I have decided to build a classical european workbench. This page
will document the process.
Layout of the page will change with time.
All small pictures can be seen full size by a single
click on the picture; use the browser BACK button to return here.
Finished; except for a couple of coats of wax on the top.
Photo's of the bench
in use - bench size information
Start of the process |
Wood |
Hardware |
Moisture at 8% |
Maple for the top |
Poplar for the base |
Base rough cut |
Making 16/4 from 8/4 wood |
Base parts glued up |
Marking mortise locations |
Marking tenon sizes |
Sled for tenons |
Ready for final fitting |
Final fitting, end rounding |
Finished base |
Finished base |
Checking top layout for fit |
Checking shoulder vise for fit |
Top slab glued up with dog strip material and shoulder vise spacer |
Cutting dog holes |
Gluing dog hole assembly to top |
Tool tray divider glued on - top slab is now complete |
Cutting shoulder vise dove tail |
First dovetail chopped on the bench; shoulder vise corner tail. |
Shoulder vice front being glued in place |
Drilling end cap bolt hole; end cap fitted |
Starting on tail vise end, end cap |
End cap in place |
Starting on tail vise |
Fitting tail vise parts |
Tail vise closes |
Tail vise opens |
Overall with working tail vise |
Bottom work done; looking better now |
Glueing tail vise caps |
Bottom of bench - ready for sealer |
Ready to move to it's base |
Starting to flatten top |
Top flattened - ready for smoothing and finish |
First coat of finish just applied to top |