# Starting on My Anarchist's Workbench



## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I went to 2 home depots and 1 Lowes today. I picked up mostly what I need for the workbench.

Picking out the lumber was a decent amount of work and sorting through the boards for nice ones took some time. The plans called for 9x 8' 2x12s, but I didn't find many quality 8' boards. The selection at a few stores was minimal, and I sorted through what was plentiful. I basically substituted 3 16' boards for 6 8' boards. I also got the 10' boards because they were straight and knot free. I only got boards with 5 or more growth rings through the center, no pith, and minimal knots. I also picked straight boards as I could, but we will see as they dry. 

My plan is to make the bench slightly narrower than the plans (21') but add a narrow tool tray (5-6").










3x 16' 2x12
1x 12' 2x12
4x 10' 2x12
1x 8' 2x12

2x 10' 2x10
1x 12' 2x10


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## cynrich (Mar 27, 2020)

Good luck! I'm eagerly following this because a workbench is on my list.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

cynrich said:


> Good luck! I'm eagerly following this because a workbench is on my list.


I do want to keep this thread kinda going, but I really expect the longest part of this timeline to be me waiting for the pine to dry out enough to work. I am hoping to rip them around Thanksgiving, and get the bench really started around Christmas.


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## cynrich (Mar 27, 2020)

BigCountry79 said:


> I do want to keep this thread kinda going, but I really expect the longest part of this timeline to be me waiting for the pine to dry out enough to work. I am hoping to rip them around Thanksgiving, and get the bench really started around Christmas.


Are you ripping them to make 2x4s?


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

No


cynrich said:


> Are you ripping them to make 2x4s?


No, ripping in half then dimensioning them to 1.25" x 5.5" or so for the top.


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## cynrich (Mar 27, 2020)

BigCountry79 said:


> No
> 
> No, ripping in half then dimensioning them to 1.25" x 5.5" or so for the top.


Gotcha, makes sense now.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

cynrich said:


> Gotcha, makes sense now.


Southern yellow pine is denser and the larger stock tends to warp less as it dries (hopefully).

Also, because it's wider, when I rip it, I won't have as much flat grain trying to cup. I'll basically have one quarter sawn edge and one rift sawn edge.


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## cynrich (Mar 27, 2020)

BigCountry79 said:


> Southern yellow pine is denser and the larger stock tends to warp less as it dries (hopefully).
> 
> Also, because it's wider, when I rip it, I won't have as much flat grain trying to cup. I'll basically have one quarter sawn edge and one rift sawn edge.


Interesting I have a stack of 12' former roof rafters that are 2 x 8s that I'm thinking of using for mine. I'm not sure how old they are, but the wood is not light like pine, maybe spruce or fir. My workbench is going to be smaller than most because my space is minimal, so I may not need more than 2x4s, which I plan to use for the legs and frame as well, doubled up. They are pretty straight. I'm trying to use what I already have, I don't expect to need it to last a hundred years, I'll be happy to get 5-7 years' use out of it myself. lol


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

cynrich said:


> Interesting I have a stack of 12' former roof rafters that are 2 x 8s that I'm thinking of using for mine. I'm not sure how old they are, but the wood is not light like pine, maybe spruce or fir. My workbench is going to be smaller than most because my space is minimal, so I may not need more than 2x4s, which I plan to use for the legs and frame as well, doubled up. They are pretty straight. I'm trying to use what I already have, I don't expect to need it to last a hundred years, I'll be happy to get 5-7 years' use out of it myself. lol


Well, southern yellow pine is one of the denser softwoods, and common joist material in the Midwest and Eastern US.

2x8 ripped in half is still a decent thickness for the top. How many do you have? If you want to make a 6' bench, each one will give you 5" or 5.5" of width on your top. I'm tired of a bench that scoots around the basement floor, so I'm going for heft.


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## JohnGi (May 9, 2019)

Very nice looking stock and quite an exciting project. I built the bench I still use in 1975 or 76 out of oak. They get better with age. You will not regret allowing the wood extra time to season before you glue up the top. 21" is a good width in my opinion. 18" is a little narrow. 24" is definitely too wide. These were called benches, not tables, for a reason.


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## DrRobert (Apr 27, 2015)

I'd go ahead and rip them now. Get that internal stress relieved, then sticker them and let them freak out for a month.

5" is a very thick top!


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

DrRobert said:


> I'd go ahead and rip them now. Get that internal stress relieved, then sticker them and let them freak out for a month.
> 
> 5" is a very thick top!


Yeah...I might hate life if I decide to move and want to bring the bench with me... then again, it was about $250 in wood, so I can also say I rented it for $25/year for the next 10 years.

I need to rip them in my basement, and I have a few projects I want to complete before I bring them down, plus a family vacation...I think they will live in the garage for about a month, but I do want to get them up above the concrete floor...maybe they'll be a few lbs lighter when I actually haul them downstairs.


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## Bob Bengal (Jan 2, 2021)

BigCountry79 said:


> Yeah...I might hate life if I decide to move and want to bring the bench with me


How feasible is it to make the bench with some variety of mortise and tenon so it can be knocked down?


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Bob Bengal said:


> How feasible is it to make the bench with some variety of mortise and tenon so it can be knocked down?


The book recommends a draw bored mortise and tenon. If I don't use wood glue, I would probably be able to knock it down...once.

I will also have a 8" jointer, cabinet saw, 3HP bandsaw and large metal box in my basement that will have to move when I leave, so I will already have a ton of heavy stuff to haul out.


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## GCTony (Apr 5, 2018)

DrRobert said:


> I'd go ahead and rip them now. Get that internal stress relieved, then sticker them and let them freak out for a month.
> 
> 5" is a very thick top!


AGREE! When ripping wide 2X SYP, especially the stuff grown real fast is going bow and twist. It's not the moisture, it's the grain. You don't want to wait for everything to dry and then discover you have 30% waste after you rip them and then need to wait for the replacement to dry. 

FWIW, right of wrong I made a 2' thick, 30" X 144" top from SYP and didn't let it dry and never moved/checked. I used biscuits to help with quicker glue ups. I did (2) 15" wide section, let the glue dry, run it through the planer and drum sander then glued the two smaller pieces together so I only had to hand work one joint.


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## GCTony (Apr 5, 2018)

BigCountry79 said:


> The book recommends a draw bored mortise and tenon. If I don't use wood glue, I would probably be able to knock it down...once.
> 
> I will also have a 8" jointer, cabinet saw, 3HP bandsaw and large metal box in my basement that will have to move when I leave, so I will already have a ton of heavy stuff to haul out.


My first bench top was a salvaged section of a bowling alley, heart pine with hard maple edges. If I remember correctly it was a type of tongue and grove (Not sure of the correct term) joint. I don't think it was glued but held together with threaded rods every 12" or 16". That was like 40 years ago so my memory could be "off"


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## Bob Bengal (Jan 2, 2021)

GCTony said:


> AGREE! When ripping wide 2X SYP, especially the stuff grown real fast is going bow and twist.


