# Workbench



## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

*Beginning*

I have a something which I use as a workbench. It could sound pretentious calling it a WORKBENCH, but for now it served that purpose. I had two folding office tables with top made of particle board with melamined surface. I just threw everything except tops and glued/screwed them together. I got a top. Took couple 2×4 and made base to hold the top. It is pretty weak and made like very temporary things. To keep it in place I attached one side to the wall. Which turned out as very stable and sturdy bench to work on. It served it's purpose much longer than I cold imaging at the time of construction. WOW, I used it for almost two years!

Here you can see it:









Later I added face vise, which I bought at woodshow from peach tree. It is substantial piece of iron for decent price with quick release and made in China. I was excited when I got it, but once I attached it to my bench and started to use it, my excitement evaporated. Quick release worked VERY BADLY! Anyway it was better then nothing so I continued to use it. Shipping back to peachtree could cost almost like new one so I just … use it.










And some time later made bench dog wholes. They served the purpose well.









That is how it has been till today.

The idea of building new workbench was in my head for a while and I even made first step toward my goal several months ago. I went to my nearest Lowe's and bought dimensioned construction lumber, Douglas Fir. After reading Chris's book on building a workbench I wanted to get Southern Yellow Pine, but here in Maryland you do not see it, at least I could not find it. Well, I though, that Douglass fir will do it. When I went out to buy, I realized that I can get only SPF or Hemlock Fir. But one day Lowe's got new stock of lumber and it was what I am after. Anyway, here you can see what was waiting for me start work on.


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

yuri said:


> *Beginning*
> 
> I have a something which I use as a workbench. It could sound pretentious calling it a WORKBENCH, but for now it served that purpose. I had two folding office tables with top made of particle board with melamined surface. I just threw everything except tops and glued/screwed them together. I got a top. Took couple 2×4 and made base to hold the top. It is pretty weak and made like very temporary things. To keep it in place I attached one side to the wall. Which turned out as very stable and sturdy bench to work on. It served it's purpose much longer than I cold imaging at the time of construction. WOW, I used it for almost two years!
> 
> ...


I see where this is going, and … I like it


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

yuri said:


> *Beginning*
> 
> I have a something which I use as a workbench. It could sound pretentious calling it a WORKBENCH, but for now it served that purpose. I had two folding office tables with top made of particle board with melamined surface. I just threw everything except tops and glued/screwed them together. I got a top. Took couple 2×4 and made base to hold the top. It is pretty weak and made like very temporary things. To keep it in place I attached one side to the wall. Which turned out as very stable and sturdy bench to work on. It served it's purpose much longer than I cold imaging at the time of construction. WOW, I used it for almost two years!
> 
> ...


Neil,
get popcorn, cola and get comfortable, it is going to be a good show ;-)


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

yuri said:


> *Beginning*
> 
> I have a something which I use as a workbench. It could sound pretentious calling it a WORKBENCH, but for now it served that purpose. I had two folding office tables with top made of particle board with melamined surface. I just threw everything except tops and glued/screwed them together. I got a top. Took couple 2×4 and made base to hold the top. It is pretty weak and made like very temporary things. To keep it in place I attached one side to the wall. Which turned out as very stable and sturdy bench to work on. It served it's purpose much longer than I cold imaging at the time of construction. WOW, I used it for almost two years!
> 
> ...


A quick glimpse into your future:


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

yuri said:


> *Beginning*
> 
> I have a something which I use as a workbench. It could sound pretentious calling it a WORKBENCH, but for now it served that purpose. I had two folding office tables with top made of particle board with melamined surface. I just threw everything except tops and glued/screwed them together. I got a top. Took couple 2×4 and made base to hold the top. It is pretty weak and made like very temporary things. To keep it in place I attached one side to the wall. Which turned out as very stable and sturdy bench to work on. It served it's purpose much longer than I cold imaging at the time of construction. WOW, I used it for almost two years!
> 
> ...


