# Workbench



## twobyfour16 (Nov 9, 2008)

*Step 1 - the top*

Decided to totally re-vamp the garage into a full on woodworking shop. Have misc. crap cluttering the place up, including a bunch of "almost" worthless wood. So, in the interest of clearing some space & finally starting to build my first real workbench, I decided to start with a nice thick top.

The wood - I acquired a bunch of rough lenga (a hardwood from Chile that resembles Cherry) that is a hair over 1/2" thick. It came from some 6/4 material that was re-sawn down to 4/4. I ended up with the "2/4". Problem was, it immediately started cupping and bowing all over the place. Hung out in my garage for a couple years & didn't get any better…

















I started by ripping all of the pieces down to 3 1/2" wide. It was not straight-line-ripped, so I built a table saw sled/jig to rip one edge straight. Most of the lumber was a little over 8' long. At the end of the day, I ended up with about 70 pieces 8' long. I ran all of it through my Dewalt portable planer & most cleaned up at 3/8" thick. This whole process cleaned up most of the cupping problems I had, but every piece was still bowed.

I have the immense good fortune to have a friend who owns a custom millwork & woodworking shop who offered the use of his clamps (and his help) to glue this thing up. So, after about 4 'after work' sessions over the last couple weeks, I had a really messy looking, 3 1/4" thick, 94" long, 25" wide beast. 

















One more after work session, and the use of a monster wide belt sander, and the thing was flattened & cleaned up on both sides. It was awesome to watch. The sander has a cutter-head (similar to a planer head) ahead of the sanding belt. We took off about 1/8" with the cutter head & sanded it smooth on one side in about 30 seconds. 
















Flipped it, took 2 lighter passes on, and it is beautiful! 









Two cuts on a massive sliding table saw with about a 14" blade, and the ends were clean & square. (sorry, no pictures of that one…) Did I mention that I have immense good fortune to have a 'friend' in the millwork business??

Final dimensions: A hair over 3" thick. exactly 25" wide, 90" long. 













































So, brought it home & it is in the middle of the shop awaiting a trestle base. I am planning on building a version of a bench from Schleining's workbench book. I think there was a FWW article on it somewhere - called "The Essential Workbench" or something like that. 5" apron (wood to be determined), trestle base, face & end vice.

I suspect the rest of the project will take much longer, because it will all happen in my garage. However, doing the top this way kind of felt like cheating….but I don't regret it!!

This time, I will document the process. I will need some advice on attaching the top to the base, wood movement & joinery issues (especially with regards to attaching the apron to the slab). I'll go to the forum with questions as I move along this process. Thanks for looking & feedback is always appreciated - I am still a noob.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Step 1 - the top*
> 
> Decided to totally re-vamp the garage into a full on woodworking shop. Have misc. crap cluttering the place up, including a bunch of "almost" worthless wood. So, in the interest of clearing some space & finally starting to build my first real workbench, I decided to start with a nice thick top.
> 
> ...


now that was ALOT of glue 

fantastic top, and a great use for all that 'scrap' lumber! indeed a good fortune to have that friend and machines accessible - that would have taken so much work doing in a garage by yourself - touche!

I wouldn't worry about 'cheating' - as long as you get it done, it's all fair and square.

As for "The essential workbench" it was on finewoodworking.com and is available as a downloadable PDF:
http://www.finewoodworking.com/PlansAndProjects/PlansAndProjectsPDF.aspx?id=2882


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## Hayabusa (Jul 7, 2010)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Step 1 - the top*
> 
> Decided to totally re-vamp the garage into a full on woodworking shop. Have misc. crap cluttering the place up, including a bunch of "almost" worthless wood. So, in the interest of clearing some space & finally starting to build my first real workbench, I decided to start with a nice thick top.
> 
> ...


delicious !


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## dedalo (Jun 20, 2010)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Step 1 - the top*
> 
> Decided to totally re-vamp the garage into a full on woodworking shop. Have misc. crap cluttering the place up, including a bunch of "almost" worthless wood. So, in the interest of clearing some space & finally starting to build my first real workbench, I decided to start with a nice thick top.
> 
> ...


Great start!

I have a lot of kitchen "things" made out of lenga, it is from the patagonia (chile / argentina) and the Mapuches use it to build crafts.


