Building a New Assembly Table

[DWyatt]

Brad, if you had seen these boards before they were glued up, you would've said they would work best as fire wood. I had a total of about 15 hours in just cutting the strips and running them through the jointer to get them even close to square/flat to be ready for glue up. Even after the glue up, before I ran things through the planer, I was completely convinced that the best place for this lumber was the burn pile. 

I've sawed & dried Beech twice now. I am not a Southerner, but I liken it to trying to make furniture grade lumber from Sweet Gum.

[SwampDonkey]

My winter project in the new shop is a nice wooden Veritas wood worker's table. I got the plans coming along with a couple bench vises, one is bigger than the other. Put the big one in line with the length and the smaller in line with the width. Been wanting one for 30 years. I also got the package deal HD had on a Dewalt thickness planer, comes with stand, extra blades and feed extension tables. I looked at spiral types, only ones I see are Chinese and I see that particular one has feed chain problems. It's a $2000 model, one could spend $15,000 on one to. They are 220V machines on cabinet pedestals. They are a nice to have item, but no way to justify those hard earned dollars. 

Built my 2x4" L shaped tool/machine bench with shelfing underneath yesterday. Melamine top. Went together quick, will last forever. I built one over 30 years ago at my old shop, has held up excellent. Easy to replace the top if ever a need arises, but can't see it.

A brandy spanking new Festool dust collector is on the way to.

[Magicman]

Your projects are always fun to watch, and I expect no less with this one. 

[SwampDonkey]

The thing about a work bench, you need to be able to stand close, that means you need room for your feet. Feet up against the wall means leaning over with more of an arch to your back. Leaning close is better than leaning farther away from the bench.  It will become obvious, right quick. A bench top with more overhang can be a solution.