Workbench Completed

I've finally completed my bench. It's nice to have something suitable for hand work.

Welcome to the Family Rob!

That is one nice looking bench, can you tell us about it?

What is the wood.......Maple top, Fir legs?

What kind of finish did you use on it?

That twin screw vice sure looks like it will hold the whole world in place!

Cheers!

Really impressive work - the bench looks great and I'll bet it will serve you well for many years to come.

That's a thing of beauty Rob...almost seems a shame to press it into service and cover it in sawdust! Nice job.

Thanks to all for the comments.

The base is SYP scrap that I salvaged from work. The legs are about 4 1/2" x 5" and the stringers are 3" x 5". The based is put together with M&T joints, drawbored and pegged with oak. The top is reclaimed hard maple butcher block benchtops (2) from a local factory that closed. I reglued then laminated to make a solid 3 1/2" thick x 24 x 59" top. The base has 4 rectangular tenons that are mortised into the top. With aprons the finished top is 3 1/2" x 27" x 61". The apron is hard maple as is are both vise chops. The end vise is an old Wilton I found at an antique store. It's mortised into the top behind the apron and has a 2" x 5" x 12" chop added. The twin screw vise chop is 3 1/2" thick x 8" x 36" and capped with some soft maple that was harvested locally. The finish is just BLO, brushed on then wiped off after a few minutes of soaking. It makes for a nice warm glow.

The Veritas twin screw hardware and the maple for the vice chops and apron were the only "new" materials used. The rest was free or almost free. That really helped the budget.

As you might imagine, it's pretty stout. I was chopping a couple dovetails yesterday and it was as sturdy as if I was doing on a concrete slab. Both vises grip like crazy, although I still need to add leather to both chops. I'm going to add some leveling pads as well.

I wanted to build something that will last. If I'm blessed with grandkids they should be able to pass it on to theirs (Along with all the stuff I intend to make on it ).

That's a real beauty Rob. It should serve you well.

now i dont see what ya see????

in that great big heavy, bench there with all that vertis stuff connected to it and then to have that old delapadated plane settin on top i think i should just take aother short trip and offer to dispose of it properly at my place free of charge of course to a new family member ok maybe i might salvage alittel of it maybe all of it but dont tell him its really nice lookin and i can get away with it:rolleyes nice job there and enjoy the work coming from it

Rob Luter said:

...It's nice to have something suitable for hand work.

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Suitable? That's like saying a Porsche is suitable for driving to the store. That's a great bench, and I'm betting you're right...it should last for several generations. The fact that it was done affordably with mostly reclaimed wood makes is all that much better. Someday, if and when I get into a bigger shop, I hope to have a bench along those same lines.

Great job Rob, and welcome to the forum, too.

Rob, now that you have made a small one, you can make a larger one and bring it over to me. Great looking table. Welcome to the family.

scott spencer said:

That's a thing of beauty Rob...almost seems a shame to press it into service and cover it in sawdust! Nice job.

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I agree with Scott, however, that little bench looks like a work horse.
It just hollers "Use Me!"

Looks like it will be handed down for a few generations Rob.
I think I would brand my name on it for sure!

DT

the tabletop and finish is so pretty Id think I might want to be serving dinner on that instead of glueing up and planing wood.

Terrific! Tha bench renews my wish of making one for myself!