A year of so I wanted a couple of decent 2x4s for shop use, the ones in the big box stores were junk. So I tried a straight 2x8 SYP, even before I finished the rip it was if it was trying to cross it's fingers.


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## kwoodhands (May 1, 2020)

BigCountry79 said:


> The book recommends a draw bored mortise and tenon. If I don't use wood glue, I would probably be able to knock it down...once.
> 
> I will also have a 8" jointer, cabinet saw, 3HP bandsaw and large metal box in my basement that will have to move when I leave, so I will already have a ton of heavy stuff to haul out.


If draw bored is what I refer to as draw peg construction, you can knock it down and re-install as many times as needed.
You would probably have to bore the pegs out and make and install new ones. Glue is not needed on the mortise or pegs. I used to make industrial lab benches from common 2x4's. I also made 7 woodworkers benches from beech. 
Most of the lab benches were either fir, yellow pine or what was called white wood , this is also known as hemlock spruce. 
The boards were machined to 3-1/4" x 1-5/16". Most were 27-1/2" wide with a total of 20 boards laminated.
mike


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

kwoodhands said:


> If draw bored is what I refer to as draw peg construction, you can knock it down and re-install as many times as needed.
> You would probably have to bore the pegs out and make and install new ones. Glue is not needed on the mortise or pegs. I used to make industrial lab benches from common 2x4's. I also made 7 woodworkers benches from beech.
> Most of the lab benches were either fir, yellow pine or what was called white wood , this is also known as hemlock spruce.
> The boards were machined to 3-1/4" x 1-5/16". Most were 27-1/2" wide with a total of 20 boards laminated.
> mike


The draw bores are off center, so the hole of the tenon is 1/16" closer to the shoulder. It deform the peg enough that it curves inside the joint and also deform the holes. I could use standard pegs to fit them, but I worry it wouldn't prevent wobble.

Breaking down the bench is really a tertiary concern of mine. I will not modify my plans to make it easier to move in 15 or 20 years. If I am ever successful enough to buy a mansion, I can afford good movers.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Another means of knocking down a bench would be "wedged tenons". They can always be tightened up if the need arises.
You should watch this method of making through leg tenons before you laminate your top. It makes those type of tenons FAR easier than chopping them through 5" thick stock!





Same idea from Christopher Schwarz (who should keep his hands in his pockets when he talks):


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

For Others:

In case you don't know, Christopher Schwarz has authored several books on woodworking workbenches, their history and design. "The Anarchist's Workbench" is a 334 page book containing the culmination of Christopher's research about woodworking workbench design. It is primarily focused on delivering detailed instructions to build your own "Anarchist's Workbench", based on the best features that Christopher has learned, along with the reasons and justifications for those choices.

Christopher Schwarz has generously made "The Anarchist's Workbench" available as a _*free PDF file download*_, or you can purchase a printed copy of the book in various forms. The book and PDF file are updated from time to time.

Information about "The Anarchist's Workbench", including how to order a print copy and the link to download the free PDF file:
https://lostartpress.com/products/the-anarchists-workbench

Here is a link to the free PDF file, as a convenience. This link points to the June 2020 version of the book, which is updated from time to time. Check the general web page above, to make sure that Christopher has not released another update since I posted this link:
https://blog.lostartpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AWB_Consumer_June-2020_v5.1-1.pdf


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## DrRobert (Apr 27, 2015)

I've never seen the need nor the logic behind legs tenoned into the top. The only reason I can understand would be for historical accuracy. Keep in mind Mr. Schwarz is a hand tool woodworker who's focus is to preserve historical methods. I remember watching a video of him laboriously hand sawing out tenons and dovetails in a 5x5 leg, in the backround was a bandsaw. I'm not taking away from his work, just saying if a bandsaw was available in 1650 you can be they would have used it!

I would suggest you consider building the base of 2 trestles. Coupled by stretchers it will be just as sturdy and orders of magnitude easier to build. It can be easily disassembled if needed.

On both these benches I used through bolts (like bed bolts) into the stretchers which are housed in shallow tenons. Through tenons and wedges could also have been used.

Just something to consider.


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## _Ogre (Feb 1, 2013)

i've been waiting a couple days for someone to post up a picture of 'Anarchist's Workbench'
i finally googled it and i don't get it. 
it looks very heavy, like back breaking heavy to even slide it across the floor
i can see a need if you were going to use a bfh on top of it, but i imaging it will on be tap tap tap on chisels
a properly made 2x thick top on saw horses will handle pretty much anything you throw at or on it


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Yah, but then it wouldn't be an Anarchist's workbench. That's the "bragging rights" part of the project.
To your solution, even a solid core door and a 3/4" particle board screwed down will make a "good enough" work surface, BUT you can't put a vise on it and start edge planing it because it will slide off the horse closest to you. If it falls off the horse, it won't get itself back on to ride again.... just sayin'


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I know everyone has opinions on benches, and I appreciate that, but I have also found that if you try to take everyone's ideas from their use case and combine them into a "one bench that combines all the features", then you usually wind up with something awkward and compromised...so I'm going to stay relatively close to the design in the book (except taller because I'm 6'7", and with a tool tray because dropping bench planes sucks.)

I also didn't realize there were bragging rights associated with building a cheap bench from construction grade yellow pine...I consider the Scandinavian style benches and houndstooth dovetails more of a fancy/bragging rights bench, but maybe there's something I wasn't aware of (?)

I am not putting through tenons on the top. Just tenons formed through laminations of the leg, and some 2.5" x 5" mortises that I will mostly drill out and just chisel square. The author recommends against using lag bolts on the SYP, so I will heed that advise. The joints don't scare me. I've done them a ton although never quite this large.

I don't know...I kinda figured this would be the easy route towards building a noice bench. My shop is so small I've not wanted to upgrade my tiny bench until I got more space and I'm tired of the wobbling and fighting on the current bench. It weights over 100lbs.

I finally got a little extra room so I'm putting my bench in its own area, and I can go bigger and heavier like I've always wanted!


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## kwoodhands (May 1, 2020)

BigCountry79 said:


> The draw bores are off center, so the hole of the tenon is 1/16" closer to the shoulder. It deform the peg enough that it curves inside the joint and also deform the holes. I could use standard pegs to fit them, but I worry it wouldn't prevent wobble.
> 
> Breaking down the bench is really a tertiary concern of mine. I will not modify my plans to make it easier to move in 15 or 20 years. If I am ever successful enough to buy a mansion, I can afford good movers.


