Possible Future Bench-need advice!!

[michaelgarner]

Hello friends,
I am milling the wood for my bench right now and am going to start gluing up the top. For speeds sake I am going to go with round dog holes. I am going to need a somewhat modular bench that folds down for my next duty assignment. I found a very cool design at GarretWade, their bench was only 43.5 in X 28in. I am going to make mine 68in X 28in with no tool tray and double bench dog holes for the Veritas twin screw vise. I wanted to make the bench longer but cant in fear that it wont fit in the small space that I will be provided. Let me know what all of you seasoned WWers think and what I should look out for when building this. The top will be solid maple, and if there is enough the legs will be HM as well. If not they will be red oak. I am also looking at cabinet makers tools chest to hold all of my hand tools and such. Thanks for all of the advice and have a blessed day my friends.

Michael

 

[JimReed2160]

I think that is a pretty cool design for a light work bench. Trimming and assembly would be its forte. For dressing lumber and smoothing large boards I don't think it would be heavy enough. I used a lightweight bench for a few years. It was in a small spot and I was glad to have it, but it was frustrating when I tried to push the envelope. Good luck with your project.

 

[nelsone]

Hey Micheal! That's a neat looking bench. As was said, you may end up chasing it if you are doing any heavy planing, but for what you need it may be perfect! I hope you'll let us follow along while you build it!

 

[JimmyC]

Michael,

I think if you put it up against a wall and screw it in (or 1/4" lag bolts even better) your stability shouldn't be too bad. When you leave the housing, there wouldn't be much fix up ecept for two holes.

Good luck,

Jimmy

ps. I saw some one who used one of them in a 6' closet with bifold doors and it worked fine as long as he wasn't doing long boards. It hid away really easily.

 

[mcoston2]

Should do you real good. Keep us up to date on this project, and pic's.
:icon_thum:yes::icon_thum

 

[LeftyTom]

:yes: Methinks it is a good idea you are forming, Michael. Sturdy, but not heavy or bulky.

 

[michaelgarner]

What do you think about a removable front stetcher that uses bed bolts so that I can take it off when lowering the bench.

 

[JimReed2160]

One problem to solve with a front stretcher is side to side racking. I like the bed bolt idea because it would be a *drop in* solution. How about a 24" plywood skirt on the legs starting just under the top? It could have a bed bolt type attachment at all corners. Place bolt in hole and drop to lock. Should really help with racking, would be easy to install and remove, and would hardly take up any room when stored.

 

[michaelgarner]

Jim,
So your saying a solid stretcher that would bolt to the front of the legs? Or am I waaaay left field?

 

[JimReed2160]

I think a drop in panel with bed frame type bolts would help keep down sideways racking. I don't think a single stretcher at the bottom would do much but get in your way.

 

[michaelgarner]

Jim,
I will have to get with you on some sketches and see if I fully understand what you are thinking. I am going to start milling the legs and cabinet structure this weekend. Thanks friend

 

[Tarhead]

Here's a few ideas:
http://www.garymkatz.com/ChartsDrawings/door_bench.html

This one is from www.festoolownersgroup.com
I think you have to join to see the photos so I'll copy and paste:


"OK, here goes. First, a bit of background. I run a carpentry/general handyman business in London and most of the properties I work on/at are Victorian or Georgian terraces with all the space restrictions that come with houses of that age. I needed a narrow portable workbench/cutting table and I couldn't find one to buy, so I made my own. I fit quite a lot of replacement doors, so some way of working on a door whilst cutting hinge pockets and mortices for the locks was a main requirement, but I also wanted the table to be able to support larger items/sheet material when required.

As I said earlier, this is just the first version of a work in progress - looks like this:-



It's 1500mm long, 500mm wide (approx 60" x 20") and as I said above, built low to suit my standard systainer stack.



Wooden hooks slide out from within the leg crossmembers - the top hook is a piece of builders metalwork/strapping covered in hessian.



Door in place, ready for work. This is an area which needs a little refining - the top hook is only friction-held, and doesn't prevent the door from tipping over well enough; needs a way to lock it in place, maybe just a knob threaded into a t-nut or something...


This is the other trick - the whole back section slides out on drawer runners to give extra support when needed - say cutting sheet materials, or for laying out larger flat-pack items like this. A couple of lightweight legs pivot down for stability when needed - i.e. most of the time when extended like this!

The whole thing's made from WBP ply aside from the top which is 18mm MDF set in flush with the sides. Very simple construction - as befits version 1.0 of anything - all glued and screwed apart from the top which is just held in with a couple of dominos at either end (didn't want any metal there if I was intending to cut on it) and the dominos are trimmed not-quite flush with the sides, so they can be pulled out with a set of pincers when the top needs replacing."

 

[michaelgarner]

Thats is some great info, I will incorperate some of that in my bench. Thanks friend.