# shop bench with lots of storage



## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

*resurecting an old workbench build*

I downloaded a CAD file for this open source work bench design ages ago, and set about scavenging recycled materials.










I purchased a couple sheets of 5/8" MDF that was extra from a job we ran at work and got the shop forman to cut the drawer sides, ends and drawer box sides, tops and bottoms on the panel saw. I then came across a pallet of 42"x42" chipboard that one of our customers asked us to scrap out for them, and was able to get 10 or so sheets for free. I ordered the cheapest drawer slides I could find from Grizzly and was ready to rock….. but the project stalled when my MIL sold her house and my basement was converted from shop space to storage space :^(

Some 9 years later, I'm finally finishing up the project…. so I modified the design to meet my current needs and shop space and modeled it up in Solid Works.










We now have a mill work dept. at work, and i can buy material at cost and use the equipment after hours, so I'm cutting drawer fronts and side panels on the Selco and edge banding them on the automatic hot melt edge bander.

The drawer pull is one we buy in volume and stock as our "economy pull" so I can get them wicked cheap.

One of my other ancient projects that stalled (this one goes back about 16 years) was going to be an oversized router table. So I have a 1" MDF top that I laminated both sides of. I wound up buying a Rockler top instead, so I'll use this as my bench top. and see if I have any laminate left to do up the edges with. If not I'll rip som thin oak strips for banding.

My goal is to get more drawers for storage, and more bench space for assembly, etc…

I started building the drawers over the weekend, so I'll snap some pics and update that tonight.


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

ssnvet said:


> *resurecting an old workbench build*
> 
> I downloaded a CAD file for this open source work bench design ages ago, and set about scavenging recycled materials.
> 
> ...


oops…


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

*progress on the drawers*

It starts with a plan… I know their not super sophisticated, but with a few 1" pin nails to help reinforce the glue joint, they feel pretty solid.










I've had this stack dado for a while now, but haven't had need of it till now…so I had to make an auxillary fence and a ZCI










Here's the set up for cutting the lap joints










first lap joint










gluing up the drawers… I really need to get some more clamps…. I like using the paper towel roll to keep the glue bottle upside down, so I don't have to wait for it to flow to the tip.










drawers anyone?










Only six more to go!


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## SirFatty (May 5, 2012)

ssnvet said:


> *progress on the drawers*
> 
> It starts with a plan… I know their not super sophisticated, but with a few 1" pin nails to help reinforce the glue joint, they feel pretty solid.
> 
> ...


Looks good.. I find drawers tedious, but that's probably because I've build a lot this spring.

So, just glue and no fasteners? I would be afraid it would pull apart without nails or screws.


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

ssnvet said:


> *progress on the drawers*
> 
> It starts with a plan… I know their not super sophisticated, but with a few 1" pin nails to help reinforce the glue joint, they feel pretty solid.
> 
> ...


I'm reinforcing with 1" brads…. and the drawer slides support from the bottom….

Though I've refurbished drawers, I've actually never built them from scratch before…. so it's a learning experience for me….. and I may learn to regret doing it this way.

I'm basically following the construction method shown in the plan I downloaded…. and have only modified the size, height and materials slightly.

perhaps I should put a few sheet rock screws in as well?

The MDF was cut to size and has been stacked neatly in my basement forever…. it's still dead flat, though it has swollen about 1/32". I compensated for that by making my rabbit a little deeper in order to hold the 18" overall width dim.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

ssnvet said:


> *progress on the drawers*
> 
> It starts with a plan… I know their not super sophisticated, but with a few 1" pin nails to help reinforce the glue joint, they feel pretty solid.
> 
> ...


Good job on getting those drawers knocked out. Not a huge fan of MDF…. okay I hate the stuff, but then again, different environments call for different materials… Hope wherever you are isn't humid…


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

ssnvet said:


> *progress on the drawers*
> 
> It starts with a plan… I know their not super sophisticated, but with a few 1" pin nails to help reinforce the glue joint, they feel pretty solid.
> 
> ...


