# solid-door workbench



## ChrisMc45 (Jul 28, 2010)

*the top with solid-core doors*

So I got a monster solid-WOOD-core door from when they tore down the bowling alley on Redstone Arsenal. I now wish I had scored a few more, but that is hindsight. (PLEASE don't even mention the actual alleys, you can read about that kind of heartache or learning experience "here on LJ:"

We had big solid-core doors on offices at work. Long-story-short, I found a distributor who discarded many doors per quarter and was happy to give them away, details "HERE"

I rearranged my shop (took 1/2 day) to allow infeed/outfeed of 7'x3' "boards" 









I was expecting solid-WOOD-core. Maybe OSB is technically "wood" or at least a wood product….Not quite what I was hoping for. 









In the photo, the top piece is the cross-section of the Bowling-Alley door (now my lumber-rack base, another post another time) while the bottom pieces are the other freebie doors. Okay, I am imagining "skirt" parts surrounding the workbench top, lots of benches do that (but not Roubo, they aim super-thick. Hmmm…)

I like Chris Schwartz's editorial style and hand-tool evangelism, but I did not have any 24/4 lumber around for legs. I did have several true-4×4 (16/4) pieces of cypress left over from my deck. They made legs. I did lay-out, chamfer on leg bottom with router, all mortises with a Forstner bit, figuring to make round-edged tenons later.









LESSONS: 
1)--don't just go for biggest square-possible dimension on each leg, make them uniform even if they are not as thick as possible. When the legs are different thicknesses, it makes problems (many fussy calculations and different shoulder set-ups) later on stretchers…  
2)--rounded tenons might work in some applications….maybe next time I will not be lazy and only put shoulders on 3 sides of tenon.

Later fail, rounded tenons out of true:


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## exelectrician (Oct 3, 2011)

ChrisMc45 said:


> *the top with solid-core doors*
> 
> So I got a monster solid-WOOD-core door from when they tore down the bowling alley on Redstone Arsenal. I now wish I had scored a few more, but that is hindsight. (PLEASE don't even mention the actual alleys, you can read about that kind of heartache or learning experience "here on LJ:"
> 
> ...


I really like the pile of oak you have air drying - I'm thinking you need this bench to make the next bench out of "real" wood,, right?


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

ChrisMc45 said:


> *the top with solid-core doors*
> 
> So I got a monster solid-WOOD-core door from when they tore down the bowling alley on Redstone Arsenal. I now wish I had scored a few more, but that is hindsight. (PLEASE don't even mention the actual alleys, you can read about that kind of heartache or learning experience "here on LJ:"
> 
> ...


ha! but why not go for the bowling alley ?!? sorry… I couldn't resist


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## ChrisMc45 (Jul 28, 2010)

*Making the base of the bench, note pipes in stretchers!*

Putting together the underpinnings of the bench, I used some of the ideas from C. Schwartz on Roubo bench, mostly about mass. I did not do true through-the-top timber framing, but did use drawboring on the end assemblies because they are permanent. Stretchers length might change in the future. I chose not to whittle my pegs from stock, but used dowels and a belt sander:









To pull the whole end-assemblies together, I used my biggest drift. Schwartz had a good article on putting shop-made handles on, I just used as-is:









To attach the long stretchers, I used round-end tenons into drill-only mortices. I then used long bolts to pull the stretchers tight to the legs. Normally people make these like bed-bolts, going to a nut squeezing washer onto a flat-faced hole.

However, I wanted to try something I read about in timberframe construction journals, to replace the washers with a piece of big-diameter pipe. Those Boilermakers at Purdue (Dr. Eckelman and grad students) had some good research and this is certainly "small timber".









Hey, the frame stands up, and is rigid, and has no flex. Had some grief on the non-wood-core door, the round-ended tenons, the drill-press holes not acting well as guides on the stretcher holes…...standard project stuff. perfection is not an attainable goal. Trying to get closer can be.


