I'm finishing up the assembly on a real bench and I'd like to get some input on a couple items on the top. The material is SYP and the top will end up being ~30x73
1. Large panel glueups: There's about 24 SYP pieces I've ripped for the top. ~1-3/8 x 2-5/8 x 76. I've never really done such a large glueup before. I ended up gluing 6 strips at a time (only two sets done yesterday). I wanted to do 3 sets of 8, but I couldn't move fast enough during a trial run. I also ended up rolling TB-III glue on just one side instead of both. I had all of my bar clamps in play; 14 going across and 10 more on the 5 cauls. I probably should have done 4 at a time, but I really didn't want to add days to the glueup staging. How do you all handle big panels like this?
2. Bench top fastening: Each of the front two legs has a tenon on top that will fit into mortises in the underside of the benchtop. I cut off the tenons that were going to do the same thing on the back legs. The wood isn't as dry as it should be, and I figured there's be some problems with future movement. I could have made the back mortices wider, but that idea came after the saw was put away. I need a rigid connection at the front of the base to the top as there are no stretchers. I don't have the room to not be able to put my fliptop planer cart underneath. I'm thinking about doing lag bolts near the front legs, probably going up into the top from below through blocking attached to the sides of the 2x6 top stretchers. I'm not sure about doing the same for the rear. I probably ought to allow for wood movement, So I was thinking of elongating the holes through the blocking for the back fasteners, if I even do them. The top will be able to move, but the front edge should stay flush with the front legs (especially needed for the leg vise). I'd like to not use too many metal fasteners, can't really say why though. Anyone with a better idea?
3. Bench Ends: I've seen many benches with boards attached to the ends covering the endgrain of the top, like a breadboard end. Some have splines, bolts etc. How do these work with the movement of the wood?
I might just be overthinking the movement I'll get from the top, but while I was doing some final crosscutting & the mortices for one piece I had them sitting out in the sun. The edges that got baked did shrink slightly more. The wood probably isn't as dry as it should be. Most of it was bought only about a month ago from the borg. (you can fit two and a half 16' 2x12s inside a 2003 Ford Taurus)
Here's a few photos of the construction. I had originally designed it with a couple 50" 2x12s spanning the top on the inside of the leg tenons. That was before I abandoned using a 2'x4' slab of maple in the top. The left legs are 5x5, rights are 5x7, I don't think the single 2x12 back stretcher was a good idea.
1. Large panel glueups: There's about 24 SYP pieces I've ripped for the top. ~1-3/8 x 2-5/8 x 76. I've never really done such a large glueup before. I ended up gluing 6 strips at a time (only two sets done yesterday). I wanted to do 3 sets of 8, but I couldn't move fast enough during a trial run. I also ended up rolling TB-III glue on just one side instead of both. I had all of my bar clamps in play; 14 going across and 10 more on the 5 cauls. I probably should have done 4 at a time, but I really didn't want to add days to the glueup staging. How do you all handle big panels like this?
2. Bench top fastening: Each of the front two legs has a tenon on top that will fit into mortises in the underside of the benchtop. I cut off the tenons that were going to do the same thing on the back legs. The wood isn't as dry as it should be, and I figured there's be some problems with future movement. I could have made the back mortices wider, but that idea came after the saw was put away. I need a rigid connection at the front of the base to the top as there are no stretchers. I don't have the room to not be able to put my fliptop planer cart underneath. I'm thinking about doing lag bolts near the front legs, probably going up into the top from below through blocking attached to the sides of the 2x6 top stretchers. I'm not sure about doing the same for the rear. I probably ought to allow for wood movement, So I was thinking of elongating the holes through the blocking for the back fasteners, if I even do them. The top will be able to move, but the front edge should stay flush with the front legs (especially needed for the leg vise). I'd like to not use too many metal fasteners, can't really say why though. Anyone with a better idea?
3. Bench Ends: I've seen many benches with boards attached to the ends covering the endgrain of the top, like a breadboard end. Some have splines, bolts etc. How do these work with the movement of the wood?
I might just be overthinking the movement I'll get from the top, but while I was doing some final crosscutting & the mortices for one piece I had them sitting out in the sun. The edges that got baked did shrink slightly more. The wood probably isn't as dry as it should be. Most of it was bought only about a month ago from the borg. (you can fit two and a half 16' 2x12s inside a 2003 Ford Taurus)
Here's a few photos of the construction. I had originally designed it with a couple 50" 2x12s spanning the top on the inside of the leg tenons. That was before I abandoned using a 2'x4' slab of maple in the top. The left legs are 5x5, rights are 5x7, I don't think the single 2x12 back stretcher was a good idea.
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