I'm sure this question has been asked many times before. I'm new to
woodworking, and building my first bench. I want to do it right the
first time.
For the top, I am kinda lost, I hear so many things. I was thinking
maybe a solid core door, but don't know weather that is heavy enough.
Woodcraft sells nice (and expensive) maple ones, is that the way to
go?
Mike in Mystic wrote:
> I already have the Record and the Veritas twin-screw vises, as well as all
> the parts to build the bench. I just have to find the time! My son
> turned two months old today, so I've been otherwise occupied much of the
> time lately.
A couple days from now you'll wake up, and he'll be in fourth grade.
They're more fun in the shop when they get big enough to reach the workbench
though. :)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
In article <[email protected]>, Chris S
<[email protected]> wrote:
> For the top, I am kinda lost, I hear so many things. I was thinking
> maybe a solid core door, but don't know weather that is heavy enough.
I used a solid core door, and laminated t&g maple fllooring to it, then
banded the edges with hickory. Used 4x4 for the legs. It's plenty
heavy.
You can see the process here:
<http://www.balderstone.ca/workbench/>
The shop looks a LOT different now. Hard to believe I had that much
space back then. <s>
djb
--
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"Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati"
"j" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Mike in Mystic wrote:
> >
> > For the "woodworking" bench, I'm going with Sam Allen's joiner's bench
> > design from his book about workbenches. For the top it is going to be 3
> > layers of 3/4" MDF glued and nailed together
> > be construction lumber. The vises are where I'm spending my $$ for this
> > bench - with a Veritas twin-screw full-width end vise and a Record 52
1/2
>
>
> Which Mystic? Connecticut?
Yes, that would be the one.
>
> Anyway, why nailed? I've gone though a bunch of books and plans in the
> last week and don't see anyone of them recomending screws or nails when
> laminating a top together. One plan showed putting everything, including
> the kitchen sink on top while the glue dried.
Why not? I'm going to follow Allen's instructions and lay out grid lines to
mark where the dog holes will be so as to avoid putting any nails where I
have to drill, but other than that there isn't any reason to avoid fasteners
in the underlying layers of the laminated top. Basically, having a
pneumatic nail gun at my disposal it only makes sense to use it to hold the
MDF sheets together while the glue sets. The top layer is the 1/4"
masonite, which is fixed in place with contact cement, so there won't be any
nails on the surface, if that's what you were worried about.
>
> Better get that Record vise now becuas Record is no more
I already have the Record and the Veritas twin-screw vises, as well as all
the parts to build the bench. I just have to find the time! My son turned
two months old today, so I've been otherwise occupied much of the time
lately.
>
> jw
>
Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> C Carruth wrote:
>
> > check with bowling alleys and trucking companies, both of whom use
> > hardwood for lanes and truck beds....you may get lucky and not pay a
> > dime!!!!
>
> I was thinking all kinds of thoughts about how to score some truck bed wood,
> since I'm a truck driver, and then I had a thought.
>
> Who knows what might be embedded in it. Anything and everything including
> all manner of the world's most hazardous, toxic substances. Plus glass,
> sand, gravel, various metals, asphalt, tar... There could be a thousand
> reasons to avoid truck bed wood.
Yep, and as for using bowling alley wood, there's a few oldtimers
here on the wreck who can fill you in on what that's like. (Hardened
spiral nails every 8-12", for example.) IIRC, by the time they were
done trying to turn that stuff into benchtops, they were willing to
*pay* someone to come take it off their hands.
Back to the original question: It wouldn't hurt to make your first
bench from SYP or some such. Most folks here seem to think that you
will make more than one anyway, so the first one can be a learning
project made with cheap wood.
I built mine out of SYP a couple of years back, and I have been
more than happy with it since. It cost me about $100 including all
the wood and the leg vise.
Chuck Vance
Bill Thomas <[email protected]> wrote:
>Also, you will build more than one workbench, no matter how
>perfectly you try to make your first bench. You will do better to
>quickly build a simple one and use it and then build a second
>one, than to try to carefully design and build the first one.
Chris, I second Bill's advice in spades. I'm in the process of
building my second bench, which I still consider to be a prototype.
