Pop Woodworking 21st Century Bench

[Rob Bois]

I can answer that question for the top so far (although I haven't started the base yet). I went through about 60 BF for the top. I had 6 fairly straight 7 to 8" wide pieces of 8/4 ash that I think came to just over 60BF. There was a good amount of waste on the ends, but I've found with some minor checking, clipped corners, etc. I really needed 8 footers (although I think I am ultimately modifying the bench to only 72" long, with just three tool trays). Unfortunately, the total milled boards are only 22" wide, so I will need to augment with another piece of ash (which I will pick up Saturday when I get the lumber for the base). I have to calclulate that number tonight, so I'll post the result when I get it.

I'm also starting up a video blog on the process, which I will also post when I finish editing my footage from last weekend.

[Rob Bois]

80 BF sounds very agressive to me. The top alone is a minimum of 64 (you really need 8" wide pieces to get two 3 1/2" boards out of each unless you can find incredibly straight lumber). I picked up the lumber for the base this weekend, and found I needed another 6 lengths of 8/4 (some 7', some 8', most around 7" wide) and then two lenghts of 4/4 (10 footers). I got one more 8/4 plank then you might need, but my top components ended up being right around 11" each, so I want to add another inch or so to each. So all that came to another 65 BF or so. That is all the materials, except the ship lap boards for the bottom shelf which I may be able to do with scrap. So while I did end up with some scrap, I've laid out my components on each plank pretty efficiently. I really think it would be hard to do this project with anything less than 125 BF (not including the wood for the shelf).

BTW, as a side note I spent the weekend laminating my top. The negative is that this is a slow, tedious process especially if you take Bob's advice of leaving each pair in clamps at least 4 hours. The good news is I crossed almost all my "to do" list items in the shop. So this affords a great opportunity to do all those annoying little projects in the shop you never seem to have time to do.

[Chris Schumann]

I wasn't complete in my post. He bought 150 bdft for a project that's NOT this one that required 80.

I picked up all the 8/4 ash my guy had, but perhaps I should have bought some of his 4/4 for the boxes, cleats and planks. Maybe it will still be there when I'm ready, or maybe I'll be eager to get my resawing skills up to snuff.

I made the first cut into the 8/4 last night, and the lumber is beautiful. (I have GOT to finish assembling my jointer!) I have to be very careful to plan my cuts because there's bark and cambium on every piece. I'd also like to avoid sapwood for at least the bench surface just for looks.

Any comments on ash sapwood for suitability in various parts of this project are welcome.

[Rob Bois]

My lumber was really clear. Very straight and no sapwood or bark. Some checks, but I worked around them. But any sapwood should be fine structurally (as far as I know glue sticks just as well to sapwood). Maybe try to limit it to the insides of the leg laminations and the stop stretchers are rails where you won't see it. You're probably smart holding off on the 4/4 stock, since you can probably manage the cleats and some of the drawer sides with cutoffs from the 8/4 stock. You might be able to get away with one 4/4 board if you're efficient.

You should probably get that jointer assembled soon - you're going to need it! And I would emphasize that getting the fence completely square to the table will come in very handy for this project.

[Bob Lang]

Just to clarify-what I said in the blog post was that the finished parts calculate out to about 80 board feet. This is the reason I hate to answer the question "how much lumber do I buy for this project?" There is always a big difference between finished parts and the lumber to make the finished parts. How much of a difference is dependant on several things, few of which any of us have any control over until we start deciding this board is for the top, that board is for legs, etc.

I went through a lot of lumber, but I also had a bunch left over. Most of the boards I had were too narrow to yield two rips in the sizes I wanted. I stuck with my plan beacuse the 3" thick top was important to me. If I had been willing to adapt to a 2 1/2" thick top, I wouldn't have had nearly as much waste.

I would rather but way too much and have to deal with the leftovers than buy almost enough and lose half a day running after another piece of wood.

Bob Lang

[Rob Bois]

At one point during the process, I did consider compromising on the bench thickness just so I could buy narrower stock. But I came back to my senese, and only bought stock at least 7" wide and I'm glad that I did. In 10 years, I'm not going. Plus, it turns out the ash cutoffs make great long-burning firewood.

To Bob's point, you won't know before you get to the lumber yard what they will have for stock. I drew out a cut list before hand, but had to improvise and in some cases buy more stock than I needed to accomodate all my parts. So I think 125-130 BF is a good guideline, but there are many factors (this is why you never see BF cited in any projects)

PS: Anyone in the Boston area looking to build this bench won't find any 7-8" wide 8/4 ash stock anywhere. Sorry.

[Ross Ellis]

I'm very interested in this bench also. Is there a place I can get the past issue of the magazine that featured it? I checked the website but only found a fall issue available for purchase..no mention of the bench...

I am also considering building the legs and tool trays out of Cherry. I think I have enough dry Maple for the top. Is Cherry hard enough for the legs with bench dog holes in them?

[Rob Bois]

If nothing else, I think a cherry base and tool tray would look really cool. I would definitely go with a harder wood for the top (if you're using hard or sugar maple, that's ideal just too pricey for my bench). On the Janka scale (which measures the amount of pressure required to imbed a steel ball up to its equator in a piece of wood), cherry rates about 950 versus 1450 for maple. I think this is one of the reasons you don't see a lot of use of cherry in benches. It just dents a lot more easily. That being said, the base is not going to see nearly as much abuse as the top, and to your point only really needs to support bench dogs. And unlike the top, the dogs only need to support the weight of a piece of wood on the dog, unlike the top that would recieve more extreme vise pressure. So my guess is that as long as you don't care if you get some nicks and dents on the base over time, cherry would likely support the functional requirements of the dog holes. And look really cool (please post pictures when you finish).

