# My First WorkBench Build



## BerBer5985 (Oct 10, 2011)

*The Stack of Oak for My laminated top*

The need for this bench started with the slipper slope of acquiring hand planes and since that time, I've been eyeing more and more handplanes and while I'm doing that and using them, I've been doing all my work with a ghetto rigged Rockwell Jawhorse (which is a great tool, but not ideal for handplaning). Sooo, after seeing so many nice workbenches and realizes I desperately need one, I started to acquire some hardwood for the top. My first bench will be using this recycled hardwood flooring, and basic big box store pine 4×4's and 2×4's. I'm shooting for somewhere between 5-6' long depending on the what the completed top ends up being. The idea is try to use my handtools has much as possible for all of the joints, but def power tools for the laminate top just because of the amount of lumber I'll have to mill to make the top and the lack of an existing workbench for dimensioning anything, but I will attempt handcut mortise and tenons in hopes to learn something from my first budget build. I might also use it as excuse to pick up a couple new hand tools like a shoulder plane, perhaps a new saw from either LN, Bad Axe Tool works, or Wenzloff to do the tenon work and a set of mortise chisels.

We own a flooring store and we started a job that required us to take up existing 2 1/2" thick oak hardwood, mostly longer boards instead of shorts, which is nice. I had my guys set aside all the boards they pulled up between the 5'+ length and I have about 50-60 boards that length to use. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm not in a rush. I will pull all of the nails, then joint and plane them down, cut the tongue and groove off, and laminate them to between 2 1/2' - 3' wide (once again depending on the amount of wood I actually end up with. It should result in roughly a 2" thick x 3' wide x 5'6" top roughly which isn't ideal, but for my first bench and the fact that it's free and recycled oak, I think it will suit me fine for now. So here's what I'm starting with:


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## JRL (Jun 14, 2011)

BerBer5985 said:


> *The Stack of Oak for My laminated top*
> 
> The need for this bench started with the slipper slope of acquiring hand planes and since that time, I've been eyeing more and more handplanes and while I'm doing that and using them, I've been doing all my work with a ghetto rigged Rockwell Jawhorse (which is a great tool, but not ideal for handplaning). Sooo, after seeing so many nice workbenches and realizes I desperately need one, I started to acquire some hardwood for the top. My first bench will be using this recycled hardwood flooring, and basic big box store pine 4×4's and 2×4's. I'm shooting for somewhere between 5-6' long depending on the what the completed top ends up being. The idea is try to use my handtools has much as possible for all of the joints, but def power tools for the laminate top just because of the amount of lumber I'll have to mill to make the top and the lack of an existing workbench for dimensioning anything, but I will attempt handcut mortise and tenons in hopes to learn something from my first budget build. I might also use it as excuse to pick up a couple new hand tools like a shoulder plane, perhaps a new saw from either LN, Bad Axe Tool works, or Wenzloff to do the tenon work and a set of mortise chisels.
> 
> We own a flooring store and we started a job that required us to take up existing 2 1/2" thick oak hardwood, mostly longer boards instead of shorts, which is nice. I had my guys set aside all the boards they pulled up between the 5'+ length and I have about 50-60 boards that length to use. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm not in a rush. I will pull all of the nails, then joint and plane them down, cut the tongue and groove off, and laminate them to between 2 1/2' - 3' wide (once again depending on the amount of wood I actually end up with. It should result in roughly a 2" thick x 3' wide x 5'6" top roughly which isn't ideal, but for my first bench and the fact that it's free and recycled oak, I think it will suit me fine for now. So here's what I'm starting with:


Greg,
Kudos for taking the plunge and building your own bench!!

Having built my own-and with hand tools-I would put in one word. If you have a little voice 
speaking to you saying something like, "What I'd really like is a 4" thick solid top," you might
want to heed it. Why? Several reasons-first, those 2 1/2 inches can come down quickly when
leveling and flattening. Secondly, thicker is better for a heavier bench and for vise attachment.

The effort you put into this is the real value of the bench. Making another
one later is time away from greater projects.

Being in the wood flooring business might put you in touch with excellent wood, better dimensions, and a better price than most of us can come by.

Having said that, I'm anxious to see your progress regardless of what you finally use.


