# Building a new workbench



## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

*The top is glued up and the components are rough cut*

I'm in the process of building a new workbench based on Bob Lang's bench as detailed in the October 2008 issue of Popular Woodworking. I've read Christopher Schwarz book "Workbenches: From Design And Theory To Construction And Use" as well as several others. It always seemed like I wanted a combination of the features I found in most other benches. Bob Langs design was the first I'd seen that incorporated everything I wanted in a bench, so here goes!



I bought 150bf of 8/4 Ash. I ripped twelve 8'x4 1/4" boards for the top. I needed about 2" from each board to make up the 11 3/4 inches for each half of the top. Unfortunately good straight lumber is hard to find and after the Ash got done moving and I jointed and planed it the 6 boards were only giving me about 10 3/4". So I ripped another board milled up another two pieces. Now I'm sitting at about 12 1/2" per side. Since each board was ripped from a single wider piece I decided to "bookmatch" the two halves of the bench. Nobody will ever notice but me I'm sure, but I thought it would be a nice touch with no extra work. Here are the boards:



Then I started gluing up the boards. I started as Bob had advised by making sub-assemblies of two 2×4's and then using wooden clamps on the ends to keep things lined up, but I noticed that even the things were shifting a bit. I decided to change tactics. I started gluing the boards up one by one. Each time adding one more board in the sequence. This did two things for me. It let me work faster because I could glue it up and then after having it clamped for 30 minutes I would take it out of the clamps and add another board and re-clamp. Secondly, By only adding one more board I could clamps some parallel clamps across the boards to keep things lines up as I clamped them together vertically. This was MUCH easier than trying to finagle a twin screw wood clamp to keep things aligned. When I started this method things moved faster and came together very squarely.



After both sections of the top were glued up then I moved on to roughing out the other parts. All the parts are shown here: the bottom rails are closest, then the top rails, then the two halves of the bench top and stacked on that are the pieces that make up the bottom stretchers, the pieces that make up the top stretchers and then the eight pieces that make up the four legs.



So that's where I am now. Hopefully I'll get a little more time in the shop tonight to mill the other components four-square.


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## Harley130 (Nov 1, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *The top is glued up and the components are rough cut*
> 
> I'm in the process of building a new workbench based on Bob Lang's bench as detailed in the October 2008 issue of Popular Woodworking. I've read Christopher Schwarz book "Workbenches: From Design And Theory To Construction And Use" as well as several others. It always seemed like I wanted a combination of the features I found in most other benches. Bob Langs design was the first I'd seen that incorporated everything I wanted in a bench, so here goes!
> 
> ...


Great write up and pics. I have building a similar workbench on my bucket list.


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## Kaytrim (Aug 11, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *The top is glued up and the components are rough cut*
> 
> I'm in the process of building a new workbench based on Bob Lang's bench as detailed in the October 2008 issue of Popular Woodworking. I've read Christopher Schwarz book "Workbenches: From Design And Theory To Construction And Use" as well as several others. It always seemed like I wanted a combination of the features I found in most other benches. Bob Langs design was the first I'd seen that incorporated everything I wanted in a bench, so here goes!
> 
> ...


Great idea for the lamination of the tops. I'll have to remember that one when I build my bench.


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## UVA (Jan 24, 2009)

Loogie said:


> *The top is glued up and the components are rough cut*
> 
> I'm in the process of building a new workbench based on Bob Lang's bench as detailed in the October 2008 issue of Popular Woodworking. I've read Christopher Schwarz book "Workbenches: From Design And Theory To Construction And Use" as well as several others. It always seemed like I wanted a combination of the features I found in most other benches. Bob Langs design was the first I'd seen that incorporated everything I wanted in a bench, so here goes!
> 
> ...


This is very cool. I finsihed a Holtzapel work bench out of hard maple about three weeks ago - 3" x 24" x 96" top. It is marvelous. the top was a bear to handle after all the glue up. I love it and know you will love yours as well.

Are you going to use the Veritas twin screw vise? It is a little tricky to get the two handles aligned. I had to deviate from the directions to get the handles aligned. The directions say to install the two screw fixtures, then install the chain and then screw the two handles in together. Well I did that and the two handles were not even close in alignment - off by 180 degrees. I the took the chain off, turned each handle to close the chop on the bench and had to reinstall the screw fixtures. It would have been much easier to install the screw fixtures after having gotten the handles aligned. I hope this makes ssense because it was a hassle to redo it. I read another on-line blogger had the same issue.

If you are going to use the 7" Lee Valley quick close vise, I ran into an issue there as well. On the rear attachment bolts, I had to add a washer shim between the vise plate and the bench underside. Otherwise, the vise was canted a bit.

Finally, the beeswax/turpentine/boiled linseed oil mixture as a bench finish covered in Woodworking Magazine as the best bench finish is indeed wonderful. It does smell while drying so keep a window open for several hours. It is 2 ounces beeswax (e.g. old candle) to 16 ounces turpentine to 16 ounces boiled linseed oil. My wife shaved the candle on a grater to get fine particles that would dissolve in the turpentine. I heated the mixture in a bath of hot water to get it to totally dissolve. It is a gel at room temperature. i heated it in warm water before applying it and applied three coats over three days.


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## ShannonRogers (Jan 11, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *The top is glued up and the components are rough cut*
> 
> I'm in the process of building a new workbench based on Bob Lang's bench as detailed in the October 2008 issue of Popular Woodworking. I've read Christopher Schwarz book "Workbenches: From Design And Theory To Construction And Use" as well as several others. It always seemed like I wanted a combination of the features I found in most other benches. Bob Langs design was the first I'd seen that incorporated everything I wanted in a bench, so here goes!
> 
> ...


Mark,
Great start so far. I appreciate your insight into glueing up the top one board at a time. I have my Roubo top boards glued up into 3 board sub assemblies right now. They are pretty flat, but I will be jointing and planing then individually before glueing them together. I was worried about the glue up for this 28" wide slab but I think tackling it one piece at a time will be so much easier. Thanks for the tip. Love that quality Groff & Groff Ash! Our benches will almost be related when I get mine done!


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## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *The top is glued up and the components are rough cut*
> 
> I'm in the process of building a new workbench based on Bob Lang's bench as detailed in the October 2008 issue of Popular Woodworking. I've read Christopher Schwarz book "Workbenches: From Design And Theory To Construction And Use" as well as several others. It always seemed like I wanted a combination of the features I found in most other benches. Bob Langs design was the first I'd seen that incorporated everything I wanted in a bench, so here goes!
> 
> ...


UVA, Thanks for the words about the Veritas Twin Screw, that is indeed the vise I'm using. The end vise will be a Jorgensen 10" model. I had to shorten the base 6" to allow enough clearance for the vise. Do you remember which issue of Woodworking that the workbench finish formula was published in? I must have missed it, but I'd like to read that.


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## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *The top is glued up and the components are rough cut*
> 
> I'm in the process of building a new workbench based on Bob Lang's bench as detailed in the October 2008 issue of Popular Woodworking. I've read Christopher Schwarz book "Workbenches: From Design And Theory To Construction And Use" as well as several others. It always seemed like I wanted a combination of the features I found in most other benches. Bob Langs design was the first I'd seen that incorporated everything I wanted in a bench, so here goes!
> 
> ...


Shannon, One additional thing about the glue up. In photo above you'll notice that all of the clamps are on the same side of the slab - this is the first slab. On the second one I alternated the clamps. I don't know why I didn't do it on the first one, but it also helped keep things square. Even though the clamps are supposed to be parallel, they still tended to pull the board toward the clamp ever so slightly. Alternating them completely eliminated that tendency.


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## UVA (Jan 24, 2009)

Loogie said:


> *The top is glued up and the components are rough cut*
> 
> I'm in the process of building a new workbench based on Bob Lang's bench as detailed in the October 2008 issue of Popular Woodworking. I've read Christopher Schwarz book "Workbenches: From Design And Theory To Construction And Use" as well as several others. It always seemed like I wanted a combination of the features I found in most other benches. Bob Langs design was the first I'd seen that incorporated everything I wanted in a bench, so here goes!
> 
> ...


The bench finish article is Autumn 2005, page 30, Woodworking Magazine.


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## cylis007 (Nov 25, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *The top is glued up and the components are rough cut*
> 
> I'm in the process of building a new workbench based on Bob Lang's bench as detailed in the October 2008 issue of Popular Woodworking. I've read Christopher Schwarz book "Workbenches: From Design And Theory To Construction And Use" as well as several others. It always seemed like I wanted a combination of the features I found in most other benches. Bob Langs design was the first I'd seen that incorporated everything I wanted in a bench, so here goes!
> 
> ...


That is a great idea regarding the glue up for the top. I will give it a try. I look forward to watching your progress.


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *The top is glued up and the components are rough cut*
> 
> I'm in the process of building a new workbench based on Bob Lang's bench as detailed in the October 2008 issue of Popular Woodworking. I've read Christopher Schwarz book "Workbenches: From Design And Theory To Construction And Use" as well as several others. It always seemed like I wanted a combination of the features I found in most other benches. Bob Langs design was the first I'd seen that incorporated everything I wanted in a bench, so here goes!
> 
> ...


You is off to a good start!


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## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

*Four Square*

I spent about 4 hours in the shop this afternoon machining all the parts four-square. I only ended up with one trapezoid! I don't know what happened with that one. I must not been paying attention at the jointer. I remade that piece and was on my way - luckily it was the smallest component too. So, here's all the stock. Now it's time to start doing some real machining.


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## UVA (Jan 24, 2009)

Loogie said:


> *Four Square*
> 
> I spent about 4 hours in the shop this afternoon machining all the parts four-square. I only ended up with one trapezoid! I don't know what happened with that one. I must not been paying attention at the jointer. I remade that piece and was on my way - luckily it was the smallest component too. So, here's all the stock. Now it's time to start doing some real machining.


