New Work Bench

[Phorester]

After months of research and weeks of construction, here 'tis.  

Ash, air dried for 3 - 4 years, worked into finished lumber by a friend with a better woodworking shop that I"ll ever have.  ;D  24" x 72" x 2-1/2" thick. 32" high.

Split top with a fence in the middle that can be fliped up to support work against it or down for the whole surface to be flat.

[Dodgy Loner]

Fabulous! That is way nicer than my workbench. I have been saying I would upgrade mine for the last five years, but other woodworking projects always seem to intervene. You are set for a lifetime of woodworking, now 8) 8) 8)

[Jasperfield]

Very nice. And one of the handiest tools you'll ever own.

Just don't get in the habit of laying stuff on it.

[D Hagens]

That's a very nice bench   My Dad has a bench just like it and he put holes at an angle in the sides to hold his chisels.

[WDH]

Wow, you have to be proud of that!

[isawlogs]

 Wow , my "workbench" is a milamine sheet with folding legs  :  I really need to do something about that  :D

[LeeB]

Very nice, and I reallylike the flip piece in the middle.

[WildDog]

Impressive, looks to good to use

[SwampDonkey]

Wow, nice!! I sure would like that.  8) I always wanted to build one, but my shop is too narrow.  :( I'm in the same boat as Marcel, limited to a sheet of plywood on legs or the table saw top. :D

Some day I gotta build a bigger shop.  ;) With DonK posting his progress I know how to do it now.

Ash is a good choice in that bench, I would use it also or hard maple. 

[Burlkraft]

Nice bench  8)  8)  8)

I've always wanted to build one like that.

Nice work!

[Ernie]

Wow, what a bench, sure beats my old kitchen table piled high with junk.

[isawlogs]

Tell me .. how does the sliding pieces work  that  ???  Thats if yoa don't mind sharing da secret!!! 

[Phorester]

ISAWLOGS, I'm not sure what you're asking.  Does this answer your question?  

You can actually think of this bench as two separate narrow benches with a gap in between where the center flip fence rests.  This fence has 2 notches which, when flipped "down" (notched side down) these notches fit over the frame of the legs that is perpendicular to the bench top and underneath it. That keeps it from sliding out of position.  In this position the top of the fence is the same height as the bench top, so the whole bench top is flat.

When flipped the other way (notched side up) it rests on these same frame members.  But since the notches are up, the fence rests above the bench top by the depth of the notches.  I cut the notches so the fence rests 3/8 inch above the bench top so I can put a workpiece as thin as 1/2 inch against it and not have the fence interfere with whatever I'm doing on the workpiece.  With the notched side up, I put a 3/8 inch thick batten in it which also has two pegs to go into two dog holes in the bench to hold the flip fence in place.  Most designs I have seen use two dogs in the dog holes that the batten rests against to hold the batten in place, but doing it this way you can use only one side of the batten as a rest for your workpiece. Putting the pegs in the middle of the batten allows me to use either side of the batten to put my workpiece against.

I made all this so when a batten is in place the angle between the batten and the fence is 90 degrees, so I can use it as an automatic right angle reference. Since there is a notch close to each end of the fence, I made two battens. So I can use either end of the bench I need and still have the 90 degree reference angle. I made each batten a tight fit which holds the flip fence solidly in position. I have to pound them in place with my hand, then pry them up with my fingers when removing them.

[isawlogs]

For a guy that was not sure , ya sure did a good job answering my querry.  :D   I see said the blind one, that is what I wanted to know , is how it all went together to have those pieces stick out as a fence. Thanks it is truly a fine work bench you have there. 

[Phorester]

Thankee sir.

Impressive, looks to good to use

Well......, remember it's brand new. Also, I'm amazed at these photos.  They sure don't show up the imperfections in the top.  There's actually plane marks and screw holes in it where I screwed stops into it for positioning a circular saw to square up the ends, other minor dings and gouges. But it is a work bench, and I'll have it beat up, stained, accidental saw cuts, etc. over time.

[SwampDonkey]

 :D I was gonna say, it won't matter much about a few dings in a few years. ;)

[WDH]

That center fence feature is very clever. 