Draw peg construction is an excellent way to go. Where I live this construction was also used to fasten studs to timbers on homes built before 1900. A typical house was built with 6x or 8x square or rectangular beams. Studs were 3x, 4x , or 5x logs that had a large tenon at each end . The beams were mortised. Pegs ,usually 2 per stud were offset . The walls were framed on the ground. Took several strong men to raise it.
I shaved a point on the peg so the peg does not splinter the exit hole. Don't worry about wobble. Once the pegs are driven , the joint will tight and stay that way. As I mentionrd before I have built many benches, at least 200 softwood and 7 hardwood benches. Never had to re-do a draw peg joint. Never had to use glue either. I do know some people brush glue on the pegs, a waste of glue in my opinion. Dowels are fine for pegs, smaller pegs can be pointed in a pencil sharpener. 3/8" would be about the largest dowel that would fit in a crank type pencil sharpener. A dozen different ways to put the point on, hatchet, disk sander, draw knife etc.
mike


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

BigCountry79 said:


> I know everyone has opinions on benches, and I appreciate that, but I have also found that if you try to take everyone's ideas from their use case and combine them into a "one bench that combines all the features", then you usually wind up with something awkward and compromised...
> 
> *I also didn't realize there were bragging rights associated with building a cheap bench from construction grade yellow pine*...I consider the Scandinavian style benches and *houndstooth dovetails more of a fancy/bragging rights bench*, but maybe there's something I wasn't aware of (?)


No, you are correct.
I made that statement in my post above, assuming that no one would get any bragging rights from throwing together a top on some saw horses. Even a laminated 2X top wouldn't qualify in my opinion because there's essentially no hand work involved in making that top except for flattening it.
Instead, those bragging rights would come from a making a bench that was painfully and carefully hand crafted with proper mortise and tenons and dovetails and weighs at least 600 lbs. There should be no confusion as to who gets the "bragging rights" !


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## Dave McCann (Jun 21, 2020)

_Ogre said:


> it looks very heavy, like back breaking heavy to even slide it across the floor


Kind of the whole point,,,,,,,,,,, so it does NOT slide around across the floor.


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## cynrich (Mar 27, 2020)

BigCountry79 said:


> Well, southern yellow pine is one of the denser softwoods, and common joist material in the Midwest and Eastern US.
> 
> 2x8 ripped in half is still a decent thickness for the top. How many do you have? If you want to make a 6' bench, each one will give you 5" or 5.5" of width on your top. I'm tired of a bench that scoots around the basement floor, so I'm going for heft.


My "workshop" is a 10' x 10' shed, and I have to 
move things around a lot, so mine will have locking wheels.


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## cynrich (Mar 27, 2020)

Tool Agnostic said:


> For Others:
> 
> In case you don't know, Christopher Schwarz has authored several books on woodworking workbenches, their history and design. "The Anarchist's Workbench" is a 334 page book containing the culmination of Christopher's research about woodworking workbench design. It is primarily focused on delivering detailed instructions to build your own "Anarchist's Workbench", based on the best features that Christopher has learned, along with the reasons and justifications for those choices.
> 
> ...


Thanks so much for that link!! 😄


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## my wood (Sep 10, 2021)

BigCountry79 said:


> I went to 2 home depots and 1 Lowes today. I picked up mostly what I need for the workbench.
> 
> Picking out the lumber was a decent amount of work and sorting through the boards for nice ones took some time. The plans called for 9x 8' 2x12s, but I didn't find many quality 8' boards. The selection at a few stores was minimal, and I sorted through what was plentiful. I basically substituted 3 16' boards for 6 8' boards. I also got the 10' boards because they were straight and knot free. I only got boards with 5 or more growth rings through the center, no pith, and minimal knots. I also picked straight boards as I could, but we will see as they dry.
> 
> ...


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## my wood (Sep 10, 2021)

cynrich said:


> Good luck! I'm eagerly following this because a workbench is on my list.


I was very fortunately enough to get my hands on a laminated beam 15 foot by 22.5 inches wide made with 2 x 6.75 inches Douglas Fir. Heavy but made legs and this became a great work bench. I cut into 2 work benches one 10' and one 5'. Have used it for nearly 25 years and if I move its going with me, how I don't know but I can't leave it behind.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I brought the workbench wood down into the basement so it can start to acclimate more. The moisture meter I bought reads about the same with this wood as it does with some SYP I've had a long time. I'm not sure I trust it.

After two weeks in the garage, it really didn't warp at all, but it definitely let off some moisture...The smell was super strong that first week.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I made a little time in the shop again today. After getting the jointer knives sharpened and adjusted last night, I reconfigured the shop to allow me to mill the 8' 2x12s for the benchtop.


Most of my time was spent wrangling southern yellow pine and figuring out my cut list for a taller than normal 37-38" bench. (I'm about 6' 6" and my current 34" bench hurts my back. My 40" counter is a little high for handplanes though)


I probably put about 3 hours in today and I didn't get the first bundle glued up, but they are milled and they close up pretty well.


Total time: about 6 hours


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Ironically I really need a bigger work surface to make this bench...


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Lessons learned...
The bandsaw is perfect for the rip cuts

My 6" jet jointer will tip if I run an 8' long 2x6 through it without adding support.

The boards really didn't warp significantly.

After 2+months the wood still isn't quite equalized with the humidity


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## DrRobert (Apr 27, 2015)

You were lucky the boards didn’t bend you must have some fairly stress free wood there.

Dont get too hung up on moisture content numbers. The wood will equilibrate to whatever the environment is. We shoot for the magic 6%, but it may never get there if you have a shop In FL vs. CO.

My point is I wouldn’t get too hung up on it, steady state is more important then number, and it is acclimating to where it’s going to live, unlike furniture that gets moved into a house. If the numbers are pretty consistent I would just proceed with the build. 

Are you planning to use an alignment aid?

How are you going to flatten the top?


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I aligned the layers with a couple 18ga brads about 1/4" from the ends. It worked ok. They still slid around a bit. My wife came down to chit chat after I spread glue on the third board. I am pretty sure I broke one of my cabinet masters. Oh well.

I did a dry run before I added glue. I did find one divot so sent it through the planer again. I am hopeful I won't have any gaps in the laminations...we will see.










The cast iron clamps are great, but I can't stand them up, so my shop is basically is use until I take these clamps off.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)




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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Lessons learned
1. Be messy and fast with glue
2. Biscuits help
3. Clamp on saw horses

I got the other bundle glued up. There were not many noticeable gaps in the top.

I used a plastic putty knife to spread the glue. It worked well, but I didn't move fast enough on the second bundle and it started setting before the clamps were in place. Hopefully that won't haunt me. It is hard to spread it with the putty knife without glue going everywhere and valuing over the sides. A roller might have been better, but those are surprisingly expensive. For the third glue up, I decided to just not care and I used more glue than needed, but it went much smoother.

For alignment, the 18ga nails weren't cutting it. I used biscuits 1.5" from the top for the final glue up and they saved time flattening the top.