I'm not exactly crazy about MDF either…. but as mentioned, I basically salvaged it as scrap, along with the particle board. Up untill today, the drawer slides are the only thing I had spent money on, and today I bought a sheet of melamine and the drawer pulls…. so that's another $25. All total… I'll have less than $100 into the build.


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

*Drawer Mountain is growing!*

Ten done, one in clamps and one more to go after that….










I also got the drawer fronts cut and edge banded….










We use these drawer pulls on a lot of projects at work and buy them buy the gazillion…. I only had to pay 50 cents each for them as empoyees can purchase material from the company at cost.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

ssnvet said:


> *Drawer Mountain is growing!*
> 
> Ten done, one in clamps and one more to go after that….
> 
> ...


thats quite a bit of drawers. nice deal on the slides.


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## jgreiner (Oct 23, 2010)

ssnvet said:


> *Drawer Mountain is growing!*
> 
> Ten done, one in clamps and one more to go after that….
> 
> ...


When you get done make some drawers for me


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

*more progress*

finished the last two drawers…layed out and spot drilled the drawer pull holes in the drawer fronts…

This design has three "drawer boxes" .... each with four drawers…. I glued up the MDF panels too make the three boxes and here they are shown dry fitted for the next step, which is to join them all together with an MDF top and bottom panel that runs the full length.


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

*pedestal done*

I got the pedestal put together…










And here are the drawer box frames in position…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

ssnvet said:


> *pedestal done*
> 
> I got the pedestal put together…
> 
> ...


Nice…


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## doordude (Mar 26, 2010)

ssnvet said:


> *pedestal done*
> 
> I got the pedestal put together…
> 
> ...


nice job;got to get everything organized


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

*ready for face frame...*

the three drawer boxes are secure to the pedistle, the MDF "cap" is on, the melamine ends are on, and the plywood back panel secure…..

this "chassis" is turning out to be quite the tank…. and I'm getting a little concerned how in the world I'm going to get it down off of my wood working bench :^O










I went ahead and put the drawer fronts on the bottom three drawers, since these are referenced off the bottom…. the other levels will have to wait untill they are installed, as they will reference off the drawer below.










and the top is ready to be installed and banded. This is 1" thick MDF with laminate on both sides. I glued this up over a decade ago as part of a ill conceived plan to make a jumbo sized router table. I wound up buying a Rockler table and this has sat in the corner ever since.


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

ssnvet said:


> *ready for face frame...*
> 
> the three drawer boxes are secure to the pedistle, the MDF "cap" is on, the melamine ends are on, and the plywood back panel secure…..
> 
> ...


I must admit that I'm starting to burn out on this project…. as I've tallied up my glue up sessions

12 drawers
3 drawer boxes
1 pedistle
1 boxes to pedistle
1 cap over boxes
2 melamine ends
1 back panel
-------
21 glue up sessions :^O


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## GMman (Apr 11, 2008)

ssnvet said:


> *ready for face frame...*
> 
> the three drawer boxes are secure to the pedistle, the MDF "cap" is on, the melamine ends are on, and the plywood back panel secure…..
> 
> ...


You're going to end up with a great bench and very handy and usefull.


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## SirFatty (May 5, 2012)

ssnvet said:


> *ready for face frame...*
> 
> the three drawer boxes are secure to the pedistle, the MDF "cap" is on, the melamine ends are on, and the plywood back panel secure…..
> 
> ...


Yeah, drawers do get on the nerves.. perseverance! You'll be done soon!


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

*Face Frame done*

Well, this is my first attempt at making a face frame…. but the way this design is set up, I'm not sure that I should even call it a face frame…. more like banding in some ways.

Either way… I carefully measured and cut the stock, then very carefully ripped each member to a dim. I transfered with a combo. square.

Then I made my first mistake…. and pre-sanded the members (the boards had been in storage for a long time) with a belt sander ….. which inadvertantly rounded over some of the ends….. ooooops!