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## BerBer5985 (Oct 10, 2011)

*The top lamination*

I know everyone posts their workbench build, but I wanted to post mine too. Haha! I had a day off today so I milled my Douglas fir 4×4s as square on all four sides as I could. I was originally going to use a bunch of white oak flooring that we had taken up from a job but I realized that was going to be a lot of work to only end up with a 2" thick top. After milling the 4×4's they are roughly 3 1/4" thick. Much better. I stacked them end on end to see how they would fit and then glued up with titebond ii time extend glue. I worked to try to get them as square as possible and any discrepancies will be cleaned up with a hand plane after. They went together pretty well and the time taken to square all 4 sides I think paid off. I'll work on the legs next which I'm still torn on a little as what size to make the legs. I'm installing a leg vise so I want my legs to be solid. I was thinking of milling some 2×6s down and gluing three together to get close to 5" square. Or gluing two 4×4s together to make them roughly 3 1/4" x 6" wide.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

BerBer5985 said:


> *The top lamination*
> 
> I know everyone posts their workbench build, but I wanted to post mine too. Haha! I had a day off today so I milled my Douglas fir 4×4s as square on all four sides as I could. I was originally going to use a bunch of white oak flooring that we had taken up from a job but I realized that was going to be a lot of work to only end up with a 2" thick top. After milling the 4×4's they are roughly 3 1/4" thick. Much better. I stacked them end on end to see how they would fit and then glued up with titebond ii time extend glue. I worked to try to get them as square as possible and any discrepancies will be cleaned up with a hand plane after. They went together pretty well and the time taken to square all 4 sides I think paid off. I'll work on the legs next which I'm still torn on a little as what size to make the legs. I'm installing a leg vise so I want my legs to be solid. I was thinking of milling some 2×6s down and gluing three together to get close to 5" square. Or gluing two 4×4s together to make them roughly 3 1/4" x 6" wide.


comin along nicely. that's some very stout legs yer talkin about. I've never seen 5" squared legs before. wow, are ya gonna park a big-truck on it?? why so much beef?? just wonderin


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## BerBer5985 (Oct 10, 2011)

BerBer5985 said:


> *The top lamination*
> 
> I know everyone posts their workbench build, but I wanted to post mine too. Haha! I had a day off today so I milled my Douglas fir 4×4s as square on all four sides as I could. I was originally going to use a bunch of white oak flooring that we had taken up from a job but I realized that was going to be a lot of work to only end up with a 2" thick top. After milling the 4×4's they are roughly 3 1/4" thick. Much better. I stacked them end on end to see how they would fit and then glued up with titebond ii time extend glue. I worked to try to get them as square as possible and any discrepancies will be cleaned up with a hand plane after. They went together pretty well and the time taken to square all 4 sides I think paid off. I'll work on the legs next which I'm still torn on a little as what size to make the legs. I'm installing a leg vise so I want my legs to be solid. I was thinking of milling some 2×6s down and gluing three together to get close to 5" square. Or gluing two 4×4s together to make them roughly 3 1/4" x 6" wide.


Well because the stouter the better. Haha. But I have a large wooden vice screw fromlake Erie that I want to make sure has enough beef behind it. Doesn't hurt to have some massive legs. Top is roughly 20" wide but I was planning on putting an apron dovetailed to an endcAp for a twin screw vise. Not positive yet on the end vise but I'm pretty sure that's what I want to do.


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## BerBer5985 (Oct 10, 2011)

*Flattening the bottom of the top*

I haven't had much time to work on the bench since I did the glue up of the top, but tonight I finished tuning up my jointer plane which still needed the bottom lapped and the back of the blade lapped and sharpened. Then I tuned up my ugliest #5 which will now be reserved for fore plane duty with it's sharpened 8" radius camber blade that I did tonight. Then I went work flattening the bottom. It's not 100% perfect, but it's 99% which is good enough for me for the bottom of the workbench top. Next I'll glue the 5"x5" legs up using big box store whitewood 2×6s which were straight and fairly knot free and most importantly, CHEAP! I thought about flattening the top, attaching the end vise, and drilling dog holes first so that I would have a place to square up anything I might across easily while I'm working, but I think I'll attach the legs and then do all of that. Plus, I have my Rockwell sawhorse for withholding when cutting mortise and tenons and what not. I'm still debating whether to attempt the roubo sliding dovetail joint, which was my first inclination, or just a large mortise and tenon to join the top to the legs.


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## BerBer5985 (Oct 10, 2011)

*Mounting the tail vise*

I decided to go ahead and use the 7" woodworking vise as the end vise. I mortised it into the side all with a chisel and hammer. Next is the chop and dog holes. So then I can use it to prepare the legs which are already cut roughly to size.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Mounting the tail vise*
> 
> I decided to go ahead and use the 7" woodworking vise as the end vise. I mortised it into the side all with a chisel and hammer. Next is the chop and dog holes. So then I can use it to prepare the legs which are already cut roughly to size.


nice chisel job.


