My Workbench

[fshrmn43]

Beautiful bench Leo but if it were mine I`d be afraid of scratching it or spilling paint on it or someting. Mine is just framed out of 2 by 6 with a sheet of 3/4" plywood on top, doesn`t bother me so much if I over drill a board and drill into the top or something like that.

[arcticfox46]

Frank Klauze, would never dream of such sacrilidge.

[beamerweb]

Frank Klauze would never dream of a face vice!!! OMG! :P

I met him once at a show in San Mateo and asked him about the (then) recent woodworkers journal artical about him and Ian Kirby creating dang near opposite styled benches. Frank's one passionate man about his bench. VERY passionate. And real touchy about his shoulder vice. Nice guy, tons to learn from him. And now i want his bench :P

[Cannon Fodder]

That looks real nice from here Leo. Sturdy and functional, I'm sure it'll last you a long time. It's a heck of a lot prettier than the one I'm using!

[arcticfox46]

I met him too.

[Woody 1]

Real good job, looks real functional. I`ve wanted one but I always get side tracked, What height is it ? I use a old coffee table til my knees get hurting then I remove the fence off my saw and use it. Might need to make one while I can still walk. Woody 1

[DougB]

Lookin' good Leo! Nice job. Just how did you get the 1/4" crown out of the maple table top? That could not have been fun. :-(

[arcticfox46]

I started with a hand plane, but quickly realized I was going to have a heart attack.

I borrowed my friends powered plane. Its something like a jointer but upside down and hand held. Still a major amount of sweat equity.

In between hogging out wood, I used my #7 to get the flatness in check. Once I figured the high spots I hogged more wood with the powered plane. Did that over and over and over and over and over and over and o........... till it was flat and straight with my 4' straight edge.

After the hogging was done I used my #3 to smooth it out. My skills are not that good with the #3, so I did in fact have to do a bit of sanding with a ROS.

The top is nice and flat and stable. I am happy with it.

[DougB]

I figured it would be quite a job to flatten out that laminated maple. Nice job Leo.

[RudeDog]

Alright Leo!!!!! Great looking bench!!

You will never regret the hours of effort you put into that. You will also find many new ways that bench can make things easier for you. I don't know how I ever got along without mine before I built it.

Great job!!

[deirdre]

What size is the top? Kinda hard to tell if it's really long or just wider than average.

[arcticfox46]

30x60

[rhull]

That looks fantastic, Leo! Color me jealous. I still don't have a decent (or flat) workbench to work on.

[arcticfox46]

Rob I was jealous every time someone posted a nice workbench. I was just lucky to have the top given to me. I saved up parts for a year.

If I didn't have that nice top I was going to make something else for the top.

Don't feel too jealous though - I saw a picture of your shop - you got a really nice shop going ther. Something to definately be proud of. Also your work is definately of a craftsmanship nature. I am a bit more "rough-n-ready"

[Jeffk]

Nice looking bench Leo. I'm in the process of building one now. I have the top made and am working on cabinets and drawers for underneath. Yours looks nice and hefty and should last you a long time. Enjoy! Jeff

[arcticfox46]

Well - this is my first post in here.

I finally have a workbench.

I got tired of waiting to be able to build my "Dream Workbench", so that will hafta wait till another day.

This is not completed either, and I don't plan to complete it till maybe February 07. I will build a cabinet to go under the bench.

For now this bench will suffice.

The top was given to me from my last job. The top had a crown of about 1/4 inch, and a twist. It is laminated maple.

The trim and the legs are some rejected stair parts that I got at a factory reject stair parts store in Fall River, Ma.

I used some of the Oak that I got at Woodcraft in a closeout sale.

The vices are Shop Fox and $52.00 each

Alltogether - it cost me about $250. including the vices.