I am in the process of making my first workbench. I've started doing woodwork as a hobby (rather than just doing bits of DIY) in the last year or so. I have found that not having a solid platform to work on is limiting. So I decided to get myself a workbench. After some research I decided that I really should make it myself as I'd learn a lot from doing it, and I'd be able to make something that I hope will suit my needs. My garage is my workshop so I don't have acres of space to work in, so I wanted something reasonably small. I also wanted to do as much as possible by hand. What I've been building is influenced by Christopher Schwarz and other builders of Roubo style work benches, I also purchased Richard Maguire's Build a French Workbench series.
My starting point was purchasing a couple of thick oak boards, one of which I cut in half to form the workbench top. The other has been set aside to become the outer jaw of the leg vice. In hindsight, the boards are a little too thin for a Roubo style bench. They are approximately two inches thick, and I note that C. Schwartz recommends four inch as a minimum which I read after starting the build. I don't think it will be until I start using the bench that I will discover if I have made a serious mistake here.
I started by planing the top of the boards to get them flat. That took me a few days working with a number of hand planes. A wooden block plane turning out to be particular good for this purpose.
I then jointed the sides of the boards so that they could be glued together. I started with a jack plane, then the block plane and finally a jointing plane to get the edges flat. Following R. Maguire's example, I decided to us loose tenons for this main joint. I cut the mortises using a hand held 1/2" router. I had recently purchase a Trend hinge cutting jig second hand which turned out to be perfect for this job. I cut the loose tenons and shaped them by hand (unfortunately I didn't take photos of them).
It was then a fairly simple job to glue the two boards together. I used Gorilla PVA.
I left the boards over night in the clamps.
The next task I stared was to start flattening the lower surface of the worktop in the area where I wanted the legs to be. A jack plane I'd bought for £4 at a house reclamation centre proved to be excellent for this task.
At this point I also decided I needed to fill some small cavities in the oak which I did using some toughened G-Flex epoxy. I used an ecopoxy pigment to colour the epox black.
I started by taping over the cracks in the top surface using Gorilla Crystal Clear tape to prevent the epoxy running out through the work top. I then flipped the top over and poured the epoxy into the cracks and knots in the underside of the work top. The tape worked well and I only had one very small leak at one of the edges.
Once dry, I then turned the worktop over, removed the clear tape and poured epoxy in the cracks from the top. As the cracks had already been filled from the bottom, I didn't need to use tape on the lower surface to prevent run out.
Once that was dry I then used a knife to remove the excess epoxy from the work top and sanded it flat.
The next task was to cut the mortises for the legs, but I'll leave that for another post.
My starting point was purchasing a couple of thick oak boards, one of which I cut in half to form the workbench top. The other has been set aside to become the outer jaw of the leg vice. In hindsight, the boards are a little too thin for a Roubo style bench. They are approximately two inches thick, and I note that C. Schwartz recommends four inch as a minimum which I read after starting the build. I don't think it will be until I start using the bench that I will discover if I have made a serious mistake here.
I started by planing the top of the boards to get them flat. That took me a few days working with a number of hand planes. A wooden block plane turning out to be particular good for this purpose.
I then jointed the sides of the boards so that they could be glued together. I started with a jack plane, then the block plane and finally a jointing plane to get the edges flat. Following R. Maguire's example, I decided to us loose tenons for this main joint. I cut the mortises using a hand held 1/2" router. I had recently purchase a Trend hinge cutting jig second hand which turned out to be perfect for this job. I cut the loose tenons and shaped them by hand (unfortunately I didn't take photos of them).
It was then a fairly simple job to glue the two boards together. I used Gorilla PVA.
I left the boards over night in the clamps.
The next task I stared was to start flattening the lower surface of the worktop in the area where I wanted the legs to be. A jack plane I'd bought for £4 at a house reclamation centre proved to be excellent for this task.
At this point I also decided I needed to fill some small cavities in the oak which I did using some toughened G-Flex epoxy. I used an ecopoxy pigment to colour the epox black.
I started by taping over the cracks in the top surface using Gorilla Crystal Clear tape to prevent the epoxy running out through the work top. I then flipped the top over and poured the epoxy into the cracks and knots in the underside of the work top. The tape worked well and I only had one very small leak at one of the edges.
Once dry, I then turned the worktop over, removed the clear tape and poured epoxy in the cracks from the top. As the cracks had already been filled from the bottom, I didn't need to use tape on the lower surface to prevent run out.
Once that was dry I then used a knife to remove the excess epoxy from the work top and sanded it flat.
The next task was to cut the mortises for the legs, but I'll leave that for another post.
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