Please keep the pictures coming. They are fun to see. I wish I had recorded my work on the Holtzapel bench. One of the fun parts was draw boring the mortise and tenon joints. It was also awesome to realize the final bench weighed close to 400 pounds. The top weighed about 200 pounds. It was a struggle to turn the completed top over to work on the underside in mounting the vises. I had no help in muscling it around and sure wished I had someone to help me.


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## amat55 (Apr 21, 2009)

Loogie said:


> *Four Square*
> 
> I spent about 4 hours in the shop this afternoon machining all the parts four-square. I only ended up with one trapezoid! I don't know what happened with that one. I must not been paying attention at the jointer. I remade that piece and was on my way - luckily it was the smallest component too. So, here's all the stock. Now it's time to start doing some real machining.


I'm new but very impressed with your talent. love the picture maybe some day I'll be there.
God Bless


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## sandhill (Aug 28, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *Four Square*
> 
> I spent about 4 hours in the shop this afternoon machining all the parts four-square. I only ended up with one trapezoid! I don't know what happened with that one. I must not been paying attention at the jointer. I remade that piece and was on my way - luckily it was the smallest component too. So, here's all the stock. Now it's time to start doing some real machining.


What are you using for the top?


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## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Four Square*
> 
> I spent about 4 hours in the shop this afternoon machining all the parts four-square. I only ended up with one trapezoid! I don't know what happened with that one. I must not been paying attention at the jointer. I remade that piece and was on my way - luckily it was the smallest component too. So, here's all the stock. Now it's time to start doing some real machining.


Sandhill, The entire bench is made of Ash


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Four Square*
> 
> I spent about 4 hours in the shop this afternoon machining all the parts four-square. I only ended up with one trapezoid! I don't know what happened with that one. I must not been paying attention at the jointer. I remade that piece and was on my way - luckily it was the smallest component too. So, here's all the stock. Now it's time to start doing some real machining.


Looks good!


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## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

*Mortise & Tenon's are rought cut*

I got to spend a few hours in the shop yesterday and I got the top planed although I discovered that one half of the top has developed a little twist. I'll wait until it's attached to the base and in position before I worry about hand planing it flat. I got the mortises chopped out and the tenons rough cut. Here's where I sit now:


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## dsb1829 (Jun 20, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Mortise & Tenon's are rought cut*
> 
> I got to spend a few hours in the shop yesterday and I got the top planed although I discovered that one half of the top has developed a little twist. I'll wait until it's attached to the base and in position before I worry about hand planing it flat. I got the mortises chopped out and the tenons rough cut. Here's where I sit now:


Looks like you are well on the way.

Here is another bench recently put together of the same inspiration.
http://theboisshop.blogspot.com/
Rob went through and video blogged a fair amount of the construction. Could be good for information or just motivation to keep on plugging away on yours.


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## TimberMan (Nov 30, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Mortise & Tenon's are rought cut*
> 
> I got to spend a few hours in the shop yesterday and I got the top planed although I discovered that one half of the top has developed a little twist. I'll wait until it's attached to the base and in position before I worry about hand planing it flat. I got the mortises chopped out and the tenons rough cut. Here's where I sit now:


Look'n good. Keep us updated. Looks like you are making use of your workbench while building it!


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## cylis007 (Nov 25, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Mortise & Tenon's are rought cut*
> 
> I got to spend a few hours in the shop yesterday and I got the top planed although I discovered that one half of the top has developed a little twist. I'll wait until it's attached to the base and in position before I worry about hand planing it flat. I got the mortises chopped out and the tenons rough cut. Here's where I sit now:


Looks great. How did you cut the mortises?


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## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Mortise & Tenon's are rought cut*
> 
> I got to spend a few hours in the shop yesterday and I got the top planed although I discovered that one half of the top has developed a little twist. I'll wait until it's attached to the base and in position before I worry about hand planing it flat. I got the mortises chopped out and the tenons rough cut. Here's where I sit now:


Cylis, to cut the mortises I started with a forstner bit. I drilled out the majority of the waste, then I used a 1/2" hollow chisel mortising bit on my drill press for the corners. When that was complete I chopped out the rest of the waste. I don't have a mortising chisel but really wish I did now!


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Mortise & Tenon's are rought cut*
> 
> I got to spend a few hours in the shop yesterday and I got the top planed although I discovered that one half of the top has developed a little twist. I'll wait until it's attached to the base and in position before I worry about hand planing it flat. I got the mortises chopped out and the tenons rough cut. Here's where I sit now:


Nice moritse and tenons.


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## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

*Assembling the wedged mortise & tenons*

I spent a few hours…quite a few hours refining the fit of the mortise and tenons. They were pretty close, but when your working with 8/4 stock and seriously hard wood it seems to take forever to make small adjustments. I have a Veritas medium shoulder plane, but a true rabbet plane would really have come in handy. So would a much better set of rasp's.
After I got the tenons properly fit I took them over to the band saw and cut a kerf for the wedges. I left about 1/8" of wood outside of the kerf. After testing several pieces, that seemed to be about as thick as I could and have the wood bend into the open part of the mortise.
I glued everything up and to my great surprise it all came together perfectly square without any tweeking. NExt week I'll work on the rails.


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## craftsman on the lake (Dec 27, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Assembling the wedged mortise & tenons*
> 
> I spent a few hours…quite a few hours refining the fit of the mortise and tenons. They were pretty close, but when your working with 8/4 stock and seriously hard wood it seems to take forever to make small adjustments. I have a Veritas medium shoulder plane, but a true rabbet plane would really have come in handy. So would a much better set of rasp's.
> After I got the tenons properly fit I took them over to the band saw and cut a kerf for the wedges. I left about 1/8" of wood outside of the kerf. After testing several pieces, that seemed to be about as thick as I could and have the wood bend into the open part of the mortise.
> I glued everything up and to my great surprise it all came together perfectly square without any tweeking. NExt week I'll work on the rails.


Sweet… nice clean job. Looks too nice to use! lol.

Make sure you post some final picts.


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## ChicoWoodnut (Dec 15, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *Assembling the wedged mortise & tenons*
> 
> I spent a few hours…quite a few hours refining the fit of the mortise and tenons. They were pretty close, but when your working with 8/4 stock and seriously hard wood it seems to take forever to make small adjustments. I have a Veritas medium shoulder plane, but a true rabbet plane would really have come in handy. So would a much better set of rasp's.
> After I got the tenons properly fit I took them over to the band saw and cut a kerf for the wedges. I left about 1/8" of wood outside of the kerf. After testing several pieces, that seemed to be about as thick as I could and have the wood bend into the open part of the mortise.
> I glued everything up and to my great surprise it all came together perfectly square without any tweeking. NExt week I'll work on the rails.


Nice Mark,

I want to see how you flattented the top


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## scarpenter002 (Sep 16, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *Assembling the wedged mortise & tenons*
> 
> I spent a few hours…quite a few hours refining the fit of the mortise and tenons. They were pretty close, but when your working with 8/4 stock and seriously hard wood it seems to take forever to make small adjustments. I have a Veritas medium shoulder plane, but a true rabbet plane would really have come in handy. So would a much better set of rasp's.
> After I got the tenons properly fit I took them over to the band saw and cut a kerf for the wedges. I left about 1/8" of wood outside of the kerf. After testing several pieces, that seemed to be about as thick as I could and have the wood bend into the open part of the mortise.
> I glued everything up and to my great surprise it all came together perfectly square without any tweeking. NExt week I'll work on the rails.


Beautiful. Looks like a work of art so far.


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *Assembling the wedged mortise & tenons*
> 
> I spent a few hours…quite a few hours refining the fit of the mortise and tenons. They were pretty close, but when your working with 8/4 stock and seriously hard wood it seems to take forever to make small adjustments. I have a Veritas medium shoulder plane, but a true rabbet plane would really have come in handy. So would a much better set of rasp's.
> After I got the tenons properly fit I took them over to the band saw and cut a kerf for the wedges. I left about 1/8" of wood outside of the kerf. After testing several pieces, that seemed to be about as thick as I could and have the wood bend into the open part of the mortise.
> I glued everything up and to my great surprise it all came together perfectly square without any tweeking. NExt week I'll work on the rails.


Mark, this is looking good. I have one of these on my to-do list (as soon as I decide the style and can free up some time from my "assigned" projects) so I am enjoying following this.


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## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Assembling the wedged mortise & tenons*
> 
> I spent a few hours…quite a few hours refining the fit of the mortise and tenons. They were pretty close, but when your working with 8/4 stock and seriously hard wood it seems to take forever to make small adjustments. I have a Veritas medium shoulder plane, but a true rabbet plane would really have come in handy. So would a much better set of rasp's.
> After I got the tenons properly fit I took them over to the band saw and cut a kerf for the wedges. I left about 1/8" of wood outside of the kerf. After testing several pieces, that seemed to be about as thick as I could and have the wood bend into the open part of the mortise.
> I glued everything up and to my great surprise it all came together perfectly square without any tweeking. NExt week I'll work on the rails.


Chico, I did the initial flattening with a #7 jointer plane. I only planed one side and used winding sticks to see if it was flat. Then I took each side and ran them thru my planer (part of the beauty of this design is that each half of the top is only 11 3/4" wide). That's when I realized that one side has some twist in it. Next I'll wait until the base is assembled and then I'll slide the two halves up against each other, shim the side with twist and plane the whole thing flat, then I'll run them through the planer again to make the other side parallel. The top is quite a bit thicker than required so I've got plenty of wood to work with to get everything flat.


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## ChicoWoodnut (Dec 15, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *Assembling the wedged mortise & tenons*
> 
> I spent a few hours…quite a few hours refining the fit of the mortise and tenons. They were pretty close, but when your working with 8/4 stock and seriously hard wood it seems to take forever to make small adjustments. I have a Veritas medium shoulder plane, but a true rabbet plane would really have come in handy. So would a much better set of rasp's.
> After I got the tenons properly fit I took them over to the band saw and cut a kerf for the wedges. I left about 1/8" of wood outside of the kerf. After testing several pieces, that seemed to be about as thick as I could and have the wood bend into the open part of the mortise.
> I glued everything up and to my great surprise it all came together perfectly square without any tweeking. NExt week I'll work on the rails.