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## dkirtley (Mar 11, 2010)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Step 1 - the top*
> 
> Decided to totally re-vamp the garage into a full on woodworking shop. Have misc. crap cluttering the place up, including a bunch of "almost" worthless wood. So, in the interest of clearing some space & finally starting to build my first real workbench, I decided to start with a nice thick top.
> 
> ...


Well, you now have 90% of the heavy lifting done. The trestle and apron will be easy in comparison to what you have made already.


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## twobyfour16 (Nov 9, 2008)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Step 1 - the top*
> 
> Decided to totally re-vamp the garage into a full on woodworking shop. Have misc. crap cluttering the place up, including a bunch of "almost" worthless wood. So, in the interest of clearing some space & finally starting to build my first real workbench, I decided to start with a nice thick top.
> 
> ...


PurpLev - Yes, it was ALOT of glue. About a gallon for the whole thing. Glued up a third at a time. First third was clamped to a straight, recently jointed, 4×4. Second glued to the first a couple days later, etc. Thanks for the link - that's the one. Mine is going to be a bit longer, and a bit narrower. 
By the way, the hand plane & shavings on the benchtop picture was for effect. Rest assured, at my skill level, that top would NEVER see a plane blade!


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## Tim29 (Oct 10, 2009)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Step 1 - the top*
> 
> Decided to totally re-vamp the garage into a full on woodworking shop. Have misc. crap cluttering the place up, including a bunch of "almost" worthless wood. So, in the interest of clearing some space & finally starting to build my first real workbench, I decided to start with a nice thick top.
> 
> ...


If you got the result you were after it is not cheating. That is a great top for a bench. Are you going to put any dog holes in it?


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## twobyfour16 (Nov 9, 2008)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Step 1 - the top*
> 
> Decided to totally re-vamp the garage into a full on woodworking shop. Have misc. crap cluttering the place up, including a bunch of "almost" worthless wood. So, in the interest of clearing some space & finally starting to build my first real workbench, I decided to start with a nice thick top.
> 
> ...


Tim - Yes, going to put dog holes in it. It will have a single screw face vice and a single screw end vice - both with 2 rows of corresponding dog holes. I was contemplating a twin screw end vice, but decided against it. Too much $$, and I don't anticipate really needing it.


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## captkerk (Jul 11, 2009)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Step 1 - the top*
> 
> Decided to totally re-vamp the garage into a full on woodworking shop. Have misc. crap cluttering the place up, including a bunch of "almost" worthless wood. So, in the interest of clearing some space & finally starting to build my first real workbench, I decided to start with a nice thick top.
> 
> ...


Wow, looks great! I wanted to do a solid wood top on my latest workbench but decided against it since it would be too much work to accurately flatten the thing. I ended up doing a torsion box instead. I don't think you cheated by using your friend's tools. I think most of us would want to have those tools ourselves if we had the money and shop space, so we're just jealous!


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Step 1 - the top*
> 
> Decided to totally re-vamp the garage into a full on woodworking shop. Have misc. crap cluttering the place up, including a bunch of "almost" worthless wood. So, in the interest of clearing some space & finally starting to build my first real workbench, I decided to start with a nice thick top.
> 
> ...


This is the most incredible slab I've seen in a long time! This is better than a movie; I'm onto the next issue!


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## twobyfour16 (Nov 9, 2008)

*Trestle components*

Quick update on the workbench. I laminated up the rest of my thin stock into the trestle components.

2 trestle feet & 2 tresle top members plus 4 trestle legs.










I haven't figured out what to do with the stretchers yet, but am considering a different colored hardwood (Mahogany / walnut?)



















So, although the progress is slow, I am having fun learning about laminating, milling to size, etc. I just ordered the 2 vises from Lee Valley. Although I was originally going to put a single screw face vise on both the face & end, my brother convinced me that I would regret not investing in the Veritas Twin Screw for the end vise. So, I have a single screw lee valley face vise, and the twin screw end vise coming soon.

On an entirely seperate note, check this out - a gift from my brother-in-law:










Yes, that is one big chunk of beeswax.

Stand by for more updates soon. Thanks for checking in.


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## fernandoindia (May 5, 2010)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Trestle components*
> 
> Quick update on the workbench. I laminated up the rest of my thin stock into the trestle components.
> 
> ...


