Haunched tenons on Workbench

[tibi]

Hello,

I am preparing to build my first workbench, which will be used for work with hand tools. It will be made of unsteamed European beech. I have already cut the wood to size with some addition for waste and it is ready to be planed to size.

It will be laminated from boards with the final size of 120x40 mm. Legs will be laminated from 3 boards 120x40 mm. Stretchers will be laminated from 2 boards of the same size.

All mortices will be cut out by saw before lamination if they touch the edge of the board. If the mortice is in the middle, it will be chopped out. Most tenons will be 60x40 mm with 40 mm depth (on legs and stretchers). The tenon on the top of the leg that will go into the tabletop will be 40x40x40 mm. I will drawbore the mortices.

I am sending model pictures. Pictures are without vises.

Do you think that I should use haunched tenons or they will not be necessary at this size of tenons and the thickness of the boards?

Thank you.

 

[Jameshow]

The tenons into the bench top look a little short to me. I would make them 100mm others will have a better idea.

Cheers James

 

[Ttrees]

I'd consider through tenons for the job if you can.
That would mean that the top component could be made a variety of ways, if doing so.
Sliding dovetails for example make a very rigid structure.

I presume you designed the stubby tenons as to not foul at the intersections of the lower strechers.
No need to have them the same height, but another get around for that is barrel nuts/furniture bolts/bed bolts.
I was going to make some up for my bench, as they are quite expensive.
I think I used M10 ones for this bench.

Not really necessary for a lot of things, but a nice application for the job if you will.
Bit of an odd bench, but it's what i had from old doors.

Made it too tall in the end, to suit a decent top thickness, so I lay this thin lab slab on top and it's perfect.
The design doesn't lend itself to being chopped down.

There is a pad on each leg as not to split if being dragged, seems to have held up well,
I can't remember if I used a dowel or anything for the job, don't think so though, about 10 years and seems to have held up well.

What I like about it is the height of the lower strechers is I can get a foot underneath, you can get leverage from this, that you might not have known you had!

Suppose the other shorter lower strechers lend themselves to a simple hinged caster system.

What I don't like is the flush upper strechers, although I make use of them...
Likely adds much rigidity when being moved.
The sharp edge of the underside often gets my knees in that area where some get fluid issues.
Someday I'm going to put a big bevel on this side too, just never got round to it.

Nothing stopping one from doing the same thing with the knock down fittings, should it not be as sturdy as it should.

Just giving you some other considerations which might be of help or not.
What are you building first, the base or the top?

 

[Ttrees]

I forgot to mention about mechanical fixing being much surer bet than a small glue area.
i.e dovetails, wedged tenons of various descriptions, and pegged tenons, pretty much
would all rely on using long enough stock for through components.

A bad floor and some weight added can have a nasty effect on once perfect joints.
Tom

 

[tibi]

I'd consider through tenons for the job if you can.
That would mean that the top component could be made a variety of ways, if doing so.
Sliding dovetails for example make a very rigid structure.

I presume you designed the stubby tenons as to not foul at the intersections of the lower strechers.
No need to have them the same height, but another get around for that is barrel nuts/furniture bolts/bed bolts.
I was going to make some up for my bench, as they are quite expensive.
I think I used M10 ones for this bench.

Not really necessary for a lot of things, but a nice application for the job if you will.
Bit of an odd bench, but it's what i had from old doors.

Made it too tall in the end, to suit a decent top thickness, so I lay this thin lab slab on top and it's perfect.
The design doesn't lend itself to being chopped down.

There is a pad on each leg as not to split if being dragged, seems to have held up well,
I can't remember if I used a dowel or anything for the job, don't think so though, about 10 years and seems to have held up well.

What I like about it is the height of the lower strechers is I can get a foot underneath, you can get leverage from this, that you might not have known you had!

Suppose the other shorter lower strechers lend themselves to a simple hinged caster system.

What I don't like is the flush upper strechers, although I make use of them...
Likely adds much rigidity when being moved.
The sharp edge of the underside often gets my knees in that area where some get fluid issues.
Someday I'm going to put a big bevel on this side too, just never got round to it.

Nothing stopping one from doing the same thing with the knock down fittings, should it not be as sturdy as it should.


View attachment 118124

Just giving you some other considerations which might be of help or not.
What are you building first, the base or the top?