[Phorester]

Yep, I thought so too.  ;D  Saw it on a woodworking website a few months ago. I think it's actually an old idea. I tweaked it a little as I was building mine.  I first thought it was a novelty just for show, but I expect it will be useful.

Putting it in the center also allows me to work from either side of the bench and still use this feature.

[jamesamd]

Very sweet,I love the pop-up fence.May it serve You well.
Jim

[Piston]

That really is a beautiful workbench, it would be a great addition to any woodworking shop  8)

Did you 'mend' many different plans together to come up with it, or did you find a single plan you liked after all that research, and just incorporate the raised fence in the middle?  Just like the other's have said, that is an excellent idea.  Great job  8)

[Magicman]

Very nice and thanks for the additional pictures detailing the pop-up features.

That surely beats a Black & Decker Workmate.   ;D

[Burlkraft]

Awesome!

[Phorester]

PISTON, it's a combination of all the benches I looked at and read about.  This is the third bench I've made, the first one out of 2" x 8" lumber, second out of plywood with a laminated flat panel made out of pine for the top.  I started out with the basic idea of wanting a traditional laminated woodworking bench made out of ash, and 2 x 6 feet in size. I scoured the internet for a few months, reading everything I could find on all sorts of woodworking benches. Read woodworking magazines.  Got the features that I wanted in my mind, then started in on it.

Except for the center fence, which I embellished as I built the bench, it's a basic laminated woodworking bench. 

[Piston]

Are the majority of these nice woodworking bench tops made with the lumber orientated the way you have it, or are they mostly a couple thick boards laid over the top?  It seems like the way you have it would certainly be more stiff and solid. 
I really like the looks of that bench.   ;D

[Phorester]

About all of the benches I've looked at are laminated like I built this one. They are anywhere from 1-1/2" thick to one I saw made out of regular 2" x 6" pine boards laminated on edge, with the legs also laminated out of  4 - 2" x 6" each. They were built so alternating boards formed tenons, which fit into mortises in the bench top made by leaving a blank section between two pieces of the top. A very heavy, very solid bench.  Seems like most are around 2" - 2-1/2 " thick. Most woodworking vises seem to be built for a 2 - 1/4" or so thick top. Obviously the easiest and cheapest way to build this type of bench is out of pine 2" x 4"s on edge.  Should work, but it would be light and prone to being easily dented or chipped.  But one train of thought is that a soft bench would be less like to dent your workpiece if accidently dropped on it.  So you dent your bench rather than your workpiece.

Some of these benches will weigh 200 or more pounds. The 2" x 6" bench was estimated by the builder to weigh around 600 pounds.  The idea being that a heavy bench will not move when you bear down on your workpiece with planes or chisels, so you're not chasing the workbench around the floor when you're working. Of course some people bolt them to the floor but most don't.  My bench top weighs around 160 pounds, adding up the weights of all the components including the two vises.  Ash is a pretty heavy wood. My workbench has a very solid feel to it. Slapping your hand down on it feels like slapping a concrete floor.

Laminating on edge reduces warping and twisting, as you are more prone to get with a few pieces of solid lumber laid flat side by side and glued together. But I saw one antique bench made out of 3 American chestnut boards about 9" wide and 3" thick.  There is a bench in the cabinet shop in colonial Williamsburg VA made from 4 boards of longleaf pine about 12" wide and 4" thick laid side by side joined with dowels and glued.  It's probably 10 feet long and 4 feet wide. That thing must weigh several hundred pounds. Pretty impressive to look at in person.

I've seen benches made out of maple, beech, Douglas fir, white oak, southern yellow pine, white pine, spruce, American chestnut. Pros and cons to each. I think that in times past a woodworker used whatever heavy and stable woods were available to him in his locality. That's probably why a lot of European benches are made from beech and New England benches are made from maple, and these two species seems to have set the standard for workbench wood.  I have a 5' long piece of white oak 3" thick and 12" wide and I thought long and hard about trying to get a matching board, joining them side by side for a bench top.  But although it was cut to size probably 25 or more years ago, it has now bowed a little along its length after being in my shop for about 6 months. Personally I'd go with the more heavy and hard species instead of soft and light.