Allan, good for you. A friend in the millwork business, a brother in law in the beeswax business. What´s next? Any friend in the beer business


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## twobyfour16 (Nov 9, 2008)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Trestle components*
> 
> Quick update on the workbench. I laminated up the rest of my thin stock into the trestle components.
> 
> ...


haha - I hear you, Fern - fortunately, I started brewing my own beer about a year ago - the only other hobby allowed in my future shop!


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## captkerk (Jul 11, 2009)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Trestle components*
> 
> Quick update on the workbench. I laminated up the rest of my thin stock into the trestle components.
> 
> ...


I do some home brewing, too. Just make sure that if you brew in your shop to not stir up any dust or you'll potentially ruin your brew!


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## captkerk (Jul 11, 2009)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Trestle components*
> 
> Quick update on the workbench. I laminated up the rest of my thin stock into the trestle components.
> 
> ...


Oh, and the workbench progress is looking good. Looks like a great use for all that almost worthless wood.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Trestle components*
> 
> Quick update on the workbench. I laminated up the rest of my thin stock into the trestle components.
> 
> ...


That's the biggest slab of wax I've ever seen


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## twobyfour16 (Nov 9, 2008)

*Workbench - Trestle base beginning*

Back at it….FINALLY!!!
Considering my last entry on this project was almost 2 years ago, I thought I had better get going. I resumed work on my workbench recently. I had most of the trestle components laminated up (legs & feet anyway), so I started working on the mortises & tennons. I started with the feet, which required 2 big mortises (1 1/2" x 2 1/4") 2 1/2" long. I drilled most of the material out with a 1/4" drill bit followed by a 3/4" forstener bit. Cleaned up with chisels. They turned out fairly ugly, but good enough considering this was the first time I had ever done a mortis this large.










After all of the foot mortises were done, I went to the bandsaw & cut the thumbnail profile on the feet.










The top members required through mortises, which I did in the same manner as the feet - only all the way through the top member. These will be wedged tenons, the bottom tenons will be draw-bored with dowels, per the plans. The legs also required a through mortis (1" x 3 1/4"). Here are all my mortises done:










I used the table saw and band saw to cut the tenons on the legs (another first for me), and painstakingly fit them with chisels, rasp & files. I do not have a shoulder plane, unfortunately. Then back to the bandsaw to cut spaces for the wedges.










I watched a few videos online on the subject of draw-boring & was able to pull it off fairly well.










A couple of dry-assemblies, fine tuning the tenons & I was ready for glue-up. The draw-boring, by the way, was a lot of fun to do. My wedges turned out a little sloppy, but got better as I progressed. The top members are obviously going to be covered up by the bench top, so I wasn't too concerned about how they looked - as long as they did what they were meant to.









Side note: I do not have a wood mallet, or dead blow hammer of any kind, so I put a rubber crutch foot on the flat side of my ball-peen hammer & it worked pretty well! You can see it in the picture.

I used purple heart for the wedges (because that is what I had), and although the wedged tenons look a little funky, they sure worked well & the trestle leg assemblies are rock solid!










Now…..what to do about the stretchers? The plans call for stretchers that are 1 3/4" thick x 4" wide x 50 5/8" long. I don't have anything in my wood pile that is even close to that, so will have to go back to the laminating table! Stay tuned & thanks for checking out my project. Feedback is always welcome….


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## GrandpaLen (Mar 6, 2012)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Workbench - Trestle base beginning*
> 
> Back at it….FINALLY!!!
> Considering my last entry on this project was almost 2 years ago, I thought I had better get going. I resumed work on my workbench recently. I had most of the trestle components laminated up (legs & feet anyway), so I started working on the mortises & tennons. I started with the feet, which required 2 big mortises (1 1/2" x 2 1/4") 2 1/2" long. I drilled most of the material out with a 1/4" drill bit followed by a 3/4" forstener bit. Cleaned up with chisels. They turned out fairly ugly, but good enough considering this was the first time I had ever done a mortis this large.
> ...


Your trestle looks rock solid.

"*rubber crutch foot on the flat side of my ball-peen hammer*" 
- "Necessity is the Mother of Invention". ... very cerebral

"*tenons look a little funky*" 
- Funky is in the eye of the beholder. The tenons look fine, the purple heart contrast is a nice touch.