I connected the rails and styles with two pocket holes each…. then clamped the frame to the chassis and marked both for biscuits…. .... cut biscuits slots… dry fit… seperated….. glued it up…. and clamped using 2×4s as cawls for the two interior verticle members. I only had 4 pipe clamps and 4 parallel clamps that were long enough and wished I had at least two more…. Can you ever really have enough clamps?

Somewhere, unbeknowst to me, two of the pocket holes cracked through the ends of the top horizontal member…. I didn't detect this when screwing the members in place… so I'm wondering if they cracked during all the handling afterwards. I tried to work a little glue into the cracks and clamped directly over the spot. One side closed up nicely… the side shown below….not so nice.

Live and learn…










six out of the eight unions look just like this, with no touch up….. so I can see why the Kregg system is so popular.










the verticle members on the outboard ends are only 1-1/4" wide… but it turns out that it was the end grain of the receiving horizontal member that gave.










I'm not calling them rails and styles…. since styles seem to always go all the way through to the edges and rails fill the gap. Maybe that's the way I should have done it… as the top will be covered, and the cracks would have been hidden. Since the bottom horizontal member is more like an apron, I thought it would look funny if it didn't go through to the end.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

ssnvet said:


> *Face Frame done*
> 
> Well, this is my first attempt at making a face frame…. but the way this design is set up, I'm not sure that I should even call it a face frame…. more like banding in some ways.
> 
> ...


thats very interesting where the parts cracked. it also doesn't seem like it crached where the pocket holes are, but 'lower'.

for what it's worth - for 1-1/4" wide parts, I would just use 1 pocket hole per joint to just pull them together, and let the glue keep it in position long term


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

ssnvet said:


> *Face Frame done*
> 
> Well, this is my first attempt at making a face frame…. but the way this design is set up, I'm not sure that I should even call it a face frame…. more like banding in some ways.
> 
> ...


I see your point…. I know I had the jig set up for 3/4 stock and used the approprate screws….

I asked the question about pocket screwing these thin members as a seperate forum post and some commented that it should be no problem to use two screws…. which worked fine for the ones in the middle…. but not enough meat to receive the screws so close to the ends I ugess.

Oh well…live and learn…. this one is a skill builder for sure.


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

*finished the FF and started installing drawers*










Because I'm looking for "skill builder" aspects to the project, I decided to try some finishing products I've never used b4. And since I've never done anything with Shellac, I decided to seal the pine face frame with Zinser Seal Coat b4 applying finish. And since the other aspect of the project is to use up stock that's been wasting away on the shelf, I decided to use up a partial can of Zar plus (stain/poly).

Lessons learned about Shellac….
1. This stuff dries really fast! So if you're going to brush it, you better have your ducks in a row.
2. Having a coffee can of water on the bench next to a coffee can of denatured alchohal is not such a good idea. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that I used the wrong can untill after my sash brush turn to white gum…. :^O good thing it was an old one….

The shellac did it's job and I thought the stain absorbed evenly (for pine). I can't say there was really any imporvement over the water based Natural by General that I've used many times in the past.










don't mind that spot where I picked the bristle out….

I'm not crazy about these slides…. but I bought them for this project on the cheep from Grizzly, years ago when money was tight.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

ssnvet said:


> *finished the FF and started installing drawers*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I have become a big shellac fan so felt I needed to comment. I dilute my shellac 1:1 with alcohol which seems to make it more brushing friendly. And I use ammonia rather than alcohol to clean my brushes (a lot cheaper and works well if you can stand the smell). Yep, water and shellac=white gum!


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

*12 drawers installed*

Been out of the loop for a while… took the kiddies up north for 4 days @ my MIL's cottage, and true to my well established pattern of getting sick on vacations, I came down with a bug. I limped into work on Tuesday but my wife persuaded me into seeing the doc on Wednesday during my lunch break…. PNEUMONIA !! So I've been a drugged up hurtin' puppy, pretty much traping back and forth from work to bed ever since. But I was finally well enough to get some shop time this weekend.










Getting right down to it, I realized I've never installed drawers with slides b4. I had picked up these older style kitchen slides on the cheap from Grizzly years ago for this project… so I was committed to using them and just kinda installed them the way that seemed right, using spacer blocks to get consistant positioning.

