To brace or not to brace, that is the question

[JanetsBears]

Hi,

Following on from my question about mortise joints in the house, I've constructed a saw bench but would like some advice:

It seems extremely solid already and I'd rather avoid bars that restrict where I stand or how I store it if possible - it takes up very little space in its current form. It's not been glued yet but shows no sign of movement, side to side or otherwise. The legs are 2.75"x2.75"x21" and the top is 7.75"x1.75"x30".

Do you think the legs need bracing end to end before I glue it up and finish the top?

Thanks,

Chris

 

[blackrodd]

Nice and neat job there! I would fix a "shelf" under the inside pieces, with a couple of small 50 x 25 pieces to fix all the
ply to.
It will act as a useful shelf, a step to the top for reaching up and a brace, as by using over time, it will work loose
by just the sawing action. Make another! A pair is always usefull!
Regards Rodders

 

[JanetsBears]

Thanks Rodders, I did think about a shelf but it could be stored a lot easier without, hence my dilemma. I'm not intending doing a lot of sawing on it, I want it mainly as a place to cut mortises - I've done a quick trial and it's surprisingly comfortable for that job! Maybe I should add braces and a shelf which I don't glue in place so I can remove them if they annoy me?

I intend making another but I've only got enough wood for 3 legs and my local wood yard doesn't open on Sundays. It only took about two hours to cut all the bits on the table saw, including notching the top and cutting matching bits on the legs, plane all the corners off the legs and assemble it, so it's a nice simple project for a sunny Sunday. I think the hardest part was finding something to draw round to create the rip notch, whatever that's called, but in the end I spotted a handy garden table that I used to draw the required arc.

I was trying to do the whole thing on the table saw but had to resort to the band saw for the rip notch as I really couldn't see even a half safe way of doing it on the table saw!

Chris

 

[Phil Pascoe]

You'll have only two. Put a shelf, a drawer or whatever you wish under one of them - the other will still stack on top.