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## vman154 (Oct 2, 2011)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Mounting the tail vise*
> 
> I decided to go ahead and use the 7" woodworking vise as the end vise. I mortised it into the side all with a chisel and hammer. Next is the chop and dog holes. So then I can use it to prepare the legs which are already cut roughly to size.


nice job one it look good


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## DIYaholic (Jan 28, 2011)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Mounting the tail vise*
> 
> I decided to go ahead and use the 7" woodworking vise as the end vise. I mortised it into the side all with a chisel and hammer. Next is the chop and dog holes. So then I can use it to prepare the legs which are already cut roughly to size.


Great job! Looking sharp, the chisels that is! Ok, the bench too.

Now that you know what you're doing…..Please install mine! Oh, can you build the bench also? That's another thing I haven't gotten to yet!


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## bigfish_95008 (Nov 26, 2009)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Mounting the tail vise*
> 
> I decided to go ahead and use the 7" woodworking vise as the end vise. I mortised it into the side all with a chisel and hammer. Next is the chop and dog holes. So then I can use it to prepare the legs which are already cut roughly to size.


Nice work.


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## BerBer5985 (Oct 10, 2011)

*Making Slow Progress...but Progress*

I didn't have a whole lot of time in the shop this weekend between my son's wrestling meet on Saturday and baseball tryouts on Sunday, but I had a few hours, so I jointed and planed the pieces for the leg 5" square leg laminations (but I didn't have time to glue them up), I installed the vise chop only to remove it after I drilled the dog hole arbitrarily into the screws holding chop messing up the tips of the auger bit, and marked off where the other dog holes would be. I felt like an idiot drilling into the screws holding the chop, but I'm glad I found out before I drilled the rest of my dog holes in the top. Now I have to remark the holes for the dogs and move them inward on the table about an inch and then attempt to resharpen and salvage my auger bit.

I'm still trying to decide whether to attempt the "roubo dovetail joint as chris schwartz shows or to just mortise the legs into the top. Any suggestions?? Also, I have some 4×4's left over from the top that would be perfect for the stretchers going into the 5×5's. I was thinking of making that tenon about 1"-1 1/4" thick only because that's the max size chisel I have. Might take a while, but I'm going to attempt the mortise the Paul Sellers way with a standard bevel edge chisel.


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## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Making Slow Progress...but Progress*
> 
> I didn't have a whole lot of time in the shop this weekend between my son's wrestling meet on Saturday and baseball tryouts on Sunday, but I had a few hours, so I jointed and planed the pieces for the leg 5" square leg laminations (but I didn't have time to glue them up), I installed the vise chop only to remove it after I drilled the dog hole arbitrarily into the screws holding chop messing up the tips of the auger bit, and marked off where the other dog holes would be. I felt like an idiot drilling into the screws holding the chop, but I'm glad I found out before I drilled the rest of my dog holes in the top. Now I have to remark the holes for the dogs and move them inward on the table about an inch and then attempt to resharpen and salvage my auger bit.
> 
> I'm still trying to decide whether to attempt the "roubo dovetail joint as chris schwartz shows or to just mortise the legs into the top. Any suggestions?? Also, I have some 4×4's left over from the top that would be perfect for the stretchers going into the 5×5's. I was thinking of making that tenon about 1"-1 1/4" thick only because that's the max size chisel I have. Might take a while, but I'm going to attempt the mortise the Paul Sellers way with a standard bevel edge chisel.


I just started catching up. I am glad you went with the sliding dt…it just looks so much better.

This is a great build.


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## BerBer5985 (Oct 10, 2011)

*Getting the legs prepped*

I got a couple hours last night in the garage to prep one of the legs by hand. I wanted to see if I could do it all by hand and practice squaring up lumber using hand planes. Went fairly smooth. A lot of work, but not too bad. I do seem to have a problem that when using the jack plane with a an 8" radius cambered blade that I tend to get chip out bad on the back side. It happened on the workbench too. Are you supposed to work your way to the middle coming in from both sides or just go right across the grain all the way across. Maybe I'm taking too deep of a cut. Getting a little overzealous perhaps. Most was cleaned up in the process on the legs because they are a softer pine than the top, but the top has some chip out on the very corners which is too deep to completely fix, but it's a workbench so I don't really care too much. I was only able to finish one last night and cut it to length. The others I may cheat and run them through the jointer and planer just for sake of time. I'd like to have a workbench this century. haha


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## BerBer5985 (Oct 10, 2011)

*Those "Magic Mystery Legs".....*

So I finished cutting those "magic mystery legs" as Christopher schwarz refers to them. Making progress a couple spare hours at a time. Next comes the hardest part: Cutting the joints to attach the legs to the top. Don't mind the clamps. I had a little cosmetic slip up. No big deal! Made a quick fix!


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Those "Magic Mystery Legs".....*
> 
> So I finished cutting those "magic mystery legs" as Christopher schwarz refers to them. Making progress a couple spare hours at a time. Next comes the hardest part: Cutting the joints to attach the legs to the top. Don't mind the clamps. I had a little cosmetic slip up. No big deal! Made a quick fix!


