| Project by Nils | posted 761 days ago | 1515 views | 5 times favorited | 18 comments |  |
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This is the supposedly ”$100 workbench in a weekend” from a Shop Notes article last year. It ended up costing about twice that, even at about half the size of the bench in the article, and built with redwood rather than hardwood. The original was 7 1/2 feet long and just under three feet deep. I modified all the dimensions so my bench is 4’ 4” by 2’ 4”, since it has to fit in my very small one car garage with a lot of other stuff. It’s built with redwood and MDF. After I finished it, I was able to find a good deal on a quick-release woodworker’s vise, and installed that as well. (The first picture shows the vise in the process of being installed – the jaws are poplar, which I’ll replace with a piece of maple I have since bought.)
I’m most proud of the “cloud lift” pattern I made on the end pieces of MDF – it was the first time I’d done pattern routing. (With my router I got for Christmas 2006.)
The bench has wheels attached to one set of legs that I can use by tilting up the other end. However, it’s so heavy that this is not really feasible (the top is four layers of MDF!) so my next workshop project is to add an additional set of wheels ala the ones Norm Abrams showed on a workbench project on a NYWS episode, where the wheels drop down when you lift the end of the bench and get locked down with some hinged pieces of wood. I haven’t quite figured out how to attach them yet, and they’ll probably hide my cloud lift, sadly.
-- Nils Davis, Menlo Park, CA
18 comments so far
Bill
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2561 posts in 1059 days
posted 761 days ago
Nice bench Nils. It should serve you well!
-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com
Thos. Angle
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4013 posts in 860 days
posted 761 days ago
looks good
-- Thos. Angle
Nils
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138 posts in 761 days
posted 761 days ago
Thanks for the nice comments. It’s definitely already been an asset, and it was very satisfying to make, especially since I did so much customization on it.
-- Nils Davis, Menlo Park, CA
Bob_B
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28 posts in 944 days
posted 761 days ago
Nicely done. Should last a long time.
-- Bob B - Warwick, Rhode Island
bryano
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546 posts in 831 days
posted 761 days ago
looks like a job well done. and very sturdy also.
-- bryano
Kerux
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513 posts in 781 days
posted 761 days ago
Looks like a bench that is going to see a lot of good projects come off of it!
-- http://inhisgrip1.blogspot.com/
cajunpen
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5968 posts in 963 days
posted 761 days ago
Really nice bench – should make life easier for some great projects.
-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/
miles125
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1434 posts in 903 days
posted 761 days ago
Nice bench Nils
-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""
Dadoo
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1723 posts in 888 days
posted 761 days ago
When I first saw it I had wondered if you used red cedar. It’s very nice.
-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!
SPalm
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951 posts in 779 days
posted 761 days ago
Smart looking bench. Good job.
-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon
Karson
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25805 posts in 1298 days
posted 760 days ago
Nice bench.
-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
oscorner
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4572 posts in 1208 days
posted 760 days ago
Nice, heavy bench. I like the raised cloud design in between the legs.
-- Jesus is Lord!
Quentin
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43 posts in 1043 days
posted 760 days ago
Very nice bench.
mot
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4903 posts in 934 days
posted 759 days ago
I love a good bench! Nice!
-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)
JasonH
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137 posts in 725 days
posted 723 days ago
Nicely done! Excellent detail, and maybe some room below for storage?
-- Living on the square...
jeanmarc
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1751 posts in 613 days
posted 485 days ago
Nice bench Nils.
-- jeanmarc manosque france
Todd Thomas
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4831 posts in 346 days
posted 304 days ago
nice looking bench….
-- Todd, Oak Ridge, TN, Hello my name is Todd and I'm a Toolholic, I bought my last tool 10 days, no 4 days, oh heck I bought a tool on the way here! †
Mark Shymanski
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1555 posts in 610 days
posted 274 days ago
That’s a good looking bench.
-- ...it's rennovation time!!!