Workbench options

[Curt Putnam]

I have an el cheapo Sjoberg's bench. The whole bench weighs less than 100 lbs which means that it scoots across my concrete floor when planing. Piling weight on helps that problem. Then, of course, it still racks even if it doesn't move, and lastly the top is cupped along its length. This last condition prevents me from face planing panels. I'm at the point, having acquired the lumber, of milling the lumber for the design that is not yet final. I think I can start on the top because I know I do not have room for an 8' bench, therefore I will make 7' tops which could be cut down as necessary and glued together if decide on a solid top.

The point is that you need a good, flat bench.

[Matthew Hills]

Re: the Sjoberg's banana, scooter bench:

- flatten the top
- can you put a diagonal brace on it (to prevent the racking)
- put sandbags, put rubber pads underneath the feet to minimize scooting (or screw to wall)

Matt

[Tom M King]

Since a jobsite is temporary for me, I've gotten by with a small bench light enough to move around. I put one corner against a wall under a North facing window. The corner against a wall keeps it from scooting.

[Curt Putnam]

Re: the Sjoberg's banana, scooter bench:

- flatten the top
- can you put a diagonal brace on it (to prevent the racking)
- put sandbags, put rubber pads underneath the feet to minimize scooting (or screw to wall)

Matt

Scoots taken care of. Top too thin to flatten and too thin for general use. Just going to build a good bench and either sell the Sjoberg's or use it to pile stuff on.

[Adam Stevens2]

Brian, I have SYP waiting around to make a bench out of - but my current bench is a bunch of 2x4s with a solid core door for the top. It feels plenty heavy when I need to move it around (or flip it over, like I needed to install the face vise) but I guess not heavy enough when planing.

The problem seems to be that I need a bench to build a bench...I don't have any power tools to do the heavy lifting for me and the likelihood of me procuring them will begin and end with arguments along several fronts with the lady of the house.

did you build a bench from the SYP? You really need a heavy bench for hand tools, as you do not want to have to fight with it while your attempting to work.

If you haven't yet, I would shelve your current projects and start on a heavy bench, I like the Klausz style, so does Winton, but Klausz, Roubo, American, Sellers, Shaker or Japanese you need something to work with in order to really use your tools effectively.

[Brian Holcombe]

It surprised me how heavy a woodworking bench needed to be. I looked at those 4" hardwood tops and 10/4 bases as being a bit overkill, but really they are not. Just make it so that you can break it down if you need to move.

[Will Boulware]

The problem seems to be that I need a bench to build a bench...

I had this same problem. I ended up building a Nicholson derivative, but like you said, how do you get started if you can't plane on what you have? You have a pile of SYP. Good. I'm assuming it's in the form of 2x12's or some other heavy variant. I built two sturdy sawhorses and piled four 8 foot 2x12's on them in stacks of 2 with a split in between. Clamp these stacks to the sawhorses. Now you essentially have a benchtop, or enough of one to get started. Add a board vertically in the split and you've got something to traverse against. Use another clamp up front like a face vise and support the other end of the board in some way and you've got something to plane the along the length of a board. Use two clamps like a makeshift twin screw against the front stack of boards, and you can cut dovetails or work the ends of boards. You've got to get creative with clamp placement, but it works. It also convinced me that I wanted a split top in my bench. That gap is can be handy to have.

[Judson Green]

Now I have another question. I finally splurged on Monday and got an LV bench plane. I stuck some red oak in the vise after getting the plane set up, and lo and behold my bench bucks like a bronco when I try and take a reasonable swipe at it. I have read about adding sandbags to the base to add weight - any other methods I can use to keep the thing still? I'd like to be able to use it!

Can you post a photo? That would help folks give you advice.

IMAG1745.jpg

This is my bench. Before I made a new top (SYP with maple around the outsides) for over last winter, it had a solid core door. The base is just ½" plywood and 2×2's - very light, but will not sway. The key though is what's inside, behind the doors - lots of junk... I mean treasures that I can't part with acting as ballast.