Work Safe and have Fun. - Len


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## redryder (Nov 28, 2009)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Workbench - Trestle base beginning*
> 
> Back at it….FINALLY!!!
> Considering my last entry on this project was almost 2 years ago, I thought I had better get going. I resumed work on my workbench recently. I had most of the trestle components laminated up (legs & feet anyway), so I started working on the mortises & tennons. I started with the feet, which required 2 big mortises (1 1/2" x 2 1/4") 2 1/2" long. I drilled most of the material out with a 1/4" drill bit followed by a 3/4" forstener bit. Cleaned up with chisels. They turned out fairly ugly, but good enough considering this was the first time I had ever done a mortis this large.
> ...


Nicely done…................


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## Thinman (Mar 17, 2009)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Workbench - Trestle base beginning*
> 
> Back at it….FINALLY!!!
> Considering my last entry on this project was almost 2 years ago, I thought I had better get going. I resumed work on my workbench recently. I had most of the trestle components laminated up (legs & feet anyway), so I started working on the mortises & tennons. I started with the feet, which required 2 big mortises (1 1/2" x 2 1/4") 2 1/2" long. I drilled most of the material out with a 1/4" drill bit followed by a 3/4" forstener bit. Cleaned up with chisels. They turned out fairly ugly, but good enough considering this was the first time I had ever done a mortis this large.
> ...


It looks awesome so far! I can't wait to see the finished product.


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## sb194 (Feb 19, 2010)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Workbench - Trestle base beginning*
> 
> Back at it….FINALLY!!!
> Considering my last entry on this project was almost 2 years ago, I thought I had better get going. I resumed work on my workbench recently. I had most of the trestle components laminated up (legs & feet anyway), so I started working on the mortises & tennons. I started with the feet, which required 2 big mortises (1 1/2" x 2 1/4") 2 1/2" long. I drilled most of the material out with a 1/4" drill bit followed by a 3/4" forstener bit. Cleaned up with chisels. They turned out fairly ugly, but good enough considering this was the first time I had ever done a mortis this large.
> ...


I think the wedge tenons look great. The contrasting wood is a nice touch.

I am liking the design so far, and looking forward to the next post.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Workbench - Trestle base beginning*
> 
> Back at it….FINALLY!!!
> Considering my last entry on this project was almost 2 years ago, I thought I had better get going. I resumed work on my workbench recently. I had most of the trestle components laminated up (legs & feet anyway), so I started working on the mortises & tennons. I started with the feet, which required 2 big mortises (1 1/2" x 2 1/4") 2 1/2" long. I drilled most of the material out with a 1/4" drill bit followed by a 3/4" forstener bit. Cleaned up with chisels. They turned out fairly ugly, but good enough considering this was the first time I had ever done a mortis this large.
> ...


Incredible! Very tight tolerances.


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## beevis (Jul 30, 2010)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Workbench - Trestle base beginning*
> 
> Back at it….FINALLY!!!
> Considering my last entry on this project was almost 2 years ago, I thought I had better get going. I resumed work on my workbench recently. I had most of the trestle components laminated up (legs & feet anyway), so I started working on the mortises & tennons. I started with the feet, which required 2 big mortises (1 1/2" x 2 1/4") 2 1/2" long. I drilled most of the material out with a 1/4" drill bit followed by a 3/4" forstener bit. Cleaned up with chisels. They turned out fairly ugly, but good enough considering this was the first time I had ever done a mortis this large.
> ...


Nice job man. Curious - how long are your trestle bases? 
Thanks


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## twobyfour16 (Nov 9, 2008)

*Stretchers*

Back at it. Since the plans for the workbench called for stretchers that are 1 3/4" thick by 4" wide, I had to get back to laminating. The rest of the bench so far has all been built with Lenga (Chilean Cherry, some call it), but I recently acquired a bunch of nominal 1×8 black mahogany that had been edge glued for width. I got it cheap (very cheap) because it was edge glued with no attention given to matching the color.



