These are massive. Nice milling on em also


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Those "Magic Mystery Legs".....*
> 
> So I finished cutting those "magic mystery legs" as Christopher schwarz refers to them. Making progress a couple spare hours at a time. Next comes the hardest part: Cutting the joints to attach the legs to the top. Don't mind the clamps. I had a little cosmetic slip up. No big deal! Made a quick fix!


Great job on the joints!


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## BerBer5985 (Oct 10, 2011)

*Legs art fitted in! Now to do the stretchers!*

Fitted the legs into the mortise and tenon and I was happy with 3 of the 4. The one mortise I got a little carried away with and there's a little gap in the through mortise, but the sucker is tight and not moving, so I'm going to fill it with a sliver of Douglas Dir to fill it, but other than that, I was fairly pleased with the results for my first mortises of that scale. It's so sturdy the way it is, it almost doesn't need stretchers.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Legs art fitted in! Now to do the stretchers!*
> 
> Fitted the legs into the mortise and tenon and I was happy with 3 of the 4. The one mortise I got a little carried away with and there's a little gap in the through mortise, but the sucker is tight and not moving, so I'm going to fill it with a sliver of Douglas Dir to fill it, but other than that, I was fairly pleased with the results for my first mortises of that scale. It's so sturdy the way it is, it almost doesn't need stretchers.


Good work Greg. That joint does look super strong, and a little special too. I see that you didn't make a tool recess. That's good. I have one and I've always hated it. I think you've got a wonderful bench there.


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## DIYaholic (Jan 28, 2011)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Legs art fitted in! Now to do the stretchers!*
> 
> Fitted the legs into the mortise and tenon and I was happy with 3 of the 4. The one mortise I got a little carried away with and there's a little gap in the through mortise, but the sucker is tight and not moving, so I'm going to fill it with a sliver of Douglas Dir to fill it, but other than that, I was fairly pleased with the results for my first mortises of that scale. It's so sturdy the way it is, it almost doesn't need stretchers.


Looking good!

You are welcome to come over to my shop and build me a bench!!! Lol.


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## BerBer5985 (Oct 10, 2011)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Legs art fitted in! Now to do the stretchers!*
> 
> Fitted the legs into the mortise and tenon and I was happy with 3 of the 4. The one mortise I got a little carried away with and there's a little gap in the through mortise, but the sucker is tight and not moving, so I'm going to fill it with a sliver of Douglas Dir to fill it, but other than that, I was fairly pleased with the results for my first mortises of that scale. It's so sturdy the way it is, it almost doesn't need stretchers.


haha^ I'm telling you, I've gotten my workout on this bench. I've tried to do as much by hand as possible. Everything except for the initial milling of the boards has all been done by hand. Last night, getting those legs to fit was alot of hitting them with a deadblow to seat them, for them to get stuck and I'd have to pull them out with all my force, trim them down with a chisel, and do it again. I'm sure I pulled each of those legs out at least 5 times each to trim a little more and fit. By the last one, I got impatient and tired, hence where I got a little carried away with the mortise itself. Now that they are seated completely, I may never get them back out and I might have a bench with no stretchers. haha! It's def been a learning experience which was the idea. I figured it's a workbench, and really my first piece of "furniture", so if my first one isn't as beautiful as some of the maple and beech workbenches I see on here, I can live with that. I know what mistakes to avoid for the next one I build. Plus, this was a good excuse to acquire some hands tools I was lacking.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Legs art fitted in! Now to do the stretchers!*
> 
> Fitted the legs into the mortise and tenon and I was happy with 3 of the 4. The one mortise I got a little carried away with and there's a little gap in the through mortise, but the sucker is tight and not moving, so I'm going to fill it with a sliver of Douglas Dir to fill it, but other than that, I was fairly pleased with the results for my first mortises of that scale. It's so sturdy the way it is, it almost doesn't need stretchers.


lookin very nice-n-stout


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## Ken90712 (Sep 2, 2009)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Legs art fitted in! Now to do the stretchers!*
> 
> Fitted the legs into the mortise and tenon and I was happy with 3 of the 4. The one mortise I got a little carried away with and there's a little gap in the through mortise, but the sucker is tight and not moving, so I'm going to fill it with a sliver of Douglas Dir to fill it, but other than that, I was fairly pleased with the results for my first mortises of that scale. It's so sturdy the way it is, it almost doesn't need stretchers.


Great job and what a work-out! Going to look great when done no doubt!