Probably.
I did not make the plan. That is how far I went










But I make it as it go and material allows. Wandering itself where I will be …


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

yuri said:


> *Beginning*
> 
> I have a something which I use as a workbench. It could sound pretentious calling it a WORKBENCH, but for now it served that purpose. I had two folding office tables with top made of particle board with melamined surface. I just threw everything except tops and glued/screwed them together. I got a top. Took couple 2×4 and made base to hold the top. It is pretty weak and made like very temporary things. To keep it in place I attached one side to the wall. Which turned out as very stable and sturdy bench to work on. It served it's purpose much longer than I cold imaging at the time of construction. WOW, I used it for almost two years!
> 
> ...


A new workbench is always a good idea.


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

*Do we need legs to stay on?*

Well. Got the wood staying behind me table saw. Damn, it is tough working in single car garage. I have to move my table saw, open garage doors to pull out my wood from there









Ooh, it is chilly outside! Closed garage doors. Cut the wood to rough length. My future legs. Oh, no, I got the legs, but my bench supposedly has to have them too and twice more than me ;-)









I grouped them like that.









I started to work on preparation for gluing up. Here is the hard worker









I assisted to her (is it right? I am not native English speaker and in my language it should be HIM) and we made quite a mess together.









All groups are done









Now time to glue them up.


















I squeezed them well those jorgies are strong and with assistance from HF bar clamps they forced the wood to cry









Oh, it seems that I did not do tight enough. OK, now it is better









Or not quite yet? Now think it is good









As you see, it took me several day to glue up all legs. Some are done, other in process and last one in the queue









Feel good and satisfied. Go to bed, do you see it is already dark outside…


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## jcwalleye (Dec 26, 2009)

yuri said:


> *Do we need legs to stay on?*
> 
> Well. Got the wood staying behind me table saw. Damn, it is tough working in single car garage. I have to move my table saw, open garage doors to pull out my wood from there
> 
> ...


thanks for the narrative and all the pics Yuri. I'll be following.


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## Cantputjamontoast (Jan 1, 2009)

yuri said:


> *Do we need legs to stay on?*
> 
> Well. Got the wood staying behind me table saw. Damn, it is tough working in single car garage. I have to move my table saw, open garage doors to pull out my wood from there
> 
> ...


I'm watching too!!!!

I love a good bench build!!!!


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## Robsshop (Apr 3, 2010)

yuri said:


> *Do we need legs to stay on?*
> 
> Well. Got the wood staying behind me table saw. Damn, it is tough working in single car garage. I have to move my table saw, open garage doors to pull out my wood from there
> 
> ...


Yuri, it looks like Your on Your way to a solid constructed work bench ! It will be nice to see it in person and to see the rest of garage shop as well. Anyway, looks like Your having fun and taking a lot of pics to document Your progress ! Great job and be safe.

ROB


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## beckerswoodworks (Dec 26, 2009)

yuri said:


> *Do we need legs to stay on?*
> 
> Well. Got the wood staying behind me table saw. Damn, it is tough working in single car garage. I have to move my table saw, open garage doors to pull out my wood from there
> 
> ...


Looking great! And "her" is more common in English when referring to tools.


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## kellynicole05 (Apr 2, 2012)

yuri said:


> *Do we need legs to stay on?*
> 
> Well. Got the wood staying behind me table saw. Damn, it is tough working in single car garage. I have to move my table saw, open garage doors to pull out my wood from there
> 
> ...


The post is very informative. It is a pleasure reading it. I have also bookmarked you for checking out new posts.

"Lumbar Fusion": http://www.erikbendiksmd.com/percutaneous-lumbar-fusion.html


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## kellynicole05 (Apr 2, 2012)

yuri said:


> *Do we need legs to stay on?*
> 
> Well. Got the wood staying behind me table saw. Damn, it is tough working in single car garage. I have to move my table saw, open garage doors to pull out my wood from there
> 
> ...


Thanks for showing up such fabulous information. I like this post, keep writing and give informative post…!

 Lumbar Fusion


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

*Shaping the base*

For the time being I finished gluing bench legs, wanted massive base. One of them









Now they need to be finally shaped. I do not have power joiner and planner and use my hand planes for that. That the point! OK, that is how I did the work



































All this shavings clogged my Shopvac and Dust Collector!

Brave helpers:









And legs are done. Well, not yet, I will need to make mortises in them …









My future stratchers are comming up too


















Here are glued too









Small one done too


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

yuri said:


> *Shaping the base*
> 
> For the time being I finished gluing bench legs, wanted massive base. One of them
> 
> ...


