Building a workbench

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Kevin Sjostrand
Posts: 3712
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:06 pm
Location: Visalia, CA

Re: Building a workbench

Post by Kevin Sjostrand »

Diane, this bench will be 38" high, higher than by 3 to 4 inches than a bench you might purchase. I am 6' 2" and it is harder these days on my back to stoop. I've determined this height will be optimum ( I hope) for both standing, and sitting with my current stool.
I will not be able to lower this bench so I hope it is right!
Kevin Sjostrand
Posts: 3712
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:06 pm
Location: Visalia, CA

Re: Building a workbench

Post by Kevin Sjostrand »

So I have the base parts made, nothing is glued and pinned yet, just some sanding to do before that is done.
Now I can start on the making the top! Yahoo!
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Kevin Sjostrand
Posts: 3712
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:06 pm
Location: Visalia, CA

Re: Building a workbench

Post by Kevin Sjostrand »

I've started milling the 2 x 4's for the top, cut 18 of them to 68" long and ran the sides of each though my drum sander. Tonight I'll cut the "rounded" edges off on my bandsaw and they will be down to about 3 1/4", then I can start laminating them together to form the top.
My plan is to do 3 sections of 6 boards each. Run those through a planer on both sides, then glue the 3 sections together and any unevenness at that point I'll smooth out with a handplane. The depth should end up just over 26" and my final length till be either 66 or 67".
Fun fun fun.
Kevin Sjostrand
Posts: 3712
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:06 pm
Location: Visalia, CA

Re: Building a workbench

Post by Kevin Sjostrand »

So I've got 18 boards now with the rounded edges trimmed off and they should be ready for laminating. I hope to do the first section tonight.
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Kevin Sjostrand
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Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:06 pm
Location: Visalia, CA

Re: Building a workbench

Post by Kevin Sjostrand »

So I got the first of the 3 sections for my top laminated last night, and after 2 hours of clamp time, I took the clamps off and hand planed the bottom first relatively flat, then flipped it and did the same to the top, just to even things up, thus the pile of shavings on the floor. This doug fir planes like a dream, but you do need to watch the grain as with any wood. I did get some gaps between a couple of boards, but the worst will be on the bottom and I'm not worried about that.
What I did not do, but will do with the next two sections is hand plane the sides of each board to make sure they are flat. I relied on my drum sander to do that, and obviously it was not good enough, so a bit more hand work tonight on the next 6 boards before I glue up the next section.
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johnnparchem
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Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 10:50 pm
Location: Seattle
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Re: Building a workbench

Post by johnnparchem »

This is tuning out to be a bench that could be passed through future generations. It looks great and I am following the posts with interest.
rcnewcomb
Posts: 359
Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2015 9:04 pm
Location: San Jose, CA, USA

Re: Building a workbench

Post by rcnewcomb »

a bench that could be passed through future generations
Very true. My grandfather made a beautiful workbench out of hardwood maple. My son now has it, and his children will make their projects on it when they are older -- 5 generations and counting.
- Randall Newcomb
10 fingers in, 10 fingers out - another good day in the shop
Kevin Sjostrand
Posts: 3712
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:06 pm
Location: Visalia, CA

Re: Building a workbench

Post by Kevin Sjostrand »

I don't know if this one will last forever being softwood, but I'm going to try and take care of it
Kevin Sjostrand
Posts: 3712
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:06 pm
Location: Visalia, CA

Re: Building a workbench

Post by Kevin Sjostrand »

Moving along. I now have three sections for the bench top laminated, each is just under 8 1/2" wide, so once put together my top will be around 26 1/2" wide. Next comes a lot of hand planing to flatten the bottoms of these sections, then glue them together and make the full bench top flat and level.
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Diane Kauffmds
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Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Building a workbench

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

It looks good Kevin. You'll have a good sturdy bench
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
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