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## BerBer5985 (Oct 10, 2011)

*Legs and stretchers glued and drawbored!*

Ok guys, this part of the build has def been the most tedious. I cut that hole for the leg vise screw with a 2 9/16" fortstner bit that the drill press wouldn't touch and my electric drill was stripping gears, so I did it by hand with a 10" Stanley brace! My elbow paid dearly for it but it worked. As it turns out, I'm an idiot and I'm thinking that where I drilled the hole is not deep enough for the jaw. It only leaves 4 1/2" between the top and screw. Big mistake! I also split the bottom of that leg with one of the drawbore pegs. With it being pointed, it acted like a large wooden spike and I hit it too hard and it split the leg at the bottom. I glued and clampled and I think it'll be fine, but it ticked me off! So now that I have a nice large hole through the leg, I think I'm going to use the two vise screws I picked up from lee valley that were originally going to be used for a twin screw end vise and use them for a front twin screw instead of the leg vise!. I'll use my lake Erie screw on my next bench which I'm sure I'll make in the next year or two because I was very unhappy with how this one turned out. It was a big learning project and I made A ton of mistakes, some fixable, some not, but I learned a lot and it'll certainly work as a solid workbench for now until I get the urge to build my next. I also think the twin screw will work better for dovetailing as I love to make dovetail boxes. I still have some small things to finish up but it's almost there!


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Legs and stretchers glued and drawbored!*
> 
> Ok guys, this part of the build has def been the most tedious. I cut that hole for the leg vise screw with a 2 9/16" fortstner bit that the drill press wouldn't touch and my electric drill was stripping gears, so I did it by hand with a 10" Stanley brace! My elbow paid dearly for it but it worked. As it turns out, I'm an idiot and I'm thinking that where I drilled the hole is not deep enough for the jaw. It only leaves 4 1/2" between the top and screw. Big mistake! I also split the bottom of that leg with one of the drawbore pegs. With it being pointed, it acted like a large wooden spike and I hit it too hard and it split the leg at the bottom. I glued and clampled and I think it'll be fine, but it ticked me off! So now that I have a nice large hole through the leg, I think I'm going to use the two vise screws I picked up from lee valley that were originally going to be used for a twin screw end vise and use them for a front twin screw instead of the leg vise!. I'll use my lake Erie screw on my next bench which I'm sure I'll make in the next year or two because I was very unhappy with how this one turned out. It was a big learning project and I made A ton of mistakes, some fixable, some not, but I learned a lot and it'll certainly work as a solid workbench for now until I get the urge to build my next. I also think the twin screw will work better for dovetailing as I love to make dovetail boxes. I still have some small things to finish up but it's almost there!


looking good!


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## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Legs and stretchers glued and drawbored!*
> 
> Ok guys, this part of the build has def been the most tedious. I cut that hole for the leg vise screw with a 2 9/16" fortstner bit that the drill press wouldn't touch and my electric drill was stripping gears, so I did it by hand with a 10" Stanley brace! My elbow paid dearly for it but it worked. As it turns out, I'm an idiot and I'm thinking that where I drilled the hole is not deep enough for the jaw. It only leaves 4 1/2" between the top and screw. Big mistake! I also split the bottom of that leg with one of the drawbore pegs. With it being pointed, it acted like a large wooden spike and I hit it too hard and it split the leg at the bottom. I glued and clampled and I think it'll be fine, but it ticked me off! So now that I have a nice large hole through the leg, I think I'm going to use the two vise screws I picked up from lee valley that were originally going to be used for a twin screw end vise and use them for a front twin screw instead of the leg vise!. I'll use my lake Erie screw on my next bench which I'm sure I'll make in the next year or two because I was very unhappy with how this one turned out. It was a big learning project and I made A ton of mistakes, some fixable, some not, but I learned a lot and it'll certainly work as a solid workbench for now until I get the urge to build my next. I also think the twin screw will work better for dovetailing as I love to make dovetail boxes. I still have some small things to finish up but it's almost there!


You are almost the proud owner of a bench made to last a lifetime. I was curious if you milled the pieces for the top lamination by hand…or did you use power? I ask because it looks like you went with 4×4 stock and I was wondering if it resisted bending while hand-planing it as I theorized.


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## BerBer5985 (Oct 10, 2011)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Legs and stretchers glued and drawbored!*
> 
> Ok guys, this part of the build has def been the most tedious. I cut that hole for the leg vise screw with a 2 9/16" fortstner bit that the drill press wouldn't touch and my electric drill was stripping gears, so I did it by hand with a 10" Stanley brace! My elbow paid dearly for it but it worked. As it turns out, I'm an idiot and I'm thinking that where I drilled the hole is not deep enough for the jaw. It only leaves 4 1/2" between the top and screw. Big mistake! I also split the bottom of that leg with one of the drawbore pegs. With it being pointed, it acted like a large wooden spike and I hit it too hard and it split the leg at the bottom. I glued and clampled and I think it'll be fine, but it ticked me off! So now that I have a nice large hole through the leg, I think I'm going to use the two vise screws I picked up from lee valley that were originally going to be used for a twin screw end vise and use them for a front twin screw instead of the leg vise!. I'll use my lake Erie screw on my next bench which I'm sure I'll make in the next year or two because I was very unhappy with how this one turned out. It was a big learning project and I made A ton of mistakes, some fixable, some not, but I learned a lot and it'll certainly work as a solid workbench for now until I get the urge to build my next. I also think the twin screw will work better for dovetailing as I love to make dovetail boxes. I still have some small things to finish up but it's almost there!


