Making the Workbench with Paul Sellers This replicates my personal workbench, one I have used and preferred over all others for, well, actually, half a century. Let’s talk briefly about benches and specifically working workbenches and not images of what a bench should be. Anyone can build any bench type they like, regardless of whether …
The workbench This next section is simple and straightforward. Firstly it’s good practice to glue up any laminated parts needed so that when we start the actual construction there is no downtime waiting for glue curing and set up. You may prefer to use solid stock rather than laminated legs and aprons, but I am …
The workbench I suppose we could call this making a garden bench Having planed my bench top section, all the seams are nice closed and with no gaps and my bench tops came out with no twists or cambers and bows. Had they been twisted I would have to plane out any discrepancies. Now it …
Making the leg frames Mortising the legs It’s time to form mortise holes in the legs. If you plan on having a tail vise, as I do, the leg frame assemblies will be slightly different one to the other. If no tail vise then all of the legs are laid out the same and so …
Chopping the mortise holes I have chopped mortise holes by the thousands for nearly 50 years. I think that proper mortise chisels, register chisels and even the lighter weight firmer chisels are too heavy and counter the weight of the mallet or chisel hammer. Throughout my five decades of working wood every day I have used …
Creating tenons that fit mortise holes In situations like this it’s typical to place the tenons and the mortises in the centre of leg and rail. Other projects work on one-third and one-quarter principles surrounding issues and features such as moulds, glass thicknesses, strength and much more. The legs being so big could have any …
Keep a journal. I have posted on this before. Keep a journal on your work, especially those of you new to woodworking (less than ten years in it). It’s amazing how your drawing skills will improve, but more than that, you have a record of your work, measurements you would otherwise lose and so on. …
Shaping the two tenon types. Rounded over protruding tenons The bottom tenon has a roundover you often see on Craftsman-style pieces that can be furniture as well as functional workbenches and tables. The methods I use work perfectly and they are doable by anyone. Remember what I have said about the #4 and 4 ½ …
Leg frame assembly and glue-up Gluing up the leg frames comes next. If the joints are good and tight then they must be glued and left to dry for an hour or so, but even so, I prefer and suggest that you leave them overnight to completely glue-cure. With tight and large joints you must …
Preparing the aprons Your aprons are glued up into 12″ wide panels and now they must be planed and sized to correspond with the benchtops. By now your benchtop sections should be cut and planed dead square and to finished length. Whatever length you make your bench is up to you but the two …