Hello Ttrees,
Thank you for your advice.
I have positioned the tenons in a way that they would not intersect with each other and I do not have to cut 45° miter inside the legs. I do not want to use bolts, because as wood dries I will need to tighten them all the time. I designed this bench with some advice taken from the Anarchist Workbench and there was written that wood shrinkage would make look through tenons with sliding dovetail on the top look bad after some time.

as I have relatively little room in my new workshop (it is 3,75x3,75 m inside dimensions + I also stock wood for my projects there), I will build first the base and then the top. I have a 50 mm thick slab on two sawhorses that serves as my current workbench so I do not need the top first. I will hand-plane face and edge and then do two remaining sides on the thickness planer. To plane the top, I need to have my door open so that I have enough space on both sides of the thickness planer - as I do not want to take thickness planer outside and make a mess in the garden.

 

[Jacob]

Through wedged and haunched tenons.
If you have an apron each side you wouldn't need the long rails and aprons are very useful.

 

[Ttrees]

I've never felt the need to check mine come to think of it.
They seem pretty tight looking to me, as in I've not noticed a gap anywhere,
and it wasn't exactly fine work I was doing at the time.

Understand if you want a more traditional approach.
in the guitar world that's something like dovetail vs bolt on guitar necks.

Unless you're stacking long lengths there, it might make sense to stack shorter stuff instead,
as a shelf is not exactly nicely accessible anyway when you have the bench top involved.
Although you could just store the longer stuff on top of some shorter timbers which would clear the raised strechers.

Tom

 

[tibi]

I've never felt the need to check mine come to think of it.
They seem pretty tight looking to me, as in I've not noticed a gap anywhere,
and it wasn't exactly fine work I was doing at the time.

Understand if you want a more traditional approach.
in the guitar world that's something like dovetail vs bolt on guitar necks.

Unless you're stacking long lengths there, it might make sense to stack shorter stuff instead,
as a shelf is not exactly nicely accessible anyway when you have the bench top involved.
Although you could just store the longer stuff on top of some shorter timbers which would clear the raised strechers.

Tom

Maybe that was a misunderstanding. I am not stacking boards under the bench, but in the workshop. Three of the four sides of my workshop are now stacked with timber. Once I complete the bench, one of those sides will be empty.

 

[Cabinetman]

You would only normally use a haunched tenon to fill in where you have put a groove in for a panel, the tenons on the rails should be almost as wide as the rail is, but then just pare a bit back to create a shoulder.
I would not have the front and end rails at the same height as was said earlier, this way you can have much longer tenons or even through tenons with tusks.
Despite what the Anarchist says I wouldn’t have the tenons coming right through the benchtop, it really isn’t necessary and just causes problems, your top is going to be quite heavy enough to keep it still. Ian

 

[tibi]

You would only normally use a haunched tenon to fill in where you have put a groove in for a panel, the tenons on the rails should be almost as wide as the rail is, but then just pare a bit back to create a shoulder.
I would not have the front and end rails at the same height as was said earlier, this way you can have much longer tenons or even through tenons with tusks.
Despite what the Anarchist says I wouldn’t have the tenons coming right through the benchtop, it really isn’t necessary and just causes problems, your top is going to be quite heavy enough to keep it still. Ian

Thank you Ian. As I have already cut all the wood to almost finished length, I can now only make the distance between left and right leg shorter to get longer tenons. But that should not be a problem. Anarchist is against the through tenons on the benchtop. He is for blind tenons that are drawbored.

 

[Jacob]

Thank you Ian. As I have already cut all the wood to almost finished length, I can now only make the distance between left and right leg shorter to get longer tenons. But that should not be a problem. Anarchist is against the through tenons on the benchtop. He is for blind tenons that are drawbored.

You don't need draw boring at any point, or tenons through the top.

 

[Jameshow]

You don't need draw boring at any point, or tenons through the top.

But he's got no apron and 40mm tenons hardly cut it to prevent racking whilst planing.

Cheers James

 

[Phil Pascoe]

No tenon through the top would prevent racking.

 

[Adam W.]

My bench has tenons through the top without any issues. It's been quite happy that way for 15 years.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes, but that doesn't prove they are either necessary or a good idea.

 

[Adam W.]

My bench doesn't wrack because of them, as it has no other means of stopping it.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

There isn't much need to hold a fairly heavy top down, it just needs to be prevented from bouncing up. Racking is prevented one way or another by the frame, whether or not with an apron.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My bench doesn't wrack because of them, as it has no other means of stopping it.

So it has no frame?

 

[Adam W.]

That's a bit of a silly question.

 

[Adam W.]

If you meant to mean, does it have braces to resist wracking?

Then the answer is no. The tenons through the top eliminate the need for them.
And no it's not braced against a wall either.