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I you're looking for a "real" woodworkingbench but don't want to spend a year and athousand bucks building one, here's a greatdesign for you. It'll grow with you as your skillsimprove; it's flat and solid enough to help you do yourbest work; and it's sturdy enough that you can proudlypass it on to your grandchildren. One weekend and thesimplest of tools are all you need to build it.

66 September2011 tam i I y han dyman. com

Time-tested featuresThis bench includes the signature features of a traditionalwoodworking bench: a thick, flat top designed to take apounding; a tail vise and a face vise, mounted one at eachend, for securing stock; and an overhanging top that allowsyou to clamp stock to the edges.I eliminated the traditional tool tray because it's more

of a housekeeping hassle than an effective place to keeptools. Leaving it off gives you a larger work surface. Andsince most of us are short on workshop space, I added acabinet base for storage. The sliding doors are a cinch tomake and mount, and they keep the contents free ofsawdust.The base is made from inexpensive 2x4s and plywood.

The torsion box legs provide incredibly strong support anda place to mount trays and hooks to hold bench brushes,electrical cords and tools.What it costsYou can spend as little as $250 if you mount only onevise (you can add the second later) and you make thetop yourself (see "3 Top Options" at left). If you go allout like I did with two vises and a massive solid mapletop, your cost will be closer to $800. The 2-1/4-in.-thickmaple top I used comes prefinished from GrizzlyIndustrial. It cost $385 plus shipping. All you have to dois drill the dog holes, mount the vises and you're done.Grizzly also sells 1-3/4-in.-thick tops for $250, but if yougo this route, you'll need to put spacer blocks under thevises so they fit properly. You can buy unplaned maplefor about half the cost of these tops, but you'll face manyhours of surfacing, gluing and finishing-and getting thetop dead-flat is tough, even for an expert.

DBUllD THE TORSION BOXlEGSAssemble a 2x2 frame with screws. Be sure the joints are flush.Run a heavy bead of wood glue, then screw or nail the plywoodskin so all edges are flush.

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F ig u re A E xp lo de d V ie wOVERALLD IMENS IONS :30 " W x 35" H x 7 2" L (w ith ou t v is es )O.10x2"

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II DESKTOP:! FASTENERIIriA

3/8" x 2"LAG BOLT

To build a benchBuilding this bench couldn't be easier. Thebase is made with 2x4s, fir plywood and alittle maple trim. Start with the torsion boxlegs. Torsion boxes are strong yet don't add aton ofweight, and they're super easy tomake( Ph o to 1 ).Cut the plywood shelves and back and the

shelf cleats (K, L, H, R). Screw the basetogether to check the fit. Disassemble thebench and paint the pieces. It's a lot easier topaint all the plywood pieces before finalassembly. After the paint's dry, attach theshelves to the legs. Cut the 2x4 supports (D).Add the feet to the bottom supports andattach them to the legs with screws. Turn thebase upright and attach the back (Photo2). Addthe top supports and the maple trim (M,N, P,Q l. The trim piece Q is glued and nailed tothe exposed edge ofthe back. Then secure thedoor tracks in the cabinet opening to com-plete the base (Photo3). Cut the doors to fit.Now turn your attention to the top. No

matter what top you use (see "3 TopOptions," p. 66), the following steps are thesame. Set the top on a pair of sawhorses andlayout the bench dog holes. Use a guide todrill the holes so they're square to the top( Ph oto 4 ). We spaced the holes on 4-in. cen-ters, 4-3/4 in. from the edges. Skip one holein the front left corner, where it would inter-fere with the vise.

