Last post ended with the final design “idea” and my raw 8/4 Ash for the new workbench.  My lumber has been sitting in the shop for a couple months now mocking me, so it’s given me plenty of time to finalize a design and dream of my nice new bench.

Before I get into the actual design, I just want to mention my normal design process.  I’m imagining this is similar to most people’s project process, so I’ll just quickly go through what I do.  I typically start by gathering a few reference pictures of pieces that I like, or different ideas I may want to incorporate.  This was essentially what I described in the last post, just some basic fact finding and idea gathering.  The next step for me is doing some quick sketches in the shop notebook.

This just helps to narrow down the final design a little bit.  For the final design I head to the computer to make a 3D model of the project.  I know that Sketchup is a common program for this, but I happen to use Blender just because I’m proficient with it.  Actually “building” the piece in 3D gives a nice idea of what the overall look will be, it also allows for some fine tuning.  It’s easy to sketch something that’s impossible (or extremely difficult) to build, but when you go to model it in 3D the problems become apparent fairly quickly.  Once it’s all modeled I typically do a few nice renders of it, just because I like them!

So back to the workbench.  Last time I decided on something very similar to David Barron’s Scandinavian bench.  The place where I want to put it will fit a 5′ long bench top very nicely and I rarely make anything longer than a few feet in length.  I’ll also be keeping the current bench, so I really don’t need another long, 8′ bench.  For the width, I’m going to do away with the tool tray and make the main working area of the top about 22″ wide.  As for the height, I’m actually not completely sure about that yet.  There is a massive amount of material available regarding workbench top height, all giving different ‘rules’ for what the ideal height should be.  Truth is, I think this is completely personal preference, so am just going to use these things as a rough guide.  I’ll start out with something that I think may be a little high, then I’ll cut it down until I find something I like.  Being a shorter guy, I’ll start with about 34″ and go from there.  My current bench is almost 40″ high and is much too high.  I’m guessing that about 32-33″ will be ideal for me.

As far as vises go, I’ve already decided on the shoulder vise for the main front vise.  I’ve never had a tail vise before, but I have run across a few instances where I think it would be useful, so I decided to add one.  There is a huge selection of tail vise hardware available.  The Benchcrafted Tail Vise is amazing and I’d love one, but I’m trying to keep the cost down.  I finally decided on the Veritas Inset Vise.  It’s relatively inexpensive, but from everything I’ve read, is still beefy enough to last.  I own quite a number of Veritas tools, so am comfortable with the brand and service, and it looks dead simple to install.  I also like that the dog hole row can be just 1 1/2″ from the front edge of the bench.  I do a lot of plow plane work, so this should be a great help.

With all that said, let’s take a look at what I came up with:

It looks very similar to David Barron’s, with a few differences.  I’ve mentioned the lack of a tool tray, but the base is a little different as well.  David’s is built to be a knockdown bench, so he has stretchers on the tops of the legs and uses dominoes for most of the joinery.  Mine isn’t going anywhere and I don’t have a domino, so the legs and stretchers are slightly different.

The legs will be mortised into the top and then drawbored up tight.  The stretchers will also be mortised and drawbored and I may do mitered tenons depending on the final mortise locations.

And that’s about it for the design.  Pretty simple actually.  The top will be just a simple laminated slab and that lamination will continue with the shoulder vise construction actually.  Typically there is a cross grain section for shoulder vises, but with the smaller opening on this one that won’t be needed.  I will have a 1/2″ threaded rod going through the entire top, just like normal shoulder vises, to give some strength against the clamping force.  There is, apparently, no problem with this rod and wood movement, but I do have some concerns.  I’ll be building this in the summer luckily, so hopefully worst case the nuts will just get a little looser in the winter time.  With the small shoulder opening I also don’t need a 5th leg, which is great.  The front left leg will be quite a bit thicker than the other three to add a little more support to the extra width in that corner.

Next time we finally start the construction!