%!$ Easy Diy Woodworking Bench Plans For You #!@

woodwork-bench-fittings-3d Excellent job! That way I could ensure that the hole was where woodwork bench fittings 3d was supposed to be, on the side where the position was critical. Do a trial layout to see how the parts fit together. Results Pagination - Page 1 1 2. You might check something like CraigsList for lumber qoodwork well if you haven't tried.

As screws are tightened down at each end of the rods, the structure is pulled together forming a rigid unit. I am new to woodworking. I'm learning as I go along, and I'm documenting as I learn, in the hope of being helpful to other novices. On the range from slap-dash to deliberate, my method is definitely on the deliberate side.

If you have enough experience to be confident in using techniques that are more time-efficient, go for it. The techniques I'm using are those I thought least likely to go wrong, not those that would produce a product in the shortest time or at the lowest cost.

You'll notice that I made a number of mistakes, spent considerable time on work I later determined to be unnecessary, and in a number of cases I used different techniques at the end than I did at the beginning.

These are all the result of learning. I thought it would be better to demonstrate how I made errors, and how I corrected them, than to provide a set of instructions that presented the false impression that everything went together perfectly. The bench is built from construction-grade lumber, of the sort you can buy at any home center or lumber yard. I built mine from the same. There is nothing that says you can't use better material. Better wood costs more, but you don't need all that much of it.

If you decide upon construction lumber, you want kiln dry lumber. Green lumber will warp on you as it drys. Dig through the stacks and pick out the straightest, cleanest pieces.

Generally, the boards that are sitting loose on the stack are those that other people left behind, as they sorted through looking for better.

Be prepared to move them out of the way, and to dig down to the better stock. Be nice, though, and put everything back when you're done. For the base: The base is made of four legs, four short stretchers, and four long stretchers. The legs are 4x4's, roughly three feet long, the stretchers are made of 2x4's, the short are two feet long and the long are four feet long.

I bought four pieces of six-foot length, and cut them down. For the top: Christiana's design uses three pieces of MDF - one two-feet by four-feet for the shelf, and two two-feet by five-feet to laminate the top.

These can be cut from a single 49x97" panel. Stack it flat, and leave it for a week or so to adjust to the shop's temperature and humidity.

According to the "Getting Started in Woodworking" video, you can build this bench with only a few basic tools - a drill, a circular saw, and a hand-held router.

This isn't quite true. First, there are a number of tasks involved in building this workbench that can be done faster, easier, and with more precision, on more sophisticated tools. If you have a miter saw, a table saw, a drill press, or a router table, you will definitely want to use them. Second, if you do build this with a drill, a circular saw, and a hand-held router, you will need a few jigs and fixtures, and some specialized bits. And there are some places where other hand tools would make things easier.

In addition to the drill, circ-saw, and router, I used a belt sander, a random orbital palm sander, and a jig saw. Plus a screwdriver, a wrench, a hacksaw, and other miscellany. For the drill, I ended up purchasing a Wolfcraft drill guide. I cannot. For the saw you'll need a crosscut blade and a plywood blade. Some routers are capable of using multiple collet sizes. More on that, later. And you'll need a workbench. I know, if you had a workbench, you wouldn't be building a workbench.

Even so, you'll need some sort of work surface, even if it isn't as stable or capable as a proper bench. The traditional solution is to throw a hollow-core door over a couple of saw horses. The advantage of hollow core doors is that they're flat, stiff, and cheap. I used a folding table and a hollow core door I had bought for a future project. If the table is to be square and flat, the cuts must be straight and square. A table saw would be ideal. I don't have a table saw, so I need a cutting guide for my circular saw.

And since I didn't have one of those, either, I made one. Or rather, three. These guides are like every pretty much every other one anyone has made - two pieces of whatever flat panel material is convenient -- a thin one that the shoe of the saw rides on, and one that provides the edge that guides the saw.

My first attempt at making a cutting guide didn't work. What I ended up with worked fine for cutting panels, but the guide-strip was too narrow, and when the saw was extended fully for rough-cutting the 4x4's the clamp heads got in the way. So I made another. Actually, I made two more, so that I could cut one into shorter pieces that would be easier to handle. Making the cutting guide: Use whatever panel goods are convenient.

