The Woodshop Shed

Yet Another Cheap Workbench

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


I needed a good, solid workbench so I decided to build one. I read The Workbench Design Book and Scott Landis' The Workbench Book, looked at a bunch of websites and watched a ton of YouTube videos. I wanted something solid, CHEAP, and utilitarian. I decided to go with a split-top (because I have a bad back and didn't want to waggle around a whole top), Roubo-inspired (I didn't want to do the fancy dovetails) bench.A lot has been said about the choice of wood for a bench, with many people preferring something like maple. Hardwood seemed too expensive so I went with Douglas fir (since I'm in Southern California and couldn't find Southern Yellow Pine in any quantity); it's solid and way cheaper than the alternatives. Unfortunately, the 4×4s and 4×6s for the legs and stretchers came from Lowes so the wood started out twisted and got worse while it sat in my shop. There were lots of checks in the wood (so lots of bow-tie splines) and some sap that I addressed with a heat gun. Lowes is a mistake I'll not make, again (but I'm still happy with the choice of Doug fir).The next decision was the construction of the top. I looked at a lot of options, including gluing up 2×4s and using a router sled to level it. It occurred to me that Glu-Lam beams might give me a ready-made top at an economical price. This ended up being a pretty good choice (though, I had to add a coupe bow-tie splines to stop a check). They're not pretty but they do the job.I used standard furniture construction techniques to assemble the bench. The leg and stretcher tenons were cut with a dado set on the table saw and the corresponding mortises required a Forstner bit and chisel. I mortised out the spots for the vises with a circular saw and finished them up with a chisel as well. A piece of oak scrap went into the sliding dead man. Finish the whole thing off with a chunk of rain gutter for a tool tray (yeah, I know, but it works) and a couple Gramercy holdfasts, and I've got a workbench that I'm really happy with.

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