African hardwood bench that Garrett Wade sold in their catalog during the 80s/90s. Just moved into our first house and I was planning a bench build but stumbled on this on FB for $200. Couldn't go pick it up fast enough.
Had a friend run it through his wide belt sander to flatten it (was cupped pretty bad) and gave it a fresh coat of oil. Last pic is how it was looking when I picked it up. Absolutely love this bench!
This is the 8 foot version of the knockdown Nicholson workbench plan by Christopher Schwarz.
It is made of solid red oak that came from 8/4 stock that I had on hand. The wood wasn't perfect with some knots here and there and a few bug holes. The knots were patched, as seen in the pics and the bug holes were filled with epoxy.
I haven't weighed it but my best guess is close to 300 pounds.
Idk if this is technically a work bench but it’s close enough. I am 19 and sadly can’t have a full garage to my self yet so I made this over the years. I mainly do smaller projects and mess around with rc’s but I have a separate mobile set up for working on my jeep. I thought i would share before I move out in a couple of months. Feel free to ask any questions!
I spent the last two weeks building a workbench, mostly out of scrap. Here are a few pictures.
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.
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I finished my workbench today. Nothing fancy and definitely looks like a novice built it, but it's flat and it's ready for my first project.
Looking to build an L shaped kitchen booth, all I can find is YouTube videos that are fast forwarded for some reason.
What’s good resource to find legitimate plans and schematics for building stuff out of wood?
Got this beast fabbed up over the last couple days. Using 2x6s 2x4s and 2 sheets of 3/4in maple plywood. Still need to make the shelving that will sit on the top. She's a heavy girl.
It measures 42in tall. 33in deep. and 96in long.
Finished painting everything. Gonna assemble it next week and give it to my dad
I’m in the process of designing / planning a general purpose (I.E. not specifically tailored to any one use case, I do very basic woodwork, leatherwork, and other hobby/crafting tasks) workbench for my apartment. Because I’m in a carpeted apartment, it would be ideal for me to be able to easily move it from the spare bedroom to the back porch for messier or larger work (cutting wood, anything with fumes, etc.)
I’m currently planning on roughly following the construction used in this video: (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=veL\_F38MhHY), though modified to be 2’x4’ overall and have a second shelf for storage. (This design was chosen for its simplicity in construction and tools required, so I’m open to other designs if they’re similarly straightforward)
The issue I’m currently trying to figure out is how to make the workbench both mobile and stable. Ideally I’d use some form of retracting caster, but i have some concerns about them being torn up by the rough cement pad of my back porch (some cheap urethane wheeled casters I bought got noticeably roughed up after 5 minutes of rolling around, though that could be related to the price point). Also, that cement pad is not flat and so anything I use needs to be easily adjustable so the bench is at least stable if not level wherever I end up moving it to. Testing with my current scrap wood bench and some leveling feet shows that a perfectly stable setup can have ~1/8” or more of wobble just moving it a couple inches or rotating it on the spot. “Leveling casters” look promising but I’m not sure they’re a good solution for my use case, given the carpet inside and a lip in the sliding door frame to get the bench outside.
Am I trying to solve a problem that’s already been solved? Looking for “apartment workbenches” mostly shows people who have fixed benches either outside or in, which I don’t think is a feasible solution for me given the carpeted interior and no way to securely store things on my back porch. (Plus it’s accessed through a sliding door in my bedroom so being able to move tools, hardware, and the bench all at once is definitely desirable).
Built this last winter for small projects in basement of my house. Spare wood from my pole barn build. Tool organizer and small vice attached as well.
Got the bench crafted planing stop to install on my Paul Sellers Bench (hardwood not plywood).
Is this planing stop useful closer to the edge of the bench than BC recommends ? Maybe 1 inch from the edge not 2 3/4.
I mainly work with narrower pieces up to say 4 inches wide and also thinking the stop might be good for ploughing?
Anyone got experience ?
New bench done and walk system started. Excited to have my arbor press, bullet vice and drill press in there permanent homes now. Exited for fab and mechanical work on the race truck now!
Would it be better to place a quick release face vise on the inside or outside of the left leg? I know it needs to be close to the leg as possible but does it necessarily matter if it hangs directly outside of the leg to the left or always keep it on the inside to the right of the leg? For reference the bench will be used for hand tool woodworking.
Hey all,
I'm based in Australia, so want to build something using Australian timbers. We have some of the hardest timbers on earth. Trouble is, which do I use that is a decent combination of hardness, stability and workability?
Grey Ironbark, as an example, is super hard, one of the hardest timbers on earth. Much harder than hard maple. But do I even need something this hard? I'd like the option of hand flattening the top every year or two if it happens to move. Is this even feasible using hand tools? I have a decent level of hand plane tuning for both western and Japanese planes. But at this level of hardness, would the western plane struggle for sharpness? And would the Japanese plane just be too shallow of a bevel to cut? I rather not find this out myself after the job is finished, or have to make major modifications to the tool kit just to get the right bevel to make this sort of cut.
Also, does anyone know much about how much these timbers move? I've worked with spotted gum before. Good hardness and actually decent to work with, but moves all over the place seasonally, to the point that I would question ever using it as a furniture piece unless there's some really good control. Definitely not something I'd want as a working benchtop.
Any other suggestions? Jarrah? Blackbutt? Grey gum? Grey box? Or are the hard timbers just overkill and I should just stick to something tested like hard maple?
Got these heavy duty cast iron workbench legs from a neighbor in May, Boston area. It took me over 2 months but I finally put the top on yesterday! Along the way I learned they are from the Early 1900s and made by Browne & Sharpe in Providence RI. Still have plenty to do, but at least I've got a table now!
I'm in the final stages of a workbench, and I want to put a sacrificial surface on the top, possibly some sort of hardboard or something. I want it to be attached really solid, but I want it to be removable when it inevitably gets ruined. Anyone have suggestions? I was reading about using double-sided tape, but I'm not sure if there's a particular kind that I should use. It would be attached to the other side of whatever laminate I use, to medium rough plywood. TIA!
Had 2x6s laying around built the frame yesterday day and topped today. Will free up my 4x4 welding bench and 4x8 steel work bench by a lot. Adding wall storage soon as well. Don’t mind the mess 🤣
Weekend warrior project this week. Nothing fancy but still proud of it.