The material is 3/4" thick, and I did not want to use 3 pieces of the walnut to achieve my desired thickness. Why? Well because I thought it was a waste of good wood to bury it in the middle of a lamination, and it would have been too thick. I didn't mind a thicker stretcher, but 2 1/4" would have been too much. So, I resawed some 5/4 Lenga & ran it through the planer to get a piece about 1/2" thick. I sandwiched the lenga between 2 pieces of walnut & like what I ended up with. By the way, I used my (unfinished) benchtop as a flat surface to glue up the stretchers - worked great.



















I glued up 4 stretchers this way & spent a lot of time cleaning up the glue lines & squaring them up. Oh, and these stretchers are HEAVY.

Now to the tenons. I cut the shoulders on the table saw with my sled & cut the waste away with my bandsaw. 









The tenons were fairly rough & I did not do a good job getting the shoulders perfect - which was a disappointment, but I was committed. I decided that it would be easier to round off the corners of the tenons than to square up the through mortises, so I grabbed file & rasp and went at it. After the 7th tenon, I finally got the hang of it, but it took a long time. 









Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of the stretchers after I cut slots for the wedges. I cut those on the bandsaw. Also, rather than purpleheart wedges, I went with Walnut & am glad I did. I built a jig & cut the wedges on the bandsaw (tried on the tablesaw first, for some reason - and that was a learning experience - fortunately with no injuries or major mis-haps, just a reminder how much safer & easier the bandsaw is for dealing with small pieces!) I whittled the wedges down to the perfect width by clamping a hand plane upside down & carefully running the wedges across the blade - shaving off a little at a time until they were the perfect width.

Stretchers built, tenons cut, wedges prepared - no excuse to wait for glue-up! Oh wait, since the width of my trestle base is about a foot wider than the plan (plan = 50 1/2", my base = 62 1/2") , I need clamps much longer than I have…..hmmmm….


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## ShipWreck (Feb 16, 2008)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Stretchers*
> 
> Back at it. Since the plans for the workbench called for stretchers that are 1 3/4" thick by 4" wide, I had to get back to laminating. The rest of the bench so far has all been built with Lenga (Chilean Cherry, some call it), but I recently acquired a bunch of nominal 1×8 black mahogany that had been edge glued for width. I got it cheap (very cheap) because it was edge glued with no attention given to matching the color.
> 
> ...


OMG…. I love the contrast the laminating did. I cannot wait to see the finished product.

Nice Allen!


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Stretchers*
> 
> Back at it. Since the plans for the workbench called for stretchers that are 1 3/4" thick by 4" wide, I had to get back to laminating. The rest of the bench so far has all been built with Lenga (Chilean Cherry, some call it), but I recently acquired a bunch of nominal 1×8 black mahogany that had been edge glued for width. I got it cheap (very cheap) because it was edge glued with no attention given to matching the color.
> 
> ...


They look great! I love that this entire build is from smaller stock. You've got a chunk of your soul tied up in this bench!


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Stretchers*
> 
> Back at it. Since the plans for the workbench called for stretchers that are 1 3/4" thick by 4" wide, I had to get back to laminating. The rest of the bench so far has all been built with Lenga (Chilean Cherry, some call it), but I recently acquired a bunch of nominal 1×8 black mahogany that had been edge glued for width. I got it cheap (very cheap) because it was edge glued with no attention given to matching the color.
> 
> ...


I had missed this build. Yowser, what a beaut.
Like Bertha commented, your soul is in this one. Glad you took pics, you will look back with smiles.

I really like it,
Steve


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## twobyfour16 (Nov 9, 2008)

*Trestle Base Complete*

Time to glue up. Since I painstakingly fit each tenon to it's matching mortise, I was fairly confident that glue-up would go ok. To solve the short clamp issue, I went down to the hardware store & got some couplers to hook pipes together to get more length out of my pipe clamps. Also, I borrowed some longer parallel clamps from a friend - and I'm glad he had them!

I did a dry assembly & everything worked great.









It was a little tricky to do by myself, but I got it together without too much trouble.









Although a couple of videos I watched had suggested gluing up the base in stages, I decided to just go for it. I have some Titebond extended open time glue which gave me a little more time. Some coaxing with a mallet, squaring up with the clamps & it was done. It was a complicated glue-up (for me), so I dry assembled it a couple of times, and had clamps & wedges in place before I put a drop of glue on it.

















