# Workbench Construction



## richardb76 (Jul 19, 2011)

*Joinery for the legs/base*

So the purpose of this blog post was to help show how I built my bench. There are several things that might be of interest to a new woodworker (like myself). I worried for a long time that I wouldn't be able to afford a nice bench, or that I would need another 2 grand worth of tools to build a decent one.

the bench was built with material that was available at my local home store. Only the vises and the last few board feet of wood for the vise chops came from woodcraft.
I did not have access to a planer or jointer, only a cheap tablesaw, a circular saw, a hand drill, a router, a handplane (cheap but well tuned, with 1 blade for scrub planing and another for flatteneng/smoothing), and a handsaw were necessary. (I have a bandsaw and a drill press too, but didn't make meaningful use of them for this project.)

The base (image 1) was 4 legs arranged in 2 arrays of 2 legs tenoned into mortised sled feet & a top. (Image 2)

These arrays were then joined to one another using rails/stretchers. (image 3)





























The lumber for the base was 2×4 material from home depot. In my area this is usually some variant of pine or aspen.
I chose the flattest, best boards I could. I also flattened them some with my hand plane before laminating them face to face to create thicker boards.

A lot of the joinery, however, needed to be cut separately-prior to laminating the pieces. Here is an example of a finished mortise pair ready to receive the legs with their tenons.
Notice the unsightly butt-crack caused by joining the faces of two 2×4 boards together. This had to be fixed later with a simple inlay technique.










Each half of the mortise was cut on a separate 2×4 using my table saw & the two halves were later married. First I defined each edge of the mortise, then nibbled away the middle area.










After that, I cleaned up the bottom of the mortise with a chisel. This half-mortise is now ready to be married to its mirror image.










Here I am cutting a tenon by hand. Like the mortise, these were done by cutting a half tenon on each 2×4, then marrying mirrored pairs together as a lamination to make a complete piece.



















To join the two leg arrays together to form the base, I needed some stretchers. For these I decided to use 2×4 lumber without laminating them into larger pieces. I didn't feel like chopping mortises in the legs the hard way, so I went with a large dovetail arrangement, then added pins as a decorative and structural (I hope) element.

Here is the end result.










You can also see in the above picture how I handled the butt-crack problem mentioned earlier. I discovered that the 1/4 inch diameter red oak dowels at my home store matched a little round router bit that I had, and so cleaned out the butt crack with the router, then dropped in the dowels. After the glue dried I planed the dowel to the surface of the leg. Instead of butt-crack I had a decorative inlay that matched the detail wood used elsewhere on the bench.

Here is how I finished the joinery:










I used a template made out of hardboard, and then a pattern router bit to form each tail. A chisel cleaned up the corners and eased the fit. The same template, carefully laid upon the leg faces was used to lay out the socket (integral pins, perhaps?). I cleaned out the socket by defining the edges with a handsaw, nibbling away the middle with a tablesaw, and then cleaning up with a chisel. It went by pretty quickly.




























In the end, the bench wasn't quite as heavy as I wanted, so I built a box sized to straddle the two sled feet across the length of the bench, and then filled the box with sand. It added another 70 pounds to the bench.



















Thank you for reading! I hope that this information will be either entertaining or helpful to you. Even better, I hope that someone gets inspired to bite the bullet and try building a bench. You don't need thousands of dollars worth of equipment. Most entry level woodworkers have the tools I used for this bench. This bench isn't the best bench in the world, but it looks pretty good, is stable, & holds my work pretty well so far, so I am pleased. 
The bench has some flaws. Notably, I will build my next bench with legs flush to the face. Also, I will use heavier wood. Even southern yellow pine, which is cheap where I live, is much heavier than the white pine I made the base out of. So far the bench has been super stable, but I do worry if the white pine is strong enough to make it through years of use. We'll see, I guess.

Sometime later this weekend a second post will follow, showing the steps I went through to make the benchtop.


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## RussInMichigan (Oct 15, 2010)

richardb76 said:


> *Joinery for the legs/base*
> 
> So the purpose of this blog post was to help show how I built my bench. There are several things that might be of interest to a new woodworker (like myself). I worried for a long time that I wouldn't be able to afford a nice bench, or that I would need another 2 grand worth of tools to build a decent one.
> 
> ...


Good work on both the bench and the blog. I need to do something better for work surfaces in my shop area and an actual bench would be a good starting place.