Looks good.


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## Jack_T (Feb 6, 2010)

yuri said:


> *Shaping the base*
> 
> For the time being I finished gluing bench legs, wanted massive base. One of them
> 
> ...


Those are serious legs.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

yuri said:


> *Shaping the base*
> 
> For the time being I finished gluing bench legs, wanted massive base. One of them
> 
> ...


Wow those are going to be some hefty workbench legs. Very nice.

Beautiful shavings by the way. I love seeing wood shavings for some reason lol.


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## lanwater (May 14, 2010)

yuri said:


> *Shaping the base*
> 
> For the time being I finished gluing bench legs, wanted massive base. One of them
> 
> ...


That's a lot of shavings you got! I bet you don't need a workout after that.

It looks like it will be a solid bench.


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

yuri said:


> *Shaping the base*
> 
> For the time being I finished gluing bench legs, wanted massive base. One of them
> 
> ...


Lawnwater, you bet, I slept well that night!


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

yuri said:


> *Shaping the base*
> 
> For the time being I finished gluing bench legs, wanted massive base. One of them
> 
> ...


Eric,
I love shavings too, and D.Fir smells especially great!
Funny, next day I put all these shavings out for garbage pickup in our area and put them in transparent plastic bag. And several of my neighbors asked me if the shavings can be used for something or given to somebody who can make a use out of them? I did not know what to say but offered them to take it. Guess, nobody accepted ;-)


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## Robsshop (Apr 3, 2010)

yuri said:


> *Shaping the base*
> 
> For the time being I finished gluing bench legs, wanted massive base. One of them
> 
> ...


Yuri, I see You are making progress on Your latest shop upgrade ! The legs are shaping up nicely as well as Your arms too I am sure ! LOL. I will be watching the progress and if You need any help when it gets to the point of assembly, just shoot me a PM. Once again the bench is looking good,keep up the first rate job !! .....ROB


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## fernandoindia (May 5, 2010)

yuri said:


> *Shaping the base*
> 
> For the time being I finished gluing bench legs, wanted massive base. One of them
> 
> ...


A hell of a job Yuri !! Great progress. I´ll be following

Are the legs 6×6?


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

yuri said:


> *Shaping the base*
> 
> For the time being I finished gluing bench legs, wanted massive base. One of them
> 
> ...


Rob,
thanks on good word and help offer. Don't you afraid? After that your arms may shape up nicely too ;-))


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

yuri said:


> *Shaping the base*
> 
> For the time being I finished gluing bench legs, wanted massive base. One of them
> 
> ...


Fernando.

are spot on. Just measured, 6 5/8" X 5 3/4"


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

*Demolition!*

Well, I did some more progress… or may be regress!
Finally, I got to demolition point. Yes, you are reading it right, DEMOLITION!
The life circle of my previous bench comes to the end. It performed it's mission well and now it is time to give birth to a new beast. As you can know am going to reuse my old bench top. See what I got.




























little bit more:









that is the rest of the old bench, looks gaunt, but it was sturdy!









I laminated one more layer of 3/4" plywood, cut edging, so new top incarnation will be neat and square. Started to laminate periferal carcass. Two reasons: improve rigidness and to be able to easyly clamp items I working on to the top/




































hat is what I've got so far


















It is time to think about tail vise. Actually, at that point I've already made my mind what I am going to do. I even ordered and received Lee Valley vise screw.









I am going to implement a variant of wagon vise. May be with some twist, but basically just wagon vise. Thus, I need to prepare big slot where my vise is going to be installed. I cut rectangular slot and lined it with red oak.


















Clamps removed and we can see what I got









I need to make moving part of the vise. Here is the material for it.









