Bench questions

ttalma

ttalma

Well-known member
I am sick of my pine, plywood, and MDF, twisted, wobbly bench, and am ready to build a new one. I am looking for opinions on the length. currently I am planning on a 6' bench. But I could get away with an 8' one. But really I can only think of 2 times I would have needed a bench that long, and as we all know a shop is never big enough! I'm also planning on making it 24" deep.

I would like to hear others opinions, should I make it 8'? Is there a better size than 24" for the depth?

Secondly I have a piece of cherry that is 6"x12" that I plan to use for the legs. I plan to cut it down the center so I have 6"x6" pieces. The tree was cut down after it had been dead a long time, the board was milled and has been air drying 8 years. There is very minor checking,  I am pretty sure with a board this size the center is still wet. I won't start the bench for at least a month, probably 2. I want to minimize warping, Should I cut it now and let it start drying, or should I cut it right before I'm ready to use it?
 
My workbench is 8' long and 23" wide.  I use every bit of the length when sticking moldings.  Sometimes I wish my bench was 10'.  Bottom line, I don't think you can make a bench too long.  6' will work fine, but 8' will make life easier.  I made mine 23" wide based on the max width of case pieces I would be making.  It's a good width.  24" will work great.  I wouldn't go too much past that because you will have a hard time reaching across the bench.  I have a leg vise, planing stop, and holdfast holes through the top and that works well for me for holding my work.

Ford
 
ttalma,

My bench is eight feet long, but every now and then I look at the Shaker bench on the cover of The Workbench Book (12 feet long) and go, hmm....

I am, I admit, a spread it out all over the shop type worker.

I strongly advise that you cut the cherry to very rough dimension ASAP.  Something of that thickness is going to do some moving around when you rip it, and you will want to give it as much time as possible to acclimate to your shop before planing it to the final dimensions.  PSP
 
I'm with Peter and Ford on this one. Your bench needs to be as long as the longest thing you will plane. If you make small boxes a shorter bench is fine. With case pieces 8 feet is kind of a minimum for sticking moldings. If you just pile stuff on your bench the bigger the better as well! Cut the cherry now, doing it later will gain you nothing.
 
ttalma said:
Secondly I have a piece of cherry that is 6"x12" that I plan to use for the legs. I plan to cut it down the center so I have 6"x6" pieces. The tree was cut down after it had been dead a long time, the board was milled and has been air drying 8 years. There is very minor checking,  I am pretty sure with a board this size the center is still wet. I won't start the bench for at least a month, probably 2. I want to minimize warping, Should I cut it now and let it start drying, or should I cut it right before I'm ready to use it?
Click to expand...

Cut it now, the sticker it with the cut sides facing each other and 'band' it with some of that plastic banding tape in a number of places to help minimize movement.

Do you have or have access to a deep reading moisture meter? It would be good to keep track of what is going on with that before you decide to put it to final use.
 
I have three old 8' patternmaker's benches and I love this length. I would not want mine one inch shorter. The frame work is all made of true 4" x 4" maple.

Dennis Bork
Antiquity Period Designs, Ltd.
 
Thanks for all the reply's. I will cut the leg stock soon. And it looks like 8' is the way to go.

Is there anything you love or hate about your bench? and little modifications you think is a good idea?
 
Tim:
I've got a nine plus footer, two feet wide, 34" tall (too tall and I'm 6'2").  Essential features:

left side leg vise, hardware from Benchcrafted,
right side wagon vise, ditto,
Minimum 2" thick top, solid,
No tool tray,
Legs flush with edge of top all around,
Heavy, square legs with stout rails,
heavy pinned mortise/tenon/breadboarded end caps for each end, dovetailed on right end for wagon vise construction,
1 row round dog holes for wagon vise,
a few well placed holes for holdfasts, and
a shelf below (on the stretchers) to throw jigs and small clamps, etc. on.

This really can be a slippery slope, especially if you get into the Schwarz book and the other one from FWW.  Check out Benchcrafted's website.  They have a sickness.
 
Tim, Since it's Oct I assume you have already made your bench. As many have heard before size doesn't matter. What is more important is what you want to do with your bench. What and where do you want to hold down? This comment comes from trying to hold the edge of a dining table top and leaf to set in mortise and tennons as alignment pins. I wood want to be able to hold a horizontal surface vertically to set in pins. Bench top overhang and vises should be a consideration also.   
 
Well I've been working on the bench it's not complete though. I rough milled the legs. There was more checking than I remembered, but nothing structural. When I cut the legs open I checked with my moisture meter, the leg measured 12% inside and outside, Which is great since this is the seasonal average for my area. They have been roughed out since the middle of August and haven't moved or checked any since then.

I'm working on the top now, It will be about 7'4" long. Since the pile of wood I had would only yield a bench this long. I planed on 8' but I would need to buy wood.

