Workbench options

[Barry Dima]

So for some nutso reason I went out and got some 8/4 hard maple on the weekend to use for a top. I was originally going to use a butcher block as discussed, but decided to got with the maple boards from a local lumberyard since it was cheaper and thicker. Now I'm thinking about how to put it together.

I know that the typical way is to rip the boards and glue face grain to face grain, but I'm wondering if it would be a workable idea to just joint the edges of the boards (I have three, each 7-8" wide) and glue them up side by side instead. Seems like it could save a lot of time and effort, but is the trade-off too much instability? It'd wind up being about two inches thick or near enough, which may be a tad on the thin side but probably enough for now.

Adam,

It all depends on the type of bench you build. On an English style bench a 2" top is thick enough. A French bench depends its top having some mass and 3' to 5" will work better. A German style bench, most of the time, is thick only in the area of the dog holes. I have a hybrid bench, English skin on french bones. It works very well but if I ever, and I expect I will, build another bench it will be English.

ken

I've been leaning towards a Holtzappfel-style bench or some variation thereof.

I'm assuming you have, but have you checked out the English/Nicholson style bench, namely Schwarz's builds and Mike Siemsen's mind-blowing viseless techniques on it? If you wanna just join the edges, that bench seems like the way to go, especially if you add extra braces under the top.

[Joe A Faulkner]

If you are going to build something in the Holtzappfel-style, then you are going to need four or five more pieces of 8/4 maple for your top assuming you are going for a finished thickness >= 3". If on the other hand you are going to go with an English/Nicholson style bench then those three boards are adequate for the top, but you need a few more for the front apron. You might checkout this blog for a very detailed video series on a Nicholson-style build: https://logancabinetshoppe.wordpress...ory/workbench/

[Adam Stevens2]

I'm assuming you have, but have you checked out the English/Nicholson style bench, namely Schwarz's builds and Mike Siemsen's mind-blowing viseless techniques on it? If you wanna just join the edges, that bench seems like the way to go, especially if you add extra braces under the top.

Yes, I have actually been coming around to the Nicholson bench too. And I may be able to cannibalise some or most of the existing frame of the bench - that would give me most of the pieces except the apron and and the bracing pieces underneath the top.

[Jeff L Jump]

Sharpen your plane. I had a lot of trouble with my bench moving around when I first started hand planing. Then I got better educated on what 'sharp' really looks like in plane irons and chisels. I also got better educated on reading grain too, that is another key to successful planing. After properly sharpening my plane iron my bench no longer scoots around when I hand plane. My bench isn't attached to a wall or the floor either. I do a LOT of hand planing on every project, seldom do I get any bench movement. If you get your blade sharpened and honed as it should be, and read the grain properly on your stock, I'm betting your bench movement problems will be gone.

[Adam Stevens2]

So I've finally gotten around to building the bench. I went with the English style bench a la Richard McGuire, whose video series on that subject has been very helpful. I've gotten the base put together, and now I'm pondering whether a very slight slope makes a difference to the function of the bench? It seems to be about 1/16" shorter at one end from the other, and the same from front to back. Has anyone had to work around this, or does it not much matter in the overall scheme?

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[David Eisenhauer]

Is the 16th that it seems to be off measured from the floor up or actual bench part measurements?

[Adam Stevens2]

Is the 16th that it seems to be off measured from the floor up or actual bench part measurements?

It was from the floor up. I did have to go back and straighten up the aprons a bit more, so that may have been reduced a bit now.

[David Eisenhauer]

So the shop floor is only off a 16th? Not bad at all. I would not worry about it, but you can shim the low legs if it creates some specific issue for your work. I'm thinking that the 16th is only affecting "level" (as in the bubble in the tube) and not necessarily the work. As long as the work is "square" (as in accordance with a try square), then you shoud be good to go in the cases that come to my mind.

[Adam Stevens2]

It's not quite done, but good enough to use while I tinker.

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