Rick Thom built a workbench worth copying

[Frank Pellow]

As you may remember from the thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=33791,
Rick Thom invited me over to his shop to see his mobile work bench.

I went over today, and after Rick served me a great lunch, I got to see the bench. It turns out that, not only does the bench have the mobility that I was seeking, the bench design suits my requirements better than any other bench that I have seen or read about. And, it appears to be quite straightforward to build. It is almost certain that I will build one very much like it next autumn. I even have the maple that I need (see the thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=31622).
Here are some notes that I took about Rick’s bench:

• Bench size: 27” by 72”

• Bench height: 33”

• Cabinet size: about 24” by 48”

• The top is made from 2” by 1” maple glued together with Elmer’s Probond. It was laminated in two sections each of which was then run through a planer. The two sections were then joined together and a skirt was affixed to the edges. It was then covered all-round with two coats of shellac. Rick says that the skirt at ¾ inch on the long sides is too narrow and he will augment it to properly support clamping.

• The cabinet support pieces are pine and are joined with mortise and tenons. The sides are 1 inch plywood. The drawers are maple with dovetail joinery and are on “standard” side drawer runners.

• The bench top just sits on the cabinet.

• The end vice is from Lee Valley catalogue number 70G08.02. The front vice is a Record clone.

• The bench is mounted on a General International mobile base (see: http://www.woodsmithstore.com/woodsm...e/220206.html). The bench is very easy to move but, once the wheels are lowered, it is very stable.

• The ¾ inch dog holes are spaced 6 inches apart. They are angled 2 degrees towards to vice. All holes were drilled with a auger bit in a hand held drill employing a simple shop made jig.

Here are some photos:

1) Front view:

Front view -small.JPG

2) Top view of the main vice:

Top view of the main vice -small.JPG

3) View of the back and the vice-less end

View of the back and viceless end -small.JPG

4) Mortise and tenon construction of the cabinet end

Mortice and tennon construction of the cabinet end -small.JPG

5) A drawer:

A drawer -small.JPG

[Frank Pellow]

Rick just sent me a note about glue for the bench:

wrt glue, I was thinking about this and I do believe I would explore the Titebond products which now are available waterproof and slower set-up, etc which weren't (readily) available when I built my bench. The polyurethane worked fine for me, as you see, but they are messy to say the least. If you haven't used them before, you apply a thin coat of poly glue to 1 board and wet the mating board with water. That moisture causes a reaction which starts the curing processes and the glue expands to form a very sticky foam (similar to spray insulating foam). Once cured, after a few hrs, you can 'cut' the over-filled foam off easily, but it's a pain compared to normal glue and about the same cost I think.

[Larry Cooke]

Frank,

This looks like a keeper for sure. Looks simple enough to build and yet looks really nice. I'm saving the info on this one for mine when I get to it... Rick did a nice job on it!

Thanks,

Larry

[Doyle Alley]

Beautiful work. I do have one question though. In picture #2 (the tail vice), I see what appear to be large dovetails. Are they purely decorative or do they serve some purpose?

[Alex Yeilding]

In picture #2 (the tail vice), I see what appear to be large dovetails. Are they purely decorative or do they serve some purpose?

I can't speak for this bench, but in mine, those dovetails are what holds the endcap against the end of the bench. A spline holds the endcap in the vertical direction, and it is free to slide forward and backward (relative to the main benchtop body) with seasonal wood movement. In mine, the dovetails are the only glued parts of the endcap. If there is no floating tooltray or other mechanism to "absorb" wood movement at the rear, the rear dovetail would need to remain unglued.

[Frank Pellow]

Beautiful work. I do have one question though. In picture #2 (the tail vice), I see what appear to be large dovetails. Are they purely decorative or do they serve some purpose?

I am almost certain that the dovetails are not decorative and that they are part of what holds the skirting boards to the table top.

Rick, please comment on this.

[Frank Pellow]

Rick just sent me a note about glue for the bench:

wrt glue, I was thinking about this and I do believe I would explore the Titebond products which now are available waterproof and slower set-up, etc which weren't (readily) available when I built my bench. The polyurethane worked fine for me, as you see, but they are messy to say the least. If you haven't used them before, you apply a thin coat of poly glue to 1 board and wet the mating board with water. That moisture causes a reaction which starts the curing processes and the glue expands to form a very sticky foam (similar to spray insulating foam). Once cured, after a few hrs, you can 'cut' the over-filled foam off easily, but it's a pain compared to normal glue and about the same cost I think.

I would appreciate hearing advise about the glue to use for laminating the maple boards for the top from anyone else with experience.

[Mark Pruitt]

Frank,

That is one super nice workbench! I too paid attention to the dovetails and assumed that they are "french dovetails" that secure the top in position while accomodating wood movement.

My question has to do with the other end, the "vice-less end." The end-piece looks like a cross-grain situation and I am wondering how it is joined so as to accomodate expansion/contraction across the grain.

Mark

[Frank Pellow]

Frank,

That is one super nice workbench! I too paid attention to the dovetails and assumed that they are "french dovetails" that secure the top in position while accomodating wood movement.

My question has to do with the other end, the "vice-less end." The end-piece looks like a cross-grain situation and I am wondering how it is joined so as to accomodate expansion/contraction across the grain.

Mark

The bench is not only nice, but is very practical and functional and it obviously gets used a lot (unlike some benches I have read about that appear to be more works of art).

I hope that Rick will chime in here to answer your question. I believe that he used dovetails and dados at both ends of the bench. The skirt at the "viceless" end is more narrow, but I belive that the means of joining it is the same.