Perhaps Bob can supply deatils on how to get back issues of the mag (he is checking in on this thread periodically).

Since I'm here, I'll also post the link to a blog I started to document the process of building this bench. I'm going to add about 5 minutes of video each week as well, highlighting any key tips, mistakes, or learnings. By no means a replacement for Bob's DVD. Week 1 is already up, and I will be posting week 2 this weekend. Top is now done, and starting on the base this weekend.

Rob's Shop Blog
http://theboisshop.blogspot.com/

[Bob Lang]

Perhaps you're not going to the right website to look for the issue. It is the October 2008 issue of Popular Woodworking (number 171) and can be had from the magazine's website. If you have any trouble navigating to find it, send me an e-mail and I'll be happy to help out.

I also wanted to mention that the SketchUp model of this bench is available on Google's 3D Warehouse. We've also started to put models of magazine projects from both Popular Woodworking and Woodworking there. Several of Chris Schwarz's benches are also available there for free downloading.

Congrats to Rob for the progress he is making and for sharing. Cherry should be fine for the legs.

Bob Lang

[Chris Schumann]

I'm very interested in this bench also. Is there a place I can get the past issue of the magazine that featured it? I checked the website but only found a fall issue available for purchase..no mention of the bench...

You can buy the October 2008 issue for $8. Or you can buy the DVD for $20. I highly recommend you buy one or both, and in the paper issue, there's a link to a page on their web site that has the entire article, tons of pictures, shop drawings and more.

[Ross Ellis]

I ordered both the Magazine and the DVD a few minutes ago.

I will use Hard Maple for the top. I don't have a lot of 8/4 Maple dried, but do have a good amount of Cherry. I felled 2 Maples this summer, to use for benches and cabinets, for my new shop, but we had some minor flooding, which stopped me from getting my skidder out to the island they are on. I plan on carrying them up to the mill in the beginning of December, if weather allows. I would really like to build the bench this winter, but may wait until the Maple is dried. I know its silly, but with the amount I have invested in land and machines, I refuse to buy wood from a commercial outfit......

Thanks again for the info.

[Rob Bois]

I'm making some progress on the base of the bench now, and am really starting to fully appreciate the design of this bench. Because the joinery between the rails and legs and stretchers and legs are completely independent (one is cut in the backs of the leg halves, and the other with the fronts) it really makes cutting the joinery less complicated. Also, I chopped the mortises in the back halves of the legs today, and for the first time got to actually use the bench top as a bench. The 3" thick lamination is great for chopping big mortises (as a side note, don't even try this project without a good mortise chisel and a corner chisel is a plus too).

I also just ordered my Veritas vises and dogs, which finalizes the materials for me. I shopped around a bit, and even with free shipping at Woodcraft right now, ordering direclty from Lee Valley is much more cost effective. And WC only seems to carry the 16" version of the twin screw vise (at about $40 more than the 24" inch version direct from LV). I also decided I'm also going to hand cut the tenons per Bob's suggestion which gave me a great excuse to go out and buy a Lie-Nielsen carcass saw this morning (can't make the trip to WC and buy nothing!). After all, if I'm building a bench to enable hand tools, I should really use hand tools to construct the joinery, right?

In any case, my experiece with this bench design has been very positive so far. While not cheap (I'm in about $900 in materials right now) this bench will be as good or better than the premium premade benches out there that sell for quite a bit more. And I seem to pay a premium for lumber in the Boston area (I've heard from others that they can get ash for about half the price I do). In the end I'll have the sense of satisfaction of building it by hand, and customizing to my needs.

I'm regularly updating my progress with pictures and video on my blog at http://theboisshop.blogspot.com

[Ross Ellis]

Rob,

Excellent work on the bench. The videos and blog are top notch. Keep up the good work.

Ross

[Chris Schumann]

The bench looks great, Rob. I finally sat down and watched your videos. Nice work.

It's too late now, but I'd recommend you look at the construction drawings. You can get to them from a link in the magazine. It might have helped make things a bit more clear, like the 1/4" shoulder on the upper stretchers. I'm sure it won't make much difference, but I'm no mechanical engineer.

I'm hoping to get through mine without having to buy a planer, or haul the tops somewhere else. Come to think of it, I don't have a drill press either. Challenges are good, right?

[Rob Bois]

The bench looks great, Rob. I finally sat down and watched your videos. Nice work.

It's too late now, but I'd recommend you look at the construction drawings. You can get to them from a link in the magazine. It might have helped make things a bit more clear, like the 1/4" shoulder on the upper stretchers. I'm sure it won't make much difference, but I'm no mechanical engineer.

I'm hoping to get through mine without having to buy a planer, or haul the tops somewhere else. Come to think of it, I don't have a drill press either. Challenges are good, right?

Chris, I did actually get the final demensions for all the joinery by using sketchup. Without that, I would have had to guess. Came in really handy. I actually just dry fit the back stretchers to the sides tonight, and am now gluing up the first leg (will do the second tomorrow). Got to see what the whole thing looks like assembed for the first time - pretty gratifying. I'll have that video up probably Monday or Tuesday (more planes, trains, and automobiles for me this week).

This project would be bit tricky without a planer, although if you can get your lumber shop to dress the lumber for you it would reduce a lot of the need. If you have a decent set of planes, you could probably get away with the rest of the work. You could also get away with no drill press, but would need to build some kind of jig to keep your drill at 90 degrees to the face for the mortises, and the bench dog holes at the end. Let us know how you progress!