My First Proper Workbench

Just a simple design loosely based on what I’ve seen other do.

Picked up a bunch of oak from a local wood worker. Rough lumber, mostly red oak (some white in there too). The top was a 2×13 or so and 10’ long. Cut that in half and added the tool well to make it roughly 31” deep. The legs are basically 2×4 full dimension laminated to be roughly 4×4. The stretchers are mostly 2×5 or so. The sides are made mortise and tenon – used the jig shown to route the basic mortises. The tenons were cut on the table saw and finished by hand. Hand planed a bunch of it. Used power thickness planer for some.

The tool well was made from scrap oak and some birch ply. Based on Paul Sellers, I went with the Czech vise from Lee Valley – so far so good. It’s a beast – the 10” model. I used birch ply for the jaws.

The bottom shelf is from a solid core door – it was free – cut it to fit. At some point I’ll likely build a cabinet for that space.

Finish was just Danish oil natural color. I applied 2 coats. First coat was a flood on the top – applied a lot. The rest was applied with a rag. It soaked in. Wiped the excess. Next day, repeated. Third day pretty much done – added a little to the legs but the top was still wet. It took a few more days to fully dry.

Final thoughts after using it for a while – I will probably add some dog holes. Not sure if I’ll add a tail vise but I might. So far it’s been great. The vise is fantastic – quick release. It’s have and solid. Really nice to work on. The tool well is really handy.

Thanks for looking.