# Jeweler's Bench



## mwaldtha (Feb 28, 2010)

*The Top*

My wife and I have been sharing my workbench out in the garage for my woodworking projects as well as her jewelry making projects for a while now but we both decided it was time for her to have her own workbench. We looked around online and found some nice looking jeweler's benches but of course I said: "I could just build you one of those.", so here we are. I quickly looked around for some plans but didn't find any so I just had her pick out the one she liked best and decided to give it a go based on the picture of the one she selected.










I'm building the jeweler's bench mainly out of baltic birch plywood and alder. The picture above shows a maple butcher block type top, but I couldn't afford one of those so I built up my top from the plywood and wrapped it with the alder. This meant I had to figure out a way to wrap that curved section on the front of the bench. I thought about using a veneer but I don't think that would hold up very well once she starts really using the bench. Instead I created a template of the profile from some 1/4" MDF and using my jigsaw for the rough cut (I don't have a band saw) and my router with a flush trim bit I cut the bench top to the profile.










I then used the same template to cut out three pieces of alder to use as the wrapping of the front edge. Well, when I finished with that I found that the pieces of alder didn't really match the profile in the bench top. They were close, but something wasn't right. I'll admit that it took me a little while to understand what went wrong. Well, it started with the creation of my template. See, I made the template from the edge of the piece of MDF which meant I really only had one part of the template. (Technically I did have the other part, the waste cut, but it was too small to clamp in place and use.) Anyway, when I used the template to create the face of the wrapping it worked fine, but when I slid the template back to cut the back side of the wrapping I really needed to be following the other piece of the template instead. This basically comes down to the fact that the corners of the profile are curved and this meant that while my bit was following the outside radius of a curve it was cutting the inside radius of that curve into the back side of the wrapping and that is why they didn't match up properly. Hopefully that description makes sense. ;-) I ended up creating the missing template on the opposite edge of the MDF (as shown in the picture above) and then cut the top to match the back of the wrapping pieces. This meant not much was wasted, except time and a few brain cells.










Once I figured all of that out the rest was pretty straight forward since the remaining wrap pieces are all straight and I just butted them up at 90 degree angles. I glued everything up, secured it all with some countersunk screws that will get some plugs or buttons added later, and rounded off all of the sharp corners.










The top is 37"x25" and is 2" thick with 3 1/2" edge wrapping on the sides and back. I still have a couple of things to do on the bench top before it is finished but they are pretty minor. Next time I will be building the leg assembly so stay tuned. Oh, and as always, be safe and watch where you're routing. ;-)


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

mwaldtha said:


> *The Top*
> 
> My wife and I have been sharing my workbench out in the garage for my woodworking projects as well as her jewelry making projects for a while now but we both decided it was time for her to have her own workbench. We looked around online and found some nice looking jeweler's benches but of course I said: "I could just build you one of those.", so here we are. I quickly looked around for some plans but didn't find any so I just had her pick out the one she liked best and decided to give it a go based on the picture of the one she selected.
> 
> ...


Looks neat good use of a template


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

mwaldtha said:


> *The Top*
> 
> My wife and I have been sharing my workbench out in the garage for my woodworking projects as well as her jewelry making projects for a while now but we both decided it was time for her to have her own workbench. We looked around online and found some nice looking jeweler's benches but of course I said: "I could just build you one of those.", so here we are. I quickly looked around for some plans but didn't find any so I just had her pick out the one she liked best and decided to give it a go based on the picture of the one she selected.
> 
> ...


As a jeweler, when I'm not being an engineer or a woodworker, I would like to point out a small problem with your design. I hope you take this as constructive criticism, as it's intended.

Most of what a jeweler does involves working with files at some point. Half round ring files, needle files, barrett files, etc. When you file on gold or silver the cuttings tend to clog the teeth of the file. That's where the problem comes in. We usually tap the file on the edge of the bench top to knock those cuttings loose where they can fall into the catch tray below. Your top is way too pretty to be smacking with the edge of a file all the time. I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to get much done on that bench. It's too nice to work on.

Darn nice piece of furniture though, good job.


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## mwaldtha (Feb 28, 2010)

mwaldtha said:


> *The Top*
> 
> My wife and I have been sharing my workbench out in the garage for my woodworking projects as well as her jewelry making projects for a while now but we both decided it was time for her to have her own workbench. We looked around online and found some nice looking jeweler's benches but of course I said: "I could just build you one of those.", so here we are. I quickly looked around for some plans but didn't find any so I just had her pick out the one she liked best and decided to give it a go based on the picture of the one she selected.
> 
> ...


Whew, crank49, for a second there I thought there was some major flaw in my design. ;-) I'm sure my wife will have no problem beating it up once I'm finished with it though. Thanks for the comments and compliments!


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## mwaldtha (Feb 28, 2010)

*The Top - Details*

OK, I lied. This installment isn't about the building of the bench legs. I had a few more details to add to the bench top and didn't think they would make for their own entry but now I think they can stand on their own, so here we go.

The bench my wife picked out has a small steel plate attached to the top of the bench for hammering on and whatnot. I had already purchased her a 4"x4" steel block for this purpose so I decided to simply make a matching recess in the top to hold this block.










Since I had already attached the sides and the back to the bench top I had to get a little creative with setting up some guides for my router to follow. I ended up finding a few scrap pieces that fit the space well and just stacked them up high enough so that the sides of the bench would not interfere with my clamps. After routing out the recess I just had to chisel out the corners to square them up. Surprisingly I got the fit just right on the first try. (Good thing I was erring on making the recess too small.)



