Now I'm anxious to see how you do the top, dogs and vises.

Thanks for sharing, RichardB.


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## tierraverde (Dec 1, 2009)

richardb76 said:


> *Joinery for the legs/base*
> 
> So the purpose of this blog post was to help show how I built my bench. There are several things that might be of interest to a new woodworker (like myself). I worried for a long time that I wouldn't be able to afford a nice bench, or that I would need another 2 grand worth of tools to build a decent one.
> 
> ...


Thanks Rich.
Great blog and good looking strong bench.
I read somewhere about a guy that gave up on buying 2×4's from the big box stores due to twisting, cracks etc.
He buys 2×12's of douglas fir (joists) and rips them down. It's much better quality, heavier and arrow straight.
Next time I build something requiring 2×4's, I'm going to try it.


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## offseid (Jan 16, 2008)

richardb76 said:


> *Joinery for the legs/base*
> 
> So the purpose of this blog post was to help show how I built my bench. There are several things that might be of interest to a new woodworker (like myself). I worried for a long time that I wouldn't be able to afford a nice bench, or that I would need another 2 grand worth of tools to build a decent one.
> 
> ...


Excellent documentation of your process. I really enjoyed reading it! Well done.


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## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

richardb76 said:


> *Joinery for the legs/base*
> 
> So the purpose of this blog post was to help show how I built my bench. There are several things that might be of interest to a new woodworker (like myself). I worried for a long time that I wouldn't be able to afford a nice bench, or that I would need another 2 grand worth of tools to build a decent one.
> 
> ...


Good documentation of the process. This looks like the sort of bench I may be able to build, thanks for the inspiration!


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## richardb76 (Jul 19, 2011)

richardb76 said:


> *Joinery for the legs/base*
> 
> So the purpose of this blog post was to help show how I built my bench. There are several things that might be of interest to a new woodworker (like myself). I worried for a long time that I wouldn't be able to afford a nice bench, or that I would need another 2 grand worth of tools to build a decent one.
> 
> ...


@ Jim C:

Yes, you have to be *extremely* careful when using 2×4s. If I were to rebuild this, I would use SYP instead of white pine (our local construction equivalent to fir), also I would use the method you describe: buying a large board of something better & rip it to desired size.

My use of white pine led to certain problems (it doesn't like router bits, and tends to explode easily when it meets a router). It is also too light, which is a problem since benches are better the heavier they are.

At the time I was able to find a satisfactory number of very straight (essentially 90% had quarter sawn grain orientation) 2×4 boards by searching through hundreds (literally hundreds) of boards. I probably discarded 20 boards to find one perfect one. Cost was the central factor, as was need to avoid boards that might require a jointer or planer. So I made do with the 2×4 material at the time. The lumber for the base you see above cost me 25 bucks, plus 45 minutes at the home store sorting through 2×4s.

I chose the boards very carefully, and left them to acclimate in my shop for a few months before cutting them to size. It was really amazing to me how stable and straight these boards were. But then an extra 30 minutes at the lumber yard pays dividends when it comes to straightening cupped, bowed, or warped stock. I wish I could say that the board acclimitization time above was a reflection of my own personal serenity and patience, but it really was more a product of being busy at work and being afraid to start cutting the joints.

If someone needs to roll cheap & easy, one could duplicate my method. However, my advice would be to do the maneuver you describe to obtain the working stock.


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## Bigrock (Apr 16, 2010)

richardb76 said:


> *Joinery for the legs/base*
> 
> So the purpose of this blog post was to help show how I built my bench. There are several things that might be of interest to a new woodworker (like myself). I worried for a long time that I wouldn't be able to afford a nice bench, or that I would need another 2 grand worth of tools to build a decent one.
> 
> ...


Nice looking start to your own Workbench.
I have a question for you. Are you going to add feet of cut out the middle area of the bottom of the legs? The reason is to make the bench set flat on the Floor. Not many concrete floors are flat.


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## richardb76 (Jul 19, 2011)

richardb76 said:


> *Joinery for the legs/base*
> 
> So the purpose of this blog post was to help show how I built my bench. There are several things that might be of interest to a new woodworker (like myself). I worried for a long time that I wouldn't be able to afford a nice bench, or that I would need another 2 grand worth of tools to build a decent one.
> 
> ...