Thanks Mark,

You should include a picture of your biceps. That sounds like a lot of work LOL.


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Assembling the wedged mortise & tenons*
> 
> I spent a few hours…quite a few hours refining the fit of the mortise and tenons. They were pretty close, but when your working with 8/4 stock and seriously hard wood it seems to take forever to make small adjustments. I have a Veritas medium shoulder plane, but a true rabbet plane would really have come in handy. So would a much better set of rasp's.
> After I got the tenons properly fit I took them over to the band saw and cut a kerf for the wedges. I left about 1/8" of wood outside of the kerf. After testing several pieces, that seemed to be about as thick as I could and have the wood bend into the open part of the mortise.
> I glued everything up and to my great surprise it all came together perfectly square without any tweeking. NExt week I'll work on the rails.


Beautiful bench, Mark.


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## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

*Half-lapping the side rails*

Last night I got to put in a few hours on the bench project. I've been working on half-lapping the side rails. First marked out the dovetails then I cut them on the band saw. The upper stretcher is a full half-lapped dovetail and the bottom rails has a half-lapped dovetail only on the bottom side. The top side gets a wedge pin to complete the dovetail.



After I had the dovetails cut I cut the shoulders with a hand saw then I headed over to the table saw where I used my dado head to clean out the waste.



Then I took a chisel and cleaned off the remaining support pieces and then used a rasp to clean up the faces and true up the edges of the dovetails.



Tonight hopefully I'll mark out the corresponding dovetail sockets on the legs and then clean them out. When that's done I should have a usable base!


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## Richforever (Mar 19, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Half-lapping the side rails*
> 
> Last night I got to put in a few hours on the bench project. I've been working on half-lapping the side rails. First marked out the dovetails then I cut them on the band saw. The upper stretcher is a full half-lapped dovetail and the bottom rails has a half-lapped dovetail only on the bottom side. The top side gets a wedge pin to complete the dovetail.
> 
> ...


Nice looking! Keep up the good work.


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## sIKE (Feb 14, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Half-lapping the side rails*
> 
> Last night I got to put in a few hours on the bench project. I've been working on half-lapping the side rails. First marked out the dovetails then I cut them on the band saw. The upper stretcher is a full half-lapped dovetail and the bottom rails has a half-lapped dovetail only on the bottom side. The top side gets a wedge pin to complete the dovetail.
> 
> ...


THose are some huge and good looking dovetails you have there….


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## Moai (Feb 9, 2009)

Loogie said:


> *Half-lapping the side rails*
> 
> Last night I got to put in a few hours on the bench project. I've been working on half-lapping the side rails. First marked out the dovetails then I cut them on the band saw. The upper stretcher is a full half-lapped dovetail and the bottom rails has a half-lapped dovetail only on the bottom side. The top side gets a wedge pin to complete the dovetail.
> 
> ...


esplendid work!


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## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

*Completeing the leg joinery*

Having finished milling the half lapped dovetails for the rails yesterday, today I was working on milling the matching dovetails on the outer part of the legs to receive the rails. The legs are made up of two sections of 8/4 ash which are glued together after the milling is complete. Doing it this way makes it very easy to create the dovetailed through mortise for the bottom rail. I started by marking all the joints using the dovetails already cut on the rails. Each piece is made to match it's partner so they all had to be numbered to match. After they were all marked, then I cut just inside the line with a hand saw. After that I went back to the table saw and - making sure I'm starting from the narrow side of the dovetail - cut out all the waste that I could. That left me with a wedge shaped piece that needed to be removed. For that I turned to my Japanese Ryoba saw. Because it is kind of like a huge flush cut saw and has both a rip and a crosscut side it works great for this task.



After I had removed all the waste, then I tried a test fit. One of them fit right in, but the rest needed to be tuned up with a shoulder plane and a rasp. This was the second time that I found a really good place to use a rabbet plane, too bad I don't have one. I then headed back over to the table saw and raised the blade about 1/16" and took just a little more material out of the dovetail on the lower rails. The reason for this is that I had cut everything to be a perfect half lap, but the bottom rails need to be able to slide into the mortise so those mortises need to be slightly wider. After that was done and cleaned up, I wend for a test fit. Here's a picture of what the wedged dovetail joint on the lower rail will look like, but after it's glued up you won't be able to get this perspective.



The bench base is made from knock-down but very secure joinery. Here I set the leg frame assembly on top of the outer leg so you can see what the result will look like in the end. I intentionally opset the two halves of the leg so you can se how it's all set up.



Last but not least I glued the finished outer legs to their corresponding inner leg to make a finished assembly.



Tomorrow I should be able to get the thing supporting it's own weight!


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *Completeing the leg joinery*
> 
> Having finished milling the half lapped dovetails for the rails yesterday, today I was working on milling the matching dovetails on the outer part of the legs to receive the rails. The legs are made up of two sections of 8/4 ash which are glued together after the milling is complete. Doing it this way makes it very easy to create the dovetailed through mortise for the bottom rail. I started by marking all the joints using the dovetails already cut on the rails. Each piece is made to match it's partner so they all had to be numbered to match. After they were all marked, then I cut just inside the line with a hand saw. After that I went back to the table saw and - making sure I'm starting from the narrow side of the dovetail - cut out all the waste that I could. That left me with a wedge shaped piece that needed to be removed. For that I turned to my Japanese Ryoba saw. Because it is kind of like a huge flush cut saw and has both a rip and a crosscut side it works great for this task.
> 
> ...


Mark, this is looking good. Your posts have clearly detailed the step-wise progress that the bench is undergoing and primed me, personally, for getting started on my own version. Thanks for the inspiration.


----------



## Cantputjamontoast (Jan 1, 2009)

Loogie said:


> *Completeing the leg joinery*
> 
> Having finished milling the half lapped dovetails for the rails yesterday, today I was working on milling the matching dovetails on the outer part of the legs to receive the rails. The legs are made up of two sections of 8/4 ash which are glued together after the milling is complete. Doing it this way makes it very easy to create the dovetailed through mortise for the bottom rail. I started by marking all the joints using the dovetails already cut on the rails. Each piece is made to match it's partner so they all had to be numbered to match. After they were all marked, then I cut just inside the line with a hand saw. After that I went back to the table saw and - making sure I'm starting from the narrow side of the dovetail - cut out all the waste that I could. That left me with a wedge shaped piece that needed to be removed. For that I turned to my Japanese Ryoba saw. Because it is kind of like a huge flush cut saw and has both a rip and a crosscut side it works great for this task.
> 
> ...


That, gentlemen IS joinery.

(fill in superlative here) job Loog!!!!!!


----------



## ChicoWoodnut (Dec 15, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *Completeing the leg joinery*
> 
> Having finished milling the half lapped dovetails for the rails yesterday, today I was working on milling the matching dovetails on the outer part of the legs to receive the rails. The legs are made up of two sections of 8/4 ash which are glued together after the milling is complete. Doing it this way makes it very easy to create the dovetailed through mortise for the bottom rail. I started by marking all the joints using the dovetails already cut on the rails. Each piece is made to match it's partner so they all had to be numbered to match. After they were all marked, then I cut just inside the line with a hand saw. After that I went back to the table saw and - making sure I'm starting from the narrow side of the dovetail - cut out all the waste that I could. That left me with a wedge shaped piece that needed to be removed. For that I turned to my Japanese Ryoba saw. Because it is kind of like a huge flush cut saw and has both a rip and a crosscut side it works great for this task.
> 
> ...


That looks like fun. Coming along nicely.


----------



## MrJust (Mar 2, 2009)

Loogie said:


> *Completeing the leg joinery*
> 
> Having finished milling the half lapped dovetails for the rails yesterday, today I was working on milling the matching dovetails on the outer part of the legs to receive the rails. The legs are made up of two sections of 8/4 ash which are glued together after the milling is complete. Doing it this way makes it very easy to create the dovetailed through mortise for the bottom rail. I started by marking all the joints using the dovetails already cut on the rails. Each piece is made to match it's partner so they all had to be numbered to match. After they were all marked, then I cut just inside the line with a hand saw. After that I went back to the table saw and - making sure I'm starting from the narrow side of the dovetail - cut out all the waste that I could. That left me with a wedge shaped piece that needed to be removed. For that I turned to my Japanese Ryoba saw. Because it is kind of like a huge flush cut saw and has both a rip and a crosscut side it works great for this task.
> 
> ...


Its like a Finley built car, smooth lines, everything fits, I love it!
I am just getting into Joinery myself and I was looking for programs that offer Joinery. I only have one in my area (But from what I was told that is rare enough) and I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on if its worth it to go here. Quite an investment I must say.
I was looking at http://www.teachwoodworking.com and there are links to the programs I was looking at attending.
Thanks in advance for your help.

Just


----------



## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Completeing the leg joinery*
> 
> Having finished milling the half lapped dovetails for the rails yesterday, today I was working on milling the matching dovetails on the outer part of the legs to receive the rails. The legs are made up of two sections of 8/4 ash which are glued together after the milling is complete. Doing it this way makes it very easy to create the dovetailed through mortise for the bottom rail. I started by marking all the joints using the dovetails already cut on the rails. Each piece is made to match it's partner so they all had to be numbered to match. After they were all marked, then I cut just inside the line with a hand saw. After that I went back to the table saw and - making sure I'm starting from the narrow side of the dovetail - cut out all the waste that I could. That left me with a wedge shaped piece that needed to be removed. For that I turned to my Japanese Ryoba saw. Because it is kind of like a huge flush cut saw and has both a rip and a crosscut side it works great for this task.
> 
> ...


Looks like you is having fun.


----------



## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

*First time base assembly*

Ok, All the parts have been trimmed and fit so it's time to put the base together for the the first time. It will have to come apart multiple times after this for some finishing touches.



I can attest that I am unable to rack this base AT ALL - even though the top rails aren't secure with their lag bolts yet. That sure will be nice. My old bench would shake and jiggle when I was planing on it. Next I will be drilling the holes in the two rails on this side of the bench and milling the slots for the sliding deadman. However, I'm away on a trip so that won't happen until the end of next week. I can only dream about it until then.


