Workbench ‘our workbench sets the tone for your workshop. From a discarded kitchen table or an old door laid across a pair of rickety sawhorses, to a gleaming oak masterpiece that looks too fancy to dine on, much less work on, there are just about as many styles of benches as there are woodworkers. The maple workbench built in this chapter is stylish enough for showing off, but it’s designed to be used—and used hard. The design is simple enough that you can easily modify it to meet your special needs or tastes. 420 Woodworking,TYPE: Workbench OVERALL SIZE: 60W by 36H by 240 MATERIAL: Hard maple JOINERY: Butt joints reinforced with lag sorews, ‘and dowel joints CONSTRUCTION DETAILS: + Solld maple, butcher-block style benchtop with 1,440 sq, in. of worksurtace + Storage shelf + Adjustable bench dogs * Comfortable 36-in. working height + Permanent woodworking vises FINISHING OPTIONS: Danish oil (one coat only) or other clear topcoat that can be refreshed easly, such as linseed oll. ices PREPARING STOCK 46 hours + Surface planer + Jointer D4) x 6 in. x 12 Ft, hard maple boards 1) &%x 4in.x 6 ft. hard maple boards 0 @) 4x4 in. x 6 ft hard maple boards i (or 2) woodworkers bench vises D466) Yin-dia. brass bench dogs with square tops 1D Wood glue (#0 x1¥2-in. wood screws 1% in. ag screws (1% in, 2in., 3 in.) with washere Di %x2+n. fluted dowel pine Li Finishing materials Layour + Table saw. 2-4 hours. SM curtine parts 46 hours. ASSEMBLY 4-6 hours + Band saw or jig saw + Chreular saw + Stralghtedge cutting gulde + Bar or pipe clamps + Dri + Bett sander or hand plane + Combination square + Doweling jig + Drill guide + Socket wrench and sockets FP) nnsuine == 1-2 hours TOTAL: 15-24 hours Workbench 421Workbench No. Slee Materlal 12% «24x 60in. Hard maple 2 Wax4xg2 7 2 1x BV xB1 in. zi 21x 8x 18in. I 2 Wax 8hx8in. 5 4 Dx8x28%4in. 4x 3V4x 84 in, = B4x8%B1in. aTOP VIEW + {| ——_ 4 4 or — 1 1%" SIDE ELEVATION END ELEVATION Workbench 423Workb MAKE THE LAMINATED BENCHTOP Buteher-block style, face-laminated benchtops made from hardwood have several advantages: they are exceptionally stable from side to side and end to end; the worksurface itself consists of edge grain (or, in some cases, end grain), which is highly dent resistant and ean be resurfaced easily after extended ‘wear; and, because most hardwoods are very dense, the sheer weight of a solid hardwood benehtop results in a very sturdy worksurface. Tip: The work- bench project shown here has a 242-in.-thick bench- top that was designed to accommodate a vise with 24-in.-tall jaws. Because jaw size varies widely, it's 1 good idea to purchase your vise or vises before building the benchtop and modify the thickness of the top, if needed, to fit the particular vise you buy @ Face-joint 94 hard maple stock to create smooth surfaces on both faces. This will result in boards not quite 14 in. thick, but it's far more economical (and less time-consuming) than reducing % stock to 114 in, thick. You can use a surface planer to smooth the boards, but it's important to joint the faces as well, since & planer will not square the stock. Prepare enough stock for 16, 62-in.-long x 2¥-in.-wide boards, @ Joint one edge of each board, then rip-cut them into 24-in.-wide strips. Cross-cut the boards to 62 in. long (you'll trim off the exeess length after the glue-up is completed). Lay out the wood strips sid by-side, 2 in. high, on a flat worksurface. Clamp the strips together with a bar or pipe clamp, mak- ing sure the edges are all flush on the top surface of the benchtop. Draw reference lines 8 to 10 in apart across the top, perpendicular to the joints, ‘and number the boards in sequence. © Unclamp the boards and divide them into groups of four or five boards (for gluc-ups involving more than four or five pieces of stock, it’s easier to break up the project into smaller sections, then glue those sections together). Apply glue to the mating ‘wood faces and glue up each section. Use bar or pipe clamps to draw the boards together, and keep the edges of the boards flush (the ends can stagger slightly, since they'll be trimmed square later). 424 Woodworking PHOTO A: Face-sue the benchtop in sections of four or ive boards, thon face-hue the sections together. PHOTO B: Flatten the top and bottom surfaces ofthe benchtop, sing a belt sander ora hand plane. PHOTO C: Dill holes forthe bench dogs at approximately Gn. Iter- ‘vals, using a portale dill gue to Keep the holes straight.PHOTO D: Use Muted, ¥2 x 2-n. dowel pis to reinforce the joints ‘between the legs and the cross braces. @ After the glue on the benchtop sections has cured, glue the sections together to create the benchtop (See Photo A). Take care to keep the edges flush at the top and bottom of the bench- top—wood cauls clamped above and below the benchtop are helpful for this purpose. Alternate bar or pipe clamps above and below the glue-up to equalize clamping pressure. Only tighten the clamps until the joints are tight; don’t overtighten ‘or you ean squeeze the joints dry of glue. Leave the clamps on until the glue cures. @ Scrape the dried glue from both sides, and level the top and otto surfaces using. a belt sander or hand plane. If using a belt sander, avoid sanding belts coarser than 100-grit, and make initial sand- ing passes diagonally across the glue joints (See Photo B). If using a hand plane, plane diagonally across the grain until the surface is flat, then plane with the grain. Finish smoothing with a cabinet scraper or sandpaper. Run a long straightedge over the surfaces to test for flatness. A perfectly fat worksurface is very important to successful wood- working, so it's worth investing some time and. energy into achieving a perfectly flat top. © Use a circular saw with a straightedge cutting guide fence to trim the ends of the benchtop so it’s 60 in. long, Trim some stock from both ends, mak- ing sure the ends are square to the edges of the top. PHOTO E: Use pip clamps to draw the feet tightly against the bot- toms of the tgs. @ Mark a layout line for drilling guide holes for the bench dogs. We used a 44-in.