Project Information
Okay, unveiling the bench here in completed project land. Now that it has the finish on it I can call it complete (not sure a bench ever is, so this is as good a land mark as I can get). For those who visit the blog section the bench is nothing new…
http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/dsb1829/blog/series/1165
It has been blogged throughout the entire construction process. Follow the link for some light reading.
For those that haven't checked out the blog this is all news. For additional photos check out my picasa web albums. Here is the finished photo album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/anon102/20090115Bench10#
Photos on my web album are bigger, more detail, and can even be blown up to full size to really check stuff out.
The bench was originally thought to be do-able in a 3 day weekend. I kind of missed the boat on that due to planning as I went and sorting out a lot of details that I hadn't anticipated. I started the bench on Dec 27th and completed it on Jan 11th (okay, I spent 20 minutes applying finish last night for the sticklers). By my time tracking I logged just over 40 hours of work time. I imagine with solid planning and pre-milling of lumber that the bench could be built in a weekend.
Construction:
101.5lg x 27wd x 36tall
Poplar - legs, aprons, braces, and shelf (mostly milled to 3.5wd x 1.75-2.0thk)
Oak - Vise mounting block and chocks (I still need to make an oak chock for the end vise, currently poplar)
MDF - Top is 4 layers from 2 sheets, shelf is 1 layer
Expenses:
(I am only going to include the cost of materials in the bench as pictured. I had a fair amount of excess wood, glue, hardware, and finish left in the end. Last tally by the receipts was about $400.)
$70 - 2-1/2 sheets of 3/4in mdf
$60 - rough poplar (approx 60bdft)
$40 - S4S oak for vises, 1in x 8in x 8ft (1X), 1in x 4in x 8ft (2X)
$15 - 1/2 gallon of titebond3
$60 - 2 vise screws from woodcraft, bessey qr iron vise (both on closeout)
$50 - hardware 3/8in(16X) & 1/2in(4X) (nuts, bolts, washers), pocket screws (32X), 3/8in steel rod, #12×3in wood screws(12X), 1/4in(2X) (nuts, bolts, washers)
Total = $295
So you could save some money with a plan and no extra HW or materials (this is more like a magazine would price the project vs. reality)
Features:
-Capacity- can hold just over 9ft boards for edge/face surfacing
-Mass- about 300lb of bench and 300lb of sand in the tubs on the shelf
-Vises- Twin screw opens to just over 10in and skews 5-10 degrees, QR bessey open width is about 10in
-Finish- BLO thinned with turps
-Knock-down- The bench can easily be broken down for transport, could also easily be modified to fit in a smaller workshop (I am not planning on moving, but you never know)
In retrospective
closing thoughts
- pre-mill all lumber next time
- fully detail out a plan in the beginning (saves money and time)
- invest in a better QR vise (hey, for $35 I can't complain much)
- skip the MDF (bench would have been cheaper in solid poplar)
- it is hard to build a bench without a bench, this was a good compromise in that respect
- twin screw is cool, but a second bigger QR vise in this position would likely work about as well and would take less time to install/tune
- inspect joinery with more care (I ended up with slightly mismatched legs that I had to account for in the shelf construction)
- I couldn't have done this bench without my hand planes (No5 was a work horse and the LA block and jointer were also used often) If you don't have hand planes get surfaced stock.
http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/dsb1829/blog/series/1165
It has been blogged throughout the entire construction process. Follow the link for some light reading.
For those that haven't checked out the blog this is all news. For additional photos check out my picasa web albums. Here is the finished photo album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/anon102/20090115Bench10#
Photos on my web album are bigger, more detail, and can even be blown up to full size to really check stuff out.
The bench was originally thought to be do-able in a 3 day weekend. I kind of missed the boat on that due to planning as I went and sorting out a lot of details that I hadn't anticipated. I started the bench on Dec 27th and completed it on Jan 11th (okay, I spent 20 minutes applying finish last night for the sticklers). By my time tracking I logged just over 40 hours of work time. I imagine with solid planning and pre-milling of lumber that the bench could be built in a weekend.
Construction:
101.5lg x 27wd x 36tall
Poplar - legs, aprons, braces, and shelf (mostly milled to 3.5wd x 1.75-2.0thk)
Oak - Vise mounting block and chocks (I still need to make an oak chock for the end vise, currently poplar)
MDF - Top is 4 layers from 2 sheets, shelf is 1 layer
Expenses:
(I am only going to include the cost of materials in the bench as pictured. I had a fair amount of excess wood, glue, hardware, and finish left in the end. Last tally by the receipts was about $400.)
$70 - 2-1/2 sheets of 3/4in mdf
$60 - rough poplar (approx 60bdft)
$40 - S4S oak for vises, 1in x 8in x 8ft (1X), 1in x 4in x 8ft (2X)
$15 - 1/2 gallon of titebond3
$60 - 2 vise screws from woodcraft, bessey qr iron vise (both on closeout)
$50 - hardware 3/8in(16X) & 1/2in(4X) (nuts, bolts, washers), pocket screws (32X), 3/8in steel rod, #12×3in wood screws(12X), 1/4in(2X) (nuts, bolts, washers)
Total = $295
So you could save some money with a plan and no extra HW or materials (this is more like a magazine would price the project vs. reality)
Features:
-Capacity- can hold just over 9ft boards for edge/face surfacing
-Mass- about 300lb of bench and 300lb of sand in the tubs on the shelf
-Vises- Twin screw opens to just over 10in and skews 5-10 degrees, QR bessey open width is about 10in
-Finish- BLO thinned with turps
-Knock-down- The bench can easily be broken down for transport, could also easily be modified to fit in a smaller workshop (I am not planning on moving, but you never know)
In retrospective
closing thoughts
- pre-mill all lumber next time
- fully detail out a plan in the beginning (saves money and time)
- invest in a better QR vise (hey, for $35 I can't complain much)
- skip the MDF (bench would have been cheaper in solid poplar)
- it is hard to build a bench without a bench, this was a good compromise in that respect
- twin screw is cool, but a second bigger QR vise in this position would likely work about as well and would take less time to install/tune
- inspect joinery with more care (I ended up with slightly mismatched legs that I had to account for in the shelf construction)
- I couldn't have done this bench without my hand planes (No5 was a work horse and the LA block and jointer were also used often) If you don't have hand planes get surfaced stock.