----------



## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *First time base assembly*
> 
> Ok, All the parts have been trimmed and fit so it's time to put the base together for the the first time. It will have to come apart multiple times after this for some finishing touches.
> 
> ...


Looks good.


----------



## cylis007 (Nov 25, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *First time base assembly*
> 
> Ok, All the parts have been trimmed and fit so it's time to put the base together for the the first time. It will have to come apart multiple times after this for some finishing touches.
> 
> ...


It is looking great so far. Just incredible!


----------



## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *First time base assembly*
> 
> Ok, All the parts have been trimmed and fit so it's time to put the base together for the the first time. It will have to come apart multiple times after this for some finishing touches.
> 
> ...


I have to agree that this is looking great. This is going to be a solid bench that will be a nice addition to your shop. I guess we all will have to wait along with you until you are able to get back into the shop. It is a shame that these "interferences" interrupt our shop time.


----------



## Pie (Jan 28, 2009)

Loogie said:


> *First time base assembly*
> 
> Ok, All the parts have been trimmed and fit so it's time to put the base together for the the first time. It will have to come apart multiple times after this for some finishing touches.
> 
> ...


looks too nice to be a workbench ha-ha!


----------



## blackcherry (Dec 7, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *First time base assembly*
> 
> Ok, All the parts have been trimmed and fit so it's time to put the base together for the the first time. It will have to come apart multiple times after this for some finishing touches.
> 
> ...


This is coming out way to SWEET! Thanks for such a in deep review of your work bench. How dose the Ash wood take to hand planing?...Blkcerry


----------



## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *First time base assembly*
> 
> Ok, All the parts have been trimmed and fit so it's time to put the base together for the the first time. It will have to come apart multiple times after this for some finishing touches.
> 
> ...


It planes great! The only tearout I was getting was just a little on the dark boards because they are a bit curly - which why I liked them. Their grain looks kind of like a rope going down the board. Other than that the Ash has been just fine to hand plane and comes out nice and smooth


----------



## blackcherry (Dec 7, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *First time base assembly*
> 
> Ok, All the parts have been trimmed and fit so it's time to put the base together for the the first time. It will have to come apart multiple times after this for some finishing touches.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the fast reply, your bench is a beaut….I like the idea of a knock down version…it's to cold in the garage in the winter and I think of building a 6' model for my basement shop where I store all my hand plane. The price of hickory and ash is very reasonable in my area. Thanks again for all your work and allowing all here at the site to view….Blkcherry


----------



## ChicoWoodnut (Dec 15, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *First time base assembly*
> 
> Ok, All the parts have been trimmed and fit so it's time to put the base together for the the first time. It will have to come apart multiple times after this for some finishing touches.
> 
> ...


Thanks Mark,

I'v been eagerly following this one.

BTW, I think I'm missing how you are joining the top and bottom stretchers for the ends?


----------



## lgfskua (Mar 7, 2009)

Loogie said:


> *First time base assembly*
> 
> Ok, All the parts have been trimmed and fit so it's time to put the base together for the the first time. It will have to come apart multiple times after this for some finishing touches.
> 
> ...


nicely done……....


----------



## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

*Slow week*

This week life intervened and I didn't get much work done on the bench. Just before I left on my trip I started to drill the holes in the side rails. I started by using a 3/4" auger bit in my drill press. Unfortunately I didn't plan this step quite as thoroughly as I have done for the rest of this project. Mistake #1 not trying this technique on a pice of scrap first and instead drilling into the bottom rail of the workbench. Mistake #2: Not clamping the rail down to the table of my drill press. The auger bit I'm using has a small screw tip before the drill flutes start. I've used this bit before to drill holes in my fixed bench for holdfasts and it worked like a charm. As soon as the bit touched the Ash though, it screwed in started to lift the entire rail. Since I was drilling near one end of the rail the weight caused one end to sag and I ended up with a hole that was less than round with a big auger bit stuck in it. Plan B: After extracting the bit I decided to use a 3/4 inch forstner bit on my drill press. The forstner bits I own are a middle of the road set. It soon became obvious that this bit simply wasn't going to hack drilling thru 2" of Ash. This was a perfect example of why I live by my tool adage: Buy the best, you'll always be happy with it. I bought those Forsner bits years ago and I've never been happy with them. I wasted $65 on that set. In order to recover I decided to try to find one of the new Colt MaxiCut forstner bits. I managed to locate a 3/4" bit in-stock at The Best Things. I ordered the bit and the 155mm extension. They arrived two days later, just before I got home from mytrip - perfect timing. I chucked the extension and put the bit in the extension. These bits are quite interesting. Where the shaft goes into the chuck it is not quite round. It has a slight edge on it that keeps it from spinning. The extension also has the same feature, and when the bit is placed into the extension and turned slightly, the pressure locks it in place. Really nice. The difference betwen this bit and my old forstner bits is night and day. I remember Christopher Schwarz saying that they were unable to over-feed this bit. I didn't have quite the same experience. I was able to over-feed the bit, but 3/4" is relatively small for a forstner. I think that a larger bit would be less likely to clog. However if I sowed down the feed rate just a bit then it bored incredibly well. The bit sends up tiny little ribbons of wood rather than the thick shavings of normal forstner bits. Even with the long extension on there was not perceptible run-out with this bit. They're not cheap (this one was $30), but if you need some really nice clean holes, you can't go wrong with these bits. After boring a few holes in scrap to become familiar with the operating characteristics it was time to bore some holes in the bench rails. That went without a hitch.
After that was done I reassembled the base and went about doing some flattening of the top. I've got it pretty flat and now I wil wait until the slabs are fastened to the bench before I go any further. The next step is to route out the grooves for the sliding deadman, attach the cleats for the slats that go between the bottom rails and begin the vise installation.
I'm nearing the end of having my basement finished so progress on the bench will probably slow a bit over the next few weeks.


----------



## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *Slow week*
> 
> This week life intervened and I didn't get much work done on the bench. Just before I left on my trip I started to drill the holes in the side rails. I started by using a 3/4" auger bit in my drill press. Unfortunately I didn't plan this step quite as thoroughly as I have done for the rest of this project. Mistake #1 not trying this technique on a pice of scrap first and instead drilling into the bottom rail of the workbench. Mistake #2: Not clamping the rail down to the table of my drill press. The auger bit I'm using has a small screw tip before the drill flutes start. I've used this bit before to drill holes in my fixed bench for holdfasts and it worked like a charm. As soon as the bit touched the Ash though, it screwed in started to lift the entire rail. Since I was drilling near one end of the rail the weight caused one end to sag and I ended up with a hole that was less than round with a big auger bit stuck in it. Plan B: After extracting the bit I decided to use a 3/4 inch forstner bit on my drill press. The forstner bits I own are a middle of the road set. It soon became obvious that this bit simply wasn't going to hack drilling thru 2" of Ash. This was a perfect example of why I live by my tool adage: Buy the best, you'll always be happy with it. I bought those Forsner bits years ago and I've never been happy with them. I wasted $65 on that set. In order to recover I decided to try to find one of the new Colt MaxiCut forstner bits. I managed to locate a 3/4" bit in-stock at The Best Things. I ordered the bit and the 155mm extension. They arrived two days later, just before I got home from mytrip - perfect timing. I chucked the extension and put the bit in the extension. These bits are quite interesting. Where the shaft goes into the chuck it is not quite round. It has a slight edge on it that keeps it from spinning. The extension also has the same feature, and when the bit is placed into the extension and turned slightly, the pressure locks it in place. Really nice. The difference betwen this bit and my old forstner bits is night and day. I remember Christopher Schwarz saying that they were unable to over-feed this bit. I didn't have quite the same experience. I was able to over-feed the bit, but 3/4" is relatively small for a forstner. I think that a larger bit would be less likely to clog. However if I sowed down the feed rate just a bit then it bored incredibly well. The bit sends up tiny little ribbons of wood rather than the thick shavings of normal forstner bits. Even with the long extension on there was not perceptible run-out with this bit. They're not cheap (this one was $30), but if you need some really nice clean holes, you can't go wrong with these bits. After boring a few holes in scrap to become familiar with the operating characteristics it was time to bore some holes in the bench rails. That went without a hitch.
> After that was done I reassembled the base and went about doing some flattening of the top. I've got it pretty flat and now I wil wait until the slabs are fastened to the bench before I go any further. The next step is to route out the grooves for the sliding deadman, attach the cleats for the slats that go between the bottom rails and begin the vise installation.
> I'm nearing the end of having my basement finished so progress on the bench will probably slow a bit over the next few weeks.


Mark, this is looking good. You are more patient that I would be with regards to the bench. When I get this far along on a project I tend to ramp things up and focus on it to the exclusivity of everything else in an attempt to just get it done. Although it has only been about a month I am sure you will be glad when this is completed and ready to put to work.