I guess what I wound up with is kind of a morph between a face frame showing, and an all drawer front. I had cut all the MDF for the boxes long ago per the the original plan (which didn't have a FF) and then looked around at what I had for materials. I decided buy a sheet of Melamine at work and have my buds hook me up by cutting it up on the Selco and edge banding the drawers. So it turned out to be somewhat of an odd duck, but I kind of like it.










One benefit of having all that MDF in the boxes turned out to be the weight…. here's all 12 drawers at full extenstion… and not even close to being tippy.










Next up is the 5" risers, then edge band and install the top and we'll call this one done.


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

ssnvet said:


> *12 drawers installed*
> 
> Been out of the loop for a while… took the kiddies up north for 4 days @ my MIL's cottage, and true to my well established pattern of getting sick on vacations, I came down with a bug. I limped into work on Tuesday but my wife persuaded me into seeing the doc on Wednesday during my lunch break…. PNEUMONIA !! So I've been a drugged up hurtin' puppy, pretty much traping back and forth from work to bed ever since. But I was finally well enough to get some shop time this weekend.
> 
> ...


Yours truely…. strategically hiding my big old beer belly :^O


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## crashn (Aug 26, 2011)

ssnvet said:


> *12 drawers installed*
> 
> Been out of the loop for a while… took the kiddies up north for 4 days @ my MIL's cottage, and true to my well established pattern of getting sick on vacations, I came down with a bug. I limped into work on Tuesday but my wife persuaded me into seeing the doc on Wednesday during my lunch break…. PNEUMONIA !! So I've been a drugged up hurtin' puppy, pretty much traping back and forth from work to bed ever since. But I was finally well enough to get some shop time this weekend.
> 
> ...


Those look great! I have been recycling old kitchen cabinets that I find free on CL. I have a bunch of those style slides in stock now, the seem to work pretty good and the price has been right!

Cheers!


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## SirFatty (May 5, 2012)

ssnvet said:


> *12 drawers installed*
> 
> Been out of the loop for a while… took the kiddies up north for 4 days @ my MIL's cottage, and true to my well established pattern of getting sick on vacations, I came down with a bug. I limped into work on Tuesday but my wife persuaded me into seeing the doc on Wednesday during my lunch break…. PNEUMONIA !! So I've been a drugged up hurtin' puppy, pretty much traping back and forth from work to bed ever since. But I was finally well enough to get some shop time this weekend.
> 
> ...


That's a lot of drawers! Looks really good!


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

ssnvet said:


> *12 drawers installed*
> 
> Been out of the loop for a while… took the kiddies up north for 4 days @ my MIL's cottage, and true to my well established pattern of getting sick on vacations, I came down with a bug. I limped into work on Tuesday but my wife persuaded me into seeing the doc on Wednesday during my lunch break…. PNEUMONIA !! So I've been a drugged up hurtin' puppy, pretty much traping back and forth from work to bed ever since. But I was finally well enough to get some shop time this weekend.
> 
> ...


Nice work. I have a similar project in progress right now, and I too have been slowed down by pnuemonia… Stinks…

I am spending the extra $$ in my project for the soft close drawer slides though. I really OUGHT to be raiding heavy trash days when my neighbors pitch their original cabinets / drawers for the hardware, but I have been neglectful, and Home Depot has the soft close on the cheap… I figure that is what I will be going with in the house, and honestly, I like the soft close when my tools are in those drawers!

The drawer fronts have me curious. I probably ought to read your older blog entries, but I have to ask… What material are they and how did you make them? I was planning on simple plywood drawer fronts edge banded with iron on edge banding. Then the whole shebang treated to a couple of coats of BLO, and finally lacquer mostly because I am having fun spraying lacquer even though I suspect the neighbors high school aged kids hang out on the other side of the fence huffing the stuff when I spray…


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

ssnvet said:


> *12 drawers installed*
> 
> Been out of the loop for a while… took the kiddies up north for 4 days @ my MIL's cottage, and true to my well established pattern of getting sick on vacations, I came down with a bug. I limped into work on Tuesday but my wife persuaded me into seeing the doc on Wednesday during my lunch break…. PNEUMONIA !! So I've been a drugged up hurtin' puppy, pretty much traping back and forth from work to bed ever since. But I was finally well enough to get some shop time this weekend.
> 
> ...


the drawer fronts are 3/4" melamine with edge banding….

