First time I’ve started a thread, so please be gentle with me….
My dad has been gigging me to design a workbench that he and I could build together, so after researching, over-analyzing and procrastinating it to death, I bought BenchCrafted plans and hardware. Their plans seemed to check all the right boxes, and reviews of BC hardware were first rate.
The BC hardware arrived as an early Christmas present, and I want to compliment BC on both their quality and customer service. The tail vise arrived with the wrong hand-wheel in the package (it was apparently for a Moxon). I sent an e-mail, they asked for a picture - - I assume to verify I hadn’t lost my mind (…it has been known to happen), and then promptly sent me the correct one with pre-paid RMA for the incorrect hand-wheel. Done.
This is our ‘before’:
OldBench1.JPG OldBench2.JPG
For those agonizing over bench design and materials, Dad built this 25+ yrs ago with recycled 4x4 cedar fence posts, some 2x material recovered from the burn pile on a construction site, and a couple of pieces of scrap plywood. When the top got ‘ugly’, Bad-Dad just laminated the top with scrap oak T&G flooring. It’s still ugly, but between the two of us, it has been the support for a couple of houses full of furniture, etc. …And the hardware storage boxes make it rock solid (600lbs can do that!). Its only downfall is a limited ability to clamp pieces flat for plane work.
And this is the starting point:
Beech.JPG
200bdft of 8/4 beech.