Couple comments on tail vise. I spent quite a bit of research and analysis time on what I want to use for tail vise. I thought about double screw vise, but convenient one is chain implementation like from Veritas or Lie-Nielsen. They are nice but out of the price range I was going to invest. Besides more things (later to be said) crossed that candidate. At some point I almost was set to use the same vise I used as a face vise (red vintage iron craftsman), but after more thoughts I discarded it too. One of the reasons I wanted tail vise to be able to clamp board for planing. Using two candidate above sounded doubtful to me. First of all I do not want anything to protrude to far beyond of the bench. Second, I am going to have almost full size bench (6' in length) and my clamped board is going to get be at far end of the bench and even more. it is going to hang out on rocking side of the vise. Hmmm, something wrong… OK, wagon vise looks like it, but for some reasons it did not appeared as the one for me. Finally liked L-type vise. That is it! I have to have one. Ooops…. not that simple. After several night slips on that decision and more readings, it appeared that L-vise is not ideal, mainly stability and out of "alignment" over time. I returned to traditional wagon vise. What I liked about l-vise is possibility not only surface clamping, but vertical clamping too. In traditional implementation of wagon vise, the screw goes all along the slit in the bench top and obscure clearance for the part to be clamped. Well, then I can use different type, which will free the clearance, but it will extend pretty far beyond end of the top. With my shop very limited space, I do not like that perspective too. I decided on hybrid decision. No protruding beyond end of the bench and clear slot. The only way to do it is to install vise screw shifted to a side. That is my final decision. I started to work in that direction. I laminated several pieces of red oak and one small piece of hard maple. Drilled big concentric whole int resulted sliding block.


















Fit it in place


















Putting layout on the block to attach screw hardware




































Fits good. Final attachment:




































Finally finished to glue on whole perimeter carcass and started to put edge face (skirt?). I had some red oak.













































Here, I completely finished wagon vise sliders.




































more details about the tail vise and it's fitting












































































































I put quite a bit of picture, just in case if somebody want to follow, it will be clear how I made it.
Back to other things. Face vise. I am pretty straightforward here. Just traditional piece of meaty iron. I had modern variant (Chinese) and was pretty happy with it's functionality, worked good for me and I am not going to change anything in that camp. Only the vise itself. Chinese one was bad. Quick release worked awfully. I got rid of it and bought vintage craftsman one from eBay. See how I mounted it.
Some preparations









The vise









Put it in place


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## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

yuri said:


> *Demolition!*
> 
> Well, I did some more progress… or may be regress!
> Finally, I got to demolition point. Yes, you are reading it right, DEMOLITION!
> ...


Quite a thoroughly documented vise install, do you have a picture of the installed wagon vise from the top?


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

yuri said:


> *Demolition!*
> 
> Well, I did some more progress… or may be regress!
> Finally, I got to demolition point. Yes, you are reading it right, DEMOLITION!
> ...


Mark, not jet


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## Dandog (Oct 21, 2010)

yuri said:


> *Demolition!*
> 
> Well, I did some more progress… or may be regress!
> Finally, I got to demolition point. Yes, you are reading it right, DEMOLITION!
> ...


yeah very thorough i thought we are at the wagon install there is no more pictures.looks like a fun project. I'm sure it will serve you well.


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

*Making the foundation*

I still keep the pace in building my workbench. Started to prepare legs and stretchers.
I cut the legs to final length and removed corner from top of the legs, that portion will support bench top. If you remember how bench top is done, you will understand how they will fit. For that I used my shop made tenoning jig.









and little bit closer.









I cut tenons in the small stretchers similarly









Checked if stretcher's length is OK, it turned out as I wanted.









Started to work on mortises in bench legs. I used my drill press with forster bit to remove majority of material and the rest is done by chisel. I used Some wood block as a guide to make clean sides in the mortises. 









I attached the guide with clamps.









I never used the guides before, but that time I thought they could help, because mortises are pretty large. I really like that technique and will use it in future.









I think I got it right ;-)









Next step is drill holdfast holes in legs. I decided to do it only in front legs. For now I plane to put my bench against a wall and I am not going to work at back side. Again, I used my drill press for that









It was not that straight forward as I expected. The forstner bit is 3/4" and chips clogged the drill pretty quickly and I have to get the drill out of the hole and stop drill press for cleaning.









It took me a while to finish the legs. Besides the bit is not long enough.









The rest I am going to finish with hand drill









I had little bit longer forstner bit than I used in drill press. I could not use it at first step, my drill press has pretty good range, but still not enough to use advantage of longer bit.









Even longer forstner bit is not long enough to complete the job and I did not have anything longer. But I found the solution









I did not drill all the way through to keep hole entry clean, but deep enough to mark center of the hole to work from other side.


