You want the base to be thin, and the guide strip to be straight. There are two critical dimensions. The guide strip needs to be at least as wide as the distance the saw motor overhangs from the edge of the saw's shoe, plus a couple of inches for the clamps. This is where I made the mistake in my first attempt. Since I was working with a 24" wide sheet, I just sliced it down the middle. I used the factory edge of the half-panel of hardboard as a guide for cutting the ply.

So I set my combination square to 10", and used it to mechanically set the distance. Hint - if you need two things to be precisely the same length, try to avoid measuring them separately. Use some mechanical mechanism for setting the distance. These sorts of things are usually glued and screwed, but it's actually the glue that holds them together - the screws just hold everything tight while the glue cures. It would have been a bit easier, if I'd done this before I'd rough-cut the 4x4's, but it worked out.

The next day, I used the 4x4s, again, to support them along their length, then ran the saw down them to cut them to match the width of the shoe. Then I cut one of them into shorter pieces, and I had a workable set of edge guides. Because my base was originally 12" wide, after I'd trimmed it to match the saw, I ended up with a strip of hardboard roughly 2" wide - which proved useful in making a number of pads for keeping my clamps from denting my work pieces.

The first step of actually building the workbench is to cut to length the lumber for the base. The original design used a base that was 24" wide and 48" long.

To go larger than that you need a second sheet of MDF. I ended up building mine 23x48". I want a height of 35", but I'm using a top that's 3" thick. If you're not using levelers, your legs need precise lengths. Layout the legs so as to minimize the number of knots, splits, or other flaws. Pencil the cut lines, and mark which side of the cut line is to be scrap. We want to make these pieces square, and of identical length. Square is a matter of making sure the saw blade is square and that the cutting guide is square.

The trick to getting the pieces of the same length is to clamp them together and to cut them all at once. For the 4x4's, that means making a rough cut in each first, so we have four pieces, each " longer than we need, from which we'll get our four legs. The rough cuts: There's no real need to make these rough cuts with the cutting guide on the 4x4's clamped together, but I did so anyway, just for practice.

This revealed that with my first attempt at edge guides, the clamps would get in the way of the saw motor, when making a deep cut.

That's why we make practice cuts. In all, it wasn't until my fourth cut that I was satisfied. With my second attempt at edge guides, I made the other rough-cut. On this, the edge guide worked fine, but the end of the cuts revealed that the saw blade wasn't quite square. So I adjusted the blade, clamped all four legs together, and made what would be the first final cut, if it came out clean enough. It didn't. I'd let the saw drift a bit away from the guide edge.

So I adjusted the saw, moving the guide back half an inch, and tried again. It's only the final cut at the other end that you only have one chance at. How clean and how square these cuts need to be is entirely up to you. The cleaner the cut, the tighter the joints will hold together, and the squarer the cuts the squarer the entire bench will be.

The final cuts: When you are satisfied with the cut on one end, flip all four legs -- still clamped together -- and measure and cut the other end. If you support them on the scrap pieces of 4x4, you can do this without moving the clamps. With the 2x4's. Layout on each 2x4 the best location for a 16" short stretchers and a 41" long stretcher. Line up the marks for outside end of the short stretcher, clamp the 2x4's together, clamp the assembly to the table, clamp your edge guide, and cut.

If the cut is clean, reposition the edge guide to 16" and cut again. Cut the long stretchers the same way. The next step is to route the grooves that the threaded rods will pass through. A router table would be best tool for this. I don't have a router table, I used a hand-held router with an edge guide.

There are a number of tricks to using a router. First, the bit spins in a clockwise direction, as you look down at the router from the top. This means that when you cut with the router from left to right, the bit will tend to pull the router away from you, and when you route from right to left, the router will pull towards you. So, if you're hooking the edge guide along the near side of the board, route from left to right, and when you're hooking it along the far side of the board, route from right to left.

