Show us your Bench

[Greg Portland]

True Neanders please take a deep breath and look away (electric tools are in the picture) :-) .
Here's a pic of my cheap & sturdy bench. The bottom boxes are torsion boxes (held together with long threaded rod). The metal plate in the middle is for a Kreg jig clamp. Total cost for this bench was ~ $60 in materials (not counting the vise hardware).


Here is a closeup of how I made the dog holes. I cut a bunch of 1x6 squares (slightly at an angle to accommodate bench dog tilt under load) and screwed & glued them in between 2x6s. The top is also a torsion box design and very flat & sturdy. The screw holes have been plugged with epoxy for a flat bench surface. Note that I was not done cutting the dog hole in the solid maple end vise yet.


This has been a great bench and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a quick to build (and cheap) bench.

[Ken Alcott]

That is a really nice job!

[Ian Coop]

Based on the bench in FWW. Made of hard maple and walnut. Tried to use all available space for drawers and storage. Loads of storage space and weighs a ton.

[Greg Millen]

Greg, nice looking so far. What are the two knobs on the inside of the two legs for?

Sorry Jeff, I haven't dropped in for a while and missed this post. The knobs (pegs) on the inside of the legs are just stored for the moment. They are to rest long timbers on when planing.

I have just commenced the top which will have a traditional leg vise with a carriage vise at the other end. Material for the top is seven Jarrah beams laminated together. The top will be 24" wide, 95" long and 5.5" thick. Overall the top will weigh about 620lbs. Together with the base the whole assembly will be around 1000lb without clamps underneath, vises or other paraphernalia attached. The holes in the legs will do double-duty as axle shafts for a set of cantilevered wheels to move the bench. Moving it will be fairly easy, stopping it once in motion is what concerns me most.

Here is a picture of the freshly dressed timber for the top. If interested, the full work-in-progress can be found by a Google search for "wip-groggys-workbench".

[Jim Koepke]

Material for the top is seven Jarrah beams laminated together.

Wow, some of the timber you can get down under makes a bloke jealous.

jim

[Rick Erickson]

Wow, some of the timber you can get down under makes a bloke jealous.
jim

No doubt - beautiful indeed.

[Charlie Kocourek]

I have to add mine to the list. A few years ago I realized that my bench was higher than my table saw. So, when I ran long boards across it they would bump into the bench. But, that bench was too low for detail work and I would get a backache when I worked at it for too long.

I decided to build an adjustable height workbench, but I could not find one that I liked. I decided to design one myself. After I was done I showed it at a woodworking exhibition at a local mall.

People liked it, they really liked it!

This bench can be adjusted from 29" up to 44" high with a cordless drill. It also has a built in mobile base which can also be operated with a cordless drill.

[Leigh Betsch]

I decided to build an adjustable height workbench, but I could not find one that I liked. I decided to design one myself. People liked it, they really liked it!

Jack I stumbled onto your web site a few weeks ago, I really like the concept. Only problem is I like the looks and the storage space a Shaker bench provides. Is it possible to add drawers or a cabinet beneath your top or would that interfere with the screw jack mechanism?

[Thomas love]

Euro beech top, Poplar base, 8'-9" x 35" tall x 26" wide. Still waiting on wagon vise from BC. I nixed the stationary leg vise and went with the krieg clamp in lieu of a traditional wood hook there,not pretty though works like a charm. I prefer the option of sliding the leg vice to different positions as opposed to a stationary leg and sliding dead man, thinking about a dog hole in top sliding chop and some corresponding holes on bench. I mounted the parallel guide under the shelf horizontally which give me more space down there.
Tom

[Rick Erickson]

Jack I stumbled onto your web site a few weeks ago, I really like the concept. Only problem is I like the looks and the storage space a Shaker bench provides. Is it possible to add drawers or a cabinet beneath your top or would that interfere with the screw jack mechanism?

Leigh, I thought drawers under my bench would be a nice addition as well but they can be troublesome (at least they are for me). I guess if you think through the design better than I did you may have more success. Leave plenty of room between the top of the drawers and the bottom of the bench top. Dogs and holdfasts won't work otherwise. Also, inevitably every time I have something large clamped up I need something from one of the drawers behind the wood. I've run into that several times already with the tool chest I'm building (thus one of the reasons for the tool chest).

[Charlie Kocourek]

Leigh, I thought drawers under my bench would be a nice addition as well but they can be troublesome (at least they are for me). I guess if you think through the design better than I did you may have more success. Leave plenty of room between the top of the drawers and the bottom of the bench top. Dogs and holdfasts won't work otherwise. Also, inevitably every time I have something large clamped up I need something from one of the drawers behind the wood. I've run into that several times already with the tool chest I'm building (thus one of the reasons for the tool chest).

I purposely left a space just under the top so that I could access the bottom for dogs and holdfasts. It also leaves room to access the scissors jack.

I have thought about adding drawers in that space, but it does not seem like that big of a deal.

There is room around the scissors jack to add some storage, but for simplicity sake I left it as you see it.

[Leigh Betsch]

There are so many nice features in the benches in this thread. It's impossible to get them all into one bench.

[Rick Erickson]

Euro beech top, Poplar base, 8'-9" x 35" tall x 26" wide. Still waiting on wagon vise from BC. I nixed the stationary leg vise and went with the krieg clamp in lieu of a traditional wood hook there,not pretty though works like a charm. I prefer the option of sliding the leg vice to different positions as opposed to a stationary leg and sliding dead man, thinking about a dog hole in top sliding chop and some corresponding holes on bench. I mounted the parallel guide under the shelf horizontally which give me more space down there.
Tom

Very nice Thomas. If I ever build one it will be a Roubo. I love this bench. Gotta love the BC wagon vice.

[Thomas love]

Thanks Rick,
I was always wanting a bench although I was never inspired enough until Jameel built that Roubo of his. These things are a lot of work, though definitely worth the effort. I have a great deal of respect for those here that go about this process with hand tools exclusively.

Tom.

[David Gendron]

That Kreg bench clamp is quite sweet! I think it is a great idea!! Just a question regarding the sliding vise, what are the metal parts on the long stretcher??