suggestion for workbench plan

[unimog]

I am planning to built a workbench for my little shop in the basement and I would like to ask your suggestions on a plan. The bench will be used for hand and power tools as well as an outfeed table for portable table saw and planer. But the major requisite is for easy disassembling since I have a small door connecting to the outside and I could move out in few years.
Thank you,
CHO

 

[Tarhead]

If you're real serious about researching get Chris Schwarz's book and CD:
http://www.lostartpress.com/product/3513e08a-2f07-4616-8f2f-74017f296377.aspx
(hint: there's a free download link for the chapter on knockdown benches here)

If you're just starting out here's some good guidelines:
http://popularwoodworking.com/article/Rules_for_Workbenches/

This what I plan to build if I ever find the Roundtuit bushing to my Gitalong extender:
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/bench I will be changing the double face vise to a homemade version of a gliding leg vise like this: http://benchcrafted.com/vises-glide.htm

 

[timf67]

I got a lot of good ideas out of Lon Schleining's "The Workbench". There are plans you can buy on plansnow.com which is woodsmith & shopnotes plans. Finally, there are the Lee Valley kits if you want something that will knock down easy. They supply the hardware and bench top and you can make the base to suit your needs:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=31154&cat=1,41637

 

[McRabbet]

There is an easy-to-build, but very solid workbench that doubles as an outfeed table and can easily be knocked down as you require that is featured in Fine Woodworking's free project plans with a nice video here. There is also a downloadable set of plans for it as well. All of this is part of a very useful series that FWW has been running that is called "Getting Started in Woodworking". Check it out!

 

[Bas]

I built a variation of the 24-hour workbench from PWW. The top comes off (I secured mine with metal L-brackets), and the stretchers can be disassembled since they're secured with bed bolts. It was very easy to move, although the top was quite heavy.

 

[froglips]

If you find it, St. Roy has a video on a knock down workbench. His plans are in his book, The Woodwrights Apprentice.
Someone made plans based on this bench:
http://www.walteranderson.us/hobbies/woodworking/furniture/portable_workbench/index.html

He also has a two part show showing a bench he build for his daughters. It can be broken down for transport. Uses wedged dovetail things to hold the frame and the top is not fastened to the base, but is held in place using mass

Here is a great site to look at lots of ideas:
http://www.workbenchdesign.net

For some more non-traditional solutions, this is a great book: Danny Proulx's Toolboxes & Workbenches

Lastly, a bench I'm quite fond of, The Hammerzone. http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/workshop/bench/below20xl.html

Its not a knock down, but for ~$20 it borders on disposable.

If you got Hammerzone, I highly recommend sanding and soaking the OSB in some sort of hardening oil (Danish oil). Or, edge band the osb. I've had some unpleasant splinter experiences with osb tops.

Jim

 

[CarvedTones]

I see a lot of good suggestions above. I will add one note from personal experience. You mentioned hand tool use. If that means hand planes, mallet driven chisels/gouges and/or handsaws then be sure to select a plan where the joints are tight fitting M&T or lapped and the lower rails are stout. Width in the rail boards is more important than thickness - a 1x6 rail will make the base more rigid than a 2x4. If you go with a plan where the rails are just bolted to the outside of the legs rather than set in to a tight fitting cavity and/or use boards that aren't wide enough, you will develop some play from the stresses of planing, pounding and/or sawing. My bench is not rickety, but it moves just enough to shake things off when I plane or saw. Very annoying!

EDIT - I am not trying to pick on Jim, but the HammerZone bench is an example of the type I am warning you about. For power tool use and as an assembly table those are great. Throw hand planes and hand saws into the mix and you may get a little frustrated with it.

 

[unimog]

Thank you for all the links, suggestions and opinions:eusa_clap. It is all very useful and at the same time is suggesting that I have to put more time to learn the various feature and design before committing:icon_scra.
CHO

 

[toolman]

There is a plan in our download, here is a link http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/downloads.php?do=file&id=134 , have fun..

 

[froglips]

The more criteria for your bench you can anticipate, the better options we can suggest.

Case in point, as Carvedtones pointed out, if you plan to do lots of hand planing, a bolted bench isn't as good a choice.

If you plan to use it for a lot of power tools, you want a higher bench. Try this, stand over a table with a palm sander, hold it in front of you such that you are standing upright and your arm is at a 90 degree bend. You will find a bench that keeps the tool in front of you much easier on your back.

The "rule of thumb" is a hand planing bench is best height around where your thumb and palm meet when your arm is straight and your hand points to your shoes.

In practice, hand tool work is about standing over the work and tool and pushing down/forward/backward. Power tools use is about holding onto a tool and guiding it back and forth (think router, sander, drills, etc).