Finally it is done









Now I decided to cut long stretcher to final size, I measured and cut first one. As soon I did that I realized that I forgot to add couple inches for short tenons. Aggrr… OK, I went out of my shop to drink some water and cool of from what I did. I am glad I did and I got the idea how to fix it. Loose tenon! I think that is right term. I got back to work. I used router for the work. Made a template.









and cut a mortise









Hmm, it came out pretty neat, huh?









The tenons are not long, because I am going to attach stretchers and legs with long bolts and the tenons are used for alignment only, they will not be glued.

Stay tuned.


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## crossgrainww (Feb 19, 2010)

yuri said:


> *Making the foundation*
> 
> I still keep the pace in building my workbench. Started to prepare legs and stretchers.
> I cut the legs to final length and removed corner from top of the legs, that portion will support bench top. If you remember how bench top is done, you will understand how they will fit. For that I used my shop made tenoning jig.
> ...


Great work Yuri! I'll be doing similar with my bench legs as soon as I get them all glued up.


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## GaryD (Mar 5, 2009)

yuri said:


> *Making the foundation*
> 
> I still keep the pace in building my workbench. Started to prepare legs and stretchers.
> I cut the legs to final length and removed corner from top of the legs, that portion will support bench top. If you remember how bench top is done, you will understand how they will fit. For that I used my shop made tenoning jig.
> ...


Yuri, great recovery!! This thing is ging to be a monster when you get finished. One thing for sure it will be sturdy. Good Job.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

yuri said:


> *Making the foundation*
> 
> I still keep the pace in building my workbench. Started to prepare legs and stretchers.
> I cut the legs to final length and removed corner from top of the legs, that portion will support bench top. If you remember how bench top is done, you will understand how they will fit. For that I used my shop made tenoning jig.
> ...


Outstanding. That router jig worked really well for that mortise. That big boy's going nowhere.


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

yuri said:


> *Making the foundation*
> 
> I still keep the pace in building my workbench. Started to prepare legs and stretchers.
> I cut the legs to final length and removed corner from top of the legs, that portion will support bench top. If you remember how bench top is done, you will understand how they will fit. For that I used my shop made tenoning jig.
> ...


Gary,
it will be sturdy, at least it is what I am to. This past weekend I was at woodshow and saw commercial workbenches. Sure they look nice but they do not stay rock solid on the floor. One with adjustable height. Great concept, but if you lean on a top, it will shake. Or another one owned by Washington DC woodworking guild. They have some of the Sjobergs. It looks gorgeous! Nice and THICK top, great vises …. and all that is resting on unproportionally sized weak legs. Like a giant bodybuilder who disregarded his legs. Good thing doing your own bench, you can make it as you want.


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## JulianLech (Jan 13, 2011)

yuri said:


> *Making the foundation*
> 
> I still keep the pace in building my workbench. Started to prepare legs and stretchers.
> I cut the legs to final length and removed corner from top of the legs, that portion will support bench top. If you remember how bench top is done, you will understand how they will fit. For that I used my shop made tenoning jig.
> ...


Great photos. I just finished a workbench and having thick, sturdy legs is a must. 
Look forward to seeing your finished bench.


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

yuri said:


> *Making the foundation*
> 
> I still keep the pace in building my workbench. Started to prepare legs and stretchers.
> I cut the legs to final length and removed corner from top of the legs, that portion will support bench top. If you remember how bench top is done, you will understand how they will fit. For that I used my shop made tenoning jig.
> ...


GREAT pictures.

GREAT job on your mortises AND tenons.

How many people will it take to MOVE that bench ? Those are some BEEFY legs … and I mean that as a GOOD thing 

Wonderful post. I'll have to look at the rest of your blog.


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

*Finishing The Base*

OK, I finished cutting all tenons and mortises in legs and strechers. Time to check how all the parts fit together. Here are two legs on top









Now whole bench, top up!









Couple more views 


















I was thinking for while about attaching legs to the top. That is what I came up with.
I glued together three layers of 3/4" plywood and glued them to the top. I used plywood instead of wood to prevent any splitting. Screws were used for clamping, once glue cured I removed the screws. I tryed to keep any metal amount to minimum in my bench? only really crital parts.









Another corner.
You can see two 5/8" hole sets, They will be used to fasten the legs with wood dowel rods.