The solid core door on a crude but heavy construction-grade lumber
base that was my first bench is serving me well and will continue to
be used for tailed tools and as an assembly table.
>
>Chris S wrote:
>
>> I'm sure this question has been asked many times before. I'm new to
>> woodworking, and building my first bench. I want to do it right the
>> first time.
>>
>> For the top, I am kinda lost, I hear so many things. I was thinking
>> maybe a solid core door, but don't know weather that is heavy enough.
>> Woodcraft sells nice (and expensive) maple ones, is that the way to
>> go?
--
Alex
Make the obvious change in the return address to reply by email.
I built my first benchtop out of used oak flooring, replaned and glued up,
butcher block style. Nice in that the flooring came from a house being
demolished, so I paid $.50 a square foot for the wood. This was remilled,
glued up vertically, then mounted on top 3/.4" mdf as a subtable. Very
heavy, very cheap, but nice oak.
Yea, it took a little bit of work to remill the flooring, but at the price I
paid, who cares. Tough as nails...hard as a brick...You may want to check
with bowling alleys and trucking companies, both of whom use hardwood for
lanes and truck beds....you may get lucky and not pay a dime!!!!
.
"Chris S" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm sure this question has been asked many times before. I'm new to
> woodworking, and building my first bench. I want to do it right the
> first time.
>
> For the top, I am kinda lost, I hear so many things. I was thinking
> maybe a solid core door, but don't know weather that is heavy enough.
> Woodcraft sells nice (and expensive) maple ones, is that the way to
> go?
Greetings,
You have asked about a well discussed topic. Checking
the google newsgroup search for workbench things in the
rec.woodworking group should produce a lot of good information.
As for your particular questions. A good top has the correct
size for what you want do, a very flat surface,
a surface you can clamp things to (e.g. it overhangs the
base by a few inches), and does not flex.
Lots of things will meet this criteria.
Also, you will build more than one workbench, no matter how
perfectly you try to make your first bench. You will do better to
quickly build a simple one and use it and then build a second
one, than to try to carefully design and build the first one.
Have fun.
Sincerely,
Bill Thomas
Chris S wrote:
> I'm sure this question has been asked many times before. I'm new to
> woodworking, and building my first bench. I want to do it right the
> first time.
>
> For the top, I am kinda lost, I hear so many things. I was thinking
> maybe a solid core door, but don't know weather that is heavy enough.
> Woodcraft sells nice (and expensive) maple ones, is that the way to
> go?
I'm just about set to start building my first proper bench as well. I
actually built a more utilitarian bench which used construction lumber and a
solid core door for the top. It actually works quite nicely and I think is
very sturdy.
For the "woodworking" bench, I'm going with Sam Allen's joiner's bench
design from his book about workbenches. For the top it is going to be 3
layers of 3/4" MDF glued and nailed together and then a top surface and
edge-banding of masonite, applied with contact cement. The base will again
be construction lumber. The vises are where I'm spending my $$ for this
bench - with a Veritas twin-screw full-width end vise and a Record 52 1/2
face vise - as well as bench dogs and accessories from Lee Valley. The
vises alone set me back over $300, so I had to be realistic about the bench
itself. Anyway, you should check out Sam Allen's book, it has a lot of good
information and designs.
Mike
"Chris S" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm sure this question has been asked many times before. I'm new to
> woodworking, and building my first bench. I want to do it right the
> first time.
>
> For the top, I am kinda lost, I hear so many things. I was thinking
> maybe a solid core door, but don't know weather that is heavy enough.
> Woodcraft sells nice (and expensive) maple ones, is that the way to
> go?
Mike in Mystic wrote:
>
> For the "woodworking" bench, I'm going with Sam Allen's joiner's bench
> design from his book about workbenches. For the top it is going to be 3
> layers of 3/4" MDF glued and nailed together
> be construction lumber. The vises are where I'm spending my $$ for this
> bench - with a Veritas twin-screw full-width end vise and a Record 52 1/2
Which Mystic? Connecticut?
Anyway, why nailed? I've gone though a bunch of books and plans in the
last week and don't see anyone of them recomending screws or nails when
laminating a top together. One plan showed putting everything, including
the kitchen sink on top while the glue dried.
