The Workbench – Design Phase

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!

The Workbench – Initial Planning

The workbench is, without doubt, the most important tool in the shop.  It’s also a great first project for the new site.  It seems like in the last few years especially there are hundreds of workbench builds happening, with good reason I guess.  Everyone loves a workbench build because it’s a common tool in everyone’s shop.  We all spend a lot of time at our respective benches, so it’s natural to think about improving them, or to drool over some gorgeous Roubo bench that someones built.  In a hand tool shop especially, nearly all of the work gets done at the bench.  It’s probably the only tool that I use every time that I’m in the shop, for nearly every task; sawing, planing, jointing, finishing, etc.

I really hope not to draw out this build too much.  There are loads of excellent bench building resources available online already, so I’m not sure if I have much to add to any of them.  Plus, while the bench build is happening I’m not getting much other work done!  It’s not that I mind bench building so much, but the longer the project takes, the more the list of future projects grows.

THE CURRENT SETUP

Up until now I’ve been working on a multi-purpose bench meant for general DIY type work.  It has a 3/4″ plywood top with angled steel base, which includes drawers and a bottom shelf for storage.  I really can’t complain about it, it was a hand me down bench from a family friend and has worked very well for me for the past 6+ years.  With my focus shifting towards hand tool woodworking however, the limitations have become apparent and the need for a woodworking specific bench has become clear.  It’s much too high for hand planing, and it’s work holding capabilities are lacking.  I retro-fitted a leg vise to the front, but it’s not flush with the top, which can be problematic.  The metal base also extends around the top with a lip, preventing clamping anything to it.  The top is also pretty thin for any heavy hitting work and prevents the use of a holdfast (not to mention the drawers get in the way).

You can get the basic idea of the bench in the following picture showing the top thickness, metal construction, drawers, and retro-fitted leg vise.  Re-sawing walnut at that height was a bear!

That seems like a lot of complaining, but I do actually really like the bench and will be keeping it.  It excels at a number of tasks like storage, sharpening, assembly, and any power tool work.  The sharpening station will have a permanent home there, which will be great.  The leg vise is also sure to still get frequent use.  It’ll also be nice to have a bench for finishing.

THE IDEA PHASE

You can use almost every horizontal surface as a workbench.  A door on two sawhorses works great, an old dining room table would be fine, you can even just use the floor, as a lot of Japanese woodworkers do.  A well designed workbench, however lets you work easier and more efficient.  The workbench is the center of the shop and I spend a lot of time there, so I want to make sure that the new bench will fit me and my workflow.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with purchasing a commercial bench, there are a number of great ones out there.  I am of the opinion, however, that a craftsman should build their own bench.  This allows you to customize it to fit you, your shop, and your work, and is almost like a rite of passage.

My first step was to try and decide on a basic design.  There are full books devoted to the subject of workbench design, so there were no shortage of ideas.  I read everything I could about the different designs and have over 30 pages of notes in my shop notebook about it.

I started out fixated on the classic Roubo design:

The massive top and thick beefy legs make it a great all around design.  The construction is fairly straight forward, which was a nice selling point because I didn’t really want to spend a massive amount of time building it.  I wasn’t completely sold on the idea of another leg vise, so thought maybe I could find something more suitable and I kept looking.  After seeing Mike Siemsen’s “The Naked Woodworker” I thought maybe I didn’t even need a vise, so I became obsessed with the Nicholson workbench design:

After a bit more thought, I decided I really did want at least one vise on the bench.  I use my current leg vise quite a bit and thought it may be hard to get used to not using a vise of some sort.  The one vise that stood out to me over and over again was the shoulder vise.

Frank Klausz and Rob Cosman are two of my favorite woodworkers and they both love the shoulder vise, so I decided to give it a go.  I love that there is no screw clearance issues and the clamping pressure is directly behind the screw.  Being able to clamp tapered work is also a plus, along with the built-in planing stop.  I’m not really a big fan of the extra leg needed for this type of vise, or the complicated cross grain construction, but I like the idea.

After yet more thought and seeing the Holtzapffel bench in one of Schwarz’s workbench books, I decided to design a new bench with combinations of the things that I wanted.  The Holtzapffel is sort of a modified Roubo-esque bench, so I thought I could do something similar to meet what I thought I wanted in a bench.  As I started to design and do some research into how to incorporate a shoulder vise into a Roubo bench, I ran across this bench by David Barron.  This pretty much checks off all of the items on my wishlist and I immediately picked up a copy of the Furniture and Cabinet Making magazine that had the plans in it.

By shrinking the opening capacity of the shoulder vise, David managed to design the bench in such a way as to get rid of the need for the 5th leg.  I rarely have the need to clamp anything more than 3 or 4 inches thick, so this is perfect for me.  If I have to do something larger in the future I always have the old leg vise.  The final design and dimensions will be a little bit different, just because of the space I want to fill, but it will be more or less of the same basic design.  I’m not a big fan of tool trays, so I’m going to nix that as well, although I do have and use regularly a tool rack mounted above my current bench.  I’ll probably try to add one of these to the back of the new bench, or maybe mount one to the wall above it.

THE WOOD CHOICE

There’s a lot of information out there regarding the selection of materials for workbenches.  People seem to be strongly attached to a certain workbench material, whether it be some exotic hardwood, regular construction lumber, plywood, or some manufactured wood like MDF.  I have no such attachments, I’ve been working on plywood for years with no problems, but I really wanted to switch to some sort of solid hardwood.

I did really consider dimensional lumber, which in my neck of the woods is mainly Douglas Fir, but decided against it.  I do quite a bit of work with dimensional lumber to keep costs down, so have no problems using it, but really wanted this to be a little more unique.  The other issue was planing and jointing the construction material.  I don’t have a planer or jointer, and all the dimensional lumber available around here has the soft corners, along with being twisted, warped, or cupped.  I really didn’t want to mill 100 board feet of lumber by hand (I do enjoy hand tool work, but I have a limit!), so this was another reason against the construction lumber.  The pink tint of the DF isn’t exactly appealing in large quantities either.

With dimensional lumber out, I sought out a suitable hardwood to use.  I’m lucky enough to have a number of nice lumber yards in my area, so I’m thankfully not limited too much by availability.  Hard maple seems to be a common choice because of it’s hardness, but it was a little bit expensive for my taste.  What I finally decided on was Ash.  It’s Janka hardness rating is very close to Maple (1320 compared to 1450) and it’s nearly half the price in my area at the moment (probably due to the Emerald Ash Borer infestation sadly enough).  Maple has very dense grain, which makes it a good choice, but not worth the price for me right now.  I’ve worked with Ash a bit in the past, but never on something this large.  Some people have problems with Ash splintering a lot, but I haven’t run across this at all.  It’s always worked really well with hand tools for me.

I know roughly how long the bench is going to be, so I can estimate the amount of board feet I’ll need to be about 80.  I went ahead and picked up about 100 board feet, just to make sure I had enough.  It may seem a bit early to get all the lumber, but I have a fairly good idea of the design and amount required.  This way it can sit in the shop for a little while as the final design takes shape.  The board widths that I could get my hands on also will influence the final dimensions.  I also had the lumber yard surface the boards on three sides.  Again, I don’t have a powered planer or jointer, and want this bench to be completed sometime this year!

The following picture shows the Ash that I picked up.  The boards over 8′ were cut down to fit in the truck, which worked out well actually.  My workbench top is only going to be 5′ long, so the few boards I found that were 10′ were perfect.  You can also see my old bench in the background of this picture.  I do like the storage on that bench.

While the lumber acclimates to the shop I can work on the final design, which will be the subject of the next post.