-dia, brad-point bit to drill the guide holes for the %4-in-dia. dogs we purchased. If the vise you'll be installing on the end of your bench has @ pop-up bench dog, draw the layout line so it's aligned with the center of the vise dog after the vise is installed. Otherwise, cen- ter the line with the midpoint of the vise jaw. We drilled guide holes every 6 in. Use a portable drill guide to ensure that the holes are exactly vertical ee Photo ©). Bump THE BASE © Rip four 1%-in.-thick boards to 3 in. wide, then cross-cut them to 2812 in, to make the legs. Rip the two Tbin.-thick leg cross braces to 3¥4 in, wide, then cut them to a length of 8 in. © Draw square lines across the inside edges of the legs for the placement of the eross braces. The lower lines should be 7% in. up from the bottoms of the legs, and the upper lines should be 314 in above the lower lines. Lay out holes for two V2 24in, fluted dowels per joint and drill holes with a dowel drilling guide. Glue the dowels and joints and clamp up two legs to a erass support, padding the clamps to protect the wood (See Photo D). Check the squareness by measuring to make sure the distance between the tops of the legs and the bottoms is the same. Make both side assemblies. Workbench 425PHOTO F: Dill counterbore holes forthe lg screw hoads and washers, ‘an ail clearance holes and plot holes forthe shanks ofthe screws. © Cut the feet to 4 x 22 in, Lay out the angled cutting lines by marking out the measurements shown in the Foot layout drawing on page 423. Use a straightedge to draw lines connecting these marks. Cut out the shape of the feet with a band saw or jig saw. Sand the sawn edges smooth. ® Lay out and drill dowel holes connecting the ends of the legs to the tops of the feet. Glue and clamp the feet to the legs (See Photo E). @Rip the two leg stretchers and the two leg top supports to 34 in, wide from 11 in, stock. Cross-cut the stretchers to 31 in. and the supports: to 18 in, ® Continue the cross support layout lines already on the legs, squaring them across the faces of the legs to serve as placement lines for the leg stretch ers, Mark lines for the thickness of the stretchers, centered on the legs. Mark centerpoint: lag-screw pilot holes at each joint. Drill #-in.-ia. x ‘¥-[Link] counterbores for each hole, then drill ¥4- in, pilots through the center of each counterbored hole (See Photo F). @ Position the stretchers between the side assem: blies and assemble the base temporarily by elamp- ing across the leg cross supports. Line the 426 Woodworking PHOTO G: After plot holes are dled, assemble the base with lag screws and washers dren witha socket wrench. stretchers up with their marks and drill pilot holes through the lag holes into the ends of the streteh- ers. Drill counterbored holes in the top supports, then center the top supports on the legs and drill pilot holes into the tops of the legs. Also drill guide holes for the lag screws that attach the top sup- ports to the underside of the benchtop. @ Attach the legs to the ends ofthe leg stretchers with % x 3-in. lag screws fitted with ¥+-in, washers (See Photo G). Bolt the leg top supports to the tops ofthe legs with the same size lag screws, INSTALL THE SHELF © Plane 44 maple down to 34 in, thick to make the shelf slats. Rip-cut and cross-cut the inner and. outer slats to size @ Lay the outside shelf slats onto the stretchers, with their edges flush with the sides of the legs. Drill a countersunk pilot hole for a #10 x 1¥2n, flathead wood screw near each end of each outer slat, centered aver the stretcher below © Place the inside shelf slats on the leg cross braces with their ends flush with the braces. Use Vin. spacer blocks between slats to ensure even gaps. Drill a pair of countersunk pilot holes at the end of each inner slat, centered over the cross‘PHOTO H: Serew the inner and outer slats tothe stretchers and cross braces to create a storage shelf. brace below. Drive two #10 x 114-in. flathead wood screws at each end (See Photo H). (ATTACH THE BENCHTOP @Sand all parts to 150 grit and ease all sharp edges ® Lay the benchtop upside-down and center the base on the underside of the top. Drill counterbored pilot holes into the top and attach the leg top sup- ports to the underside of the top with washers and 46 x [Link], lag screws (See Photo D. ‘APPLY FINISHING TOUCHES @Read the manufacturer's instructions for installing your bench vises. Cut hardwood jaw plates and serew them to the metal jaws through, the jaw holes on the vise. Make up the appropri- ate filler blocks to shim each vise so the top edges of the jaws are flush with the benchtop. The vises we selected for our hench are installed with 36 x 2-in, lag screws driven up through the underside of the vise and into the benchtop (See Photo J). @ Apply a protective finish to the workbench. We used a single coat of Danish oil. Do not apply more than one coat of finishing material, since multiple layers make the surface more slippery. Every other year or s0, depending on wear, remove the oil finish PHOTO I: Center the base on the underside ofthe benchtop, then PHOTO J: Install the vise or vises according to the manufacturer's Installation instructions (they may fer ftom model to mode. with mineral spirits, sand the surface, and apply a fresh finish, Workbench 427