While I don’t think that this is a one of a kind design, I haven’t seen it before and this is something I thought up in about 30 min. I had 8 pieces of 3/4” plywood that were already cut 24” x 35” and a full sheet to work with so using that I wanted something where I could lay wide, rough cut boards and also stand my cutoff so they didn’t get lost on the bottom of a 55 gal trash bin… anymore. It took about 2-1/2 hours to make and I think it was well worth it. Hope some of you guys can use the design for your own shops.

I moved this pic down because it was driving me crazy oriented sideways

The Back Story
About a year ago I got into the hand tool thing. For me it was more of a personal choice so I posted all my power tools on craigslist and sold everything! I didn’t really have a grasp on the methods and techniques but with the help of sources like The Hand Tool School, online magazines, and other contributors on the internet, my transition was pretty smooth. Also during that time, I moved from FL to NC so other than a few boxes of tools, I had nothing, including a bench. I was using an unfinished miter saw stand as a temp bench but left it when we moved. This was the perfect time to build a bench for myself. I found and purchased the Hybrid Roubo Workbench plans from FineWoodworking.

The Materials
Now I didn’t exactly have the money for a high quality wood so I decided I would use 2×6 material from the local big box store and laminated everything. In total I believe I used 28 boards. I do still have some cut off pieces but with a little better planning, I may have been able to get it to 25 or so boards. There are also some 1x material that is S4S from the big box store that I didn’t want to thickness down to 3/4” from 2x board.

The Plans Modification
Well I got through building the first leg when I decided that this was a bit much for me. The plans called for 5×5 legs and after one look, I knew that me being a hobbiest that size of a bench (91-1/2” x 26” x 36”) was just too big. So I took to SketchUp and modified the plans. I scaled down the size to 61-1/2” x 24” x 32”, swapped a leg vise in place of the face vise, a wagon vise in place of a tail vise, added a shelf, and made it a split top. The chisel holder on the end was actually to cover up a mistake in measuring.

The Features
First and foremost, this bench was built 100% with hand tools. Not a single power tool ever touched it. There are three types of tenons; pegged tenons on the upper base frame, wedged double tenons on the lower base frame, and a dovetailed through-tenon, with an angled haunch and wedge for the stretchers. It has a 3” thick top, shop made bench dogs (I may buy some at a later time), a planing stop, sliding deadman, a sturdy shelf and of course a leg and wagon vise (which are both from Lie-Nielsen). The only metal hardware are on the chisel holder, vises, and to secure the top to the base. Right now there is no finish on it and I don’t intend on putting any on at this point. The center piece, when flipped and used as a batten, extends 3/8” above the bench.

The Summary
I love this bench. I’ve learned so much in building with hand tools. By no means is it perfect or close to it and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s flat, sturdy, and can hold a board for face, edge and end planing. It doesn’t weigh 400+ lbs but it also doesn’t move while I am planing. It does dent easier than harder woods but it’s not a piece of furniture so I don’t care. I look forward to the many years of use to come.

I also blogged almost the entire build of this bench on my personal blog with tons more info and pictures if anyone was interested. Thanks for looking and all comments and critiques are welcome!

Around the middle of July, the wife came to me and said she wanted to get some new beds for the boys. After looking for a while, she found a set that she liked. Then deciding she didn’t feel like spending the money on something I could build for less, she asked if I could make them. The only issue for me is that she wanted them by the end of the month.

At that time, I had 12 days to build 3 beds. To save time, I decided to buy some 1 by pine and 2×4’s at a big box store. After cutting all the boards to length and laminating the legs, I sanded them and conditioned and pre-stained all the boards with minwax red mahogany stain. This project gave me the perfect excuse to buy a new tool, the dowelmax.

I definitely would not have made my deadline if it weren’t for that bad boy. Yes, it was pricy, but WELL worth it! Attaching the laminated legs to the head and footboards was done in about 15 min each (not including glue time). Every time I used it, the one thing that would always go through my head was that one infomercial, “set it and forget it”, I mean that’s how easy it was.

Once everything had a day or two to set, I put the bed hardware (from woodcraft) on, set them up and sprayed a coat of sealer and a couple coats of lacquer. What you see here are the end results of lots of long hours in the nasty FL humidity, but well worth it. I even made my deadline by having them complete on July 31st and as you can tell, the boys (and wife) love them. Thanks for looking.

Here are some frames I’ve made recently. The first is what I was told is some spalted red oak. Can’t really tell in this frame, but it has some beautiful grain. It’s an 11×14 shadow box style frame. The glass is set into the frame about 5/32” above the matting. Did the double matting myself too. It’s made to fit two 5×7 pics.

The other is a walnut frame with 3/4” wide zebrawood inlay. My first attempt and I was quite happy. This one is an 8×10 that was also matted for a 5×7 if wanted. Both were finished with 3 coats of satin wipe-on poly.

I built this by request from a guy at work for his fathers burial flag. Walnut with maple splines, finished with BLO and paste wax. Pics are before the wax. Used blue felt for the backing. Originally started with mahogany but after a few issues, the pieces ended up as picture frames for the wife. Thx for looking

With a couple of shadow boxes I’ve posted so far, these were the first things I actually built. I found the plans to the toy box online. It was built last winter and being my very first project, it was one huge learning experience. The plans called for cedar but I went with pine. I did use cedar paneling though. Box and backing are 3/4 inch plywood with chalkboard paint.

Picnic table was built this past summer. Also found these plans online. I like the 2×4 construction better than the 2×6. Would have changed how I sealed it but oh well.

Some more shadow boxes I did for work. Unlike the first ones that I posted, these I actually milled down from rough cut lumber. The first is actually the more recent of the two. This one is red oak from the lumber I bought for my bunk bed project I have yet to update on my blog. It’s an 11×14 box that I stained red mahogany. I actually prestained before glue up just to make sure everything was colored evenly since I set the glass during the glue up. The recipient loved shark fishing so a shark leader seemed appropriate. Finished with three coats of wipe on poly.

The other box was for a guy who pinned SSgt back in Oct. That box is 10×19 if I remember correctly. Made from walnut with maple splines (no pics of that). That was finished with a a couple coats of BLO and paste wax. The last pic is of the red oak I got for the beds I mentioned above. More of a wood gloat since I got roughly 132 bf for $50. That about $.38 a bf. TONS of work getting it all milled and unfortunately my dust collection is more of the manual type.

Thanks for looking.

I built the boxes from red oak. Not so much a display of craftsmanship for the shadowbox themselves rather just work I’ve done involving wood. Reflections in the glass is my wife tho, forgive her.