@Bigrock:
The answer is (more or less) yes.
I have a square of 3×3 x 1/4 inch cork underneath each of the 4 corners of bench feet. This ended up being the right amount to level the bench and eliminate rocking/wobbling. 
It's funny but I can't remember right now if I took a pullshave to the middle area or not. I think not. If the bench had continued to rock a little after trying the cork, I would have bitten the bullet and coved out the middle area of the sled feet, just as you were suggesting.


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## richardb76 (Jul 19, 2011)

*Building the benchtops*

In this post today I wanted to go over the materials and methods I used for constructing my benchtops for the new workbench.

Each benchtop is an identical lamination of 4 layers. In my original design, the top was 3 layers thick (each about 3/4 inch thick). However once I completed that part of it I realized that the bench wasn't going to be heavy enough. The material I was using at that point was all aspen and pine, with red oak trim. I noticed that the density of SYP (southern yellow pine) was considerably greater than the white pine I had been using, so I bought a board at home depot to add a fourth layer (underneath the other layers, and obscured by the oak trim.

Fortunately, the thickness of the four layers was essentially identical to the depth of the trim that would be hiding the lamination, so I only had to plane a few millimeters off the bottom to make it flat.

So I picked up 3 boards from Lowes that were 6' x 18" & 3/4 inches thick. Two were "paint grade" and one was "stain grade." All were some variant or another of a soft whitewood. 
Here is an example:










I used the stain grade panel on top, with the uglier paint grade panels beneath it. Each was too wide (I was going for 2 benchtops, each 6 feet in length and ~9 inches in width. So I ripped the boards to width & laminated them.



















The picture above just goes to show that the common wisdom is true: you can never have too many clamps. 
Next I needed to joint the long sides, so I bought a straightedge (10 - 20$) at the home store, and then used it to rout a rabbet along one side.



















The board was then flipped upside down and the rabbet became a guide for a very large flush trim router bit.










This produced a nicely jointed edge. Definitely not as perfect as if I had a real jointer with a long bed, but good enough to do the trick & with small enough imperfections that the seam jointed well to the trim piece.










I then repeated this for the other side of the board and for the other 2 sides of the 2nd benchtop.
Next I carefully selected four very straight red oak boards at the home store, to act as trim & to hide the lamination. Neither the benchtops nor the trim boards were perfectly straight, so I matched each face as best I could and then marked which parts of the the lamination and the trim piece needed planing. Most of the benchtop flattening that was needed was done at this stage in the game. And to be honest, there wasn't a whole lot of this (thankfully). At the end of construction, I needed to do almost zero benchtop flattening. I used a Buck brothers (home depot, 30 - 40$) jack plane with a blade that I put a heavy camber on to hog out the higher spots. A finer blade, with a minuscule camber was used after this to do final flattening before attaching the trim.

(As a side note, I couldn't afford "nice" planes, but I carefully tuned my buck bros plane and got acceptable results. Later on, as a treat to myself I bought an aftermarket Hock plane blade, and it made SUCH a difference. I can't wait to buy a real (i.e., veritas or lie-nielsen) plane this Christmas.) After replacing the 2$ blade that came with the buck bros plane, I was able to get reliable shavings like this:










To attach the trim I used my router with a slot cutting bit to make biscuit holes, and used these to help guide my trim pieces into place.










For the sake of ease (laziness?) I went with the thickness of the trim boards as my benchtop thickness, since it simplified the design even further. (No need to rip the trim pieces to final width).










It was at this point that I realized the bench would probably not be heavy enough, so I did two things to correct this:


I added a large box of sand to the design of the base (see post #1 about this).

I added a fourth layer (this time of 1 1/2 inch thick SYP (southern yellow pine) to the lamination. (see picture below).










So I added the SYP & cut the tops to length using a guide & my circular saw, then added the end pieces of trim. Cutting these to length was one of the most nerve-wracking parts of this whole process, because the top was about 4 inches in thickness, and I had no way to cut a clean line through that much wood. So I came up with a method of using a guide and paying VERY CAREFUL attention to the fence and my circular saw cutting edge (less for safety sake-though important-and more for not screwing up the length). This worked - *but only because I test-cut a couple times beyond the final edge to figure out the process.*
The end pieces of trim were cut slightly longer than final length, also the cut made with the circular saw needed a little work, so I finessed the final fit and length using chisels & a handplane, then attached the trim piece. When attaching the end trim pieces, I found that I didn't have a clamp that could work in this situation, so I drilled six holes (three on a side) and used screws and glue to attach the pieces. The screws acted as clamps, and I removed them after the glue set, then filled in the holes with complementary wood dowels. Here is a picture of the final result:










Next I:

built my face vise (this allowed me to begin holding workpieces for the more complex tail vise construction). 
drilled dog holes 
built the tail vise (OMG, this would deserve its own blog post, and I didn't take enough pictures to do it justice.) then 
attached the bench top

The face vise chop is a lamination of two pieces of 4/4 quartersawn red oak obtained from Woodcraft.