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## JulianLech (Jan 13, 2011)

ChrisMc45 said:


> *Making the base of the bench, note pipes in stretchers!*
> 
> Putting together the underpinnings of the bench, I used some of the ideas from C. Schwartz on Roubo bench, mostly about mass. I did not do true through-the-top timber framing, but did use drawboring on the end assemblies because they are permanent. Stretchers length might change in the future. I chose not to whittle my pegs from stock, but used dowels and a belt sander:
> 
> ...


Using the pipe is a great idea and it looks good too.


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## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

ChrisMc45 said:


> *Making the base of the bench, note pipes in stretchers!*
> 
> Putting together the underpinnings of the bench, I used some of the ideas from C. Schwartz on Roubo bench, mostly about mass. I did not do true through-the-top timber framing, but did use drawboring on the end assemblies because they are permanent. Stretchers length might change in the future. I chose not to whittle my pegs from stock, but used dowels and a belt sander:
> 
> ...


I love the pipe…that is a great way of distributing the stress load when doing this joint (it's pretty easy to compress the wood to failure if you are not careful…one oops on my parts speaking there).

I assume the two stretcher section is at the back of the bench, if so that is not a bad idea either as far as ridgidity is concerned. Nicley done.

And finally The Engineer….my personal favorite.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

ChrisMc45 said:


> *Making the base of the bench, note pipes in stretchers!*
> 
> Putting together the underpinnings of the bench, I used some of the ideas from C. Schwartz on Roubo bench, mostly about mass. I did not do true through-the-top timber framing, but did use drawboring on the end assemblies because they are permanent. Stretchers length might change in the future. I chose not to whittle my pegs from stock, but used dowels and a belt sander:
> 
> ...


looks good, and like you say - perfection is only a guideline. as long as it's solid, that's all that matters.


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## ChrisMc45 (Jul 28, 2010)

*Epic fail - blow-out becomes a calming relief*

So I was ready to "laminate" the top and bottom door-slabs to make the ~3.5" benchtop. Due to the ugly side-view of the slabs, I had figured to add a skirt or perimeter of white oak I had from a previous project, as well as the vise jaw faces.

I clamped the two slabs then drilled 1" holes through the top to about an inch into the bottom, these would allow big pegs to mechanically join the slabs. I glued the pegs proud on the top, then slid the two parts together with about a pint of Gorilla Glue in the middle.










I hammered the pegs until I reached the bottom of the hole in the bottom slab, then many clamps.

The top looked good, right up until I flipped to show what was the show-side of the bench:









Total blow-out of the veneered top, caused by hammering the big 1" pegs too far. Much cussing followed. but as I looked over the damage, I actually realized that the whole thing would still function as a bench just fine. It did not have to look as pretty as Lon Schleining's or Chris Schwartz's benches. This was no Roubo-replica, so why fret if the top (was supposed to be bottom of the top, if that makes sense) has big dowels visible? Furthermore, why bother with skirting from furniture-grade lumber, it is just a bench, an assembly surface and workholding aid?

With that relief, I relaxed and went on. I made the vise-faces from leftover Trex, a super-stable and easy to work material. The endvise went easily.









Finally got it done, you can see the result as my wobble-free bench in my project folder.


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## Flocktothewall (Jan 16, 2011)

ChrisMc45 said:


> *Epic fail - blow-out becomes a calming relief*
> 
> So I was ready to "laminate" the top and bottom door-slabs to make the ~3.5" benchtop. Due to the ugly side-view of the slabs, I had figured to add a skirt or perimeter of white oak I had from a previous project, as well as the vise jaw faces.
> 
> ...


I was looking at my solid core workbench today, its been a year now since I made the top (still have yet to make the bottom half) and I wanted it to be pristine, a thing of beauty in my shop. After a year later, there are some paint marks from some over spray, some glue drops, some gouges from planing, and I sit back and look at it, and I like it even more with all the battle marks, because it still holds up great, and on that top a few great projects were made.


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