Ok, another Bruce Johnson creation hits the airwaves. Bruce builds
a new workbench!
Anyone watch this episode? He starts by explaining how bad and wobbly
his old workbench is, then decides on building a new one! I had high
hopes
when he specified hard maple for the frame. He made M&T joints and
did the large mortises in the legs by dadoing two 2x4s and gluing them
together. He even used the clipped head brad trick (also shown by Mr.
Marks
on his show today) to keep the large glued surfaces from sliding around.
So far, no major screwups, just some poor fitting tenons that "will get
cleaned up with some sanding", and some cheap hardware to hold it all
together. I knew things were going downhill when he used basically a
draw
bolt arrangement to hold the legs together and had a flat washer and nut
inside a 1" hole gripping against the curved side.
I still was maintaining my composure until he decides to top off this
hard maple
workbench base. Did he use more hard maple? Noooooo! He decides on three
layers
of 3/4" MDF. Awesome dude! He spritzes on some yellow glue around the
middle
of one sheet and without even stopping to spread it out any slaps on the
next
sheet and installs about 100 screws "to give it incredible strength".
Next layer
and a few hundred more screws and he has a nice particle board
workbench....
He did decide to protect the MDF from dents by banding the top with some
more maple
(attached to the MDF with brads, no glue)
He went on to say that since he is always spilling cans of varnish and
his coffee,
he'll give the top a nice durable coat (2) of poly to protect this fine
piece.
He claimed a total cost of $4-500 (including a small Record vise
attached with lag bolts into the MDF).
I admit I've built benches this way, but I down graded his hard maple
lower
section to pine 2x4's and upgraded the top to some nicer plywood. Total
cost
about $20-30 (vise not included)
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I have to agree here. I'm not a big fan of Bruce's work, but the only real big
heartburn I had was not spreading the glue (the jury is still out on the way he
mounted the vise) (and OK, he should have glued the trim boards too!)
Grant
Digger wrote:
>
>
> OK, for those of us who are new, out here in the cheap seats, if he is going
> to use the bench to work the vise, sand pieces, assemble chairs, etc. as he
> stated, what is the problem with this bench and top configuration. I saw no
> holes for dogs or anything like that (which I agree would make MDF a bad
> choice), and I could use a bench like he built for many of the steps during
> building my projects.
>
> Are you saying that making the lower frame with the ability to disassemble
> is a bad thing, or just the hardware he chose? It appeared that he used
> some decent sized wood on the stretchers and other components to help keep
> the strength and stability.
>
> And finally, I am having a hard time grasping your problem with the tenons
> being a little large or rough and needing to hit it with a little sanding to
> insure it sizes down to a tight fit. I am in trouble if starting a little
> big and working it down to a tight fit is a bad thing.
>
> I do agree that I too was a little freaked when he squirted the qlue on the
> MDF and installed without spreading.
>
> I am very new to all of this, and do realize that some of the stuff we see
> him do is a little iffy, but am I the only one that would be happy to use
> (or make) a bench like that?
>
> Digger
>
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>
> OK, for those of us who are new, out here in the cheap seats, if he is going
> to use the bench to work the vise, sand pieces, assemble chairs, etc. as he
> stated, what is the problem with this bench and top configuration. I saw no
> holes for dogs or anything like that (which I agree would make MDF a bad
> choice), and I could use a bench like he built for many of the steps during
> building my projects.
All I'm doing here is just taking cheap shots at one of the lower rungs
on the
TV woodworker guy totem pole 8^)
>
> Are you saying that making the lower frame with the ability to disassemble
> is a bad thing, or just the hardware he chose? It appeared that he used
> some decent sized wood on the stretchers and other components to help keep
> the strength and stability.
Basically just nitpicking his technique and methods. He is the premier
Pukey Duck craftsman of his genre.
>
> And finally, I am having a hard time grasping your problem with the tenons
> being a little large or rough and needing to hit it with a little sanding to
> insure it sizes down to a tight fit. I am in trouble if starting a little
> big and working it down to a tight fit is a bad thing.
