Wood Shop work table.

[Fred K]

What should a person have for a work table in a workshop? Can a person make a wooden top one at a reasonable cost? If so, does anyone know of some plans?

Just a lot of questions about a work table. If anyone has some good ideas it would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[Black wallnut]

Welcome Fred! Link to a write up of my current outfeed work table. Large, heavy and stable with a replaceable top. Future plans call for a pair of woodworking vises.

[vaking]

A workbench is a center piece for most woodworking shops. There are lots of plans available. The best workbench has significant size (6-8 feet long) and weight, a thick solid hardwood top, storage for tools and 2 vises. The front vise is used to clamp work pieces during operations like sawing. For a right-handed person front vise should be at the left end of a workbench. Tail vise is located on the side of workbench opposite to a front vise and used to clamp work pieces for planing, etc. The top is glued of thick hardwood planks. Maple, ash are good species for the top. Making a good top by yourself is fairly difficult, so many start by buying the top and building the rest, although hardwood top will cost you $200-300. There are plans how to build the top out of several sheets of MDF - a lot cheaper. Workbench plan is also dependent on type of vises you plan to use.

[Warren]

Fred,

First and most important question: What kind of work are you planing on doing? The answer will pretty much point to the type of bench you'll want. A cabinet maker's bench is very different from a carver's bench. Are you planing on large projects, will the bench do double duty, assembly, finishing. Do you have the space for areas dedicated to finishing and assembly? Will the bench be multiple use?

Second question: Money? The answer will determine, size, top make up, quality of vises, etc.

Third question: What's your current woodworking ability? Building your own table will certainly improve your skill level.

I have one bench exclusively for wood working with the requisite vises, dog holes, tool well, etc. Along one wall of the shop I have a ten foot bench which is used for everything from golf club repair, chain saw sharpening and repair, drafting plans, to enjoying a quiet cup of coffee and a cigar while pondering the shrinking of dimensional lumber. It is higher than the woodworking bench, more convenient for assembly and dis assembly of saws, motors, etc. (should have topped it with stainless).

I have a wide table kit on the BT which does extra duty for assembling and finishing of larger projects.

All of the above aside. There are a number of good books which cover the theory, construction, etc. of benches. My favorite is The Work Bench Book by Scott Landis. Get one. Read it!

[cabinetman]

Fred,

First and most important question: What kind of work are you planing on doing? The answer will pretty much point to the type of bench you'll want. A cabinet maker's bench is very different from a carver's bench. Are you planing on large projects, will the bench do double duty, assembly, finishing. Do you have the space for areas dedicated to finishing and assembly? Will the bench be multiple use?

That's good advice. Generally speaking a "woodworking bench" is shaped, and designed to be incorporated with certain features to encompass a variety of woodworking tasks. Traditionally, its design leans towards the use of hand tools. To see what they look like there are many online that can look very similar.

A bench could be just a table with a flat top, when used primarily for assembly of sheet goods for cabinetry. A bench could be as simple as 2x4 construction, with some type of top which provides a flat surface. It should be sturdy and heavy. For whatever you use for the top, you could just add a 1/4" piece of tempered Masonite...also called hardboard, as a disposable/replaceable surface when needed. It's inexpensive.

.

[JoeyGee]

I don't have a big workbench with vices. It would be nice, but it's not necessary for what I do. All I use is a workbench that is attached to the wall, which is pretty much as C-Man described. I have a 2x4 legs, a 2x4 frame for the top and a hollow core door on top. I have a piece of hardboard (Masonite) over the top of that.

I also have a set of sawhorses that I put another hollow core door on top of. Recently, I purchased a Skil X-Bench, which is perfect for what I do. Keep in mind, I work in my garage, so I need to store most stuff and don't have room for a big bench.

Check out NewYankee.com and look at Norm's workbench, miter saw station and assembly table as well as the garage workshop set. Those are fairly simple projects and are what I based most of my work surfaces off of.

[dbhost]

A good design is the one from the Fine Woodworking "Getting Started In Woodworking Season 2". (scroll down to see the How To Build A Workbench video on the right menu). I based mine off of this, but made my top 6' instead of 5' long, and sized the height to double as outfeed for the BT3100...

