Schwarz Inspired Apartment Bench
Longtime lurker, First time poster... This the apartment workbench I built using BauBuche, a type of beech laminate and beech from my local lumber yard.
In Christopher Schwarz's book - The Anarchist's Workbench, there's an Appendix at the very end where he addresses "Commonly Asked Questions". The very first and presumably most asked is the question of what wood to use. Despite him spending an entire chapter on this topic, he concludes...
"I would recommend you use the heaviest, cheapest, and most readily available..."
So, some months back I asked my cabinetmaker buddy how much more of that BauBuche (structural beech laminate) he had laying around at his shop, he asked me how much I needed. I simply replied, enough to make a workbench? Well, he delivered. And shorty thereafter I had the cheapest heaviest wood I could get my hands on cause there's nothing cheaper than free and I assure you this BauBuche is insanely heavy and has rediculous compressive strength.
The shorter uper cross stretchers were fully drawbored mortise and tenons and the lower front and back stretchers were drawbored half laps. I decided to skip a leg vice and use the vice Rob Cosman recommended. Honestly, it was the biggest expense of the whole project considering most of the wood used was free. I also decided to use the replica planing stop I found on Lee Valley. The vice jaw has the little Veritas prarie dogs. Put a drawer in using a keyboard slider. I did mortise and tennon the legs into the top, but have not drawbored them yet, that may wait until I move this thing to a more permanent location. I do need to get this thing out of the apartment some day after all.
Finished with some milk paint tung oil.
For the little cabinets and cutting boards I make, it works for me and fits right in the breakfast nook of my apartment.