The dog holes were drilled with a hand drill and a jig that I made to keep the holes spaced correctly and to keep the holes straight. The jig was a piece of 2×4 with a fence glued to one edge, so that I could abut the jig to the bench and clamp it to the benchtop. Two holes, each 4 inches apart (how far I wanted my dog holes) were drilled through the jig. To use the jig you find the spot you want your first hole, clamp it in, drill two holes (one for each hole in the jig), then move the jig 4 inches, reference one hole in the jig off the most distal dog hole in the bench, clamp & drill, move & repeat all the way down the bench.










The tail vise was tricky to install, but is my favorite of the two vises - now that it is installed. SUPER useful. (However, if I wanted an easier build, I would try a different style of tail vise, like one of the "drop in" styles). I got mine for 40 bucks, (on clearance at woodcraft) and it is German made, so I couldn't pass that up; also, I like the traditional look of the old school tail vises. The short version of how I did the tail vise is by lots of careful planning of each step & face-face laminations of 4/4 red oak. Lots of finessing of fit by chisel & planes.



















Here I am about to make the wooden cover to hide the top of the vise:









To attach the benchtops I needed to 
# cut dadoes in the tops of the base to accommodate the rails/runners that would hold the shelf in the middle, and allow for tool trays later on. 
# affix the runners to the benchtops 
# bolt the tops to the base somehow
The dadoes I located by placing my tops on the bench, aligning them perfectly & checking for squareness/flushness, then marking the locations on the feet tops with a knife. After I cut the dadoes (handsaw and chisel), I laid the rails in the dadoes, put glue on one edge & moved the tops back into place & clamped carefully.










After the glue dried I had tops that pretty much didn't want to budge with front to back motion, but were removable. To stop lateral motion and vertical motion, I cut some blocks, screwed them with enormous screws & glue into the top of the feet, just under the table top, and then put one screw upward into the benchtop from below.
Now 90% done, I moved the bench into place, & made four cork feet to place under each of the four corners of the bench, (which eliminated rocking movement) and slid the sandbox into the base & covered the sandbox with the shiplapped shelves discussed in the last post. Everything received a coat of BLO except the jaws of the vises. I left these untreated because I plan to line the jaws with leather.


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## Limerick (Mar 16, 2011)

richardb76 said:


> *Building the benchtops*
> 
> In this post today I wanted to go over the materials and methods I used for constructing my benchtops for the new workbench.
> 
> ...


Richard B,
Throughly enjoyed your workbench building blog. It might even give me the confidence to build my own. Congradulations on your ingenuity in building it w/o all of Norm's tools. Have to love the butt crack fix. Enjoy!


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## therookie (Aug 29, 2010)

richardb76 said:


> *Building the benchtops*
> 
> In this post today I wanted to go over the materials and methods I used for constructing my benchtops for the new workbench.
> 
> ...


You are going to have one he!! of abench


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## richardb76 (Jul 19, 2011)

richardb76 said:


> *Building the benchtops*
> 
> In this post today I wanted to go over the materials and methods I used for constructing my benchtops for the new workbench.
> 
> ...


Good luck on your bench Nikki! You can do it. 
My greatest regret is not taking the plunge and building my bench 2 years earlier.


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## benchbuilder (Sep 10, 2011)

richardb76 said:


> *Building the benchtops*
> 
> In this post today I wanted to go over the materials and methods I used for constructing my benchtops for the new workbench.
> 
> ...


I like your bench tops, the split top bench is a great idea. I do have a question about the four flat grain board lamination. Will you get much expantion/contraction across the width of the tops and if so how does that effect the end trim boards, would they pull away from the side trim boards? This movment may not be enough to effect anything as the tops are not very wide, have you seen any problems so far? You have done a nice job on your workbench, it would be nice to see pics of the completed bench.


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