----------



## Moai (Feb 9, 2009)

Loogie said:


> *Slow week*
> 
> This week life intervened and I didn't get much work done on the bench. Just before I left on my trip I started to drill the holes in the side rails. I started by using a 3/4" auger bit in my drill press. Unfortunately I didn't plan this step quite as thoroughly as I have done for the rest of this project. Mistake #1 not trying this technique on a pice of scrap first and instead drilling into the bottom rail of the workbench. Mistake #2: Not clamping the rail down to the table of my drill press. The auger bit I'm using has a small screw tip before the drill flutes start. I've used this bit before to drill holes in my fixed bench for holdfasts and it worked like a charm. As soon as the bit touched the Ash though, it screwed in started to lift the entire rail. Since I was drilling near one end of the rail the weight caused one end to sag and I ended up with a hole that was less than round with a big auger bit stuck in it. Plan B: After extracting the bit I decided to use a 3/4 inch forstner bit on my drill press. The forstner bits I own are a middle of the road set. It soon became obvious that this bit simply wasn't going to hack drilling thru 2" of Ash. This was a perfect example of why I live by my tool adage: Buy the best, you'll always be happy with it. I bought those Forsner bits years ago and I've never been happy with them. I wasted $65 on that set. In order to recover I decided to try to find one of the new Colt MaxiCut forstner bits. I managed to locate a 3/4" bit in-stock at The Best Things. I ordered the bit and the 155mm extension. They arrived two days later, just before I got home from mytrip - perfect timing. I chucked the extension and put the bit in the extension. These bits are quite interesting. Where the shaft goes into the chuck it is not quite round. It has a slight edge on it that keeps it from spinning. The extension also has the same feature, and when the bit is placed into the extension and turned slightly, the pressure locks it in place. Really nice. The difference betwen this bit and my old forstner bits is night and day. I remember Christopher Schwarz saying that they were unable to over-feed this bit. I didn't have quite the same experience. I was able to over-feed the bit, but 3/4" is relatively small for a forstner. I think that a larger bit would be less likely to clog. However if I sowed down the feed rate just a bit then it bored incredibly well. The bit sends up tiny little ribbons of wood rather than the thick shavings of normal forstner bits. Even with the long extension on there was not perceptible run-out with this bit. They're not cheap (this one was $30), but if you need some really nice clean holes, you can't go wrong with these bits. After boring a few holes in scrap to become familiar with the operating characteristics it was time to bore some holes in the bench rails. That went without a hitch.
> After that was done I reassembled the base and went about doing some flattening of the top. I've got it pretty flat and now I wil wait until the slabs are fastened to the bench before I go any further. The next step is to route out the grooves for the sliding deadman, attach the cleats for the slats that go between the bottom rails and begin the vise installation.
> I'm nearing the end of having my basement finished so progress on the bench will probably slow a bit over the next few weeks.


your bench is getting incredibly nice, I am enjoing your blog!
I hope to be working in my bench soon, and I know for sure what wood to go for! (psss…ash!)


----------



## Five40 (Feb 7, 2009)

Loogie said:


> *Slow week*
> 
> This week life intervened and I didn't get much work done on the bench. Just before I left on my trip I started to drill the holes in the side rails. I started by using a 3/4" auger bit in my drill press. Unfortunately I didn't plan this step quite as thoroughly as I have done for the rest of this project. Mistake #1 not trying this technique on a pice of scrap first and instead drilling into the bottom rail of the workbench. Mistake #2: Not clamping the rail down to the table of my drill press. The auger bit I'm using has a small screw tip before the drill flutes start. I've used this bit before to drill holes in my fixed bench for holdfasts and it worked like a charm. As soon as the bit touched the Ash though, it screwed in started to lift the entire rail. Since I was drilling near one end of the rail the weight caused one end to sag and I ended up with a hole that was less than round with a big auger bit stuck in it. Plan B: After extracting the bit I decided to use a 3/4 inch forstner bit on my drill press. The forstner bits I own are a middle of the road set. It soon became obvious that this bit simply wasn't going to hack drilling thru 2" of Ash. This was a perfect example of why I live by my tool adage: Buy the best, you'll always be happy with it. I bought those Forsner bits years ago and I've never been happy with them. I wasted $65 on that set. In order to recover I decided to try to find one of the new Colt MaxiCut forstner bits. I managed to locate a 3/4" bit in-stock at The Best Things. I ordered the bit and the 155mm extension. They arrived two days later, just before I got home from mytrip - perfect timing. I chucked the extension and put the bit in the extension. These bits are quite interesting. Where the shaft goes into the chuck it is not quite round. It has a slight edge on it that keeps it from spinning. The extension also has the same feature, and when the bit is placed into the extension and turned slightly, the pressure locks it in place. Really nice. The difference betwen this bit and my old forstner bits is night and day. I remember Christopher Schwarz saying that they were unable to over-feed this bit. I didn't have quite the same experience. I was able to over-feed the bit, but 3/4" is relatively small for a forstner. I think that a larger bit would be less likely to clog. However if I sowed down the feed rate just a bit then it bored incredibly well. The bit sends up tiny little ribbons of wood rather than the thick shavings of normal forstner bits. Even with the long extension on there was not perceptible run-out with this bit. They're not cheap (this one was $30), but if you need some really nice clean holes, you can't go wrong with these bits. After boring a few holes in scrap to become familiar with the operating characteristics it was time to bore some holes in the bench rails. That went without a hitch.
> After that was done I reassembled the base and went about doing some flattening of the top. I've got it pretty flat and now I wil wait until the slabs are fastened to the bench before I go any further. The next step is to route out the grooves for the sliding deadman, attach the cleats for the slats that go between the bottom rails and begin the vise installation.
> I'm nearing the end of having my basement finished so progress on the bench will probably slow a bit over the next few weeks.


Nice work! I'll be following along to see how it goes.


----------



## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *Slow week*
> 
> This week life intervened and I didn't get much work done on the bench. Just before I left on my trip I started to drill the holes in the side rails. I started by using a 3/4" auger bit in my drill press. Unfortunately I didn't plan this step quite as thoroughly as I have done for the rest of this project. Mistake #1 not trying this technique on a pice of scrap first and instead drilling into the bottom rail of the workbench. Mistake #2: Not clamping the rail down to the table of my drill press. The auger bit I'm using has a small screw tip before the drill flutes start. I've used this bit before to drill holes in my fixed bench for holdfasts and it worked like a charm. As soon as the bit touched the Ash though, it screwed in started to lift the entire rail. Since I was drilling near one end of the rail the weight caused one end to sag and I ended up with a hole that was less than round with a big auger bit stuck in it. Plan B: After extracting the bit I decided to use a 3/4 inch forstner bit on my drill press. The forstner bits I own are a middle of the road set. It soon became obvious that this bit simply wasn't going to hack drilling thru 2" of Ash. This was a perfect example of why I live by my tool adage: Buy the best, you'll always be happy with it. I bought those Forsner bits years ago and I've never been happy with them. I wasted $65 on that set. In order to recover I decided to try to find one of the new Colt MaxiCut forstner bits. I managed to locate a 3/4" bit in-stock at The Best Things. I ordered the bit and the 155mm extension. They arrived two days later, just before I got home from mytrip - perfect timing. I chucked the extension and put the bit in the extension. These bits are quite interesting. Where the shaft goes into the chuck it is not quite round. It has a slight edge on it that keeps it from spinning. The extension also has the same feature, and when the bit is placed into the extension and turned slightly, the pressure locks it in place. Really nice. The difference betwen this bit and my old forstner bits is night and day. I remember Christopher Schwarz saying that they were unable to over-feed this bit. I didn't have quite the same experience. I was able to over-feed the bit, but 3/4" is relatively small for a forstner. I think that a larger bit would be less likely to clog. However if I sowed down the feed rate just a bit then it bored incredibly well. The bit sends up tiny little ribbons of wood rather than the thick shavings of normal forstner bits. Even with the long extension on there was not perceptible run-out with this bit. They're not cheap (this one was $30), but if you need some really nice clean holes, you can't go wrong with these bits. After boring a few holes in scrap to become familiar with the operating characteristics it was time to bore some holes in the bench rails. That went without a hitch.
> After that was done I reassembled the base and went about doing some flattening of the top. I've got it pretty flat and now I wil wait until the slabs are fastened to the bench before I go any further. The next step is to route out the grooves for the sliding deadman, attach the cleats for the slats that go between the bottom rails and begin the vise installation.
> I'm nearing the end of having my basement finished so progress on the bench will probably slow a bit over the next few weeks.


Looking great so far. I bet you can wait to work "on" it rather that on it.


----------



## DocK16 (Mar 18, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *Slow week*
> 
> This week life intervened and I didn't get much work done on the bench. Just before I left on my trip I started to drill the holes in the side rails. I started by using a 3/4" auger bit in my drill press. Unfortunately I didn't plan this step quite as thoroughly as I have done for the rest of this project. Mistake #1 not trying this technique on a pice of scrap first and instead drilling into the bottom rail of the workbench. Mistake #2: Not clamping the rail down to the table of my drill press. The auger bit I'm using has a small screw tip before the drill flutes start. I've used this bit before to drill holes in my fixed bench for holdfasts and it worked like a charm. As soon as the bit touched the Ash though, it screwed in started to lift the entire rail. Since I was drilling near one end of the rail the weight caused one end to sag and I ended up with a hole that was less than round with a big auger bit stuck in it. Plan B: After extracting the bit I decided to use a 3/4 inch forstner bit on my drill press. The forstner bits I own are a middle of the road set. It soon became obvious that this bit simply wasn't going to hack drilling thru 2" of Ash. This was a perfect example of why I live by my tool adage: Buy the best, you'll always be happy with it. I bought those Forsner bits years ago and I've never been happy with them. I wasted $65 on that set. In order to recover I decided to try to find one of the new Colt MaxiCut forstner bits. I managed to locate a 3/4" bit in-stock at The Best Things. I ordered the bit and the 155mm extension. They arrived two days later, just before I got home from mytrip - perfect timing. I chucked the extension and put the bit in the extension. These bits are quite interesting. Where the shaft goes into the chuck it is not quite round. It has a slight edge on it that keeps it from spinning. The extension also has the same feature, and when the bit is placed into the extension and turned slightly, the pressure locks it in place. Really nice. The difference betwen this bit and my old forstner bits is night and day. I remember Christopher Schwarz saying that they were unable to over-feed this bit. I didn't have quite the same experience. I was able to over-feed the bit, but 3/4" is relatively small for a forstner. I think that a larger bit would be less likely to clog. However if I sowed down the feed rate just a bit then it bored incredibly well. The bit sends up tiny little ribbons of wood rather than the thick shavings of normal forstner bits. Even with the long extension on there was not perceptible run-out with this bit. They're not cheap (this one was $30), but if you need some really nice clean holes, you can't go wrong with these bits. After boring a few holes in scrap to become familiar with the operating characteristics it was time to bore some holes in the bench rails. That went without a hitch.
> After that was done I reassembled the base and went about doing some flattening of the top. I've got it pretty flat and now I wil wait until the slabs are fastened to the bench before I go any further. The next step is to route out the grooves for the sliding deadman, attach the cleats for the slats that go between the bottom rails and begin the vise installation.
> I'm nearing the end of having my basement finished so progress on the bench will probably slow a bit over the next few weeks.