Better get that Record vise now becuas Record is no more
jw
Mark Jerde wrote:
> A couple days from now you'll wake up, and he'll be in fourth grade.
>
> And a couple days after that he's off to the Army. Less than a week
> now...
> :-(
I'm already starting to worry about what he's going to do for a living.
Both of them, really. This place isn't exactly swimming with opportunity.
Encourage them to stay above all, or tell them to fly away...
I'm trying to be neutral about it, but I secretly hope they stay. Of
course, I haven't seen either of them as a teenager yet, so that might be
subject to change very shortly. ;)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
j wrote:
> Better get that Record vise now becuas Record is no more
Are they completely gone, or just subsumed by the Corporation Corporation?
There was some note in the Lee Valley catalog about Record == Irwin
Industrial.
I noticed my new "Vise-Grip" Quick-Grip clamps say "Irwin Industrial"
instead of "Vise-Grip" so I assume Irwin is some mega corp that's going
around acquiring everything in sight to buy up brand recognition and start
releasing total garbage under time tested names, the way Hasbro (those
bastards) has done with Tonka.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
C Carruth wrote:
> check with bowling alleys and trucking companies, both of whom use
> hardwood for lanes and truck beds....you may get lucky and not pay a
> dime!!!!
I was thinking all kinds of thoughts about how to score some truck bed wood,
since I'm a truck driver, and then I had a thought.
Who knows what might be embedded in it. Anything and everything including
all manner of the world's most hazardous, toxic substances. Plus glass,
sand, gravel, various metals, asphalt, tar... There could be a thousand
reasons to avoid truck bed wood.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
On 20 Oct 2003 13:05:13 -0700, [email protected] (Chris S)
wrote:
>I'm sure this question has been asked many times before. I'm new to
>woodworking, and building my first bench. I want to do it right the
>first time.
>
>For the top, I am kinda lost, I hear so many things. I was thinking
>maybe a solid core door, but don't know weather that is heavy enough.
>Woodcraft sells nice (and expensive) maple ones, is that the way to
>go?
It really depends on how the bench will be used. Try it out and see
how it works for you. I have a solid pine workbench top--not the
best, but it works for me. I found that the heavier then bench, the
better.
Mike in Mystic wrote:
> itself. Anyway, you should check out Sam Allen's book, it has a lot of
> good information and designs.
Yup, it's a good'un. I was just reading that today.
I finally got a face vise myself. It's a really cheap ($12), crappy one,
and I *love* it. I use it a hundred times a day. I can't believe I did
without for so long. I definitely see its limitations, but even this dinky
thing is *so* much better than nothing.
I might be following in your footsteps eventually, though I doubt if I build
any of his designs straight up. I'm thinking of putting a new top on my
crappy bench, using the existing framework, and fitting it out with at
least one big vise and a buncha dog holes.
I really have to look into electro-whatzit rust removal. I have a vise with
9" wide jaws and a dog thingie but it's locked up tighter than SWMBO's...
Um, nevermind. Anyway, that and a big twin screw and I'd be set.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
On 20 Oct 2003 13:05:13 -0700, [email protected] (Chris S)
wrote:
>building my first bench. I want to do it right the
>first time.
Not a hope ! The only time anyone is ever finally satisfied with
their workbench is when they're being laid out on it.
You'll be wanting a copy of "The Workbench Book"
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1561582700/codesmiths-20>
Most libraries have this. "Workshop" and "Toolbox" are worth it too.
Most people build a couple of workbenches over their first few years
woodworking, until they get moderately happy. It's hard to build one
straight off, just because you don't really know what you want. There
are lots of gadgets (and types of vice) that you don't know whether
you'll like until you've actually used them.
My first decent bench built from scratch is the Tage Frid design with
a top of 2" oak. Even then I'm still not happy with the shoulder
vice, and I wish the frame was more rigid.
>For the top, I am kinda lost, I hear so many things. I was thinking
>maybe a solid core door,
I built one a few years ago (friend is still using it) from an
extra-large firedoor that I got cheap because it didn't have the
current markings on it. The frame was just 2x4's in some metal folding
trestle brackets. I wouldn't like to spend all day chopping mortices
on it, but it worked fine for router work. Build a frame underneath
and it would have been quite a decent bench.
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