[Alex Yeilding]

That is one super nice workbench! I too paid attention to the dovetails and assumed that they are "french dovetails" that secure the top in position while accomodating wood movement.

That's a new one to me. Does "French Dovetail" just refer to one that is unglued, so that the tail-bearer can move in and out along the line of the pin-bearer grain, while being held mechanically in the other two axes?

My question has to do with the other end, the "vice-less end." The end-piece looks like a cross-grain situation and I am wondering how it is joined so as to accomodate expansion/contraction across the grain.

From photo 4, it looks like dovetails on each end of that endcap, with the pins on the endcap. Which makes sense for "French Dovetails" if I am understanding that term correctly. Your point about cross-grain is correct--if both of those dovetails are glued, something's gotta give.

Photo 3 is hard to figure out. It might just be a trick of the lighting or the grain of the wood, but it looks like that rear dovetail is what Jeff Gorman refers to as a "shovetail", at least on the bottom. I've got one of those I cut when builidng my bench. Pins were okay, and had extra stock, so saved then end of this tail board to mount over my bench as a reminder!

[Rick Thom]

I am almost certain that the dovetails are not decorative and that they are part of what holds the skirting boards to the table top.

Rick, please comment on this.

Frank, you are correct. Both ends of the bench are dovetailed and that is intended to add some structural integrity to hold the top together.. As you know, the top is laminated board face to board face, and so if there was to be climate-related expansion/contraction, it should be minimal either through the width or length of the top. The skirting is attached to the top via M&T at the ends. I think I cut the tenons using my router and a batten for a straight edge. You may notice that the skirting on the sides is made up of several board lengths which are spliced together, then afixed to the top via glue and miller dowels. There is no evidence of any wood movement at all.
I wanted to beaf up the vice end of the bench both for clamping strength and also to give me a substantial M&T to lessen any likeihood for the top warping or wracking etc. The dovetails, including all drawers, are made using my tablesaw and a shop-made jig. I could have done a little nicer job by hand but wanted to try out my new toy. I do have a 25 yr old Craftsman D/T set-up (to go with my 25 year old router) but I don't like using it.
I did consider leg vice and deadman but decided if I need them I would add them later.
Trust this helps.

[Mark Pruitt]

Alex,

"French dovetails" and "sliding dovetails" as I understand, are synonyms. What I was envisioning in that second photo was a couple of dovetail-profile pins cut out along the length of the end piece, with matching tails cut along the end of the main body. A rather difficult and time-consuming task to be sure, but the benefit is that it ensures rock-solid stability.

However, after reading responses, I looked again and am now wondering if perhaps only the outer-most boards have tails; i.e., that the outer-most boards were cut longer to allow for this joint. Reading Rick's response, I'm not certain which of these two scenarios is correct. (Rick, if you'll shine some light on that I'd be most appreciative!)

Again, that's a realy,really nice bench. I'm envious.

Mark

[Alex Yeilding]

"French dovetails" and "sliding dovetails" as I understand, are synonyms.

I wasn't aware of that terminology. Thanks.

What I was envisioning in that second photo was a couple of dovetail-profile pins cut out along the length of the end piece, with matching tails cut along the end of the main body. A rather difficult and time-consuming task to be sure, but the benefit is that it ensures rock-solid stability.

Yeah, that could be possible -- in theory, at least! I'd lay odds that it isn't what was done.

However, after reading responses, I looked again and am now wondering if perhaps only the outer-most boards have tails; i.e., that the outer-most boards were cut longer to allow for this joint.

That's be my guess. On the other end, it for sure isn't a sliding dovetail, since it is a through dovetail on each end of the endcap.

[Rick Thom]

I certainly had no intention to hold my bench up as an example of fine woodworking/craftsmanship etc, merely one man's effort to make something useful, flexible and economical, and requiring a minimum of specialty tools. I looked at a number of quite traditional designs, decided what more and less I needed or might need, and what I had on hand to work with. However, it must be structurally sound and capable of doing the job without complaint.
The maple for the top was scrap, shorts and defects from a hardwood flooring mill. N/C means free. The pine 2x4's just lying around collecting dust and some scrap leftover maple veneer plywood. I considered LV double screw vice but decided large single scerw was adaquate, provided there were an ample set of jaws. The front vice is nearly as nice as the Record, but at a small fraction of the cost. Drawer slides HD specials which have stood up fine.
I am glad I left the open space under the top, as it has proven very hand to stash clamps and the like while project work is in progress.
The 3/4" holes accomodate holdfasts, bench dogs etc, or just plain old wooden dowel which works fine too.
The mobile stand lets me move the bench around pretty easily. For some jobs I want it in the middle of the room to work around all siders, other times tuck up against a wall.
This is what less than $200 and a few days work provided for me.

[Frank Pellow]

I certainly had no intention to hold my bench up as an example of fine woodworking/craftsmanship etc, merely one man's effort to make something useful, flexible and economical, and requiring a minimum of specialty tools. I looked at a number of quite traditional designs, decided what more and less I needed or might need, and what I had on hand to work with. However, it must be structurally sound and capable of doing the job without complaint.

That's exactly the kind of bench that I want. It's well designed, solidly built, and very functional. There is no room in my shop for "furniture" that I have to be woried about nicking, chipping, gouguing, or spilling upon.

...
The mobile stand lets me move the bench around pretty easily. For some jobs I want it in the middle of the room to work around all siders, other times tuck up against a wall.
.

This is what got me interested in your bench in the first place.

This is what less than $200 and a few days work provided for me.

I think that the extra material and hardware that I will need to purchase will mean that my costs are more. My objective would be that this stuff would cost no more than $500 (Canadian $, including taxes).