/pine work tables.
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