Workbench

Wow! Beautiful bench, Bob. We’ve seen a lot of really really nice benches in the last few days and yours is no exception. I’ve been thinking about building a proper bench for some time and have been researching plans. I like your advice—just get out there and start cutting wood. :-)

-- "hold fast to that which is good"

Fantastic looking bench. I like the use of affordable lumber with such a nice end result. Something I’ve been wondering about bench construction… how do you drill out the bench dog / hold down holes without any wander? Using a forstner bit with a hand drill is always a recipe for disaster when I try.

I drilled my 3/4” dog holes with a 3/4” spade bit following the levels on my Craftsman 1/2” cordless drill. The bench top was made of 4 layers of 3/4” ply, so 3” thick. None of the holes have had any problem.
BTW great looking bench.

-- My Boss was a carpenter

That’s a great bench and should last many generations. Good job.

-- Bryan

Hey Bob fellow Oregonian

This is a really great bench, looks great too. ,A well thought out project and it’s super sturdy, as bobasaurus said very affordable material .This should be a great tool to use for years to come. Great job.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

Excellent work, Bob! You are so right – there are so many reasons to get started on a proper workbench, and it’s nothing short of amazing how the right bench improves the quality of our work. Thanks for posting, and again, congrats!

-- Don't anthropomorphize your handplanes. They hate it when you do that. -- OldTools Archive

That turned out great. I started laminating my 2×4 top earlier this week and the planing job at hand seems ominous…. Your finish product gives me hope. Love the stout base!

Great series of pictures, we can really see what’s under the hood. That one should hold up just fine!

-- Don, Royersford, PA

Nice Bench and I like your driftboat in the background. Did you build that yourself too?

Nice Bench It just came to mind that it would be nice if we had the ability to add text to the bottom of the zoom photos so you could add a little something about the photo. Maybe I will shoot Martin a note about it sometime.

Nice looking workbench.

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

what a monster. Great work.

-- Make furniture that lasts as long as the tree - Ryan

I know the feeling about the procrastinating part. Your advice about start cutting wood now, work out the details as you go along is good, and it worked for me. Now you have a fine solid work surface that you can do real handplaning on.

-- Love thy neighbour as thyself

Thanks for all the kind comments, folks!

bobasaurus…

I used a gizmo that (sorta’) makes a portable drill press out of your corded 3/8” drill. A buddy lent me his to drill the holes and I found the operation so useable that I found one on eBay and bought it. Not sure if anyone makes such a thing any more, so finding one might be a crap-shoot.

It will keep a Forstner under control. You have to clamp for every hole, but after the third or fourth one you develop a pretty fast rhythm. I just marked my layout lines on blue tape and had at it. Amazingly, I didn’t even burn out the drill motor!

joekr…

No, I wish I could say that I built it, but am afraid to say that I bought the drift boat ready-built many years ago. It’s a Don Hill and I got a great price on it and the trailer, so I couldn’t pass it up.

To all…

The bench is quite heavy, which is good because it just won’t budge when you start planing on it. But it will also break down into 5 pieces if and when it becomes necessary. I used the 6” knock-down fasteners from Lee Valley to attached the stretchers to the legs through M&T joints. This makes for a very solid arrangement while still allowing for relatively easy disassembly.

-- 73, Bob

Outstanding job. I could sure use one of these.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"