Close-up of wedges:









I let it dry for a couple of days & went after the through tenons to get them cleaned up.










Please do not look too closely at the joints between the top member & the leg…..I still need to work on getting shoulder cuts perfect. But, I was pretty happy with the fit of the wedged through tenons after it was all said & done. 









Time to sand it up (a LOT of sanding). After sanding the whole thing, I put 5 coats of wiping varnish (1/3 each BLO, Spar Varnish, and Mineral Spirits), and 2 coats of Armor Seal. It was the first time I used General Finishes Armor Seal, and I really like it. Easy to wipe on, and ended up with a nice smooth finish. Very happy with it.



















It turned out flat, square, and unbelievably stout. This thing is a tank - very heavy. I had my benchtop temporarily on a flimsy rolling cart thing that I built years ago, and now it is temporarily on my trestle base. I am now very anxious to get the top done. Time to figure out what to use for the skirts & vise jaws. They need to be 1 1/2" thick, at least, and 6" wide, at least. Back to the pile of Black Walnut & to the store for another gallon of glue! Thanks for looking & I hope to have more soon.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Trestle Base Complete*
> 
> Time to glue up. Since I painstakingly fit each tenon to it's matching mortise, I was fairly confident that glue-up would go ok. To solve the short clamp issue, I went down to the hardware store & got some couplers to hook pipes together to get more length out of my pipe clamps. Also, I borrowed some longer parallel clamps from a friend - and I'm glad he had them!
> 
> ...


very well done! the accents look fantastic


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## SCOTSMAN (Aug 1, 2008)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Trestle Base Complete*
> 
> Time to glue up. Since I painstakingly fit each tenon to it's matching mortise, I was fairly confident that glue-up would go ok. To solve the short clamp issue, I went down to the hardware store & got some couplers to hook pipes together to get more length out of my pipe clamps. Also, I borrowed some longer parallel clamps from a friend - and I'm glad he had them!
> 
> ...


That is a beauty come over to Scotland and make me one please. LOL Alistair p.s can't wait to see the top on it definitely post a few pics re this please .


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## DeputyDawg (Jul 18, 2007)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Trestle Base Complete*
> 
> Time to glue up. Since I painstakingly fit each tenon to it's matching mortise, I was fairly confident that glue-up would go ok. To solve the short clamp issue, I went down to the hardware store & got some couplers to hook pipes together to get more length out of my pipe clamps. Also, I borrowed some longer parallel clamps from a friend - and I'm glad he had them!
> 
> ...


WOW!!! What a beautiful job. Looks like when it's done RIGHT You Da Man. Be looking for more pictures as you go along with this project.


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## affyx (Jan 1, 2008)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Trestle Base Complete*
> 
> Time to glue up. Since I painstakingly fit each tenon to it's matching mortise, I was fairly confident that glue-up would go ok. To solve the short clamp issue, I went down to the hardware store & got some couplers to hook pipes together to get more length out of my pipe clamps. Also, I borrowed some longer parallel clamps from a friend - and I'm glad he had them!
> 
> ...


beautiful mortises/tenons!


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## AndyPanko (Jan 16, 2012)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Trestle Base Complete*
> 
> Time to glue up. Since I painstakingly fit each tenon to it's matching mortise, I was fairly confident that glue-up would go ok. To solve the short clamp issue, I went down to the hardware store & got some couplers to hook pipes together to get more length out of my pipe clamps. Also, I borrowed some longer parallel clamps from a friend - and I'm glad he had them!
> 
> ...


Awesome. Not only very functional, but a work of art as well.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Trestle Base Complete*
> 
> Time to glue up. Since I painstakingly fit each tenon to it's matching mortise, I was fairly confident that glue-up would go ok. To solve the short clamp issue, I went down to the hardware store & got some couplers to hook pipes together to get more length out of my pipe clamps. Also, I borrowed some longer parallel clamps from a friend - and I'm glad he had them!
> 
> ...


