New-Fangled Workbench

I've had my eye on that bench for a while. The article is worth reading carefully, since there are details that are not apparent at first glance, but that make sense. The construction with simple butt joints and counterbored lag screws into endgrain, if done as described, will not loosen up as much as would most screw joints. If not overtightened, a screw into endgrain has half the pullout strength of one into sidegrain, and expansion and contraction will stress it less.

I would be very careful if I wanted to replace the very wide stretcher with a cabinet. The rigidity of the bench depends on that stretcher, which effectively serves as diagonal braces, alleviating the need for bulky legs and joints. If replaced by a cabinet you could lose a lot.
 
Hey Dave,

With the drawing that you did, any chance that you guestimated the amount of BF you would need to get it done?

I'm seriously considering making the bench and may purchase some 8/4 stock soon. So I'm looking to "leverage" (as we say at work :D) some of your design effort.

Any chance that you updated the drawing for 8/4 stock as you mentioned earlier in the thread?

Also, I saw that you were also linked to in finewoodworking.com's latest update on the bench with your sketchup drawing from the finewoodworking blog... Congratulations

Any chance that you would share the .skp file?

Thanks,
-Kevin
 
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Kevin,

Thank you. I've been doing the blog for awhile but this bench thing has gotten me the most attention. I've been kind of surprised by that.

I just did a cutlist for the bench. It tells me there's about 46.5 board feet in it. This doesn't include the MDF panels.

I haven't gotten around to editing it to 8/4 stock. As it is, all of the lumber except the planing rail boards are 1 1/2" thick.

As far as sharing the model goes, I'll send you a PM.

Dave
 
Thanks for the reply Dave.

I'm starting to look for some economical rough lumber to make the bench out of. I'd like to use soft maple or poplar instead of construction lumber as most of what I've seen around here at the borgs is sub-prime. Though poplar is softer than SYP so I'm not sure I would want it on the top.

-Kevin
 
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Thanks for the reply Dave.

I'm starting to look for some economical rough lumber to make the bench out of. I'd like to use soft maple or poplar instead of construction lumber as most of what I've seen around here at the borgs is sub-prime.

-Kevin

Kevin,

I tried to save some dough by buying construction lumber for parts of my bench. I stickered it for almost 2 months. By the time I milled it down and tossed the waste, I could have bought economical, but real, lumber as you are planning to do. I just wanted to agree emphatically that even KD 2-by lumber will haunt you. My edge trim has continued to shrink and will eventually have to be replaced. I believe the under-carriage is only behaving due to the sheer mass of the top.

Glenn
 
Hi Ned.

No, not yet. I haven't had time to do any woodworking at all this year. :( Still, it's on my list.

I did get the plan document completed for that bench. Just waiting for it to be published.
 
Dave,
I'm 95% done with my version. I just have to make the drop in 'braces' for the top clamps and the planing board, oh, plus the stop for the planing section as well. Toni just asked about it over in my kitchen island thread and I googled the forum, and found this thread.
 
Looking good. I've done two other bench plans since the NF bench and so now I'm a bit confused as to which one I'll build. Maybe it'll be a combination of them. Who knows, I might end up with another bench plan before I get started on building my own.
 
I've yet to build one but the first thing I did in sketchup was throw a box underneath it with drawers. As soon as I get some spare cash in it's the first thing on my list to do.
 
A dissenting opinion...I didn't come up with it, but I've bought into it. If you haven't cut any lumber for your bench yet, please get Christopher Schwartz's book. It has a couple designs in it, but it's greatest value is all the philosophies on why you might need this feature, or that one, or.....etc. He doesn't really try to sell you on anything, just stuff to consider. One thing he's very adamant about, though, is no storage underneath, however painful giving up that storage space might be...a workbench should be a clamping surface, and if you load up that space with a bunch of cabinets it severely limits clamping capability...he describes why.

I watched John White's video, and thought it was okay. I tend to agree with Art...Shopmaster mindset.

I'd recommend going to the Popular Woodworking website and chasing down the videos and blogs on workbenches...those guys have the fever. Many good ideas, and some designs to pick features from (none of which have cabinets underneath).

Cheers.
 
While I have no doubt clamping capabilities are limited for certain applications, alot of woodworkers(hobbyists and weekend warriors) are extremely pressed for space in their home shops/work areas.
Giving up a large storage area under a work bench might mean giving up alot of floor space that is needed for assembly, or easy access to all machines without having to move machines constantly.
I admire so many of these incredible work benches I see on sites, magazines, books, etc, but reality dictates what alot of us use in our work areas.
Im not questioning the brilliant designs and 30 years of experience the designers have, but there has to be a compromise somewhere in shop planning.
The sad truth about so many home woodworking shops is that the area is shared with storage space.
Before I started woodworking, I was invited to a Monday night football party, and the person who owned the house was a dabbler, in woodworking, referring to his hobby.
We went into his basement to to get something out of a spare fridge he had, and he had his mitre saw on top of his washer/dryer.
 
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my only concerns when i built my benches were can i build them sturdy, yet inexpensive?, and will there be enough space for all my tools? i'm still thinking that at some time i will put storage boxes (haven't decided drawers or shelves) under them, and screw the case to the legs/bottoms.
 
If anyone is interested, the plans and my SketchUp model of John White's New-Fangled Bench are available for download from Fine Woodworking in their Digital Plans section their Plans Store. I just found out they've been available for awhile.
 
When the design came out, we built a 86 inch version of the NFWB. It's the main bench in our "clean" shop where we primarily do hand work. It holds almost any part of a piano well so it works great for us. We did add a shelf for planes under the top, across the stretcher and a tool board up above. In the picture you can see a Nobex saw on the right and a metal cutting miter saw on the left attached to MDF inserts. You can pretty much mount any portable tool on those inserts
We have to set up for different runs of things and this bench is very handy for that. The comparison to a Shopsmith may be valid but having inherited a Shopsmith and owning a variety of dedicated tools, each has its merits and place in the shop. As many have said, what you need is pretty much decided by what kind of work you do.
DP
 

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