I did all the glue up on the top with the jointer. I cheated but I didn't want this bench build to take 4 years. I think they'd be fine with a hand plane. They seem incredibly stiff to me.


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## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Legs and stretchers glued and drawbored!*
> 
> Ok guys, this part of the build has def been the most tedious. I cut that hole for the leg vise screw with a 2 9/16" fortstner bit that the drill press wouldn't touch and my electric drill was stripping gears, so I did it by hand with a 10" Stanley brace! My elbow paid dearly for it but it worked. As it turns out, I'm an idiot and I'm thinking that where I drilled the hole is not deep enough for the jaw. It only leaves 4 1/2" between the top and screw. Big mistake! I also split the bottom of that leg with one of the drawbore pegs. With it being pointed, it acted like a large wooden spike and I hit it too hard and it split the leg at the bottom. I glued and clampled and I think it'll be fine, but it ticked me off! So now that I have a nice large hole through the leg, I think I'm going to use the two vise screws I picked up from lee valley that were originally going to be used for a twin screw end vise and use them for a front twin screw instead of the leg vise!. I'll use my lake Erie screw on my next bench which I'm sure I'll make in the next year or two because I was very unhappy with how this one turned out. It was a big learning project and I made A ton of mistakes, some fixable, some not, but I learned a lot and it'll certainly work as a solid workbench for now until I get the urge to build my next. I also think the twin screw will work better for dovetailing as I love to make dovetail boxes. I still have some small things to finish up but it's almost there!


I don't blame you there. If I would have had a jointer to use I would have caved on my bench too. I used 2x material and I think that was part of the downfall…now I have a very sturdy, but very ugly benchtop.


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## toolnutz (Mar 16, 2012)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Legs and stretchers glued and drawbored!*
> 
> Ok guys, this part of the build has def been the most tedious. I cut that hole for the leg vise screw with a 2 9/16" fortstner bit that the drill press wouldn't touch and my electric drill was stripping gears, so I did it by hand with a 10" Stanley brace! My elbow paid dearly for it but it worked. As it turns out, I'm an idiot and I'm thinking that where I drilled the hole is not deep enough for the jaw. It only leaves 4 1/2" between the top and screw. Big mistake! I also split the bottom of that leg with one of the drawbore pegs. With it being pointed, it acted like a large wooden spike and I hit it too hard and it split the leg at the bottom. I glued and clampled and I think it'll be fine, but it ticked me off! So now that I have a nice large hole through the leg, I think I'm going to use the two vise screws I picked up from lee valley that were originally going to be used for a twin screw end vise and use them for a front twin screw instead of the leg vise!. I'll use my lake Erie screw on my next bench which I'm sure I'll make in the next year or two because I was very unhappy with how this one turned out. It was a big learning project and I made A ton of mistakes, some fixable, some not, but I learned a lot and it'll certainly work as a solid workbench for now until I get the urge to build my next. I also think the twin screw will work better for dovetailing as I love to make dovetail boxes. I still have some small things to finish up but it's almost there!


Wow, that bench looks great! I am also in the midst of building a Roubo bench based upon Schwarz's plans. It has been slow going (mainly due to job and family), but finding your blog makes we want to go out to the garage and make some wood curls.

Jaime


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## handyrandyrc (Feb 3, 2012)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Legs and stretchers glued and drawbored!*
> 
> Ok guys, this part of the build has def been the most tedious. I cut that hole for the leg vise screw with a 2 9/16" fortstner bit that the drill press wouldn't touch and my electric drill was stripping gears, so I did it by hand with a 10" Stanley brace! My elbow paid dearly for it but it worked. As it turns out, I'm an idiot and I'm thinking that where I drilled the hole is not deep enough for the jaw. It only leaves 4 1/2" between the top and screw. Big mistake! I also split the bottom of that leg with one of the drawbore pegs. With it being pointed, it acted like a large wooden spike and I hit it too hard and it split the leg at the bottom. I glued and clampled and I think it'll be fine, but it ticked me off! So now that I have a nice large hole through the leg, I think I'm going to use the two vise screws I picked up from lee valley that were originally going to be used for a twin screw end vise and use them for a front twin screw instead of the leg vise!. I'll use my lake Erie screw on my next bench which I'm sure I'll make in the next year or two because I was very unhappy with how this one turned out. It was a big learning project and I made A ton of mistakes, some fixable, some not, but I learned a lot and it'll certainly work as a solid workbench for now until I get the urge to build my next. I also think the twin screw will work better for dovetailing as I love to make dovetail boxes. I still have some small things to finish up but it's almost there!