Mr. Johnson usually starts off too loose to begin with. The tenons on
this bench
protruded about 1/8 inch too far. I'd be the first to say "so what, it's
only a
workbench" but he basically did the same thing on his "family heirloom"
table. The guy
has no pride, at least as far as slapping together stuff within the time
constraints of
a 30 minute TV show 8^)
>
> I do agree that I too was a little freaked when he squirted the qlue on the
> MDF and installed without spreading.
>
> I am very new to all of this, and do realize that some of the stuff we see
> him do is a little iffy, but am I the only one that would be happy to use
> (or make) a bench like that?
That's why I added that I also made benches like that, only I got the
equivalent utility
for about 1/10 the price.
Probably my biggest gripe is his use of hard maple for the base and then
going to MDF for the
top. Major turd polishing, except in this case its turdifying something
polished.
He is the master of turning good wood into Junior High school shop
projects.
It's hard to convey sarcasm over a text based news group, but that is
where I'm at. I'm not
knocking the man or his show, but it sure is fun to knock him and poke
fun at his show 8^)
-Bruce
>
> Digger
>
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"Bruce Rowen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Ok, another Bruce Johnson creation hits the airwaves. Bruce builds
> a new workbench!
>
> Anyone watch this episode? He starts by explaining how bad and wobbly
> his old workbench is, then decides on building a new one! I had high
> hopes
> when he specified hard maple for the frame. He made M&T joints and
> did the large mortises in the legs by dadoing two 2x4s and gluing them
> together. He even used the clipped head brad trick (also shown by Mr.
> Marks
> on his show today) to keep the large glued surfaces from sliding around.
> So far, no major screwups, just some poor fitting tenons that "will get
> cleaned up with some sanding", and some cheap hardware to hold it all
> together. I knew things were going downhill when he used basically a
> draw
> bolt arrangement to hold the legs together and had a flat washer and nut
> inside a 1" hole gripping against the curved side.
> I still was maintaining my composure until he decides to top off this
> hard maple
> workbench base. Did he use more hard maple? Noooooo! He decides on three
> layers
> of 3/4" MDF. Awesome dude! He spritzes on some yellow glue around the
> middle
> of one sheet and without even stopping to spread it out any slaps on the
> next
> sheet and installs about 100 screws "to give it incredible strength".
> Next layer
> and a few hundred more screws and he has a nice particle board
> workbench....
> He did decide to protect the MDF from dents by banding the top with some
> more maple
> (attached to the MDF with brads, no glue)
> He went on to say that since he is always spilling cans of varnish and
> his coffee,
> he'll give the top a nice durable coat (2) of poly to protect this fine
> piece.
>
> He claimed a total cost of $4-500 (including a small Record vise
> attached with lag bolts into the MDF).
>
> I admit I've built benches this way, but I down graded his hard maple
> lower
> section to pine 2x4's and upgraded the top to some nicer plywood. Total
> cost
> about $20-30 (vise not included)
>
>
OK, for those of us who are new, out here in the cheap seats, if he is going
to use the bench to work the vise, sand pieces, assemble chairs, etc. as he
stated, what is the problem with this bench and top configuration. I saw no
holes for dogs or anything like that (which I agree would make MDF a bad
choice), and I could use a bench like he built for many of the steps during
building my projects.
Are you saying that making the lower frame with the ability to disassemble
is a bad thing, or just the hardware he chose? It appeared that he used
some decent sized wood on the stretchers and other components to help keep
the strength and stability.
And finally, I am having a hard time grasping your problem with the tenons
being a little large or rough and needing to hit it with a little sanding to
insure it sizes down to a tight fit. I am in trouble if starting a little
big and working it down to a tight fit is a bad thing.
I do agree that I too was a little freaked when he squirted the qlue on the
MDF and installed without spreading.