One end of the bench is prepared to receive the legs.









Legs and strechers will be fastened with pair of long bolts. First I used forstner bit to make shallow biger hole for washers and to keep bolt head below the surface









Next I attached one leg and matching streacher for further drilling









Lets begin









One pair of holes is ready









Another holes to place washer and nut. I drilled round hole with firstner bit and squared one side with chisel.









That is how the leg is going to sit in place









Another view









The leg near fron vise is nt completely surrounded, before glueing I secured it.









One pair of legs is glued. BTW, I highlighted in red additional support because saw horse started to give up to support the bench. IT is getting quite heavy.









Another view









Next day, clamps removed


















That is how the leg will be fastened to the top


















Prepare another long strecher









I glad I bought set of pretty long drills during last year woodshow in Baltimore. They were cheap and I imgine that one day I will need it. The day has came. It turned out that drill are junk. Tappered portion of the bit I needed were not centered, so I just cut it. Hmm, I managed to do it with simple metal saw not problem. The still is very soft, and once I finished drilling they need new and sharper edge. But meanwhile I got the job done!









Glueing another pair









Done









Working for leg nests on other side of the bench



























He-he. I start to see the light at end of the tunnel!


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## Sarit (Oct 21, 2009)

yuri said:


> *Finishing The Base*
> 
> OK, I finished cutting all tenons and mortises in legs and strechers. Time to check how all the parts fit together. Here are two legs on top
> 
> ...


I really like how beefy everything is. Nice work!
All the mass should make a great stable platform, but I'm wondering if you build it upside down, how are you gonna flip it right-side up?


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

yuri said:


> *Finishing The Base*
> 
> OK, I finished cutting all tenons and mortises in legs and strechers. Time to check how all the parts fit together. Here are two legs on top
> 
> ...


Sarit,
leg attachment is not permanent. I will reassemble it once everything completed.


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## crossgrainww (Feb 19, 2010)

yuri said:


> *Finishing The Base*
> 
> OK, I finished cutting all tenons and mortises in legs and strechers. Time to check how all the parts fit together. Here are two legs on top
> 
> ...


That's coming along nicely Yuri! That bench will serve you well for a long time.

Sadly, I haven't had as much time to work on my bench with other projects for the house that I've been working on.


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

yuri said:


> *Finishing The Base*
> 
> OK, I finished cutting all tenons and mortises in legs and strechers. Time to check how all the parts fit together. Here are two legs on top
> 
> ...


Josh, I know what are you talking about. Was in your pants when we bough our house back in 2004. For couple years I was swallowed with house projects, but it was fun too.


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## Sarit (Oct 21, 2009)

yuri said:


> *Finishing The Base*
> 
> OK, I finished cutting all tenons and mortises in legs and strechers. Time to check how all the parts fit together. Here are two legs on top
> 
> ...


I can share your pain. I also bought a house a few months ago, and I'm still working on house projects.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

yuri said:


> *Finishing The Base*
> 
> OK, I finished cutting all tenons and mortises in legs and strechers. Time to check how all the parts fit together. Here are two legs on top
> 
> ...


oh yessssss. there's the beef


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## ooootis (Mar 19, 2011)

yuri said:


> *Finishing The Base*
> 
> OK, I finished cutting all tenons and mortises in legs and strechers. Time to check how all the parts fit together. Here are two legs on top
> 
> ...


Yuri hope you have many friends to help stand that puppy up for the first time.


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

yuri said:


> *Finishing The Base*
> 
> OK, I finished cutting all tenons and mortises in legs and strechers. Time to check how all the parts fit together. Here are two legs on top
> 
> ...


Yes, I have friends, fortunately I constructed the base to be mobile. Thus, I will disassemble the base, put it on a floor and will get top on top. Two guys, including me should be enough. thought to move the bench I need more people for sure.


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

*On own legs*

Once my bench still lying on a floor, I decided to finish front vise installation. It is easier to work from there. I wanted to make meaty surrounding around the vise. Preparing first board 


















Glue it to the bench









That portion is done









Now work on a second layer, it si little bit trickier



























And last layer









Try, how it fits









Wood piece for front jaw









Once holes are done


















Next day I called my friend, who is neighbor too, and asked him to help me with final assembly and putting the bench on his own legs. We were busy and I completely forgot to take pictures. What we got so far.
Ta-daaaaa









Next is picture gallery of my bench from different views



























During the photo session ;-) my daughter came in to see. The weather were good, she told that the bench is good and she just found it's new usage. ;-)









and more pictures.




