I also assembled the last glue up on saw horses, and that was the way to go! I tried the floor for the first two, but it was a real pita. Plus I tried laying them flat then rotating them, and that was a terrible idea. Stack them like cards when you glue. Clamp them as they lay, and leave them be! 

















Don't even worry about the squeeze out. It literally pops off when you remove the clamps.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Flattening the bundle with a scrub plane was pretty efficient and it got the glue of with it.

















Taking the glue of probably added 5 minutes of planning time.









The top is larger than I even expected. I knew the dimensions, but laying the three bundle together gives a different appreciation for the mass.

Total time: 12 hours


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

Too much on rough glue ups is perfect. Your not questioning whether its enough or not..


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## DrRobert (Apr 27, 2015)

Good you. You can’t ever have too much glue or too many clamps!


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## m.n.j.chell (May 12, 2016)

eagerly awaiting further updates on this build. I'm contemplating building another workbench for my shop.


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## Tree Hugger (Sep 1, 2011)

What do you guys think of these that I picked up for my build.








CasterHQ - Retractable Leveling Machine Casters - 4 Pack - 2,400 lbs Per Set - Premium Quality - Heavy Duty Machine Retractable Casters - 600 lbs Capacity Each Caster - New Improved Design!: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific


CasterHQ - Retractable Leveling Machine Casters - 4 Pack - 2,400 lbs Per Set - Premium Quality - Heavy Duty Machine Retractable Casters - 600 lbs Capacity Each Caster - New Improved Design!: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific



www.amazon.com




I don't anticipate ever moving it but someone may have to and I'm thinking north of 400#'s
It will be in the basement but I do have a walk out.


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## m.n.j.chell (May 12, 2016)

Those look very sturdy. For infrequent moves, they look perfect. 
Having to screw them out of the way every time would make them inconvenient for frequent use, though.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I am considering these retractable casters. I know I would never use the ones that require a tool to activate

SPACECARE Workbench Casters Heavy Duty Retractable Casters，600 Lbs Capacity Set of 4 Stepdown Casters Wheels or Workbenches Tables and Equipments，Side Mounted Adjustable Table Casters https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MBYRX8...abc_EY018CY02AMTT0XN4DJH?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1


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## Tree Hugger (Sep 1, 2011)

BigCountry79 said:


> I am considering these retractable casters. I know I would never use the ones that require a tool to activate
> 
> SPACECARE Workbench Casters Heavy Duty Retractable Casters，600 Lbs Capacity Set of 4 Stepdown Casters Wheels or Workbenches Tables and Equipments，Side Mounted Adjustable Table Casters https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MBYRX8...abc_EY018CY02AMTT0XN4DJH?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1


I have a set like that (I bought from Rockler) on my other bench. The only thing I question about it is # capacity.
It's#600 rating for all 4 so it would be @150# for each one. 
When you lift that first caster it could be taking half the weight of the bench.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Tree Hugger said:


> I have a set like that (I bought from Rockler) on my other bench. The only thing I question about it is # capacity.
> It's#600 rating for all 4 so it would be @150# for each one.
> When you lift that first caster it could be taking half the weight of the bench.


The bench will not be more than 300#or so. 

I also see the 600# rating and expect it really means 600#


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## allpurpose (Mar 24, 2016)

Something I found works great for large scale glueups is a rubber roller with a plastic handle. I found mine at one of the chain crafts stores in town. It cleans up easily even after glue has dried to it and spreads glue evenly without making a huge mess. Plastic housing and the roller snaps away from the handle..easy to clean.. (btw, a bucket of sawdust and some elbow grease makes cleaning up squeeze out easy.. Sprinkle sawdust and rub while still wet. Sawdust soaks it up for a LOT less mess..)
I'm probably going to rebuild my bench sometime this summer and give the old one away.
I found I don't really need a 4-5" thick bench. Mine is 3.25 and even that's too thick for most of my needs so I'll likely settle on about 2.5". I have a supplier locally who sells mostly flooring so I'll likely avoid the 2X route and go with 1X's or even 3/4 stock. Since i get 4/4 cypress really cheap, 1x5-6 pieces 48" long for around $2.20 per board I can stagger pieces, put square holes wherever i want or just drill em out for 3/4" dowels for dogs..still undecided on that.. Cypress is just about bulletproof when it comes to moisture so I'll never have to worry about warpage, etc. and has a similar texture and feel as pine, maybe slightly harder.. I'm probably going to buy an entire pallet load soon, about 200 or so boards..
I am going to stick with the same leg setup, tenon and mortises and use the same system used in the Paul Sellers builds, angled grooves(?) that allow me to just tap angles pieces in for a great friction fit. Check out how he does it online. I don't feel like typing all that out.. LOL
My old bench has stood up to everything I've thrown at it. The legs have never once wavered in the least, but I need it to be about 4" shorter because i want it to double as my outfeed table with one side with a hinged extension so I can rip really wide sheet goods without anything falling. I added the hinged extension on the old bench when I was building the gates this past summer. Home depot sells really heavy duty knock down locking shelf supports that are hinged..worked great with my 13" aprons so I'll probably reuse them on one side and put my vise on the opposite.. I don't really want a tool well anymore. I'm too much of a junk collector and it just fills up with any and everything, but I do want drawers and storage underneath so I still need to work on that idea..
Since the ceiling is almost 10 feet I'm strongly considering overhead storage to put all the junk that's always getting in my way, maybe lumber racks built into it, but I'm not entirely sure on that right now..
Well, now I'm just rambling but you get the idea..I really only intended to write about the rubber roller for glueups.. As you can undoubtedly tell, I NEVER get carried away in my thoughts whilst typing..


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## DrRobert (Apr 27, 2015)

AP, I don’t know about cypress. Its not even as dense as pine. Guess it all depends on what you’re doing doesn’t seem like a good choice to me.

Speaking of which, my first bench was from a section of bowling alley lane given to me by a friend.

If you do get one, I suggest removing all the nails and glue back together. Mine also had cables running cross wise every few feet. Wreak havoc on a drill bit.