Second, always test the position of your bit on scrap material. Your odds of getting it exactly right by eye are nil. I ended up making a number of practice cuts. The first revealed that I hadn't tightened the screws on the edge guide enough.

The second revealed that the design of the edge guide provided very little support at the end of a board, because of the cut-out for the router bit. In the "Getting Started in Woodworking" video, they had screwed a piece of hardwood to the edge-guide, to provide a continuous -- and longer -- bearing surface. I may do that myself, some day, but I didn't have the materials at hand, so I clamped some 2x4 scrap to the end of each board, to provide a continuous bearing surface past the ends. The two grooves in the long stretchers and the side groove in the short stretchers have identical layout.

I made practice cuts in scrap until I had the edge guide set correctly, then I cut them all with that one setting. The bottom groove of the short stretchers uses a different setup, so it was back to the scrap, before cutting them.

As I was handling the 2x4's, during the routing, I realized that I really wouldn't be happy with the look of the bench, if it were made from these unfinished boards. They had stamps, pencil marks, and more importantly, incipient splinters left by the saw, none of which I wanted.

And I was remembering what other shop furniture made from unfinished pine had looked like, after a few years in the grime of a shop. So I determined to clean up the boards, to remove the stamps and splinters, and to prep for a finish of some type. There's only the one picture for this step, but it was by far the most time-consuming.

I used the hand screws again, to hold the pieces. I used a belt sander to remove the surface problems, then used a small random-orbital sander to remove scratches left by the belt sander.

In total, it required five passes - 50 and 80 grit on the belt sander, , , and grit on the orbital. My advice? Don't do this. If you have jointer and a planer, use them. If you don't, seriously consider using dimensional lumber that has already been planed and sanded.

If you are going to try to clean up construction lumber by hand, using a hand plane is a lot faster and more pleasant than using a belt sander. Except, of course, that to do a good job of planing a board you need a solid bench to hold the board, and you don't have a bench, yet.

Me, I'm stubborn, and nearly always insist on doing things the hard way. Now that we have parts, we'll take some of them -- two legs and two short stretchers -- and make our first trestle. Matching up the parts Not every part and not every cut will be perfect. Match up your parts so that the less-than-perfect parts are in less-than-critical locations. The top is supported by the top ends of the legs and the top sides of the top stretchers. Stand your legs on end on a flat surface like my door and see if they wobble.

If you have an end that isn't quite stable, use it as a foot, where the leveler will make it's flaws unimportant. Check the top edge of each stretcher for straightness. If one has a bit of a bow, use it for a lower stretcher. It's less critical that the shelf be well supported along its length. Do a trial layout to see how the parts fit together. Label each part to indicate which part joins with which. Mark the holes The holes we want to mark are the holes through which the threaded rod connecting the two legs will run.

The hole for the upper stretcher has to be positioned so that when the rod is running through this groove, the top of the short stretcher is even with the top of the legs.

The most precise way I've found for marking the position of this hole is to use a dowel center. Fit the dowel center into the bottom groove, line up the stretcher, and bang on the end with a rubber mallet. The dowel center will leave a mark indicating the center of the hole.

The precise position of the lower stretcher is less critical. I marked out a position 8" from the end of the legs. Drill the holes In the "Getting Started with Woodworking" video, the holes through the 4x4's were drilled from the back. That is, they start on the side opposite the precisely-positioned mark, and drill through to hit it.

I drilled from the mark. That way I could ensure that the hole was where it was supposed to be, on the side where the position was critical. Brad-point bits are far more precise than twist bits -- they're more likely to start where you want them to, and they're more likely to stay straight.

So I started each hole with the brad-point bit, then finished it off with the twist bit. I clamped a piece of ply on the back, to reduce tear-out. When the holes were complete, I flipped the legs and drilled the countersinks with a 1" Forstner bit. Trying to drill a countersink when the center was already drilled would be impossible with a spade bit or an auger, but Forstner bits are guided by their edges, not their center, so they can handle this job.