Screw installed in my tail wagon vise. Works well


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## lumberhack (Mar 20, 2011)

yuri said:


> *On own legs*
> 
> Once my bench still lying on a floor, I decided to finish front vise installation. It is easier to work from there. I wanted to make meaty surrounding around the vise. Preparing first board
> 
> ...


Great work bench!
I have an old Wilton vice that I have been meaning to create a work bench for. I have been looking for a construction site with a load of old studs that are being thrown out. I will probably add some locking casters to mine so I can drag it out in the driveway to work.
Cheers! Mark


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## twokidsnosleep (Apr 5, 2010)

yuri said:


> *On own legs*
> 
> Once my bench still lying on a floor, I decided to finish front vise installation. It is easier to work from there. I wanted to make meaty surrounding around the vise. Preparing first board
> 
> ...


Some fine work here!
This is a really great pictorial documentation of your bench project. It is quite inspiring and makes me want to do the same. Maybe in a few years, after a bit of study and making more space.
I like that you used hand planes to do some of the grunt work.
Your garage workshop is similar to mine with bikes and ladders and the like hanging around….I have more kids toys and sports gear than tools in mine.
Great job!


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## crossgrainww (Feb 19, 2010)

yuri said:


> *On own legs*
> 
> Once my bench still lying on a floor, I decided to finish front vise installation. It is easier to work from there. I wanted to make meaty surrounding around the vise. Preparing first board
> 
> ...


WooHoo! Great looking bench. Nice work Yuri, and excellent pictorial documentation of the process!


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## saddletramp (Mar 6, 2011)

yuri said:


> *On own legs*
> 
> Once my bench still lying on a floor, I decided to finish front vise installation. It is easier to work from there. I wanted to make meaty surrounding around the vise. Preparing first board
> 
> ...


Yuri, that's a fine bench. It should do everything that you need it to do. Good job.


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

*Vise rehab*

It was a while since I posted my progress on a bench. It does not mean that I did nothing, really, and I have something to show, what was accumulated since then.

Having new bench mostly done, my wife made a notice, why do I have rusty thing (front vise) on it? Hmm, good point I thought, huh? Sure, the vise works perfectly, but it could be great if it looks great too. I decided to make it better looking.

Here is what I started with









I stripped old paint and removed the rust


















Masked places I did not want to be pained


















After red rustoleum


















That day I received some horse but leather for my vise


















Which is pretty thick









I cut and glued the leather to front board, used knife and luquid hide glue. It went surprisingly smooth and no surprises









Side view, note I put nice (in my opinion) edge on the board.









Front veiw of vise board









Cut holes for vise screw and runners. Now it is ready for installation









That is the place where the vise will be attached.


















I aligned front board with the bench and screwed front vise jaw to the board.









Done









Another view









Besides I put leather in my wagon vise too.









Time to make bench dog holes. I fabricated a primitive template









Row of the holes









And made nice bevel









And more holes in wagon vise









Wagon vise in action


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

yuri said:


> *Vise rehab*
> 
> It was a while since I posted my progress on a bench. It does not mean that I did nothing, really, and I have something to show, what was accumulated since then.
> 
> ...


Nice rehab.
And nice photo spread, that was fun to watch.

Looks like a great update to the ol' bench.
Steve


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## BullHammer (Jun 15, 2015)

yuri said:


> *Vise rehab*
> 
> It was a while since I posted my progress on a bench. It does not mean that I did nothing, really, and I have something to show, what was accumulated since then.
> 
> ...


Wondering how you stripped it of old paint and rust. Also wondering if you anything to the non painted surfaces to prevent rust.


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## yuri (Jul 14, 2008)

yuri said:


> *Vise rehab*
> 
> It was a while since I posted my progress on a bench. It does not mean that I did nothing, really, and I have something to show, what was accumulated since then.
> 
> ...


I used rough, medium and fine wire brushes for striping and cleaning. I did not do any special rust prevention treatment. The can with paint said something about rust prevention formula in it.


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