Me, I'd build a low bench with a few riser boxes for power tool use. But there are as many solutions as there are woodworkers

Jim

Thank you for all the links, suggestions and opinions:eusa_clap. It is all very useful and at the same time is suggesting that I have to put more time to learn the various feature and design before committing:icon_scra.
CHO

 

[timf67]

Two "features" to shoot for no matter how you plan to use the bench would be to make it heavy and stable. I can't think of any situation where more mass and stability would be a bad thing....

Of course as soon as I say that someone on here with much more wisdom than I, will point out a flaw in that logic... :gar-La;

 

[unimog]

The more criteria for your bench you can anticipate, the better options we can suggest.

Case in point, as Carvedtones pointed out, if you plan to do lots of hand planing, a bolted bench isn't as good a choice.

If you plan to use it for a lot of power tools, you want a higher bench. Try this, stand over a table with a palm sander, hold it in front of you such that you are standing upright and your arm is at a 90 degree bend. You will find a bench that keeps the tool in front of you much easier on your back.

The "rule of thumb" is a hand planing bench is best height around where your thumb and palm meet when your arm is straight and your hand points to your shoes.

In practice, hand tool work is about standing over the work and tool and pushing down/forward/backward. Power tools use is about holding onto a tool and guiding it back and forth (think router, sander, drills, etc).

Me, I'd build a low bench with a few riser boxes for power tool use. But there are as many solutions as there are woodworkers

Jim

I see the point. So the forearm length is approximately the difference between the two benches height.
How are you holding the riser boxes to the bench?

 

[Bas]

I have to put more time to learn the various feature and design before committing

Don't think too long. You won't know exactly what you want in a work bench until you build one. So don't aim for the super hard maple triple vise showpiece etc. from the start. Make something a little simpler. It gives you a chance to test things out, and remember - you need a work bench to build a work bench!

 

[froglips]

I've not actually made anything fancy. Usually I just stacked some scrap boards and clamped them to whatever surface I was on.

You could make the boxes with an extra lip to clamp down. I've seen some with holes in the sides, that increased clamping options.

One I liked was an open sided frame for the ultimate in top and bench top clamping.

I could take a lot of wisdom from the Bas, I tend to think ahead to excess :eusa_hand

Jim

I see the point. So the forearm length is approximately the difference between the two benches height.
How are you holding the riser boxes to the bench?

 

[timf67]

Don't think too long. You won't know exactly what you want in a work bench until you build one. So don't aim for the super hard maple triple vise showpiece etc. from the start. Make something a little simpler. It gives you a chance to test things out, and remember - you need a work bench to build a work bench!

What happened to "I don't need it, I just want it" ??? :gar-La;

 

[unimog]

Right now my workbench consist of two sawhorses and a sheet of 3'x3' laminated counter top just laying on top of it.:eusa_doh:
It is very easy to move around but it is definitely very hard securing the work to it.
I fill like the time has come for the next iteration.
CHO

 

[Jeff]

Lots of good thoughts and suggestions from the folks.

Here's a thought that's highly flexible as far as its design and fairly cheap to build. It's called "The Newfangled Workbench" designed by John White at Taunton's Finewoodworking. It's not really a knockdown, but could be modified easily to do that. :icon_scra

Keep us posted as you move on with your choices and design. Good luck

 

[unimog]

Thank you for all the good suggestion.

Any thougths for a good not too expensive vise to use?

CHO

 

[max_in_graham]

Just snagged Monty's blue prints... WOO HOO!

Pretty bench!

I'm a REAL hack when it comes to making sawdust, but one thing I found out after building my first bench... bigger ain't always better. :BangHead:

I made a hybrid variation of a couple of designs I found.

My first "real" bench was waaaay too big. I made it 48x72 with a big 48" wide single screw, Marple's end vise. It works, and it's solid... but man... it's just plain too-o-o-o-o-o-o much. :embaresse

I made the top out of 5/8" BC ply, sandwiched between 2 layers of MDF. Not nearly thick enough, or rigid enough to do the job correctly when you really get into hand planing or really needing to put the screws to something to clamp it down. :BangHead::BangHead::BangHead:

I guess it boils down to suggesting that a solid bench top is probably THE most critical part of your bench. I'm probably gonna catch some grief for this, but IMVHO, I think that building as thick as practical of a solid wood bench top as you can, is the way to go. Putting a replaceable/removable MDF top on it is an option I'm gonna think real hard about incorporating into the design.

I just wouldn't suggest building as big of a bench as you can fit in your shop... ooof! Make something that's respectable and reasonable... NOT like I did! :tinysmile_cry_t:

Now that I've got a new, albeit smaller shop, to put together, I'm going to dismantle the whole top and make a new one... Dunno if I can afford to make it out of maple, but I'll definitely make it a LOT smaller. (e.g. Monty's bench w/tool tray)

Just my humble $.02 worth...

Max