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## Tree Hugger (Sep 1, 2011)

My top should finish at 2.75" or so. Son got his friends together and at 9:00pm got it out of the basement and loaded on the trailer a few days back.
Saw mill said will get it first thing yesterday morning. Told them Mon its over 225# . They now say next week a stronger guy is on Vacation now.
Yeah well some of my help will be back at college and more snow on the way...BOZO,s
Mine will have a power lift as I have some limitations...mulling over ideas.
Kind of PO'd about constantly being told to watch my self , didn't hold back telling the Doc so the other day. there sending my to a specialized PT hopefully I can gain some strength where I need it.
I'm off woodworking for a bit but I can still layout hole patterns and vice mounts.
Keep this thread Bumped.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

allpurpose said:


> Something I found works great for large scale glueups is a rubber roller with a plastic handle. I found mine at one of the chain crafts stores in town. It cleans up easily even after glue has dried to it and spreads glue evenly without making a huge mess. Plastic housing and the roller snaps away from the handle..easy to clean.. (btw, a bucket of sawdust and some elbow grease makes cleaning up squeeze out easy.. Sprinkle sawdust and rub while still wet. Sawdust soaks it up for a LOT less mess..)
> I'm probably going to rebuild my bench sometime this summer and give the old one away.
> I found I don't really need a 4-5" thick bench. Mine is 3.25 and even that's too thick for most of my needs so I'll likely settle on about 2.5". I have a supplier locally who sells mostly flooring so I'll likely avoid the 2X route and go with 1X's or even 3/4 stock. Since i get 4/4 cypress really cheap, 1x5-6 pieces 48" long for around $2.20 per board I can stagger pieces, put square holes wherever i want or just drill em out for 3/4" dowels for dogs..still undecided on that.. Cypress is just about bulletproof when it comes to moisture so I'll never have to worry about warpage, etc. and has a similar texture and feel as pine, maybe slightly harder.. I'm probably going to buy an entire pallet load soon, about 200 or so boards..
> I am going to stick with the same leg setup, tenon and mortises and use the same system used in the Paul Sellers builds, angled grooves(?) that allow me to just tap angles pieces in for a great friction fit. Check out how he does it online. I don't feel like typing all that out.. LOL
> ...


You get carried away when you enjoy something...

Good tip on the rubber roller. I didn't want to buy one of those expensive foam rollers where the rollers cost $4-5 each. Instead, I used a 6" plastic trowel from Walmart. It works fairly well, but it is easy to over-apply glue, and it isn't great for spreading glue near the edges. The glue tends to flow over the side. I've done a lot of drywall, and it's similar to using mud that's too wet.










I'm also not sure 4' cypress is the best choice. Especially if you need to butt joint the pieces together. Gluing the 2x pine was annoying enough. 4' x 3/4" sections would be 4x as many glue lines. You also might get more waste.


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## Bob Bengal (Jan 2, 2021)

BigCountry79 said:


> I used a 6" plastic trowel from Walmart.


Instead of a trowel with a straight edge have you tried something with teeth? I've had this set a few years and like enough of the items in it to be worth while. When I want a straight edge I cut a plastic lid like from a large yogurt, can of nuts etc.









Glue Application Master Set


Includes the acclaimed Rockler Glue Applicator Set, 3-Piece Silicone Glue Application Kit, and Silicone Mini Glue Brushes.




www.rockler.com





Rockler has a three piece set with the spreader for $15, no doubt you can find cheaper else where. Or make one, but getting the gaps uniform doesn't appeal to me.


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## Tree Hugger (Sep 1, 2011)

BigCountry79 said:


> The bench will not be more than 300#or so.
> 
> I also see the 600# rating and expect it really means 600#


Just stumbled in this video. take a look at how he connected the retractable casters together so both would take the load at once. Right at the start of the video. A simple idea to consider I will probably do to my existing bench.


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## AwesomeOpossum74 (Jan 27, 2017)

BigCountry79 said:


> I also didn't realize there were bragging rights associated with building a cheap bench from construction grade yellow pine...


You bet there are! The bench I built a couple months ago is a Paul Sellers European style bench, made out of premium SYP from Lowes. On it's own, maybe it's not a "brag", but the fact that I built it using only hand tools makes me very proud. Like you, it was something I'd been wanting to do for a while.



BigCountry79 said:


> Most of my time was spent wrangling southern yellow pine and figuring out my cut list for a taller than normal 37-38" bench. (I'm about 6' 6" and my current 34" bench hurts my back. My 40" counter is a little high for handplanes though)


Interesting how people are different. I am 6'2.5", and my bench is 41" tall. I find it comfortable for chiseling and planing. I've had a back injury since I was about 29 (47 now), and I want to do as little bending at my bench as possible. I do acknowledge that I may have to build a separate assembly bench when I get back to building bigger stuff, like dressers and tables. Otherwise I'll probably be reaching for the ceiling to put anything together.

I also built in a tool well, and I find it to be great! It's a safe spot for my bench tools, and helps keep things tidy on the work surface.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Bob Bengal said:


> Instead of a trowel with a straight edge have you tried something with teeth? I've had this set a few years and like enough of the items in it to be worth while. When I want a straight edge I cut a plastic lid like from a large yogurt, can of nuts etc.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I strongly considered notching some holes in mine, but in the end, I probably wasted about $1 in glue and 10 minutes of my time getting the glue off. If I remember the next time I'm at rockler, I'll probably grab one.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I got the top assemblies surfaced flattened and square with the help of a friend. Wrangling the 60# beams onto my 6" jet jointer was a challenge even with a friend to help. Keeping them flat at the start and end was also a big challenge because it wanted to flip my jointer!

I definitely had a few nose dives going into the jointer, and it sagged a little more when it came out of the planer than I would have liked. So I had a decent amount of snipe.

I stopped with the beams mostly flat, and finished off the rest with a no 7. Moving them around to test fit was a real back breaker. It was also challenging not to set them on the corners and break the edge.

My buddy helped again to get them glued together. Having an extra set of hands helped a ton.

I didn't take any photos, but I glued them up on sawhorses again and set the clamps vertically. It worked really well and I didn't index with anything this time since it was only 2 joints.

Total time: 14 hours


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

With the top glued up, I took my no 5 two tone to task with an aggressive mouth, a straight edge and a set of winding sticks.

It was a decent workout, but I got the bottom pretty flat. The main trick at this point is finding somewhere to put the huge top while I'm working on everything. I just used some sawhorses and a quick clamp to prevent it from skidding off the top.










I was about ankle-high in shavings from all the planing I hadn't cleaned up, so I also cleaned up all that stuff.

Total time: 16 hours

End result was pretty good, and the worst gap I had was about this bad (in the underside of the top)










It's looking pretty good!


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

This afternoon I got started on the legs. I ripped, crosscut and dimensioned them to within 3/32" of final thickness. I will let them sit a day or so then bring them all down to 1.25" x 5".


















Total time: 18 hours


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## Tree Hugger (Sep 1, 2011)

I believe every hour of it. I wimped out before that , fairly straight and flat but getting tear out in the hard maple so I stopped.
Looking good.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I've got two legs assembled and two waiting for glueup.









First I finished all the stock prep. I left everything about 3/32 oversized during the previous milling stage. I planed it all down to exactly 1.25" I planed all pieces for the last pass without adjusting anything. Then I ripped them 3/32" wide to give myself enough to plane it flush if the laminations slipped.









I also checked for any snipe around the tenon areas, and I made sure all the shoulder and tenon ends had a nice square end. This was important! Squaring up a board is a lot easier than adjusting a tenon cheek.

















