My New Bench
As promised, here is my new bench. First of all, I am building this one to replace the one I have been swearing at for years. I built it many years ago. I started it with good intentions but not a lot of thought. By the time I got the top made, I had a lot of work to do and hurried up and finished it. Consequently, the base did not come out very good, but it worked. I always figure I would fix it someday but you know how that goes. This new version has been in my head for a long time and I finally had the time and money to get it out.
My first thoughts were to the vises. I had bought a used Veritas twin screw vise some years ago and put it aside for someday. For the front vise I decided I wanted a patternmakers vise. I looked up the Emmert vise but you can’t touch one of those for less than $1,000 unless you get real lucky. There is a Chinese clone available for a decent price so I took a chance on it. I got it from Woodcraft. So, now I have my vises and need to think about the bench. I know I wanted heavy, solid, maple and have a recessed tool well. I did a lot of research on line. I looked at pictures, read reviews and blogs. I got the basic design and drew it up with Google sketchup. I wanted to find any problems before I got into it. I measured a lot because I wanted it to be as big as I could get without being too big. Finally I have all the details figured out and I can start cutting.
I bought a pile of 8/4 soft maple and started making sawdust. The top is laminated strips 1 7/8 thick x 3 1/8 wide and about 7 feet long. I glued them up in two batches,planed them and glued them together. I ran the whole slab through the sander and had my top. Next, I got into mounting the vises. For the patternmakers vise, there is a lot of excavating to do. You have to route out the underside of the top for all the hardware to fit. It looks like this: (click on the images for a bigger view)
For the other vise it’s a little simpler. After the skirting is on the top, you simply drill a couple of holes and install the hardware. Here’s a shot of the finished vise.
It works great. Much better than the old vises I had on my other bench. For the skirting, I wanted it to wrap around, but i didn’t want any problems with cross grain. The top is quarter sawn, so I know there wouldn’t be much movement but it still needed room. I ended up doing something like a breadboard for the ends. I made a toungue on the end and a groove in the skite board. I glued the front third and put a bolt in a slotted hole for the back. I just screwed and glued the corners. I saw no need for fancy joinery there. I though a lot about the recess in the back. I wanted it deep enough to hold things, but not so big I lose things in it. It could have been a little smaller, but I think it’s fine.
The bottom is some left over white oak I had.
So now I turn my attention to the base. For a top this heavy, I need a solid base. I glued up four legs to make 4″ x 4″ posts. The feet are 4″ x 3″ thick. Simple mortise and tenon joinery for the whole thing. I did bolt the legs to the feet in addition to the joinery. This thing is solid. I made the feet a little long and offset the legs because the tool recess hangs out in the back. I put a piece of MDF on the bottom stretchers for a shelf and put some things there. Eventually, I plan to add a cabinet with drawers. I’ll get some pictures when I get to that. The whole thing is finished with my usual oil finish. About a half gallon in all. Here are a couple of shots of the finished bench.
It seems like I finished it just in time because I have a bunch of work coming in and I am looking forward to seeing how it works out. I’ll let you know.
That’s it for now. Please feel free to ask any questions you might have. Visit my website too. I have some work to do there too.
Til next time let’s all wish for sunny days and dry roads.
Your bench looks great. This blog was a pleasure to read can’t wait for more keep it up…Thanks…
Nice finishing. Yup i agree when it comes to pattern makers vise, there is a lot of excavating to be settled. Really annoying at times when there is so much to do but so little time. The 4″ x 4″ posts on the legs is perfect. Doing it a bit high would affect the stability
Your work funiture is as beautiful as your furniture. And, I’m all healed and love the sleigh bed! Enjoyed your blog and look foward to more.