Mark 
Not sure how I missed this blog series before but when I saw this latest blog and the nearly completed results I had to go back and check out the rest of the series. That is a lot of ash, I ve been wanting to build a nice work bench and have checked out several sets of plans, this looks interesting but any version is going to be wood pricey. Can't wait to see the finished product.


----------



## JuniorJoiner (Dec 24, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Slow week*
> 
> This week life intervened and I didn't get much work done on the bench. Just before I left on my trip I started to drill the holes in the side rails. I started by using a 3/4" auger bit in my drill press. Unfortunately I didn't plan this step quite as thoroughly as I have done for the rest of this project. Mistake #1 not trying this technique on a pice of scrap first and instead drilling into the bottom rail of the workbench. Mistake #2: Not clamping the rail down to the table of my drill press. The auger bit I'm using has a small screw tip before the drill flutes start. I've used this bit before to drill holes in my fixed bench for holdfasts and it worked like a charm. As soon as the bit touched the Ash though, it screwed in started to lift the entire rail. Since I was drilling near one end of the rail the weight caused one end to sag and I ended up with a hole that was less than round with a big auger bit stuck in it. Plan B: After extracting the bit I decided to use a 3/4 inch forstner bit on my drill press. The forstner bits I own are a middle of the road set. It soon became obvious that this bit simply wasn't going to hack drilling thru 2" of Ash. This was a perfect example of why I live by my tool adage: Buy the best, you'll always be happy with it. I bought those Forsner bits years ago and I've never been happy with them. I wasted $65 on that set. In order to recover I decided to try to find one of the new Colt MaxiCut forstner bits. I managed to locate a 3/4" bit in-stock at The Best Things. I ordered the bit and the 155mm extension. They arrived two days later, just before I got home from mytrip - perfect timing. I chucked the extension and put the bit in the extension. These bits are quite interesting. Where the shaft goes into the chuck it is not quite round. It has a slight edge on it that keeps it from spinning. The extension also has the same feature, and when the bit is placed into the extension and turned slightly, the pressure locks it in place. Really nice. The difference betwen this bit and my old forstner bits is night and day. I remember Christopher Schwarz saying that they were unable to over-feed this bit. I didn't have quite the same experience. I was able to over-feed the bit, but 3/4" is relatively small for a forstner. I think that a larger bit would be less likely to clog. However if I sowed down the feed rate just a bit then it bored incredibly well. The bit sends up tiny little ribbons of wood rather than the thick shavings of normal forstner bits. Even with the long extension on there was not perceptible run-out with this bit. They're not cheap (this one was $30), but if you need some really nice clean holes, you can't go wrong with these bits. After boring a few holes in scrap to become familiar with the operating characteristics it was time to bore some holes in the bench rails. That went without a hitch.
> After that was done I reassembled the base and went about doing some flattening of the top. I've got it pretty flat and now I wil wait until the slabs are fastened to the bench before I go any further. The next step is to route out the grooves for the sliding deadman, attach the cleats for the slats that go between the bottom rails and begin the vise installation.
> I'm nearing the end of having my basement finished so progress on the bench will probably slow a bit over the next few weeks.


great looking bench. I appreciate the nuances of working with ash.
your at the point that i wish i had stopped and built my bench accessories(bench hook, shooting board, etc.) so that you can add your dog holes and vices to work in compliment with how you work. just a suggestion.

can't wait to see the finished product


----------



## ShannonRogers (Jan 11, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Slow week*
> 
> This week life intervened and I didn't get much work done on the bench. Just before I left on my trip I started to drill the holes in the side rails. I started by using a 3/4" auger bit in my drill press. Unfortunately I didn't plan this step quite as thoroughly as I have done for the rest of this project. Mistake #1 not trying this technique on a pice of scrap first and instead drilling into the bottom rail of the workbench. Mistake #2: Not clamping the rail down to the table of my drill press. The auger bit I'm using has a small screw tip before the drill flutes start. I've used this bit before to drill holes in my fixed bench for holdfasts and it worked like a charm. As soon as the bit touched the Ash though, it screwed in started to lift the entire rail. Since I was drilling near one end of the rail the weight caused one end to sag and I ended up with a hole that was less than round with a big auger bit stuck in it. Plan B: After extracting the bit I decided to use a 3/4 inch forstner bit on my drill press. The forstner bits I own are a middle of the road set. It soon became obvious that this bit simply wasn't going to hack drilling thru 2" of Ash. This was a perfect example of why I live by my tool adage: Buy the best, you'll always be happy with it. I bought those Forsner bits years ago and I've never been happy with them. I wasted $65 on that set. In order to recover I decided to try to find one of the new Colt MaxiCut forstner bits. I managed to locate a 3/4" bit in-stock at The Best Things. I ordered the bit and the 155mm extension. They arrived two days later, just before I got home from mytrip - perfect timing. I chucked the extension and put the bit in the extension. These bits are quite interesting. Where the shaft goes into the chuck it is not quite round. It has a slight edge on it that keeps it from spinning. The extension also has the same feature, and when the bit is placed into the extension and turned slightly, the pressure locks it in place. Really nice. The difference betwen this bit and my old forstner bits is night and day. I remember Christopher Schwarz saying that they were unable to over-feed this bit. I didn't have quite the same experience. I was able to over-feed the bit, but 3/4" is relatively small for a forstner. I think that a larger bit would be less likely to clog. However if I sowed down the feed rate just a bit then it bored incredibly well. The bit sends up tiny little ribbons of wood rather than the thick shavings of normal forstner bits. Even with the long extension on there was not perceptible run-out with this bit. They're not cheap (this one was $30), but if you need some really nice clean holes, you can't go wrong with these bits. After boring a few holes in scrap to become familiar with the operating characteristics it was time to bore some holes in the bench rails. That went without a hitch.
> After that was done I reassembled the base and went about doing some flattening of the top. I've got it pretty flat and now I wil wait until the slabs are fastened to the bench before I go any further. The next step is to route out the grooves for the sliding deadman, attach the cleats for the slats that go between the bottom rails and begin the vise installation.
> I'm nearing the end of having my basement finished so progress on the bench will probably slow a bit over the next few weeks.


Looking good. How did you trim the ends of the benchtop? I am still trying to figure out the best way to do this for my 4" thick top. It needs to be pretty accurate since I will be fitting and end cap to it.

I might pick up some of those forstner bits too.

Shannon


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## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Slow week*
> 
> This week life intervened and I didn't get much work done on the bench. Just before I left on my trip I started to drill the holes in the side rails. I started by using a 3/4" auger bit in my drill press. Unfortunately I didn't plan this step quite as thoroughly as I have done for the rest of this project. Mistake #1 not trying this technique on a pice of scrap first and instead drilling into the bottom rail of the workbench. Mistake #2: Not clamping the rail down to the table of my drill press. The auger bit I'm using has a small screw tip before the drill flutes start. I've used this bit before to drill holes in my fixed bench for holdfasts and it worked like a charm. As soon as the bit touched the Ash though, it screwed in started to lift the entire rail. Since I was drilling near one end of the rail the weight caused one end to sag and I ended up with a hole that was less than round with a big auger bit stuck in it. Plan B: After extracting the bit I decided to use a 3/4 inch forstner bit on my drill press. The forstner bits I own are a middle of the road set. It soon became obvious that this bit simply wasn't going to hack drilling thru 2" of Ash. This was a perfect example of why I live by my tool adage: Buy the best, you'll always be happy with it. I bought those Forsner bits years ago and I've never been happy with them. I wasted $65 on that set. In order to recover I decided to try to find one of the new Colt MaxiCut forstner bits. I managed to locate a 3/4" bit in-stock at The Best Things. I ordered the bit and the 155mm extension. They arrived two days later, just before I got home from mytrip - perfect timing. I chucked the extension and put the bit in the extension. These bits are quite interesting. Where the shaft goes into the chuck it is not quite round. It has a slight edge on it that keeps it from spinning. The extension also has the same feature, and when the bit is placed into the extension and turned slightly, the pressure locks it in place. Really nice. The difference betwen this bit and my old forstner bits is night and day. I remember Christopher Schwarz saying that they were unable to over-feed this bit. I didn't have quite the same experience. I was able to over-feed the bit, but 3/4" is relatively small for a forstner. I think that a larger bit would be less likely to clog. However if I sowed down the feed rate just a bit then it bored incredibly well. The bit sends up tiny little ribbons of wood rather than the thick shavings of normal forstner bits. Even with the long extension on there was not perceptible run-out with this bit. They're not cheap (this one was $30), but if you need some really nice clean holes, you can't go wrong with these bits. After boring a few holes in scrap to become familiar with the operating characteristics it was time to bore some holes in the bench rails. That went without a hitch.
> After that was done I reassembled the base and went about doing some flattening of the top. I've got it pretty flat and now I wil wait until the slabs are fastened to the bench before I go any further. The next step is to route out the grooves for the sliding deadman, attach the cleats for the slats that go between the bottom rails and begin the vise installation.
> I'm nearing the end of having my basement finished so progress on the bench will probably slow a bit over the next few weeks.


Shannon, I used my sliding compound miter saw to cut the ends of the bench. It worked great. It was pretty close to the maximum capacity of my saw - 12" wide and 3 3/4" thick. That's a tough haul, but my 12" Forrest Chopmaster left a nice smooth finish.


