The (almost) no plans bench build

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Doingupthehouse

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As promised in another thread, I'm starting a WIP bench build. This one's a little unusual, as against all the advice of people far more experienced and competent than me, I'm building it without the aid of any formal plans.

I'm also trying to build it for under £70 if possible, and definitely under £100. There's a strong possibility it may end up on the woodburner after all!

This is just a bit of a fun project really - if it doesn't work out, I'm not really that worried. Progress may be very slow, as I've got lots of other projects on the go and regularly get very busy at work.

This definitely won't be a hand-tool only build, far from it in fact. There are a couple of very admirable hand tool bench builds going on here anyway.

My criteria for the bench - other than being cheap - are:
Mass, want it as heavy as the softwood I'm using will allow.
No wider than 600mm as its going against a wall and I need to reach tool cupboard etc above it.
No tail vice, don't think I'll need one - could always add later or use Wonder dogs etc
Possibly split-top, not decided.
Aprons for rigidity. Aprons also flush with legs.
Must have adjustable feet - my floor is very uneven. Thought this would be a stability issue, the multi-purpose bench I built has them and doesn't move an inch, even when heavy planing.
Want a shelf underneath for added mass and much-needed storage space.
Not riddled with dog holes - some well placed holdfast holes.
Definitely no tool well.

I'm weighing the components as I go along, trying to ascertain the final weight, I'll also keep a running total of the cost.

Anyway on with the build...

Started off with a (very rough) sketch of the sort of thing I have in mind. This is not in proportion, but it doesn't matter. Then I scribbled on the overall dimensions. Other dimensions are being added as I go along. You could argue that this is a plan, but most of these dimensions were added after I started cutting timber and I just scribble things on or rub them out as they come into my head.

sketch.jpg

After I'd worked out the size of overhang I thought looked right I could start on the base as I then knew how long to cut the stretchers.

raw%20materials.jpg

Started by milling up some rough timber. The Ash and Iroko in the picture have nothing to do with the bench.
The timber for the base came from a distribution warehouse that was selling it off very cheaply. I got eight 2.4m 3 x 3s and four 1m 6x6s for £20. It's rough! Strangely enough, the 3x3s, in particular, work very nicely. The legs were a bit of a handful over the planer, but manageable.

I cut the legs to length on My chop saw, had to cut from both sides. It struck me how well the DeWalt XPS coped with this. I bought it over three years ago, set it up, and haven't adjusted it since. The cuts were perfectly square in both directions, with almost no perceptible step where it was turned over - even with an 80 tooth blade that I thought might struggle.

square.jpg


I then jointed edges on some of the 3x3s with a hand plane to remove machine marks before laminating together to form the rails for the leg frames. I used a few dominoes just to aid alignment.

dominoes.jpg


Then it was onto the mortices, pondered what size to cut the leg mortices and went for roughly a third of the finished leg width of 140mm - 45mm wide mortices were not the easy option! The time to decide how to cut them -Timber is too big for my little morticer. I was going to cut the the usual drill and chop route when I remembered the pocket cutter I bought from Weadlen when I fitted a load of new doors. I wanted to cut the mortices about 80mm deep and sure enough, with the cutter inserted into the collet up to the minimum insertion mark, just about enough depth.

cutter.jpg


Only problem with this, I cant use the dust extraction collar for the last couple of centimetres of plunge because the collet contacts it. Using the router cutter meant I could set a Heath Robinson jig and not need to mark all the mortice positions.

jig.jpg


Soon realised the jig interfered with the dust collection attachment!

opps.jpg


Soon sorted with a saw and chisel.

I then routed the first pass to full depth on all of the legs, then hogged out most of the waste before doing the final pass on all the legs with the router on the same setting - this should guarantee they all line up and are the same size.

This was very hard work! The leg timber is Resin City - the workshop now smells like a turpentine factory! Had to clean the bit in acetone every few minutes. I was glad of the ratchet locking and unlocking on the router. Also, being able to remove the dust collector without removing the bit was a godsend, as I had to plunge the last couple of centimetres without it fitted - lots of stopping and vacuuming out the mortice.

Then just a matter of squaring them off with a chisel. Again had to clean the chisel with acetone frequently - I discovered a sticky-back chisel doesn't work very well! Had to sharpen a few of times as well due to the knots. Took me a couple of hours to cut 4 mortices and still 8 to go - still no rush, but I reckon a skilled hand worker could probably do it faster.

yuck.jpg


Anyway this is where I'm up to now... onwards and upwards
completed%20mortices.jpg


Need to decide if I'm going to paint the base. The legs have a lot of heartwood shakes, which I really like the look of - but not sure they'd look right painted over. Then again I have got a can of horrible chalk paint to finish up... hmmm

Also, I need to decide whether to drawbore or not. Not sure it's worth it in pine - but I've never done them before so interested to give it a go.

Total time so far: about 12hrs
Total cost so far: about £14
Total weight so far: 34.2 kilos (but have only weighed the legs)

I'll stop now, hopefully future posts will be much shorter!