On thing about Forstners, though -- they have a tendency to skitter around a bit when starting, before they bite. An easy fix for this is to drill a hole through a piece of ply, and to clamp that to your work, creating a jig that will prevent the bit from drilling in the wrong spot. The countersinks should be deep enough to hold a nut and washer, plus a little bit. These stretchers already have a groove running their length, centered on the bottom edge.

Precise placement isn't necessary, but keeping track of which part is which is. We need a hole in each end of each stretcher. Take care to keep these holes square, you don't want them running at angles. Mark the leg dowel holes Lay a leg flat on your work surface, with the countersink side of the thru-holes down. Stick a piece of threaded rod in each hole. Take a stretcher that is marked to have one end adjoin the top of this leg, stick a dowel center in its dowel hole, line it up against the leg, using the threaded rod for positioning, You want the top of the stretcher to be even with the top of the leg, or just slightly above it.

Give the end of the stretcher a whack with your rubber mallet. This will leave a mark indicating where the matching dowel hole in the leg needs to be drilled. Repeat with the lower stretcher than adjoins this leg. Then repeat for the other leg that will form this trestle, and the other ends of the two stretchers. Drill the leg dowel holes When you have both legs for this stretcher marked, drill the other dowel holes at the marks. Again, take care to make the holes square.

A board jack is mechanism to provide support to long boards that are being held in the vise. These can be quite sophisticated, involving parts that can be moved both horizontally and vertically.

The simplest mechanism is simply to stick a dowel into a hole drilled into the front of your bench. The "Getting Started in Woodworking" video showed only one hole, drilled in the right front leg, level with the vise.

This is useful only for a narrow range of boards. I decided to drill holes at four different heights in each of the front legs, six inches apart. The Jig Drilling a precisely positioned, deep, wide hole isn't easy, without a drill press.

So I bought a WolfCraft drill guide. After experimenting with it, and drilling some test holes, I build a jig around it. To mark the centerline, set a compass to span something more than half the width of the leg. Draw an arc from corner of the leg. The point where the arcs intersect will be on the centerline. With a centerline point on each end of the leg, place a scribe on the point, slide a straightedge up to touch the scribe. Do the same on the other end. When you have the straightedge positioned so that you can touch both points with the scribe, and in each case it is touching the straightedge - without moving the straightedge - scribe the line.

Use scribes, rather than pencils or pens, because they make more precise marks. Then mark the second hole on the centerline, six inches below the first. Repeat for the other two holes. To precisely set the span of the compass, use a rule with etched markings, and set the points of the compass into the etched grooves.

Place a centerpunch on each of your four points in turn, and press down to make an indentation. This will mark the center of the hole. Drilling the holes Because of the depth of the holes, drilling each hole became a four step process: 1.

Flip the leg, position the jig, and finish the hole off with the Forstner bit. This gives a clean exit. The top hole on each does not extend through, and only steps 1 and 2 are necessary. If you bought 6' lengths, cut off two 24" long lengths. On one end of each, place a washer and a nut. Screw on the nut only half way, you don't want the end of the rod protruding. Thread the rods through one of the legs, then set the leg flat on the table.

Insert dowels into the dowel holes. Place the matching stretchers into place. Put dowels into the dowel holes at the top end of the stretchers. Place the other leg onto the threaded rod and settle it down onto the dowels. You'll probably have another opportunity to whack away with your rubber mallet. When you have the other leg seated, the threaded rods will extend father than you want them to. You'll want to mark them so they can be cut to length.

Place a washer and a nut on each threaded rod, and then tighten down the nut to pull everything tight. Depending upon the wrench you are using, and how much longer the rod is than it needs to be, you may find it necessary to stack up a number of washers, so that the nut is positioned where the wrench can operate on it.

Once you have pulled everything tight. You want to cut it slightly below flush. Then take everything apart. Cutting the rods There's nothing very tricky about cutting the rods. Clamp them to your temporary table, and cut them off with a hacksaw.

Make sure you're using a sharp blade. While you're setting up the clamps,. The hacksaw will often damage the last thread when it cuts. Running a nut off the end will fix this. You'll have to run the nut all the way down from the other end. This doesn't take long, if you chuck up the rod in your drill and let it do the work.