I like story sticks, so I made a story stick to lay out the legs. I laid out the tenons on the second from the outside lamination of the leg and cut out the waste using the tablesaw set to max height (almost).









I marked out where the tenon would be and used the mortise piece and a cutting guide. I tried to get the tape a little narrower than the opening so it wouldn't interfere with clamping.









Then I clamped it up. I used 18g brads to hold the layers in alignment. My only hiccup was some glue that pooled in my mortise (tanks @Bob Bengal !

Total time: 24 hours


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

I think the "leave a gap mortise" is the smartest method ever!
I used it before on my Mission style headboard:








Mission Headboard Build


I decided to make just a headboard, no rails or footboard to match the Mission furniture in my room. I selected the best quartersawn Oak I had on hand, let it acclimate to the shop for a week or so, and started in straightlining it with my shop built jig. It works very well ... almost...




www.woodworkingtalk.com


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

woodnthings said:


> I think the "leave a gap mortise" is the smartest method ever!
> I used it before on my Mission style headboard:
> 
> 
> ...


Nice headboard!


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

The pictures are out of order, but all legs are glued up and 6 out of the 8 mortises are cut and fit to the tenons.
















I hogged out the material on the drill press using a 5/8" forstener. It worked ok. I was over the line about .010 a few places, but it won't show. It did make it harder to chisel where I went over though because I didn't have a knife line to index.

Chiseling out the southern yellow pine isn't my favorite. The sap gums up your tools, and the soft early wood, the laminations and the hard latewood make it harder then it would otherwise be. It isn't as bad as a super hard wood, but it definitely is easier with super sharp chisels.









The glue ups are still the most annoying part of this build. Even with Brad nails, the wood still likes to creep. One of my legs was square at first, but must have gone out after I added the top clamps. I also realized too late that u added brads near the location where I will route the groove for my leg vise. I may go in with a drill bit first before I finish with the high speed of a router.








The first dry fit is always nice...

Unfortunately after I got the legs assembled my father took a turn for the worse in his health. A lot of the time I spent in the shop on Friday and Saturday was pretty undirected, and I've been in the hospital with him since Monday night. He hasn't been awake much and he has transitioned into hospice care
This is an old photo of him and my mom with me.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Introspective chopping this morning.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Quote:
Introspective chopping this morning. 
Anything insightful revealed to you?
Like: "Shoulda used pocket holes"? "I need to sharpen my chisel" "This is taking longer that I figured"


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

woodnthings said:


> Quote:
> Introspective chopping this morning.
> Anything insightful revealed to you?
> Like: "Shoulda used pocket holes"? "I need to sharpen my chisel" "This is taking longer that I figured"


I appreciate the levity and I did wind up sharpening my chisels a few times, but my father passed on Friday and I was mostly just bumming around in the shop without much direction or motivation. After I blued my 1" Kimmons chisel on the bench grinder I just hung it up for the day.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Sorry for my inopportune comments, but if they lightened your day at all, that's good. If you need some friendly support we're here for you. 
My advice in times of loss is to find another being or suffering animal who needs help, and to provide them comfort. That usually defects enough to get through it. 
If circumstances allow it, adopt a dog. They never forget who rescued them. 🐶


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

woodnthings said:


> Sorry for my inopportune comments, but if they lightened your day at all, that's good. If you need some friendly support we're here for you.
> My advice in times of loss is to find another being or suffering animal who needs help, and to provide them comfort. That usually defects enough to get through it.
> If circumstances allow it, adopt a dog. They never forget who rescued them. 🐶


I'm bumming, but this isn't my first rodeo. I'm trying to keep a good humor about things as much as possible. The Pocket screws comment made me chuckle! Adding pocket holes to those legs would be like a mosquito bite on an elephant..."a mere flesh wound! "

We already adopted a dog and a stay cat, and I'm not sure we can take anymore in 🤔

Thanks for the kind words. Obsessively checking the forums has been part of the distraction while I was in the hospital with him.


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## Bob Bengal (Jan 2, 2021)

Sorry for your loss, he had a great smile.

Sometimes a walk outside is better than being around sharp tools.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Bob Bengal said:


> Sorry for your loss, he had a great smile.
> 
> Sometimes a walk outside is better than being around sharp tools.


Not a bad idea. I was actually looking out the window at the sun finally out.


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## DrRobert (Apr 27, 2015)

Sorry for your loss, you and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers. I‘m noticing your signature for the first time 👍🏻 We need a LOT more of that now - I wish our politicians knew something about it.

When my father died it was the end of a long, hard road, like yours, and knowing he wasn’t suffering anymore was something to fall back on, but the void is still there.


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## m.n.j.chell (May 12, 2016)

My sincerest condolences for your loss. 
Both of my parents have been gone for about 20 years now. I still miss them from time to time.


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

woodnthings said:


> I think the "leave a gap mortise" is the smartest method ever!
> I used it before on my Mission style headboard:
> 
> 
> ...


Are you talking about leaving a void while being glued up?


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Rebelwork said:


> Are you talking about leaving a void while being glued up?


YUP. Much easier than chopping out a mortise, but only IF you can laminate the leg from 3 pieces.


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

I did this in the 90's on the raised with fluted legs. Rear panel 30" and the front was 24". When I made the raised panel frame and panels, I sanded a piece going into the post and added 2 pieces of 3/4 to the front and back for 5 total pieces, then once fluted I installed the panel. Posts are 3 3/4 × 3 3/4


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)




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## DrRobert (Apr 27, 2015)

Looking good. Nice joinery.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

This is my last glue up! Thank God! I really didn't like all the laminating of pine in the build. The stretchers did move a little the past month while I was doing other things. I got them flat enough to glue without thinning down the tenons too much. 









The fit is really good. All I need to do for the base is mill for the leg vise and drill the draw bore holes before I assemble.

Total time:
33 hours (?)


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## Tree Hugger (Sep 1, 2011)

Sorry for your loss.....I haven't been keeping up with this thread.
I've had to put woodworking on hold for the winter but I have been building a Moxon with Acme thrds to mount flush on the narrow side . I'll post a build when it's done with material sources.
Hope I can get it done before there's other plans for me.
I like what your doing!
Did you get your lumber before it went sky high?


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Tree Hugger said:


> Sorry for your loss.....I haven't been keeping up with this thread.
> I've had to put woodworking on hold for the winter but I have been building a Moxon with Acme thrds to mount flush on the narrow side . I'll post a build when it's done with material sources.
> Hope I can get it done before there's other plans for me.
> I like what your doing!
> Did you get your lumber before it went sky high?


The lumber was around $250. The 16' 2x12s were $27


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

Are you going to peg the M&T's?


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Rebelwork said:


> Are you going to peg the M&T's?
> View attachment 435274


Yes. The holes are being drilled today and I've got the pegs milled up.