Cheers
Simon
 
You say "no plans" and then went and produced plans! Frankly, what else does anyone need other than a sketch like yours?
 
MikeG.":3o3fl33u said:
You say "no plans" and then went and produced plans! Frankly, what else does anyone need other than a sketch like yours?

Maybe, but it did only have the overall width, height and depth before I started cutting timber... I'm filling in the blanks as I go. :D
 
This looks very promising, I might have to let you make all the development mistakes and then copy the finished article... ;)
 
Plans or no plans it looks a cracking project, so the best of British!

Personally I'd say a definite yes to a slot down the middle, mainly because it'll give you the work holding option detailed in this thread,

topic111709.html

just make sure the slot is wide enough to accommodate the foot width on super size F Cramps.

What are "Conveyor Feet"?
 
Plans or no plans :), that's coming along nicely, I'm sure it'll be a fine bench!
Just wondering, has anyone made a bench of this kind without any joinery,
just glue and bolts?
 
dzj":29yx55qm said:
Plans or no plans :)..........just wondering, has anyone made a bench of this kind without any joinery,
just glue and bolts?

That won't work. Without shoulders, there'll always (or at least, eventually) be rotation, and thus racking. Even a few quarter-laps with bolts (and glue) would work, though. Shoulders are everything when it comes to racking resistance.
 
custard":1bd92xhs said:
Plans or no plans it looks a cracking project, so the best of British!

Personally I'd say a definite yes to a slot down the middle, mainly because it'll give you the work holding option detailed in this thread,

topic111709.html

Cheers
Simon

just make sure the slot is wide enough to accommodate the foot width on super size F Cramps.

What are "Conveyor Feet"?

Thanks Custard,

Just another name for machinery feet like this
https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/X4-M12-HEAVY-D ... Fsy4ckeHwA
 
Love it Simon, a great read, thanks for sharing, keep the pics coming.

Many of my plans unless dimensions or design are critical are exactly like yours and evolve as I go along.

cheers
Bob
 
Cheers Bob,

I’ve changed the heading for this thread slightly...

I think once you’ve got a few components assembled you start taking measurements directly from them anyway and rarely use a measuring implement. I think I’d want a more detailed plan if I were purchasing expensive timber for the job - just so I didn’t under or over order. I find this particularly important with sheet materials where cut optimisation can make a huge difference.

Cheers
Simon
 
it looks like the classic english workbench, this should be great, look forward to seeing it complete
 
Managed to get an hour or so in the workshop tonight. Got another jig made for the top leg mortices and got the first pass on each one cut. Subsequent passes go much faster as I can make multiple passes before moving the jig to the next leg.

Image%2048.jpg

Image%2049.jpg


Had a bit of a wobble on the first one as I forgot to fix the jig to the top of the leg #-o Not to worry I just need to pare the mortice a millimetre or two wider when I clean them up. Think I’ll need to give the router cutter a touch up with the diamond card as it’s getting a little dull.

Hogging out the bulk of the waste is much easier after the first pass as there’s more space for the chips to escape.

The mortices for the front stretchers will be a lot smaller, they’re also going to be closer to the edge of the leg. I’m thinking I might just be able to cut them on my morticer with a little creative clamping - if I can find the riser block for it... I hope so as this heavy duty routing gets a little tedious.

Don’t know if there will be much more this week as it’s Masterchef finals :D

Vice weighed in at 16 kilos so:
Total weight now 50kg
Total time - 13.5hrs

Cheers
Simon
 
This should do it!

Managed to source the timber for the top and aprons on Gumtree for not very much money. An added bonus was 9 lengths gratis. He was giving away some that had been stored outside, so a little wet. I could have had some more but couldn’t fit it in the car.

Image%2050.jpg


I originally planed to get my timber elsewhere, but I couldn’t self-select - it was delivery only - and judging by the photos of it sorting though it was pretty essential! This timber is a little smaller in section, so my top will be just under 60mm thick rather than 80mm as planned. Will mean my bearers will have to go on top of the leg frames as Paul Sellars does - to keep the height the same. Not what I originally had in mind, but makes no real difference.

Have also decided to lengthen the bench by about 6 inches

I was expecting to have to go though the seller’s pile and pull out the straight ones, but they were all straight! Some of the nicest CLS I’ve had.

Made the mistake of leaving it on the drive for a couple of hours while I did something else - mistake. Came back to find them covered in bird cr@p, bright green bird cr@p, bright green bird cr@p that stains when you try and wipe it off :roll:

Have it all stacked in the workshop now.

Image%2051.jpg


I’m not going to get the bench in under £70 now, as I blew the budget on some heavy duty adjustable feet - they cost me £20. I have all the materials now and am confident I can make it for £90-£100. Will increment the total cost as I use the timber, as I bought more than I need and will use on other projects as well.

Itching to get back to it, but have to lay some artificial grass first :(

Total cost: £34
Total time: 15hrs including traveling time.

Simon
 
Finally got some time on the bench at last.

