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Hallelujah it's done! It's not like me to let a project drag on, but I've been working on this doozy on and off for about a year. It's finished, and I love it.

What's a joinery bench? Heck, I don't know. I wanted a taller bench to work in conjunction with my roubo. I wanted a permanantly mounted Moxon/twin screw vise for dovetails. I wanted lots of storage for hand tools, hardware, and supplies. So, this is what I came up with. The driving inspiration was a bench I saw in Jim Tolpin's shop:


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Anyway, I failed to blog the build so I'll just ramble about it now for those interested.

Part 1: El Bencho
The legs and top are made of 8/4 white oak that I source locally and very reasonably. This part didn't take too long. I just milled and edge glue pieces for the top. The tenons on the legs were made by laminating one piece longer that the other. I then pegged all the joints with dowels.


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I was content to just have another work surface in my shop and left it this way for awhile. The standing dimensions are 9 foot long and 46" tall, and 29" deep.

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Then came the benchcrafted hardware for a moxon vise:

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Part Deuce: The Lower Cabinets

These puppies ate up some hours. The design was to have wide hardware/whatever drawers on the right. Those would have full extension metal slides.

On the left there was to be a large power tool slide-out below, and small hand tool drawers above.
Walnut is the other hardwood I can get reasonably here. I had some rather gnarly pieces I didn't want to use on furniture, so joinery bench drawer fronts they became.

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I bought one nice sheet of oak ply for the cabinets. I scabbed the rest from my plywood cart. There's probably 5 different types of plywood in those things. To finish them off I glued some 1/4" false frames to give them the appearance of frame and panel.

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It was about this time that I began to embark on hand cut dovetails. What a great way to practice….on a bench ehh? So the drawers on the right have through DTs with false fronts. The drawers on the left have half blinds.

Oh ya, I made some drawer pulls with white oak on the router table. Soft maple for the drawer sides.



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The space behind the moxon vise is used to store a shooting board and dovetail alignment jig. It also allows room for a holdfast through the top.

Once the drawers were done I revisited the top. I had some small issues with the air dried oak. The through tenons had shrunk a bit leaving gaps. I also had a few checks on the ends. So I drilled out the dowels, removed the top and fashioned some walnut wedges:

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I guess I didn't want to stop at my first dovetails, so I attempted my first butterfly inlays on the splits/checks of the benchtop. I got carried away and put several throughout the top. I just love the look of 'em. I even put a ribbon of walnut in the front edge just for fun. Then I gave the whole thing 3 coats of satin polyurethane.

Last, I had picked up a ghastly purple leather hide on the cheap. So I'm using the suede side of that hide as liner for my hand tools. Very nice. It's gonna take me a while to sort out where everything goes. I don't have enough crud to fill these drawers yet….but I will.

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There ya have it folks. I view it as my contribution of sorts. What a journey. As always I pushed myself and tried to become a better woodworker. I posted much of this build on various forums and I tons of good feedback, encouragement, and advice from various LJ's. Thanks to all.

Here's what she looks like tonight:


"I stand here in front of you today, all because of an idea, I could be who I wanted if I could only see my potential"
- Macklemore

Gallery

Comments

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my jaw has dropped…

holy moly! I'm gonna take a few minutes and check this out, but I wannted to say WOW

What are the dimensions of this masterpiece?
 

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1,148 Posts
Red, your shop just looks like a beautiful place to work. This bench is the icing on the cake. Fantastic.
 

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You are a god to me. May I be the father of your children?
 

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I like the proportions of the dove tails on the walnut

with the wood drawer slides the best.

Another great piece of fine wood working Mr. Rojo

congratulations.
 

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"You are a god to me. May I be the father of your children?"

Lawl Scotty. I'd settle for a beer if I inspired you.

Joseph- doh, It's 9' long and 46" high. I'll edit that in the post.
 

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I'm jealous
 

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That is one beautiful and nicely crafted bench. Love the wood colors. I too am jealous. Thanks for sharing.
 

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Not sure how you can stand to look at that hideous, useless pile of garbage. Because I care and only want the best for you, I will swing by to take it of your hands for proper disposal. It's the least I can do for you….

Seriously friggen hoss!
 

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Beautiful bench.
 

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Beautifully executed! When can you deliver it to MY woodshop???

As you can tell, we are all inn bench envy!
 

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Truly inspiring Red. It's also been really cool to see the pics along your journey of the build and to now see this finished product, absolutely incredible work, and great write up.
 

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Awesome - must be a pleasure to have such a masterpiece in the shop :)
 

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Great job Red! Nice to have benches built specifically around how you work. Where's the bondo pose? Better put on a bow tie.
 

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Beautiful work Red. Your dovetails look great. looks like you really put a lot of care in them. The taller height of the bench will help a taller guy like you too. Nice job
 

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Go big or go home! I also envy guys who can wear white shirts to. I can't figure it out. Its beautiful and would stay that way a week in my shop.

Its a great project and you should be proud of it.
 

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I like the idea of exploring new aspects of woodworking on shop furniture. The problem with this build is that it was so superbly executed, the shop furnishing belongs in a museum!

Another fantastic build, Senior Rojo. I might be a bit jealous, (full disclosure) but I am happy for you, and very inspired by watching your progression into woodworking mastery. You've earned it by working for it. The hard work shows.
 

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Very nice. Solidly biult and a pleasure to look at.
 

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Beautifully crafted, Red! Yes, a bow tie is fitting for the Bondo pose.
 
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