I will be making a leg vise with the bench crafted crisscross, and a tail vise. Dog strip along the front and holdfast holes as I need them. I'll be using wood screws, since metal is tougher on tools. I have a week and 1/2 off at Christmas I hope to finish the bench then. But it will probably take me longer!
 
Please visit the following link; http://woodtreks.com/design-build-traditional-woodworking-workbench-tail-shoulder-leg-vises/1651/

I am making this exact bench over the next few months in-between restoration jobs. 

I am making mine 7 feet long, but if I had more space I would make it 8 or 9 feet long. I am calling it a Edwards Klausz Roubo bench. 

I will have 5 vises on it, a end vise, a should vise that will allow any to be supported evenly, a leg vise, a pattern makers vise, and my classic record vise. This will allow me to do everything and rotate myself around all my repairs.  I have been wanting to make this for years.

Cheers,

FR
 
I saw those video's a few years ago.  I had a pretty solid design in mind when I started the bench so that was never really an issue. Taking classes and using friends benches gave me a solid idea of what I wanted.

I had some good time in the shop over Christmas/New Years and was able to get the bench almost complete. I added a Deadman this past week.

All I have left are the bench dogs which I hope to get to tonight. Hold fast holes, I know where a couple are going, but I mostly plan to add these as needed. And planing stop which I'm still not 100% sure on how I want to do.

I was able to build it with wood from my stockpile.

It's all hard maple and cherry, The bench is 7' 8" long (because that's how long the boards were). Leg vise with Bench crafted criss-cross, and 2 tpi wood screw, which is awesome to use, 2 turns and you can put the board in the jaw, 1/4 turn and its gripped solid. Tail vise open's 14" this allows me to get 8' 6" board between dogs, which I'll probably never need to do. Flush legs to clamp boards against. The little I've used I'm very happy.
 

Attachments

  • benchsmall.jpg
    benchsmall.jpg
    82.1 KB · Views: 27
  • benchsmall2.jpg
    benchsmall2.jpg
    73.2 KB · Views: 26
Here is a video of workholding at a small bench that I built in a weekend. No vises!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvhn-PAfEW4
I just added a leg vise with a St. Peters Cross.
 
I have an eight foot bench, but have wished several times that I had built a 10 or 12 foot bench. When sticking moldings by hand, you need to make all of the pieces that will touch on the final piece from one continuous length to ensure they look right when mitered/ joined. Eight foot is just barely enough to do this.
 
As I was designing the bench I realized every things a compromise. How far to put the dog strip from the edge, round or square dogs, tail vise or wagon vise, sliding deadman or board jack or holdfast holes in the legs, split top or solid, tool tray or none,  leg vise or twin screw or quick release, How thick to make the top, how wide, how long, how high, and on and on and on.

At the end of the day, I made my decisions based on how I work and what I'm used to doing. The sizes were partially determined by the materials I already had. I don't think there is the perfect bench for every task. What works for one person one day won't work for someone else. I usually tell people to build a wagon vise, and not a tail vise, but I put a tail vise on my bench because I've used them a lot and really like them, but they have maintenance issues, and you can't use them as a work surface.

I agree sticking moldings will require the entire bench and then some.

Mike I saw that video shortly after it was posted. And there are a lot of great ideas, While I re-watched it I decided I am going to use a traditional plane stop and line it up with one of the dogs, that way if the board is real wide I'll have 2 points of contact. Basically the same thing as your dogs at the end of the bench. But isn't a holdfast a vise?
 
I suppose you could argue the point that a hold fast is a form of vise. I doubt you would get handed one if you went into a woodworking store and asked for a vise though. I suppose a nail could be a vise too. I have 9 or ten benches, I don't use a tail vise or a wagon vise though I do have leg vises and shoulder vises (just iron vises mounted at the front left). The work that comes off of a bench is more important than the bench.
 
I have bench envy, 9 0r ten benches.
I love my bench and I love my tools and they all are better than everyone else's. Na Na Na Na Na!
Isn't it terrible but I have to say this was meant as a joke and meant to be funny.
My oldest brother is left handed. He wood not like my bench.
 
Self made benches are very personable. First I like a flat surface. A clamping mechanism on the left side end ( or right if left handed) with rectangular dog holes every 6" along the left ( or right if left handed) along the length of the bench and side 6" to 8" parallel to the width side of the bench. My bench is 4" thick glued up 8/4 maple 20"plus wide. Glue up in sections. It is easier to layout and cut your rectangular dog holes on the inside edge of your last glue up.
 
I wood also want a side clamping mechanism on the same left ( unless I was left handed) side but on the other end to support boards held at a 90 degree angle to your flat bench top. This wood come in handy for setting alignment tenons for dining table tops and such edge work. Support pins set in a center post in 1 1/2" increments in height will make your bench very versatile. Several support pin holes along the length of your bench top's rail even with the bottom of your side vise wood also be advised.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top