Hold the rod vertically, with the drill pointing down, and just hold on to the nut enough to keep it from spinning. Assembly When you have the rods cut to length, put everything together the way you did before, and you'll have your first trestle. Repeat the same process for the second trestle, and then for long stretchers to assemble the base Once the stretchers and legs have been connected, flip the assembly upside down, and install the levelers.

Then flip it back upright. Next is the shelf. Start with the 24x48" piece of MDF. Shop by Category. Type see all. Mobile Work Bench. Assembly Workstation. Carpenter's Bench. Clamp Work Bench. Not Specified. Features see all. Assembly Required. Storage Draw. Material see all. Wood Filter Applied. Color see all. Capacity see all. Brand see all. Condition see all. Open box. Seller refurbished. The touch and feel is unmatched in the hands of a craftsman.

Besides touch-up and finish repair is only one rag wipe away. Jay, Once again you have made it look simple. I have been searching for what I want and you have made what I have been looking for.

True, excellent videos, straight to the points and skills without all the drama that you see now days on t. Planning on building a new work bench myself, just havent got around to it yet, but this has inspired me to get started. Youtube is filled with way too many bench designs made with exotic woods and out of my price range hardware. I like your vise designs, and this will be my new springtime project.

Keep up the great work. Great workbench! Heavy enough to build a tank!! Enjoyed watching the video… you are an awesome video editor. Thanks again. Great build Jay! Couple of questions. Why glue the legs into the bench? It seems like the weight of the top would be plenty to keep it from coming off and glue keeps you from replacing the top if it ever gets damage.

My other question is what is the point of adding oak dowels once everything is glued up? Hey Benji. Gluing the legs into the top is something that has been done for hundreds of years with similar French style workbenches. The top will last decades as it is.

Pinning half lap joints with dowels is something that is commonly done to add strength to the joint in the direction in which racking would occur. I know we both have the similar mindset of changing things quite often and I was just thinking it limits you in being able to remove the top in case you ever want to try a different style top split, tool tray in the middle, etc.

Guess I should have read the article and not just watched your video, sorry for the dumb questions… What references did you use for design idea for the workbench? Excellent work Jay. I continue to be amazed by what you can create out of SYP boards!!! I have a similar bench I built years ago the base is similar. The top is actually a hollow core door that I framed with poplar and topped with some hardboard. Hey, Jay! And it is really fun to watch your videos! One question, how strong plywood you used to make your Mitre cupboard?

A few years ago I built a workbench similar to this. Your videos are always educational, fun, and inspirational. Keep up the great work; you are respected and appreciated. About how long did it take you to make the workbench, minus cabinet and waiting for glue to dry? There are so, so many workbench videos on the web that run the gamut from cheesy to ultra fine. What you have done here is build the perfect balance of all the best qualities minus the nonsense.

Thanks Jay, I always enjoy your videos they are an inspiration to me to get out in my own garage workshop and do something! Like the bench it turned out great. Well done! Your video techniques are outstanding. One question: Sometimes you seem to be running an shorter accessory piece of wood your planer next to the work piece.

Ben, I am no expert in woodworking but I do believe I may have an answer to your question. This will help to prevent marring the actual piece of wood to be used in the project. If not, how did you ensure your workbench did not warp too much? As a 24 year old that is just setting up shop and only has a circular saw and miter saw to his name, this stuff inspires me to want to build so bad.

If it was just one or two powertools, what would be the best to start with? Hey I keep trying to buy this project but for some reason paypal will not allow me to purcahse it. Is there any alternatives? Sign in. Log into your account. Privacy Policy. Password recovery. Forgot your password? Get help. Jays Custom Creations. Description Description These plans are in both imperial and metric units.

The following is included in the plan: 25 detailed pages shopping list access to download the SketchUp file used to create the plan a lumber layout diagram a plywood layout diagram reference diagrams for specific part and assembly dimensions step by step 3D assembly diagrams with written instructions The entire plan is included in one PDF document. DIY Elevator Follow-up. DIY Elevator. Great stuff! Why is it important to get non treated wood?

Is the treatment toxic?

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