I am trying to decode the 24 pages of installation instructions for the criss cross and leg vise. Benchcrafted is so wordy they even include a paragraph telling everyone how it's OK that they are wordy...that is right after they explain how St Peter and the Apostle Andrew were crucified.


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

Kool....it would be nice if you could temporarily assemble it so you don't miss something at the end..


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Rebelwork said:


> Kool....it would be nice if you could temporarily assemble it so you don't miss something at the end..


It stays together quite well with just the tenons inserted. I do need to disassemble to drill for the pegs, but after that and mounting the criss cross I will probably tap them in.


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

Is you shop acclimated year round?


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Rebelwork said:


> Is you shop acclimated year round?


It's in the basement and the humidity is lower now than normal being winter. I am trying to manage the speed, but life got in the way.


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

Reason I ask is jointery takes a beating close to a cold winter floor.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

The only end grain cutting board I'll ever make! 🤣

I don't keep things on the floor @Rebelwork . After I got it together and test fit, I put it back on the bench.


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## Dave Mills (Dec 4, 2019)

The bench is looking great, nice to see all these pics. I built my "modified anarchist's bench" a year or so ago and had a bit of a worry about my periodically damp concrete floor. I chose to pour about 3/8" of epoxy on the base of the legs, and have been very happy with it. It stuck well and took a nice chamfer, and has been through a couple damp floor situations without any ill effects to the wood above.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Dave Mills said:


> The bench is looking great, nice to see all these pics. I built my "modified anarchist's bench" a year or so ago and had a bit of a worry about my periodically damp concrete floor. I chose to pour about 3/8" of epoxy on the base of the legs, and have been very happy with it. It stuck well and took a nice chamfer, and has been through a couple damp floor situations without any ill effects to the wood above.
> View attachment 435300


That's a really interesting way to pour the epoxy!

I am targeting my new section of shop for the bench. I actually may install a wood floor or else those high density work area tiles.


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## Dave Mills (Dec 4, 2019)

Gotcha. I'd love a wood floor in my shop, I think that would be a great answer in may ways.


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

When I was working in the Union shop, I was on the second floor on the second floor. Can't say I liked it..


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I wanted to get the bench side of the vise installed this weekend but I didn't have the focus. I decided that the draw bores were enough for today.

I have short forstener bits so I decided to try drilling the leg holes for the draw bores with the wood owl auger bit on the drill press. I even clamped the legs down, but it still was a mistake. The leg started lifting up from the table. Lesson learned. I drilled the leg as far as possible with the forstener bit then finished by hand with the auger bit. No harm done.









After I drilled the holes in the legs I assembled it in place to mark the hole locations in the stretchers. It was the first timeI had all the pieces kind of in position so it was a pretty rewarding sight.









Draw bore porn









You need to hammer these pretty dang hard. I cut the dowels from ash using a router table with a 5/16" roundover. They needed to be slightly smaller so I cut them .025 undersized. That made things harder.

36 hours (plus 2 hours reading the leg vise installation instructions)


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

That sure is some pretty wood! For Pine anyway LOL.
The bench will be an heirloom piece for certain. Nice work.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

woodnthings said:


> That sure is some pretty wood! For Pine anyway LOL.
> The bench will be an heirloom piece for certain. Nice work.


Yeah...I know the first time I saw nicely milled southern yellow pine I was actually a little impressed. I did spend a decent amount of time sorting through the stacks of 2x12s. I think that time was well spent.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I got the criss cross installed this evening. I stressed out over getting the hole drilled, but it turned out perfectly. 










I didn't pre-drill the criss cross mortise to hog out the material. That was a mistake. It would have been faster. 








I used a template i super glued together with a spacer. I needed to remove it to reach full depth.









This was the oddest joint I've ever cut.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I haven't been too excited to work on the bench the past week but I finally worked up the energy to drill route and chop the leg mortises. Hooray! It looks kinda like a bench! 










I did the blue tape trick where you assemble the legs, place them over some blue painters tape and scribe where the tenons hit.

I make a jig to hold my auger bit plumb to the corner of the mortise and I was REALLY underwhelmed at my results. The holes were up to 1/16" away from where I wanted them.









After drilling out the perimeter I chopped out the waste, and used the auger bit to get most of the bottom flat. Then I took my template bit with a U-shaped mdf template and router the hole square. I took another pass after all mortises were cut and fit without the template to get down to about 1 3/4" depth. Leaving the mortise corners round was faster than squaring them up so I hit the tenons with my 3/8" roundover and finished the last 1/2" with a chisel.









I got the rest square and adjusted the legs for size with a handplane instead of chopping on the endgrain. This was 5 hours straight of fiddling. It was really annoying and I sharpened my chisels a dozen times. It was more efficient to keep one at 30 degrees and not worry a out too fine of an edge, then keep some sharper chisels relatively chopping free.

I lost track of time at this point so I have no clue how long I spent. I would guess 50 hours.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

The one concern I have is that the leg vise leg is a strong 1/16" proud of the benchtop. I think I will adjust the mortise to let it sit flush, then shim out the tenon with some 1/16" stock.


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

How much did you have in the accessories? Bench vices, etc..


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

The leg vise wasn't cheap, but I decided to go with a premium one from benchcrafted. I could have gone cheap with the jost.


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

?


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## Rees Viking (11 mo ago)

BigCountry79 said:


> I know everyone has opinions on benches, and I appreciate that, but I have also found that if you try to take everyone's ideas from their use case and combine them into a "one bench that combines all the features", then you usually wind up with something awkward and compromised...so I'm going to stay relatively close to the design in the book (except taller because I'm 6'7", and with a tool tray because dropping bench planes sucks.)
> 
> I also didn't realize there were bragging rights associated with building a cheap bench from construction grade yellow pine...I consider the Scandinavian style benches and houndstooth dovetails more of a fancy/bragging rights bench, but maybe there's something I wasn't aware of (?)
> 
> ...


Yeah, I agree with you about there being no substitute for a heavy work bench. Mine has a huge 10 inch cast iron vice on it, and it measures 8ft long and nearly 3ft wide. Its got to be a good 300kgs and unless I take all the draws out and everything it contains, I cannot move it all lol. But, then I can apply as much force as I like to stock in the vice, so that's the pay off. For a moveable bench around the workshop, I have folding trestles at 400mm, 600mm, 900mm and 1100mm.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I got the bench assembled and the glue is drying!!!









I'm really happy how tight all the joints are! This thing is massive and it's totally rock solid!!!

I still need to finish some things, but I can honestly say its a bench now. I'm really satisfied with this!


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## Andros69 (11 mo ago)

I've been following your progress for a number of weeks now and I really appreciate you sharing it all. It's been inspiring to see, as I plan on doing the same this coming spring and summer. Mine will be more like 6ft as I don't have the space for an 8ft one. I'm very new to this, but I'm up for the challenge!