Whatever you do, don't use Cedar! It's too stinking light. I have to redo mine because of that!

If you want to challenge yourself, you can build your bench top out of SYP 2x stock in a butcher block type lamination, this would tend to drive the price up somewhat, but it would give you great building experience, and the SYP is pretty cheap...

[Shep]

I always wanted to build this table. I've built a couple other ones found in the family handyman. They're normally sturdy and inexpensive.

[pelligrini]

Pretty good advice so far, especially Warren's comments about the use.

Heavy & stout is the way I like them. I started out on a B&D Workmate (which I still love), then some boards on some sawhorses, then a door on them, then some MDF on a couple Ryobi wide table kits. I finally got around to doing a decent bench the summer before last. Now I really wish I would have made a good bench long before.

If money is tight you might consider building a stout base and using some cheap sheetgoods for the top and plan to upgrade it to a laminated top later.

Check out Christopher Schwarz' book; Workbenches: From Design And Theory To Construction And Use http://www.amazon.com/Workbenches-De.../dp/1558708405 I got a lot out of that one.
I don't have his newer book; The Workbench Design Book http://www.shopwoodworking.com/produ...gn&cid=k313783 I have heard very good things about it though.

[LarryG]

I don't have his newer book; The Workbench Design Book http://www.shopwoodworking.com/produ...gn&cid=k313783 I have heard very good things about it though.

I do have it (as well as the previous one), and it is indeed excellent. It recycles a lot of the content from his blog and the Popular Woodworking web site, but I don't mind that because it groups everything together in a concise and portable package.

Between the two books he lays out his "rules" for good workbench design, some 18 of them in all IIRC, but probably the three most important are:

1. Heavy and stout, just like Erik says, and as long as possible. In the second book, Schwarz writes something like, "A workbench can be too tall and too wide, but it cannot be too long nor too heavy."

2. Eliminate aprons entirely; make the top thick enough to span between the legs all by itself.

3. Mount the front legs flush with the edge of the top, as shown in Erik's photos. Schwarz indicates that people fight and/or question him on this more than any other single point, but that those who build their benches this way quickly see the light. I know I did.

Since buying Schwarz' first book about three years ago, I have become as fascinated with workbench design as much as I am furniture or joinery or anything else pertaining to woodworking. The most interesting thing I have learned is that the farther back you go in the history of woodworking, the better your chances of finding a workbench design that REALLY works. Turns out that the big, stout benches that were commonplace when all woodworking was done by hand are equally suitable for modern shops, and have few if any of the drawbacks that doom more modern designs to failure.

[Fred K]

Thanks guys for all the good ideas. Now I need to decide what type of bench I need. I am just getting into doing some "fine" woodworking. In the past I have done a number of the ruff stuff (building barns, etc.) but now being to old for that type of woodworking, I need to start doing some of the finer things.

[Warren]

I'd build the first cheap and simple. Bricks or sandbags on a shelf below bench top for weight, a good front vise (it'll move to the next bench), some dog holes and you're off to the races. Make notes when you discover a limitation. Also, since it'll be wood you can modify as you need to until you have a good picture of what you want in a finished bench.

The one thing I really appreciate and insist on having on most any bench is a tool well. Helps a bit in locating what I need and, most important, keeps the edged tools from being knocked onto the floor.

Good luck!

[TiminIndy]

I've wanted to build a nice work bench for a while, but I have come to the realization that first, I need to focus on shelves and organizational stuff. Every flat surface I get in my basement ends up getting piled up with all the miscellaneous 'stuff' I've accumulated from 1,000 different projects and 2,000 trips to the hardware store. If I build a bench before I get organized, it will end up covered in crap like my two large, solid wood, commercial doors on saw horses are.

[JoeyGee]

I've wanted to build a nice work bench for a while, but I have come to the realization that first, I need to focus on shelves and organizational stuff. Every flat surface I get in my basement ends up getting piled up with all the miscellaneous 'stuff' I've accumulated from 1,000 different projects and 2,000 trips to the hardware store. If I build a bench before I get organized, it will end up covered in crap like my two large, solid wood, commercial doors on saw horses are.

I have been woodworking for about 12 years or so. I'm still working on getting organized. I think you did find the first lesson in shop layout--all horizontal surfaces magically attract "stuff".