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if that were my bench top you need an area for the coffee cup to set and a good finish to be able to wipe off the coffee rings

Well said, John, and let me assure you that the java flows freely in my shop too. I'm hooked - happily hooked - on the stuff and the fact that 4-5 cups daily (my minimum intake :-)) helps stave off Alhammer's disease is just a bonus.
DaveB

I am serious , at one point I hammered 30 cups a day . I have since cut down to 10.

30? You have a stomach of steel :-)

Are you a Folgers/Mr. Coffee kinda guy, or do you do the boutique beans and a (large) French Press? :-)
DaveB

I have something of a coffee habit as well. I drink about 3 1/2 quarts a day. My wife bought me a 32 ounce French press, a few years ago, and it gets a workout!

The french press makes, I think, the best coffee.

That's a whale of a lot of coffee. I predict you will remain sharp witted till your late 90's, minimum!!

:-)

Or at least awake for that long....

Back to the bench....how do you find the stability with one central support? One thing that constantly has annoyed me with working on some of my smaller benches (Black and Decker Workmates, because I may have something else glued up or set up in the larger ones, or just a general mess) is how they rock or move, especially when sanding or carving. How does this do if you are working out near the edges? I still think its a fantastic idea, just curious about stability.

Also, with regards to the bench dogs....what if you drilled holes every 2" in each direction, like a peg board, and put a 3/16" dowel through the center of the dogs....then you could pull them out and reposition them wherever you needed. Matter of fact, you could use a peice of pegboard as a template for the holes and as a sacrificial top....spot glue it on the corners and a few spots in the middle, replace as needed. It would be softer than the backer board, protecting the softer woods of our Hobby...

When it is in the horizontal, one half of it sits on the cowboy benchtop, so it is solid as a rock. I do put a 2x4 under the front lip just to take some pressure off the ball joint.

When it is tilted, it is still fairly solid but, since at those times I generally do not have anything heavy on it - I'll be doing chisel work, or some light planing, something detailed - it is plenty solid enough.

I've drilled holes wherever I need them for the mdf 'dogs' and it has made it extremely versatile.

Since I've added a cup holder, it is ALL good :-)