The bench looks great already! 

Sorry to hear about your loss, i recently took up woodworking as i was dealing with the loss of my mother a bit over a year ago. It's been a great help. Sending you strength.


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## m.n.j.chell (May 12, 2016)

That's a great looking piece of wood craft !!!


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I appreciate the nice words @Andros69 ! For some reason I had it in my head I would finish this bench before dad passed. I was a month and 5 days late...

In general though, I put this off a long time. I'm glad you enjoyed watching my progress. Hopefully it encourages others to jump into the project...

Mine will not be the full 8' after I cut down the sides, I will lose 6" or so. That might be in the wash now that I type it out


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## DrRobert (Apr 27, 2015)

Nice work, BC. I am in SYP country and I don’t think I’ve ever seen wood with that few knots or resin pockets!

I’ve heard people say “it’s just a bench” but I think when you work on a nice looking and well functioning bench that is a positive on the mind set.

Sorry your dad didn’t get to see it, but I know he’d be proud of it.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I did a lot of leg work finding those boards, and I also found the 16' boards were a ton cleaner than the 8' boards. You pay a premium for those by about $5, over 2 8' boards, but a $20 difference in materials cost was minimal to me. One caution though...each of those 16" boards split pretty deep on the fresh cut ends when I crosscut them, so paint or wax those ends after you break them down.

I also had a number of knots and pitch pockets that will never be seen. And I matched the leg pieces to get the best faces forward and the most consistent grain on each leg and stretcher.

Thanks for the nice words DR. Dad never much understood how mom and I had so much attention to detail. He was always a quick and dirty sort of guy. He cared more about people and my character, perseverance, and intelligence.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Not a whole lot of progress, but I flushed the dowels, flattened the top and installed the planing stop. 


















Still need to
Install chop
Drill dogs
Crosscut ends
Install shelf
Finish the bench (probably Danish oil)


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

...and one more for @Kenbo


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

BigCountry79 said:


> ...and one more for @Kenbo
> 
> View attachment 436579


I didn't realize how big the bench was until you put that lighter there. That's huge!!! LOL. Nice job!!


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## Bob Bengal (Jan 2, 2021)

Kenbo said:


> I didn't realize how big the bench was until you put that lighter there. That's huge!!! LOL. Nice job!!


That's a mini lighter on a kid's bench.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Bob Bengal said:


> That's a mini lighter on a kid's bench.


Right...kid sized cigarette lighter...sounds like something from the '50s.

Do you guys remember the candy cigars and cigarettes they used to sell? Those don't fly anymore today!


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

BigCountry79 said:


> Right...kid sized cigarette lighter...sounds like something from the '50s.
> 
> Do you guys remember the candy cigars and cigarettes they used to sell? Those don't fly anymore today!


I used to love those things. And the liquorice pipes. All the good stuff is gone.


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## m.n.j.chell (May 12, 2016)

That's a hefty looking bench. Looks great.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I lost a lot of motivation to finish until this weekend then I started getting into my next step...

In the @Kenbo Theme...









Milling this black locust was legit hard work. The board had a lot of "character", which included the pith...so I ripped along the pith, but still had to deal with super reversing grain. I wound up jointing it on my spiral jointer, then thicknessing it in super tiny passes before taking a cleanup pass on the jointer to get rid of the tearout. Whew!

















#madGlueaupSkills


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Now my bench rocks for all the right reasons!


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I'm not completely sure when I'm done with this...the holdfasts don't hold in the bench because it's too thick. I probably have some things I can do with the chop to releive a little material for a bevel...At some point, i will install a shelf...I'm sure I'll modify a bunch of other stuff too...but I think this will be my last post on this bench series.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Ok...7 months later and the holdfast situation finally got to me. I fixed the ones I had, and drilled a few more. I tried a few ways of enlarging the holes from the bottom and the only success I had was using a 1/2" flush trim bit with a 3/8" bearing. The hardest part was flipping this monster over.









While I was working, I also went through my scrap bins and installed a bottom shelf. Leftover Cherry, white oak, red oak, maple, catalpa, black locust, poplar and pine.









Thre last thing I was putting off was cutting this curved bevel on my chop. Another excuse to turn some scrap into a 45 degree jig for the bandsaw. I couldn't think of any other way to do this, but it was less sketchy than I feared it might be.


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## builtinbkyn2 (3 mo ago)

Great bench and can't wait to see the finished guitar looking project. It looks interesting.

For the holdfasts, the bench top being too thick can be an issue. Maybe fill them in with some walnut scraps or dowel, hog out some of the bottom with a wider Fostner bit and go at it again.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

builtinbkyn2 said:


> Great bench and can't wait to see the finished guitar looking project. It looks interesting.
> 
> For the holdfasts, the bench top being too thick can be an issue. Maybe fill them in with some walnut scraps or dowel, hog out some of the bottom with a wider Fostner bit and go at it again.


The guitar looking thing is the chop for my leg vise. I should get it installed today if timing works out.

I tried a few ways to undercut the bottom of the holes with drill bits, but I didn't have much luck. When I tried a forstener bit, it seemed to track straight at first, but the errors for plumb added up from both sides, and the hole had all the overlap on one side by the time I got to 2" deep. The router bearing effectively self-corrected to wherever the hole was.

The 2" router bit was a little worrisome routing upside down from underneath, but after we flipped the bench, it was absolutely the way I wil do it again if I need more holes. I used a plunge router and cut the 1/16" rabbet to depth in 3 passes. Then I raised it 3/4" and made an extra pass, which made a stair step and opened the bottom of the hole to an even 1".


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I experimented with some india ink on the bevel. I'm not sure how I feel about it.

What do you think? Keep it or sand it back?


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## builtinbkyn2 (3 mo ago)

Yeah not a fan. Looks out of place.


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## Andros69 (11 mo ago)

So happy to see updates to this project!

Since you asked, I think if the ink was just a darker tone of the surrounding wood maybe it would work, but being bluer/blacker I don't think it goes as well, or if the tones were carried through to other parts of the chop. Just this one detail seems out of place. But I appreciate the experimentation.

And happy to report that after much delay (workshop space needed priority), I finally got out and picked the lumber for my bench this weekend. Finding clear boards was practically impossible, even Grade 1 SYP I couldn't find a completely clear board out of 100 boards I looked through. I picked enough and hopefully with some careful milling I can minimize knots/resin pockets. 

Feeling woefully unprepared for this, but I'm exited to start. Right now just letting the boards sit in my garage/shop for a while. 

Keep posting, this is by far the best AWB build series I've seen short of the instructions in the book.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

@Andros69 
Well they say the best way to start is by starting...

I found the best way to lay out the boards is putting the centers up. It's been dry here lately and the top has some gaps opening up. I should probably seal the ends with some shellac or paraffin...


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I added some bling to the vise today. I turned some handles to replace the delrin.


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