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I finally realized that I needed a good dedicated woodworking bench and had aspirations of a maple slab top with the Veritas/Lee Valley cast iron leg kit (mostly just because I like the look, probably sacrificing stability), but ultimately decided to go the cheap route and build something temporary with materials I had on hand. I started with leftover 2×4's for the base that I milled to consistent dimensions and then constructed a traditional base. I used wedged mortise and tenons with walnut as the wedge material. For the top I glued and screwed two layers of 3/4" MDF and then topped that with leftover 3/4" Brazilian cherry hardwood floor material. It took me almost a full day to sand off the factory finish and get down to bare wood, and this stuff is rock hard. I then trimmed is out with some walnut. Finish with BLO. My dad gave me the Jorgensen vise for my birthday. Eventually I would like to move this to be a tail vise and add a veritas twin screw. I still need to add the holes for the bench dogs, but my wife is reluctant to let me drill into it since, in her words, "it's nicer than our dining room table!".

Here are some additional photos of the build process.
http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

Gallery

Comments

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166 Posts
Beautiful bench, nice looking wood choice, I like the dark top and base color, nice job!
 

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42 Posts
Me too the dark top looks amazing
 

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39 Posts
sweet bench,,great job
 

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681 Posts
Great job, you'll get a lot of use out of your bench. Go ahead and drill the dog holes, then get started on a new table for your wife…
 

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1,083 Posts
Very nice bench. Hope it will serve you for many many years to come..!
 

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690 Posts
Super job on this workbench!
 

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Aaron,
Beautiful work, especially the wedged mortise and tenons you hand crafted! It's one of my favorite joints, with the contrasting wedges. Amazing what you can put together with scraps lying around the shop!
I agree with the guys here-you need dog holes in the top-go ahead and drill them. As far as the vises go-leave the Jorgenson right where it is as a front vise, and mount the Veritas twin screw as your tail vise (see pics of my workbench in my workshop section)- you won't ever be sorry with that setup, they work beautifully together. I use my with the brass dogs that Veritas/Lee Valley has.
 

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Greetings doorslammer: That is one sweet workbench. Good contrast of different woods.. It should last you a lifetime of woodworking. Good solid top. MDF is always the way to go on benchtops. Good choice. Yea-- go ahead and drill the dogholes. You'll be glad you did….............. Keep on keeping on…..
 

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250 Posts
Nice looking bench. The workmanship looks good too.
 

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1,487 Posts
nice work, the bench came out good
 

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inspired use of flooring for the top. beauty - that certainly doesn't look cheap!
 

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A great bench Aaron
 

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looks fantastic - I'll be honest with you - I think it looks nicer than the veritas cast iron legs. I would keep the base YOU made.

what are it's dimensions? it looks mighty big :)
 

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Aaron,

Just drill your bench holes in the dining table and eat on your workbench! ;-)

This is a great looking bench, but one question: Why did you sand off the factory finish? Wouldn't that have been a good durable finish for a workbench, too? Just wondering. . .

Thanks for posting.
 

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This is a great looking bench, Aaron. I've been planning to build myself a new one (I have one completely out of pine at the moment), and I am really taken by the dark top. I'd like to hear about your experiences working on it in terms of being able to see your work-it strikes me that the dark background would help you concentrate on the work at hand.
 

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I'm also envious of the apparent size of your shop. I am confined to a single carport, and then only when I'm actually doing something, so everything has to be mobile.
 

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Thanks for the comments everyone. I forgot to mention that the dimensions of the top are about 29"x78". So, rather large, but I figured why not and since I'm 6'3", the reach is no problem. I decided against the original factory finish because I thought it would be too slippery and would just be chasing work across it. Plus it just looks better this way.
 
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