Finished all the big mortices in the legs and set about cutting the smaller ones for the front and back stretchers fit into. Managed to mark them all up on the wrong side of the legs! Fortunately I only cut one before I noticed. #-o

Had to cut a patch to fit in. Luckily my error will be completely hidden under the shelf, so no need to be too neat or match grain.

oops.jpg


After cutting these four mortices, I moved on to the big angled leg to apron lap joints ( what’s the proper name for this joint?) first I marked out the joint with a sliding bevel - no idea what angle I used, as it was just eyeballed. Then I used my exact width housing jig, lining it up with the marked angle. I routed a slot and removed enough material to provide space for my bandsaw blade to clear without cutting into the leg.

Image%2053.jpg

Image%2052.jpg


Then it was simply a matter of bandsawing off the waste.

Image%2054.jpg


I could have used a router to clean up after the bandsaw, but it was faster and a lot more enjoyable to level up the joints with hand planes.

Soon had all four joints cut - well the leg sides anyway.

Image%2055.jpg


Not much else to report. I chamfered the bottom of the legs. And the adjustable feet turned up. These will simply screw into M14 tee nuts.

Foot.jpg


The feet are 100mm wide and rated for 750kg per foot, so should be man enough for the job!

Really enjoying this project so far, I even managed to laugh when I made my c*ck up. I’ve also realised how well my existing workbench works, it’s handled everything I’ve thrown at it. Built it a couple of years ago. I put my straight edge on yesterday and I still can’t get a piece of paper under it - torsion boxes really work well. Will be nice to have it as a dedicated outfeed/assembly/MFT table though...

Image%2044.jpg


Hopefully I can start on the tenons soon, then I can begin some assembly.

Total time: 21hrs
Total cost: £54
Total weight: a little bit less than the last weigh-in as I’ve removed a fair bit of material for the joinery. Will weigh again soon.
 
Have had the odd hour or two here and there to work on the bench. Have started cutting the tenons for the leg joints.

After I cutting the rails to length, I marked out the tenons with a knife and marking gauges. I then cut the shoulders shy of the lines with a hand saw, followed by the cheeks on the band saw.

Kerf.jpg

Tenons.jpg


I made a jig for the router table to cut the shoulders square. The base of the jig was cut using the router cutter, so helps to guarantee accuracy. Heres a pic, but it's subsequently been fitted with a taller, stouter sub fence to aid clamping.

jig%202.jpg


Simply a matter of aligning the knife lines with the edge of the jig, clamping in place, and cutting. I used a stop block on the fence so I could cut every face the same. I can thoroughly recommend the large 4-wing tenon cutter from Wealdens, had it a couple of years and the cut quality always impresses me.

shoulders.jpg


I cut routed them slightly fat and used hand tools to tweak the fit to each mortice. I also needed a tiny bit of fettling with a shoulder plane to get a nice tight joint line.

test%20fit.jpg


Very happy withe the joints so far, good and tight and dead square. Have done a dry fit of one leg frame. Feel like I'm making progress now.

all%20square.jpg

joint.jpg


Onwards to the glue-up and the tenons for the second leg frame...

Time: 27hrs
Weight: 65kg
Cost: £54
 
Started the glue up of the bench. Used Titebond hide glue for this, and found it excellent. Warmed the glue in some warm water as the workshop was a little on the cool side. I found it far easier than PVA when bringing the tight joints together.

Image%2056.jpg


The bearers for the top were dominoed into the legs and rails. This glue-up was pretty uneventful.

glueup.jpg


Then cut the tenons on the long stretchers. Decided to cut these by hand, well almost, I cut the cheeks on the bandsaw.

tenoncutting.jpg


Glueing the frames and stretchers together was slightly more eventful...

I cracked my head open on one of the sash clamps. Hit it so hard the clamp actually fell off! Then I had to rush around to complete the glue up with blood running down my face, trying to avoid getting it on the wood! Got there in the end and went inside for a clean up and a cup of tea.

I used some home made squaring aids. I use these on most glue ups and find they really help keeping things true. I was going to drawbore the joints, but decided it wasn’t necessary - would have saved a gashed head though :lol: I may pin the smaller stretcher tenons.

secondglueup.jpg


While the bench was upside down, I took the opportunity to fit the adjustable feet. Sinply drilled a 15mm hole in the end grain of each leg and hammered in a 15mm tee nut into each one. I shortened the very long screw thread on each foot and simply screwed them in.

tnut.jpg

feet.jpg


I also screwed some temporary stretchers to the top of the bench to prevent and racking and aid movement before the aprons and top are fitted.

tempstretchers.jpg


Bench now on its feet, and absolutely rock solid. Really chuffed with it so far.

on%20feet.jpg


Next job the aprons...

Total time: 40hrs
Total weight: 68kgs
Total cost £60
 
phil.p":18i7kop9 said:
I'd have though the gain from the mass of the frame was lost by the adjustable feet. :?
I wondered about this as well when I built my other bench, which, out of necessity, was built with adjustable feet. I can honestly say it’s never so much as moved an inch in use. I’ve also got the option of bolting these feet to the floor, but I’m pretty positive it won’t need it.

Cheers
Simon
 

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