----------



## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Slow week*
> 
> This week life intervened and I didn't get much work done on the bench. Just before I left on my trip I started to drill the holes in the side rails. I started by using a 3/4" auger bit in my drill press. Unfortunately I didn't plan this step quite as thoroughly as I have done for the rest of this project. Mistake #1 not trying this technique on a pice of scrap first and instead drilling into the bottom rail of the workbench. Mistake #2: Not clamping the rail down to the table of my drill press. The auger bit I'm using has a small screw tip before the drill flutes start. I've used this bit before to drill holes in my fixed bench for holdfasts and it worked like a charm. As soon as the bit touched the Ash though, it screwed in started to lift the entire rail. Since I was drilling near one end of the rail the weight caused one end to sag and I ended up with a hole that was less than round with a big auger bit stuck in it. Plan B: After extracting the bit I decided to use a 3/4 inch forstner bit on my drill press. The forstner bits I own are a middle of the road set. It soon became obvious that this bit simply wasn't going to hack drilling thru 2" of Ash. This was a perfect example of why I live by my tool adage: Buy the best, you'll always be happy with it. I bought those Forsner bits years ago and I've never been happy with them. I wasted $65 on that set. In order to recover I decided to try to find one of the new Colt MaxiCut forstner bits. I managed to locate a 3/4" bit in-stock at The Best Things. I ordered the bit and the 155mm extension. They arrived two days later, just before I got home from mytrip - perfect timing. I chucked the extension and put the bit in the extension. These bits are quite interesting. Where the shaft goes into the chuck it is not quite round. It has a slight edge on it that keeps it from spinning. The extension also has the same feature, and when the bit is placed into the extension and turned slightly, the pressure locks it in place. Really nice. The difference betwen this bit and my old forstner bits is night and day. I remember Christopher Schwarz saying that they were unable to over-feed this bit. I didn't have quite the same experience. I was able to over-feed the bit, but 3/4" is relatively small for a forstner. I think that a larger bit would be less likely to clog. However if I sowed down the feed rate just a bit then it bored incredibly well. The bit sends up tiny little ribbons of wood rather than the thick shavings of normal forstner bits. Even with the long extension on there was not perceptible run-out with this bit. They're not cheap (this one was $30), but if you need some really nice clean holes, you can't go wrong with these bits. After boring a few holes in scrap to become familiar with the operating characteristics it was time to bore some holes in the bench rails. That went without a hitch.
> After that was done I reassembled the base and went about doing some flattening of the top. I've got it pretty flat and now I wil wait until the slabs are fastened to the bench before I go any further. The next step is to route out the grooves for the sliding deadman, attach the cleats for the slats that go between the bottom rails and begin the vise installation.
> I'm nearing the end of having my basement finished so progress on the bench will probably slow a bit over the next few weeks.


Mark, how is top going to come togther?


----------



## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

*Another "boring" post *

After buying the 3/4" Colt Maxicut forstner bit, I still wasn't happy with my hole boring operation. The Maxicut is great, but I just felt that for holes almost 4" deep there had to be another option. I ended up buying another Colt product - their Twinland Brad Point bit. THIS was the answer I was looking for! This bit hogs out a nice clean hole and the leaves smooth exit as well.





Next I had to decide how to best drill the 1 1/2" holes for the screws on the Veritas Twin Screw Vise - I ended up trying an "Irwin Speedbor 1 1/2 spade bit. I've not had much luck with space bits in the past. They normally leave a really rough hole and a terrible exit. I was very pleasantly surprised with the Speedbor bit. As log as I slowed the feed rate at the entry and exit it was very smooth with little/no tearout. Here's a picture of both holes in my scrap.



Now that I have the proper boring bits it's time to turn to vise installation.


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## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

*Time to install the tail vise*

For the tail vise I chose the Jorgensen 41012 quick-release vise. The vise comes with lag screws to attach it to the bottom of the bench, but I decided to thru-bolt it to the bench for increased security. To mark the holes for the vise I flipped it upside down on the top of the bench and marked the centers for the holes, but this location deosn't take into account the fact that the face of the vise will be mortised into the end of the bench in order for it to be flush, so I then moved the center marks back into the bench an amount equal to the depth of the vise face. I did the same procedure on the bottom of the bench so that I could verify their position before drilling the holes. Having these holes in the wrong spot would be a major foul-up.
Then I marked out the edge of the vise face on the end of the bench.



Then I secured some 1/2" MDF to the end of the bench with double-sided tape and used a pattern bit in my trim router to route out the mortise. At this point I was concentrating on getting a nice clean line where the edge of the vise will meet the bench top.



Removing the waste at the very bottom edge of the notch was difficult because the router base no longer had any support and wanted to tip into the bench. My solution here was to secure another piece of MDF to the bottom of the bench that extended out to meet the end of the bench. That gave me an edge to rest the base on and the base was wide enough to straddle the MDF and the edge of the bench.



Now I was able to verify the hole locations and drill them. I started with a 7/8" forstner bit in order to counter sink the bolt head about 3/16" below the top of the bench, then I finished the hole using guide block that I had made. After the initial fitting of the vise it because obvious I was going to have to shim the behind the bolts just a touch to bring the face parallel to the end of the bench. I used a few cut washers as shims and it worked like a champ.



Next it was time to apply the leather to the faces. For this vise I decided to apply it to both faces. I had the leather and it's easy enough to remove if I decide I only want it on the metal side later. The leather came from seat cushion cover from a leather sofa we have that was damaged during shipment and replaced by the manufacturer. I applied it with spray contact cement adhesive - sprayed to the leather only.







I'm very happy with this vise. It grips tenaciously and the quick-release is very easy to use, just 1/2 turn back and slide around to where you want it.


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## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *Time to install the tail vise*
> 
> For the tail vise I chose the Jorgensen 41012 quick-release vise. The vise comes with lag screws to attach it to the bottom of the bench, but I decided to thru-bolt it to the bench for increased security. To mark the holes for the vise I flipped it upside down on the top of the bench and marked the centers for the holes, but this location deosn't take into account the fact that the face of the vise will be mortised into the end of the bench in order for it to be flush, so I then moved the center marks back into the bench an amount equal to the depth of the vise face. I did the same procedure on the bottom of the bench so that I could verify their position before drilling the holes. Having these holes in the wrong spot would be a major foul-up.
> Then I marked out the edge of the vise face on the end of the bench.
> ...


The bench is looking great so far!

I have some Elk leather. That looks like a pretty good idea!


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## martin007 (Jan 24, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Time to install the tail vise*
> 
> For the tail vise I chose the Jorgensen 41012 quick-release vise. The vise comes with lag screws to attach it to the bottom of the bench, but I decided to thru-bolt it to the bench for increased security. To mark the holes for the vise I flipped it upside down on the top of the bench and marked the centers for the holes, but this location deosn't take into account the fact that the face of the vise will be mortised into the end of the bench in order for it to be flush, so I then moved the center marks back into the bench an amount equal to the depth of the vise face. I did the same procedure on the bottom of the bench so that I could verify their position before drilling the holes. Having these holes in the wrong spot would be a major foul-up.
> Then I marked out the edge of the vise face on the end of the bench.
> ...


wow! Great work , and superb bench! I really enjoy this blog

thanks for sharing


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## BigBard (Jan 19, 2009)

Loogie said:


> *Time to install the tail vise*
> 
> For the tail vise I chose the Jorgensen 41012 quick-release vise. The vise comes with lag screws to attach it to the bottom of the bench, but I decided to thru-bolt it to the bench for increased security. To mark the holes for the vise I flipped it upside down on the top of the bench and marked the centers for the holes, but this location deosn't take into account the fact that the face of the vise will be mortised into the end of the bench in order for it to be flush, so I then moved the center marks back into the bench an amount equal to the depth of the vise face. I did the same procedure on the bottom of the bench so that I could verify their position before drilling the holes. Having these holes in the wrong spot would be a major foul-up.
> Then I marked out the edge of the vise face on the end of the bench.
> ...


Great pictures! must to be a really good camera!


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *Time to install the tail vise*
> 
> For the tail vise I chose the Jorgensen 41012 quick-release vise. The vise comes with lag screws to attach it to the bottom of the bench, but I decided to thru-bolt it to the bench for increased security. To mark the holes for the vise I flipped it upside down on the top of the bench and marked the centers for the holes, but this location deosn't take into account the fact that the face of the vise will be mortised into the end of the bench in order for it to be flush, so I then moved the center marks back into the bench an amount equal to the depth of the vise face. I did the same procedure on the bottom of the bench so that I could verify their position before drilling the holes. Having these holes in the wrong spot would be a major foul-up.
> Then I marked out the edge of the vise face on the end of the bench.
> ...


This is looking great. Until I read Chris Swarz's book I would not have thought about using leather in the vice. It appears to be a nice improvement in the clamping power of the vice.


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Time to install the tail vise*
> 
> For the tail vise I chose the Jorgensen 41012 quick-release vise. The vise comes with lag screws to attach it to the bottom of the bench, but I decided to thru-bolt it to the bench for increased security. To mark the holes for the vise I flipped it upside down on the top of the bench and marked the centers for the holes, but this location deosn't take into account the fact that the face of the vise will be mortised into the end of the bench in order for it to be flush, so I then moved the center marks back into the bench an amount equal to the depth of the vise face. I did the same procedure on the bottom of the bench so that I could verify their position before drilling the holes. Having these holes in the wrong spot would be a major foul-up.
> Then I marked out the edge of the vise face on the end of the bench.
> ...


Thanks for the update.


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## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

*Project Completion: The tool trays are completed & installed*

After several weeks of working on hanging doors, trim work and building a bathroom vanity I finally got a chance to finish up my workbench. One of the features that really attracted me to this workbench design in the first place was the reversible tool trays. I really don't like the idea of having a big trough running down the middle of my bench, but being able to flip the trays over and have flat surface was very appealing. I decided to dovetail the trays rather than use the rabbet joint that Bob Lang had used. Although that would have been much easier I didn't want to have to look at rabbeted drawers for the rest of my life. I also decided to use a 67 1/2* shaker panel raising bit for the tray bottoms. It was simply more aesthetically pleasing to me.


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## steveosshop (Jun 21, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Project Completion: The tool trays are completed & installed*
> 
> After several weeks of working on hanging doors, trim work and building a bathroom vanity I finally got a chance to finish up my workbench. One of the features that really attracted me to this workbench design in the first place was the reversible tool trays. I really don't like the idea of having a big trough running down the middle of my bench, but being able to flip the trays over and have flat surface was very appealing. I decided to dovetail the trays rather than use the rabbet joint that Bob Lang had used. Although that would have been much easier I didn't want to have to look at rabbeted drawers for the rest of my life. I also decided to use a 67 1/2* shaker panel raising bit for the tray bottoms. It was simply more aesthetically pleasing to me.