I can buy it on the cheep at work and use the companies equipment to cut it up and edge band it…

My original plan was to make solid wood drawer fronts… and to cover the ends with oak plywood, but I decided to go the melamine route to save cost and time.

I'm supposed to be making my daughter a hope chest for her 13th BD and it's looking like I'm going to be very tight on time…. so I need to get this one done and out of the way.


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

*fabricating the risers and getting the beast off of my bench...*

tweeked the riser design back to the four riser layout in the original plan…. this will decrease the unsupported span on the top and create a solid load path from the bench top to the floor.










I didn't have as many hard wood 3×5's kicking around as I thought (and the two I found had deep checks) ... so I'm also going back to dimensional lumber for the risers and will double up the outboard pair.

Rather than making a HD run and picking the 2×6 pile…. I dragged in some 2×8 cut offs from last years tree house project from the barn and jointed and planed them flat. Hardly worth the time and electricity to do so… but one of the purposes of this project has been to clean up some storage space by using up old material.

As a reward for my thriftyness….. I totally plugged up my DC hose to the planer and joiner…. as they produced coarse shreds, and not chips. Me shoving the boards through end over end like a production line didn't help any.

I'm borrowing a furnature dolly tonight and going to risk bodilly harm to get this beast down off of the bench and over to it's destination on the other side of the shop.

Wish me luck.


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## GrandpaLen (Mar 6, 2012)

ssnvet said:


> *fabricating the risers and getting the beast off of my bench...*
> 
> tweeked the riser design back to the four riser layout in the original plan…. this will decrease the unsupported span on the top and create a solid load path from the bench top to the floor.
> 
> ...


Good Luck,,, lift with your legs. 

Work Safely and have Fun. Grandpa Len


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

ssnvet said:


> *fabricating the risers and getting the beast off of my bench...*
> 
> tweeked the riser design back to the four riser layout in the original plan…. this will decrease the unsupported span on the top and create a solid load path from the bench top to the floor.
> 
> ...


Houston, the "Eagle" has landed….

Lowered the frame in steps from the workbench, to saw horses, to milk crates, to the furniture dolly…. then wheeled her into position and dropped to the floor. This way, I could lift one end at a time and my wife could move the supports around.

The drawer slides only came with enough screws to put (3) in each slide, so I picked up some #6×1/2" flat heads and increased that to (5) per slide, as I anticipate some heavy items being stored.

Major effort shuffling stuff around to clear a path for all of this…. but such is life ina a 20' x 22' shop.

Things are coming together slowly but surely…. biggest reward last night is that my main bench is clear again.

I haven't seen that real estate in over a month :^)


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

*risers done & top banded*

We took the first day of a planned vacation and layed low trying to get everyone healthy…. so I got some decent shop time and accommplished the following…










I milled the risers out of cut offs from SPF 2×10s that I used for rafters in the kiddo's tree house last summer… it's good practice for me to go through the jointer-jointer-TS-planer routine again….

but somehow my jointer (a 1930s Craftsman) got out of whack… so I got to "practice" re-alligning that again to… I went ahead and gave the knives a quick honing on the Arkansas stone while I was at it… Once again, I'm amazed how well this old boy does, when it's dialed in.

Moving on to banding the top… I found enough pine trim rips on my rack to make it around the perimeter… so back to the jointer-jointer-planer-planer-planer-TS to get them down to 1/2" thick and just a little wider than the 1-1/4" top.










Once again….. not enough clamps :^)

Here's one of the better mitered corners…. looks like I'll need to keep practicing that technique


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

*finish flop*

So I've been cranking on my top (1" MDF with laminate on both sides) ....