I am very new to all of this, and do realize that some of the stuff we see
him do is a little iffy, but am I the only one that would be happy to use
(or make) a bench like that?
Digger
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"Grant P. Beagles" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
> I have to agree here. I'm not a big fan of Bruce's work, but the only
real big
> heartburn I had was not spreading the glue (the jury is still out on the
way he
> mounted the vise) (and OK, he should have glued the trim boards too!)
>
> Grant
>
>
>
Those are exactly the same issues I had, and told the wife that if I were to
build one, I would have glued better and maybe used a chunk of real wood
sandwiched between the MDF in the corner for the vise. That said, I'd own
it, and use the hell out of it.
Dig
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"Bruce Rowen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> It's hard to convey sarcasm over a text based news group, but that is
> where I'm at. I'm not
> knocking the man or his show, but it sure is fun to knock him and poke
> fun at his show 8^)
>
> -Bruce
>
I got the sarcasm no problem, and agree that you could drive a sports car,
if not a truck, through the hole in the top of the tenons in the "family
heirloom table" and even my wife walked up to the boob tube and pointed it
out and went "What the hell is this?" LOL I don't even have any problems
with you pointing out the man's shortcomings (he's definately got them). My
concern was that of my understanding of the show, and my conceptions of
being able to make good use of that bench for the uses I described. It was
also on my thinking that on the tenons that finishing to size was better
than too loose. I will admit that I learned to cut MDF paterns for parts
and run them through the router to make clean curves and stuff. It works
very well. As a newbie in the WW stuff (IT/Network regular job), I have a
ton to learn, and that is why I was questioning your comments, not defending
Bruce.
Digger
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"Digger" <DW> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> "Grant P. Beagles" <[email protected]> wrote in
> message news:[email protected]...
> > I have to agree here. I'm not a big fan of Bruce's work, but the only
> real big
> > heartburn I had was not spreading the glue (the jury is still out on the
> way he
> > mounted the vise) (and OK, he should have glued the trim boards too!)
> >
> > Grant
> >
> >
> >
> Those are exactly the same issues I had, and told the wife that if I were
to
> build one, I would have glued better and maybe used a chunk of real wood
> sandwiched between the MDF in the corner for the vise. That said, I'd own
> it, and use the hell out of it.
>
> Dig
>
>
>
>
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I don't recall (saw this episode months ago), but did he use bolts or lag
screws to mount that vise. I've never used MDF, but I've heard it said it
doesn't hold screws very well, so lag screws might not be the best choice.
Poly on a workbench doesn't sound too repairable, either.
Cheers,
Eric
"Grant P. Beagles" wrote:
> I have to agree here. I'm not a big fan of Bruce's work, but the only real big
> heartburn I had was not spreading the glue (the jury is still out on the way he
> mounted the vise) (and OK, he should have glued the trim boards too!)
I made the workbench and I think it's good for an
inexpensive workbench (if made from 2x4s and
not maple). The problem is that the workbench
is not Bruce's at all. The plan, every idea, every tip, etc.,
comes from a Workbench magazine article/plan written
by another woodworker. If you try to get the plan from DIY
you will be directed to a pay plan web site.
Brenton
Brenton Olander writes:
>> I have to agree here. I'm not a big fan of Bruce's work, but the only real
>big
>> heartburn I had was not spreading the glue (the jury is still out on the
>way he
>> mounted the vise) (and OK, he should have glued the trim boards too!)
>
>I made the workbench and I think it's good for an
>inexpensive workbench (if made from 2x4s and
>not maple). The problem is that the workbench
>is not Bruce's at all. The plan, every idea, every tip, etc.,
>comes from a Workbench magazine article/plan written
>by another woodworker. If you try to get the plan from DIY
>you will be directed to a pay plan web site.
Try getting a plan from David Marks' site. You have to pay just to get a
materials list, or so I'm told.
Charlie Self
"The California crunch really is the result of not enough power-generating
plants and then not enough power to power the power of generating plants."
George W. Bush