That is an amazing looking workbench!!! That should be a great tool to use for any future projects.


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## azwoodman (Feb 22, 2009)

Loogie said:


> *Project Completion: The tool trays are completed & installed*
> 
> After several weeks of working on hanging doors, trim work and building a bathroom vanity I finally got a chance to finish up my workbench. One of the features that really attracted me to this workbench design in the first place was the reversible tool trays. I really don't like the idea of having a big trough running down the middle of my bench, but being able to flip the trays over and have flat surface was very appealing. I decided to dovetail the trays rather than use the rabbet joint that Bob Lang had used. Although that would have been much easier I didn't want to have to look at rabbeted drawers for the rest of my life. I also decided to use a 67 1/2* shaker panel raising bit for the tray bottoms. It was simply more aesthetically pleasing to me.


Absolutely amazing! The 21st Century Workbench at its finest! I want to build the same one. I am going to favorite your bench and definitely refer back to it when it's my turn to build it. I like the contrasting woods that you used. Very nice.


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## kiwi1969 (Dec 22, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Project Completion: The tool trays are completed & installed*
> 
> After several weeks of working on hanging doors, trim work and building a bathroom vanity I finally got a chance to finish up my workbench. One of the features that really attracted me to this workbench design in the first place was the reversible tool trays. I really don't like the idea of having a big trough running down the middle of my bench, but being able to flip the trays over and have flat surface was very appealing. I decided to dovetail the trays rather than use the rabbet joint that Bob Lang had used. Although that would have been much easier I didn't want to have to look at rabbeted drawers for the rest of my life. I also decided to use a 67 1/2* shaker panel raising bit for the tray bottoms. It was simply more aesthetically pleasing to me.


you can rightfully be proud of that one.


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## TheRecklessOne (Apr 15, 2009)

Loogie said:


> *Project Completion: The tool trays are completed & installed*
> 
> After several weeks of working on hanging doors, trim work and building a bathroom vanity I finally got a chance to finish up my workbench. One of the features that really attracted me to this workbench design in the first place was the reversible tool trays. I really don't like the idea of having a big trough running down the middle of my bench, but being able to flip the trays over and have flat surface was very appealing. I decided to dovetail the trays rather than use the rabbet joint that Bob Lang had used. Although that would have been much easier I didn't want to have to look at rabbeted drawers for the rest of my life. I also decided to use a 67 1/2* shaker panel raising bit for the tray bottoms. It was simply more aesthetically pleasing to me.


That's incredibly gorgeous… Are you busting at the seems to work on it? I'd be afraid to muff up something that nice… Great work!!!!


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## Mario (Apr 23, 2007)

Loogie said:


> *Project Completion: The tool trays are completed & installed*
> 
> After several weeks of working on hanging doors, trim work and building a bathroom vanity I finally got a chance to finish up my workbench. One of the features that really attracted me to this workbench design in the first place was the reversible tool trays. I really don't like the idea of having a big trough running down the middle of my bench, but being able to flip the trays over and have flat surface was very appealing. I decided to dovetail the trays rather than use the rabbet joint that Bob Lang had used. Although that would have been much easier I didn't want to have to look at rabbeted drawers for the rest of my life. I also decided to use a 67 1/2* shaker panel raising bit for the tray bottoms. It was simply more aesthetically pleasing to me.


That is one awesome bench. Great work.

thanks for sharing the progress with us.


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## WhittleMeThis (Mar 1, 2009)

Loogie said:


> *Project Completion: The tool trays are completed & installed*
> 
> After several weeks of working on hanging doors, trim work and building a bathroom vanity I finally got a chance to finish up my workbench. One of the features that really attracted me to this workbench design in the first place was the reversible tool trays. I really don't like the idea of having a big trough running down the middle of my bench, but being able to flip the trays over and have flat surface was very appealing. I decided to dovetail the trays rather than use the rabbet joint that Bob Lang had used. Although that would have been much easier I didn't want to have to look at rabbeted drawers for the rest of my life. I also decided to use a 67 1/2* shaker panel raising bit for the tray bottoms. It was simply more aesthetically pleasing to me.


Great job, the tool trays in the middle are a great touch. The workbench should last a lifetime.


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## charlton (Jan 24, 2009)

Loogie said:


> *Project Completion: The tool trays are completed & installed*
> 
> After several weeks of working on hanging doors, trim work and building a bathroom vanity I finally got a chance to finish up my workbench. One of the features that really attracted me to this workbench design in the first place was the reversible tool trays. I really don't like the idea of having a big trough running down the middle of my bench, but being able to flip the trays over and have flat surface was very appealing. I decided to dovetail the trays rather than use the rabbet joint that Bob Lang had used. Although that would have been much easier I didn't want to have to look at rabbeted drawers for the rest of my life. I also decided to use a 67 1/2* shaker panel raising bit for the tray bottoms. It was simply more aesthetically pleasing to me.


Very nice. Looks impressive! Congrats!


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Project Completion: The tool trays are completed & installed*
> 
> After several weeks of working on hanging doors, trim work and building a bathroom vanity I finally got a chance to finish up my workbench. One of the features that really attracted me to this workbench design in the first place was the reversible tool trays. I really don't like the idea of having a big trough running down the middle of my bench, but being able to flip the trays over and have flat surface was very appealing. I decided to dovetail the trays rather than use the rabbet joint that Bob Lang had used. Although that would have been much easier I didn't want to have to look at rabbeted drawers for the rest of my life. I also decided to use a 67 1/2* shaker panel raising bit for the tray bottoms. It was simply more aesthetically pleasing to me.


Thats a nice looking workbench.


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## reDesigner (Dec 13, 2012)

Loogie said:


> *Project Completion: The tool trays are completed & installed*
> 
> After several weeks of working on hanging doors, trim work and building a bathroom vanity I finally got a chance to finish up my workbench. One of the features that really attracted me to this workbench design in the first place was the reversible tool trays. I really don't like the idea of having a big trough running down the middle of my bench, but being able to flip the trays over and have flat surface was very appealing. I decided to dovetail the trays rather than use the rabbet joint that Bob Lang had used. Although that would have been much easier I didn't want to have to look at rabbeted drawers for the rest of my life. I also decided to use a 67 1/2* shaker panel raising bit for the tray bottoms. It was simply more aesthetically pleasing to me.


I was just looking back over the entire workbench series and this looks like a great project.

As I understand, this bench is designed with knock-down components so it can be disassembled at some point.

How are the slab tops attached to the upright leg frames that they still remain removable? I tried to extract this information from pictures, but didn't catch that part.


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## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Project Completion: The tool trays are completed & installed*
> 
> After several weeks of working on hanging doors, trim work and building a bathroom vanity I finally got a chance to finish up my workbench. One of the features that really attracted me to this workbench design in the first place was the reversible tool trays. I really don't like the idea of having a big trough running down the middle of my bench, but being able to flip the trays over and have flat surface was very appealing. I decided to dovetail the trays rather than use the rabbet joint that Bob Lang had used. Although that would have been much easier I didn't want to have to look at rabbeted drawers for the rest of my life. I also decided to use a 67 1/2* shaker panel raising bit for the tray bottoms. It was simply more aesthetically pleasing to me.


The bench top is secured to the legs with lag screws. Two per slab per leg. Eight screws in total.

If you are considering making this bench then there are a couple of modifications I would make now that I've used it for a few years.
1) eliminate the top cross-member. You don't need it. The bench does not rack at all with it removed. If you are concerned about that you could always increase the width of the bottom crossmember.
2) add a sliding deadman. Elimination of the crossmember will allow you to install the sliding deadman. As it stands I find that panel edges often fall in the gap above and below the top cross member and I have no easy way to support it.
3) eliminate the trays and just make a gap 1 1/2" - 2" wide to allow you to get a clamp through it.
4) fill the gap with a filler that creates a 3/8" gap to store chisels and saws in while working. If you create the filler piece to be taller than the bench top slabs by 3/8" and then notch it around the leg cross braces you will be able to flip it over and have a nice planing stop. My trays are rarely flipped over. They looked great, but don't get much use in reality. I made another bench with a split-top as described and I like it a lot better. 
5) make the bench top slabs asymmetrical with the wider one in the the front and the narrower one in the back. That will give you as much room as possible to work without having to maneuver around things stores in the slot.


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## mkamp (Apr 9, 2015)

Loogie said:


> *Project Completion: The tool trays are completed & installed*
> 
> After several weeks of working on hanging doors, trim work and building a bathroom vanity I finally got a chance to finish up my workbench. One of the features that really attracted me to this workbench design in the first place was the reversible tool trays. I really don't like the idea of having a big trough running down the middle of my bench, but being able to flip the trays over and have flat surface was very appealing. I decided to dovetail the trays rather than use the rabbet joint that Bob Lang had used. Although that would have been much easier I didn't want to have to look at rabbeted drawers for the rest of my life. I also decided to use a 67 1/2* shaker panel raising bit for the tray bottoms. It was simply more aesthetically pleasing to me.


Mark,

thanks very much for sharing all this information. I hope that now in 2015 you're still happy with it!

Mariano


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## Loogie (Jan 19, 2008)

Loogie said:


> *Project Completion: The tool trays are completed & installed*
> 
> After several weeks of working on hanging doors, trim work and building a bathroom vanity I finally got a chance to finish up my workbench. One of the features that really attracted me to this workbench design in the first place was the reversible tool trays. I really don't like the idea of having a big trough running down the middle of my bench, but being able to flip the trays over and have flat surface was very appealing. I decided to dovetail the trays rather than use the rabbet joint that Bob Lang had used. Although that would have been much easier I didn't want to have to look at rabbeted drawers for the rest of my life. I also decided to use a 67 1/2* shaker panel raising bit for the tray bottoms. It was simply more aesthetically pleasing to me.


Thanks Mariano. After many years of using this bench it is doing great. However, see my comment above for lessons learned.


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