> I milled 1/2" thick solid pine banding down from scraps of trim and framing lumber… 
> installed w/ biscuits to aide alignment…
> flush trimmed top and bottom with router
> decided to route a 3/16"x45 deg chamfer on the top perimeter, rather than a round over bit.
> sanded every thing up nice and pretty.

In keeping with the "use up old inventory" theme of this project, I previously finished the face frame with an old partial can of "Zar Plus - Salem Maple" stain & poly in one stuff. And though it's not anything to brag about, it's quick to apply and appears fairly durable with only one coat.








But after finishing and installing the risers, I knew I was at risk of running out…. especially if what was left in the can skinned over again…. which of course it did.

So I gets one long side and two ends of the banding covered with a decent looking coat (picking out the flecks and blobs) and for want of a couple spoon fulls of finish, I couldn't complete the other long side.

So I get the brainstrom to add some thinner and see if I can stretch the little bit of residue in the bottomof the can.

Big Mistake!

I got just enough finish applied to cover the last side, but not enough pigment to match the color of the other side and ends :^(

So I found an old can of oil based Minwax Early Amerkican stain, which after testing on some scrap, proved to be a very close match to the Zar stuff…. So I'm thinking that maybe I can put it on to match the color and then put a coat of clear oil based poly over all four sides and call it done.








but Noooooooooo…. there was just enough dillute finish on their to prevent the stain from penetrating.

So I after making quite the mess of things…. I had to take a rag soaked in thinner and scrub off the finish on the last side.

But the finish on the other three sides had already started curing and wouldn't wipe off….

So now I have to decide if I'm going to sand it all off (and re-cut the chamfer to re-establish the nice crisp edges) and then re-finish with the Minwax stain and oil based poly….

or just touch sand the one side that I scrubbed down with thinner and try to finish it to match.

:^(


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## Brett1972 (Nov 5, 2010)

ssnvet said:


> *finish flop*
> 
> So I've been cranking on my top (1" MDF with laminate on both sides) ....
> 
> ...


Well, it doesn't sound like the finish worked out like you had hoped but at least you used up the old remains and now you can start fresh on the next go around. Maybe I should care more about how my bench looks but as long as it works, then it's okay that it doesn't look like a piece of furniture. 
Keep at it.


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

ssnvet said:


> *finish flop*
> 
> So I've been cranking on my top (1" MDF with laminate on both sides) ....
> 
> ...


I agree Bret…. as long as it works and isn't an embarassment, I'll be happy.

I've seen some amazing benches posted on this site that reflect a level of craftsmanship I hope to attain some day. But in the shop…. I'm more concerned with function at this point.

I opted to sand just the front edge of the banding down, re-cut the chamfer and stained it with two coats of the Minwax Early American. Then put two coats of satin poly on the entire banding, to build up a fairly tough finish.

It's not an exact match, but you'd have to stoop down and look close to tell the diference.

All I have to do is attach the top and this ones going to the finished projects page….

Thanks to all who followed along and provided words of advice / encouragement…. it has helped me to stay motivated and to see the project through to completion.

Happy trails


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## Brett1972 (Nov 5, 2010)

ssnvet said:


> *finish flop*
> 
> So I've been cranking on my top (1" MDF with laminate on both sides) ....
> 
> ...


That's great! I'll be keepin' an eye out for it in the projects page.


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## 308Gap (Mar 6, 2010)

ssnvet said:


> *finish flop*
> 
> So I've been cranking on my top (1" MDF with laminate on both sides) ....
> 
> ...


For the amount of money spent it turned out great, it's a work bench after all. The drawer storage room would fill up fast in my garage. One ? what screws did you use to attach the slides to the cabinet walls ?


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

ssnvet said:


> *finish flop*
> 
> So I've been cranking on my top (1" MDF with laminate on both sides) ....
> 
> ...


#6×1/2" flat heads … That's what came with the slides…

There were only enough to put three screws per slide though… So I purchased enough extras to put 5 per….

center punched and pre-drilled the holes


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