I love the drawbore mortise and tenon joints. Amazing what a little dowel will do to yank together a joint just as strong as can be. I also had a little split out on one of the joints I did on my bench from when I drove the dowel through. Don't know if I gave that one a little too much offset, or if the dowel just didn't want to follow as well.

I did the same as you, nothing a little glue and clamping won't fix.


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## AJswoodshop (Mar 2, 2012)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Legs and stretchers glued and drawbored!*
> 
> Ok guys, this part of the build has def been the most tedious. I cut that hole for the leg vise screw with a 2 9/16" fortstner bit that the drill press wouldn't touch and my electric drill was stripping gears, so I did it by hand with a 10" Stanley brace! My elbow paid dearly for it but it worked. As it turns out, I'm an idiot and I'm thinking that where I drilled the hole is not deep enough for the jaw. It only leaves 4 1/2" between the top and screw. Big mistake! I also split the bottom of that leg with one of the drawbore pegs. With it being pointed, it acted like a large wooden spike and I hit it too hard and it split the leg at the bottom. I glued and clampled and I think it'll be fine, but it ticked me off! So now that I have a nice large hole through the leg, I think I'm going to use the two vise screws I picked up from lee valley that were originally going to be used for a twin screw end vise and use them for a front twin screw instead of the leg vise!. I'll use my lake Erie screw on my next bench which I'm sure I'll make in the next year or two because I was very unhappy with how this one turned out. It was a big learning project and I made A ton of mistakes, some fixable, some not, but I learned a lot and it'll certainly work as a solid workbench for now until I get the urge to build my next. I also think the twin screw will work better for dovetailing as I love to make dovetail boxes. I still have some small things to finish up but it's almost there!


So far so good!

AJ


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## whitewulf (May 11, 2010)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Legs and stretchers glued and drawbored!*
> 
> Ok guys, this part of the build has def been the most tedious. I cut that hole for the leg vise screw with a 2 9/16" fortstner bit that the drill press wouldn't touch and my electric drill was stripping gears, so I did it by hand with a 10" Stanley brace! My elbow paid dearly for it but it worked. As it turns out, I'm an idiot and I'm thinking that where I drilled the hole is not deep enough for the jaw. It only leaves 4 1/2" between the top and screw. Big mistake! I also split the bottom of that leg with one of the drawbore pegs. With it being pointed, it acted like a large wooden spike and I hit it too hard and it split the leg at the bottom. I glued and clampled and I think it'll be fine, but it ticked me off! So now that I have a nice large hole through the leg, I think I'm going to use the two vise screws I picked up from lee valley that were originally going to be used for a twin screw end vise and use them for a front twin screw instead of the leg vise!. I'll use my lake Erie screw on my next bench which I'm sure I'll make in the next year or two because I was very unhappy with how this one turned out. It was a big learning project and I made A ton of mistakes, some fixable, some not, but I learned a lot and it'll certainly work as a solid workbench for now until I get the urge to build my next. I also think the twin screw will work better for dovetailing as I love to make dovetail boxes. I still have some small things to finish up but it's almost there!


Wow! Did you laminate the legs, they appear to be 6×6/


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## BerBer5985 (Oct 10, 2011)

*Changing the Vise!*

I had used the self made twin screw for a while and I found it incredibly aggravating to work with, so I scrapped it and traded up to a Lee Valley cast iron vise most by Yost. I took everything out that was associated with the old twin screw. It was incredibly hard to screw in while holding the workpiece with the two screws, then it would rack like no ones business. It was a waste of resources. Oh well! So I mortised the new vise into place, attached with 1/2" lag bolts, made the vise chop, and voila! A quick release vise that doesn't require much fidgeting to get it to grab. So much happier! The only thing I need is some leather for the jaws and we'll be good to go!


































PS The shop is a mess! I'm going to tear it all apart coming soon to convert the garage into a real wood shop, so I'm going to start getting rid of things and cleaning it all out!