I intentionally made the recess about half as deep as the steel block is thick. One, because this allows you to pull the block out easily if you need to and two, because I needed to leave some material between the bottom of the recess and the top of the next addition.

The next addition is another recess for what is called a bench pin. I don't really know how to describe what a bench pin is but if you're interested just Google for it and you'll get the idea. Anyway, I needed to create this recess in the center of the face of the bench top and I wanted to make it 2" deep. For this I turned to my new corded drill, a 3/4" forstner bit, and my handy drill guide. (I wish I had both the drill guide and the corded drill when I was drilling the bench dogs in my workbench. Some lessons you just learn the hard way.)










After drilling out the majority of the recess I had to smooth out the inside. I'm not very good with a chisel but I figured since no one is ever going to really see this space it would be a good place to practice. I did an OK job with the chisel but decided to go one step further and used a small sanding attachment on my wife's Dremel to get things a bit smoother. I think these were the best tools for this job (that I own) but if anyone has a better suggestion let me know and I'll file it away for the future. 

Once the recess for the bench pin was done I just needed to add a small threaded insert from the underside of the bench top that would accept a threaded rod with a wing nut so the bench pin can be held in place.



















Now I think I can move on to those leg assemblies but I'm not making any promises this time. ;-)


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

mwaldtha said:


> *The Top - Details*
> 
> OK, I lied. This installment isn't about the building of the bench legs. I had a few more details to add to the bench top and didn't think they would make for their own entry but now I think they can stand on their own, so here we go.
> 
> ...


Tops looking good


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## mwaldtha (Feb 28, 2010)

*The Leg Assemblies*

Well, I must not be much of a Summer woodworker because it took me all Summer to get back to this project. I'd like to say I was just too busy with other things or that my shop (aka garage) was too hot to work in but in truth I just wasn't "in the mood" to do much woodworking this Summer. However, with Fall kicking in, that old itch has returned and I managed to complete the leg assemblies for my wife's jeweler's bench.

There's nothing too fancy about these legs. I started out with some 2×4 lumber and cut the main legs and the stretchers with my miter saw and the new support platform I built for it.



















Then I mounted a dado blade in my table saw for the first time and ate away at the parts for the half lap joints.



















After cutting the panels from some 1/4 inch plywood and routing a groove in the leg parts I could assemble both legs together.










After mounting the legs to the top of the bench it's finally starting to look like something, and it's only taken me 5 months (as my wife is fond of reminding me). ;-)










If you notice the cut out areas at the inside tops of the legs in the above picture, those are for supporting the bank of drawers that are still to come. Hopefully I'll have those done before Spring. ;-)


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## hairy (Sep 23, 2008)

mwaldtha said:


> *The Leg Assemblies*
> 
> Well, I must not be much of a Summer woodworker because it took me all Summer to get back to this project. I'd like to say I was just too busy with other things or that my shop (aka garage) was too hot to work in but in truth I just wasn't "in the mood" to do much woodworking this Summer. However, with Fall kicking in, that old itch has returned and I managed to complete the leg assemblies for my wife's jeweler's bench.
> 
> ...


That's looking good. I'll be watching to see how this turns out. A jeweler's bench is a very useful item, even for those who aren't a jeweler. I came so close to buying one in an antique store, knowing I had absolutely no place to put it.


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## JamieH (Sep 26, 2010)

mwaldtha said:


> *The Leg Assemblies*
> 
> Well, I must not be much of a Summer woodworker because it took me all Summer to get back to this project. I'd like to say I was just too busy with other things or that my shop (aka garage) was too hot to work in but in truth I just wasn't "in the mood" to do much woodworking this Summer. However, with Fall kicking in, that old itch has returned and I managed to complete the leg assemblies for my wife's jeweler's bench.
> 
> ...


Looks nice. Keep up the good work!


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

mwaldtha said:


> *The Leg Assemblies*
> 
> Well, I must not be much of a Summer woodworker because it took me all Summer to get back to this project. I'd like to say I was just too busy with other things or that my shop (aka garage) was too hot to work in but in truth I just wasn't "in the mood" to do much woodworking this Summer. However, with Fall kicking in, that old itch has returned and I managed to complete the leg assemblies for my wife's jeweler's bench.
> 
> ...


Hey Marc, thats looking good. But, a jeweler's stool is only about 20" to 22" high. That puts your work right about chin level when it's on the bench top. For best eye focus distance; especially when using an optivisor or loupe.

Also, slightly off topic, I see you have a Craftsman 81233 contractor saw in the 3rd and 4th pictures. I got that same saw back in the spring. How are you liking it? Have you found a source for zero clearance throat plate. I couldn't find one so I made one from 10ga aluminum.


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## mwaldtha (Feb 28, 2010)

mwaldtha said:


> *The Leg Assemblies*
> 
> Well, I must not be much of a Summer woodworker because it took me all Summer to get back to this project. I'd like to say I was just too busy with other things or that my shop (aka garage) was too hot to work in but in truth I just wasn't "in the mood" to do much woodworking this Summer. However, with Fall kicking in, that old itch has returned and I managed to complete the leg assemblies for my wife's jeweler's bench.
> 
> ...


Thanks everyone. @crank49, the stool in the picture is adjustable, so my wife should be able to get it at just the right height for her to be comfortable.  As for the saw, I am very happy with it. I got mine in the spring as well and at a price I just couldn't pass up. I haven't really looked for a zero clearance throat plate yet, but I thought I saw something at my local Woodcraft store that would work. Sorry I don't have any details though I just kind of saw it in passing one day and thought it looked about right. I could be wrong though.


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