W o rk be nc h P arts L is tP a rt Q ty. D im e n s io nA 1 2-1 /4 " x 30 " x 7 2"B 4 1-1/2" x 1-112"x 23-1/2"C 8 1-1 /2" x 1-112"x 26"D 4 1 -1 /2 " x 3 -112 "x 28 "E 2 3/4" x 3" x 29"F 4 3/4"x4"x4"G 4 1 /2 " x 2 3- 11 2" x 2 9"H 1 1/2" x 29" x 48"J 2 1 /4 " x 2 2" x 2 5- 11 2"K 2 3/4" x 20-1/4" x 43"L 1 3 /4 " x 1 9- 1/4 " x 4 3"M 1 3/4 " x 2 -1 /4 " x 43 "N 1 3/4" x 1" x 43"P 1 3/4" x 3/4" x 43"Q 2 1/4" x 3/4" x 29"R 6 3 /4 " x 1 -112 "x 19 "

M a t e r i a l Descr i pt i o nMap le2x 22x 22x 4Map le /p ineMap le /p inePlywoodPlywoodPlywoodPlywoodPlywoodMap le /p ineMap le /p ineMap le /p ineMap le /p ine1x 2

To pT o rs io n b o x r ai lsT o rs io n b o x s ti le sT op /b otto m s up po rtF r on t t rimFee tT ors io n b ox s id e sBackDoo r sT op /b otto m s he lfM i dd le s he lfB o tto m s he lf trimM i dd le s he lf trimT op s he lf t rimS ide t rimSh e lf c le a tsM ate ria ls L is t SOURCES:

Grizzly Industr ial , grizzly.com, (BOO) 523-4777.2-1/4" x 30" x 72" maple top, part No. T21250, $3B5plus shipping.

Shop Fox Quick-Release Vise, 9" Jaw, part No.G9B51, $BO plus shipping.

Rockier Hardware, rockler.com, (BOO) 279-4441.Desktop fasteners, part No. 21650, $4 per pack of B.

2-1/4" X 30" x 72" m ap le to p , $3855 bd . ft. o f m ap le , $ 20S he et o f 3/4" p lyw o od , $ 381 - 112 she e ts o f 1/2" p lyw o od , $ 451 12 s he et o f 1/4" p lyw o od , $ 12Th re e 8 ' 2 x4 s, $ 8T w o 9 " b en ch v is es , $ 16 0 p lu s s hip pin gTw o p acks o f d es kto p fas te ne rs, $ 868 September2011 fa miL y han d y man. com

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W i t h I t s in c r e d ib l ev e r sa t i li t y a n ds tr e n g th , G o r il la G l u eis t h e u l t im a t es o lu t io n f o r a ll y o u ra d h e s i v e n e e ds . B o n d sw o o d , s t o n e , m e t a l ,c e r a m i c , f o a m , g la s sa n d m u c h m o r e !

Flip the top over and mount the vises(Photo 5). Line up the metal dog on thevise with the dog holes in the top. Toprotect wood that will be held in thevise, make wooden faces and attachthem to the vise jaws. Use a soft woodsuch as basswood or pine.Mount figure-eight or other tabletop

fasteners to the top supports. They mayneed to rest in a shallow hole in the sup-port. These will allow the top to expandand contract without cracking. Get some-one to help you set the top onto the base,then secure with screws through the fas-teners. That's it. Your bench is ready foryour first furniture project!

D IY A c c es s o rie sB e n c h j a c kThe purpose of abench jack isto sup-port long, wide stocksuch as a door. Tomake a jack, screwtogether a couple ofpieces of 3-in. x 36-in.pine or plywood toform a "T." Dri1l3/4-in.holes in the face of thejack. Clamp the benchjack in the tail vise,and insert a dowel atthe desired height (seephoto, p. 65).

Bench dogsBench dogs work with the vise to holdstock on the bench surface (seephoto,p, 65). They're easy to make. Drill a l-in.-deep hole in 1-1I2-in. x 1-112-in.blocks ofhardwood, then epoxy 3/4-in. dowel stockinto the holes. To accommodate differentstock thicknesses, cut the block to 1/4-in.,1I2-in., 3/4-in., l-in. and 1-1/2-in. heights.70 September 2011

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m DRILL THE BENCH DOG HOLESFit a corded drill with a 3/4-in. drill bit anddrill the dog holes. A drill guide made froma couple of plywood scraps attached at 90degrees ensures perpendicular holes.

Mount each vise so the metal jaws areslightly below the surface of the woodtop. This may require some shimming. Iused metal fender washers to fine-tunethe vise position.

familyhandyman.com8)To check out our entire collection ofworkbenches and upgrades, searchfor "workbench."

Get your workshop organized!Search for "shop storage."

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