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## crashn (Aug 26, 2011)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Changing the Vise!*
> 
> I had used the self made twin screw for a while and I found it incredibly aggravating to work with, so I scrapped it and traded up to a Lee Valley cast iron vise most by Yost. I took everything out that was associated with the old twin screw. It was incredibly hard to screw in while holding the workpiece with the two screws, then it would rack like no ones business. It was a waste of resources. Oh well! So I mortised the new vise into place, attached with 1/2" lag bolts, made the vise chop, and voila! A quick release vise that doesn't require much fidgeting to get it to grab. So much happier! The only thing I need is some leather for the jaws and we'll be good to go!
> 
> ...


send me (or I can pickup) the old vise  I'm in the DC area also.

and if you think that is a mess, come see my garage/shop


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## BerBer5985 (Oct 10, 2011)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Changing the Vise!*
> 
> I had used the self made twin screw for a while and I found it incredibly aggravating to work with, so I scrapped it and traded up to a Lee Valley cast iron vise most by Yost. I took everything out that was associated with the old twin screw. It was incredibly hard to screw in while holding the workpiece with the two screws, then it would rack like no ones business. It was a waste of resources. Oh well! So I mortised the new vise into place, attached with 1/2" lag bolts, made the vise chop, and voila! A quick release vise that doesn't require much fidgeting to get it to grab. So much happier! The only thing I need is some leather for the jaws and we'll be good to go!
> 
> ...


I would, except I cut it up mostly to make the chop for this one! I'm going to use the twin screws to make a small joinery bench eventually. Sorry my friend!


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Changing the Vise!*
> 
> I had used the self made twin screw for a while and I found it incredibly aggravating to work with, so I scrapped it and traded up to a Lee Valley cast iron vise most by Yost. I took everything out that was associated with the old twin screw. It was incredibly hard to screw in while holding the workpiece with the two screws, then it would rack like no ones business. It was a waste of resources. Oh well! So I mortised the new vise into place, attached with 1/2" lag bolts, made the vise chop, and voila! A quick release vise that doesn't require much fidgeting to get it to grab. So much happier! The only thing I need is some leather for the jaws and we'll be good to go!
> 
> ...


Super nice vise. Gr8 installation


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## crashn (Aug 26, 2011)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Changing the Vise!*
> 
> I had used the self made twin screw for a while and I found it incredibly aggravating to work with, so I scrapped it and traded up to a Lee Valley cast iron vise most by Yost. I took everything out that was associated with the old twin screw. It was incredibly hard to screw in while holding the workpiece with the two screws, then it would rack like no ones business. It was a waste of resources. Oh well! So I mortised the new vise into place, attached with 1/2" lag bolts, made the vise chop, and voila! A quick release vise that doesn't require much fidgeting to get it to grab. So much happier! The only thing I need is some leather for the jaws and we'll be good to go!
> 
> ...


no worries  always nice to chat with those in the DC area


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## BerBer5985 (Oct 10, 2011)

*Things I would change next go round....*

After working on my workbench for a little while now, I've decided that there are things I would change for my type of work. #1 thing is the height. i went with the 34" based on Christopher Schwartz recommendation and I find myself bending over way too much even in hand tool working and planing. I personally think for my 6' height, a 38" bench would have suited me better. I'm going to revise my current bench by adding flip type blocks to the bottom to bring it higher up. I just find that a higher workbench would have been more beneficial, similar to Paul Seller's bench.

#2: I would have made it wider with possibly a tool well. I find that 20" in quite narrow and 24" might be ideal.

#3: The twin screw vise that i had in there originally, I changed out to a quick release cast iron vise which I'm glad I did. I prefer to work on that much better. But my ideal setup I think would be a wide twin screw that utilitizes 1 handle, like the veritas system. I like my cast iron vise a lot, but I'm thinking for wider panels, it's might suck, but nothing a pipe clamp can't fix.

#4: The last thing I would change would be to add a covered tool storage on the bottom. Right now it's just plywood and I set most of most used tools on that rack, but the tools get covered with dust right now.

#5: lastly, I would change the end vise to a wagon vise. Better for planing wider boards because it allows to whole board to set on the bench while working as opposed to the cast iron vise I have no which leaves part of the board hanging off which can cause it bend while planing slightly.

With all that being said, I think a new bench might be a good winter project right after Christmas incorporating these changes.


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## Arminius (Dec 27, 2007)

BerBer5985 said:


> *Things I would change next go round....*
> 
> After working on my workbench for a little while now, I've decided that there are things I would change for my type of work. #1 thing is the height. i went with the 34" based on Christopher Schwartz recommendation and I find myself bending over way too much even in hand tool working and planing. I personally think for my 6' height, a 38" bench would have suited me better. I'm going to revise my current bench by adding flip type blocks to the bottom to bring it higher up. I just find that a higher workbench would have been more beneficial, similar to Paul Seller's bench.
> 
> ...


If you have the room, you could keep that bench as a planing bench. Jim Tolpin is about the same size, and has a dedicated joinery bench at that height, with a twin screw vise.


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