[woodworker59]

I guess I will have to join in on this, I built my bench two years ago to the size that would best fit in my small 220sqft shop. It measures 63" by 20" and is 34" in height. the top is two layers of 3/4" OSB glued together then sandwiched between two layers of 1" MDF, which is then edged with 2" cherry to dress it up a bit. the base is straight up 4×4 and 2×4 construction with pegged half lap joints. there are 1 1/2" dowels in tops of the legs which slide into mortises in the bottom of the top to hold it in place. I wanted it to be removable in case it needed to be rehabed. the edge banding of two inch cherry is held together with condor tails on the corners so if I ever need to replace the MDF top I can remove the top and the edging and just slip in a new piece of MDF.
I have a Wilton end vise and a shop made leg vise. I bore dog holes in the side rail on the leg vise side so that I can stick a long dog in there to support long boards as they are being jointed. So far it has been all I have needed it to be, the top is holding up excellently, would like to add some support to the footprint as I can get it rocking a little if I am really bearing down with the planes. otherwise its works great.. here are a couple pics..

P.S. don't mind the mess, I am to busy building to worry about sweeping up the shavings under the bench.. that's what I tell my wife every time she comes in a says something about it.. just the sign of a busy furniture maker at work..

 

[thedude50]

Ya my shop is immaculate about once a month when i clean up the shavings and I am happy it is clean then i go to work and it is incomplete as can be the shop has about a foot deep of shavings buy the lathe and my glue up bench where I have been gluing up the top for the bench that will be my uncles mine is waiting patiently for me to get her done. I did another set of glue ups today I hope the bench has no voids at all but if it gets one or two a little epoxy and she will be fine. the top is one of the most difficult glue ups I have done. those boards don't conform like soft wood if there is a gap I pull out the besseys and clamp it hard and so far they look pretty damn good.

 

[thedude50]

Well guys and gals it has been a while and i thought i would do an update here tonight and on my blog tomorrow. I just spent some time on Horizontal mikes website on his bench build and saw that even though we did our mortises differently we had some of the same issues when working with bob Lang's planes.Bob tells you that once you have a nice straight mortice all the way through the 8/4 stock to back bevel the mortise with a chisel this method is ok but can cause rough edges and less than perfect fit of the tenon bob says to fill the gaps with hard wood wedges hammered and glued in place. This makes the tenon more like a giant dovetailed tenon. Either you buy it or you don't I do know that tenons loosen up in the summer here when it is hot and dry and expand in the damp cool winter not the same as other parts of the country but hey its wood it moves so i decided to trust Mike and Bob I know Mikes bench is a couple of years old now and he used the wedges too. I finished all four leg frames and am ready to cut the rails tomorrow I have asked a few people I trust about this and will let you all know what feedback i get . the giant dovetails on Robert lang's bench were cut with a jig saw through 8/4 stock this concerns me I am worried about blade deflection on even a really nice jig saw which I am lucky to have the top of the line de walt. I still don't know if i should do it with a hand saw or a band saw the board is 65 inches long and the cut is offset 1/2 over its length so it is not a true rip and not a true crosscut so if i choose to do it with a hand saw what saw should i use. and that is a lot of board to try to feed on the band saw food for thought.

After gluing the legs into frames I cut the wedges and planed the ends smooth they look good and solid I am very pleased with the results

 

[scharx]

the dude50 i really like the bench from the last picture . It's awesome

 

[Milo]

Here's mine. Seems kinda simple compared to everyone else, but I guess that, know me, it's going to get damaged and messed up over time. It's just spruce.

The one thing I am pleased with it is I recently flattened the top with a router sled. That was a plus.

I really need to drill some more hole for dogs and whatnot.

I got the design from Christopher Schwarz workbench book. I'm kinda surprised no one has mentioned it yet. Great resources if you lack imagination like me!

 

[thedude50]

Andrei, What bench are you talking about?

Milo, nice job on your bench. I read the blue book by Chris but not the last one. Iread over 25 books or dvds on benches before I settled on my design which is Robert Lang's, with a few twists.

 

[JoeLyddon]

Dude, how are you doing with the benches you're making?

 

[thedude50]

my benches are 75 percent done i will try to have the pair done in 3 weeks from now if all goes well. they are a lot like timber framing and not so much like furniture building. the joints a big and bulky. the pieces are big long and very hard to work with. I love the work but it has been a real test of methods and skill. During this build i made one bad mistake and i am not telling what it is. however it wont effect the benches strength or its uses. Today i WORKED ON THE GIANT DOVETAIL CUTS AND HOW TO MAKE THEM PERFECT/This was a great lesson in large joinery i made 4 practice cuts and the last 3 went great i have it down now and will move to the real rails tomorrow or Wednesday.

 

[JoeLyddon]

Sounds really super good!

You are learning something and improving your skills!

Those Giant dovetails, I think, would really be FUN, watching them just slide together without any hangups… The real payoff!

I'm looking forward to seeing if we can find your really "bad mistake"... glad it's not really BAD! LOL

I've been thinking about making test joints for my chairs to be sure I can do it 'for real'... just like you're doing.
... planning the wood to be used for them, etc.
I have never cut up large boards like this before… Like 2" x 12" x 8' monster boards.

 

[thedude50]

test cuts are vital for setups and for methods if you have not made a joint like the one your going to try you shoud do it first on a scrap piece the same size. it is difficult to figure out complicated cuts this is a huge half lap dovetail on a 6 in wide board that is 65 inches long. that is a spendy piece of wood if you screw up at all.

 

[thedude50]

Okay guys the political threads are dead so post your new workbenches here and let the fun begin

 

[derekcohen]

There is a complete record of my Roubo build on my website. The index is on this page: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/index.html

Step-by-step through everything, including a wagon vise (tail vise) from Benchcrafted and a shopmade wooden screw leg vise.

Big dovetail:

Interesting tools trays:

Oak top and Jarrah base/leg vise (the pics are a little too large to fit here).

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Boatman53]

Hi Derek, good to see your bench here. Is the installation of the chain on the leg vise a part of the bench build? If not please go ahead and add it whenever you do some updating.
Jim

 

[thedude50]

Derek that is a lovely bench I like the dark wood what kind of wood is it ? I will take the time to read about your build when I am done with my own builds I am now taking orders for more benches. I have 3 in the shop going right now. Mine my uncles and one I don't know who is getting it.

 

[derekcohen]

Hi Jim

I plan to get the article done soon. Too many reports for work outstanding at this time

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[derekcohen]

Hi Jim

I plan to get the article done soon. Too many reports for work outstanding at this time

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[mochoa]

Derek, your bench is amazing. Great job. How do you like the thickness of your leg vise chop? Is that about 2"? I'm sure its strong enough but do you ever wish it was thicker (aesthetically speaking)? I'm trying to decide on a thickness for my vise chop. Thanks.

Also I like to see the use of a 2" wooden screws, I think it's a good size. I'm making my own 2" wooden screws. I can make them now and they work but I'm still perfecting the process. Need to reduce the chipping.

Here is my bench thus far. The base is still not glued together, still need to make my tool well, leg vise, and deadman, and vise screw.

 

[thedude50]

Looks great I think this design is cool Maybe Ill make one of these next.

 

[thedude50]

Well guys the first of two benches is almost complete I still have to build the tool trays and they are going to be dovetailed across the ends I had to re design the boxes as they just didn't do it for me I want this to be a show stopper bench and to get it done is a big thing to me Here is a photo of the bench so far

 

[mochoa]

Looking very nice Dude, I like the DT stretcher and the wedged tenons.