[Mike Holbrook]

I have Bob Lang's DVD "Build the 21st Century Workbench". Bob addresses the bench to build a bench issue by gluing up 3/4" plywood to make an I beam. He used his I beam to glue up boards in pairs. He glued pairs of boards into -12" wide split top sections using a combination of sawhorses and planed boards. He used two boards planed square (-8' long) on the two sawhorses/tables. He placed stickers 12" long, jointed to the same size, on top of the 8' long squared boards. Two under 12" wide bench top sections are small enough to fit through a lunch box planer & are relatively easy to hand flatten. The two sections of Bob's top are held together by cleats that also support drawer/sections between the two halves of the top.

I bought a Noden Adjust A Bench (AAB) base. I am making a frame using 1x3" clear yellow pine trim wood and 3/4" plywood. One side of the frame will be glued up 1x3" YP, to provide a place for a vise & dog holes. The rest of the top will be built to the height of the 1x3" YP with 1/2" sheets of MDF. The MDF can be flipped when worn/stained. This bench/table will be my bench to build a bench and a permanent infeed-outfeed, place to cut sheet goods, assembly table...It is on casters, will adjust up or down around 16"...so it should serve multiple purposes well.

[Adam Stevens2]

Has anyone had experience buying a bench top and putting one together using that? I feel like I am stuck between a rock and a hard place using my horrible bench to build a better bench, since it just seems to be one headache after another.

I found a sawmill called Baird Brothers that seems to have various benchtop surfaces for not too much of an outlay, and I am pondering that as an option. I guess I'd still need to do the legs and stretchers and what have you, but I feel like that would at least get me started. Laminating a top out of pieces that I have cut and flatten and yada yada just seems too daunting, especially since I am getting disillusioned every time I seem to screw up the projects I'm working on now.

[Brian Holcombe]

Russian philosophers found a lot of romance in suffering, and for good reason, suffering reveals profound insights. However, if it's preventing you from ever achieving your goal you may be better served having someone else prep the stock for you. Just make certain that whomever you pay to do the work is capable of jointing the boards prior to planing them to thickness. Some yards like to turn out perfectly uniform bananas via planing only.

[Jim Koepke]

Has anyone had experience buying a bench top and putting one together using that? I feel like I am stuck between a rock and a hard place using my horrible bench to build a better bench, since it just seems to be one headache after another.

Building a bench is a challenging project. I know, I have been putting mine off for years.

Of course having a somewhat acceptable bench has been a help.

Did you have a particular bench top in mind?

I know some have bought manufactured tops or used large slabs. That was something I was thinking about since one of the local sawyers had a stack of slabs. Most of them were not as long as my planned bench length.

jtk

[Frederick Skelly]

Adam, it's ok to buy that top if you can afford it. Then build your base as a standalone unit and find a way that works for you to attach the top. Remember to allow for some seasonal expansion/contraction in your attachment strategy. Some benches mortise the legs into the top, but you don't HAVE TO do that. (I didn't and mine is rock solid.)

My bench is laminated dimensioned lumber for the top, dimensioned lumber for stretchers and 4x4 fence posts for legs. Absolutely rock solid. Easy to build.

Go for it and then post some pics!

Fred

[Adam Stevens2]

Building a bench is a challenging project. I know, I have been putting mine off for years.

Of course having a somewhat acceptable bench has been a help.

Did you have a particular bench top in mind?

I know some have bought manufactured tops or used large slabs. That was something I was thinking about since one of the local sawyers had a stack of slabs. Most of them were not as long as my planned bench length.

jtk

I saw a hickory benchtop 2 3/4" thick and just shy of 7' long for about $170 on the Baird Bros website. That seems like a pretty reasonable price but I don't know anything about how it was manufactured, quality etc.

[Tom Vanzant]

Tom, that Lervad bench sure looks familiar.