Absolutely gorgeous! Your attention to detail is admirable. I love that the ole Workmate is propping up the big guy


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## jpc (Sep 9, 2009)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Trestle Base Complete*
> 
> Time to glue up. Since I painstakingly fit each tenon to it's matching mortise, I was fairly confident that glue-up would go ok. To solve the short clamp issue, I went down to the hardware store & got some couplers to hook pipes together to get more length out of my pipe clamps. Also, I borrowed some longer parallel clamps from a friend - and I'm glad he had them!
> 
> ...


good looking material and awesome looking work, its no doubt gonna be strong and sturdy


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## twobyfour16 (Nov 9, 2008)

*Skirts & Vises*

So, the top needed skirts, obviously, so time to laminate again. This time, I used 3 pieces of 1×8 black walnut. This gave me a skirt that is 2 1/4" thick, and 6 3/4" wide - after cleaning up the edges. I glued up enough blanks for the front skirt, two end skirts, and chops for both vises. 








I did not get very many pictures of this process, as I had plenty of lamination pics earlier….
I will say that these skirts were BEEFY! And heavy.

So, now I had to figure out the joinery on the end skirts to the front skirt. I am not proficient on dovetailing (and I was freaked out about the possibility of ruining the skirts), so I just planned on joining them with a tongue and groove. But first, I needed to think about the vises. I had a twin screw Veritas for the end, and a Lee Valley single screw for the face. I simply followed the instructions to the tee & drilled all of the necessary holes for the front vise.








I flipped the top over and installed the vise carriage per the instructions. I had to put a spacer under the carriage to achieve the depth I wanted. Worked out great. 








Time for the end vise. I'll spare you the details, as the subject of installing this twin screw vise have been covered a million times here. However, I will confirm the importance of following the instructions to the tee. Read them carefully, pay attention, and don't get ahead of yourself. 








I routed the back of the end skirt to accept the vise nuts, and routed a channel in the bottom of the benchtop, which I (for some reason) assumed I would need to make the screws clear the bottom of the benchtop. I was wrong, but it was too late. 








Drilled the holes for the screws, the barrel bolts, and the guide pins. All in all, it went well. 








Regarding attaching the end skirts to the top. The Veritas twin screw came with 4 barrel bolts. I decided to use two on each end skirt. I drilled the holes right through the "tongue" that mated with the slots in the skirts. I drilled the holes in the skirts on the drill press first, set them temporarily on the benchtop, and drilled the holes through the tongue, into the top & hoped everything was square. Now, how to drill the hole in the bottom of the bench for the barrel nut & have it land in the right spot. Per the instructions that came with the Twin Screw, I build a little jig. Worked VERY well. 

























Tested the fit of the face vise - worked perfectly first time (beginner's luck)








Played around (a lot) with the twin screws and got ready to glue the skirts to the top…









Next time - gluing the skirts & fine tuning the vises. Thanks for looking….


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## lysdexic (Mar 21, 2011)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Skirts & Vises*
> 
> So, the top needed skirts, obviously, so time to laminate again. This time, I used 3 pieces of 1×8 black walnut. This gave me a skirt that is 2 1/4" thick, and 6 3/4" wide - after cleaning up the edges. I glued up enough blanks for the front skirt, two end skirts, and chops for both vises.
> 
> ...


Looks great Allan. I had wondered what ever happen with this bench build. Are these pics current or are you getting caught up with the blog?


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## twobyfour16 (Nov 9, 2008)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Skirts & Vises*
> 
> So, the top needed skirts, obviously, so time to laminate again. This time, I used 3 pieces of 1×8 black walnut. This gave me a skirt that is 2 1/4" thick, and 6 3/4" wide - after cleaning up the edges. I glued up enough blanks for the front skirt, two end skirts, and chops for both vises.
> 
> ...


Lysdexic - Sorry for not finishing the blog. To answer your question, the bench is completely finished. I will work on getting some pictures & finishing up the blog. Thanks for the interest! 
(by the way, I can't believe I didn't build a big heavy bench with a good vise earlier! - I use it all the time & love it)


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## lysdexic (Mar 21, 2011)

twobyfour16 said:


> *Skirts & Vises*
> 
> So, the top needed skirts, obviously, so time to laminate again. This time, I used 3 pieces of 1×8 black walnut. This gave me a skirt that is 2 1/4" thick, and 6 3/4" wide - after cleaning up the edges. I glued up enough blanks for the front skirt, two end skirts, and chops for both vises.
> 
> ...


No worries. I'll just stay here and refresh the page until the pictures are up :^)


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