DIY Network

Workbench Base Workbench Base From "Trade School" episode DTRS-102

Having completed his first project, a three-legged stool crafted from solid cherry, Tyler Chartier embarks on the wood craftsman’s rite of passage by building his own custom workbench. As the heart of any woodworking shop, a good workbench is designed to last a lifetime. Tyler opts to feature beech wood for its density, its resistance to abrasion and its reasonable price. Comprised of two major components, the base and the top, the bench gets its strength from the large mortise and tenon joints in the base. (figure A)

Here, Tyler crafts the base of the bench. The base is basically comprised of two leg assemblies and four stretchers running lengthwise to connect the legs together. Each leg assembly includes a head, a foot and connecting boards that form an "H"-shape (figure B) ....

Figure A

Figure B

advertisement

Basic Tools:

Jointer
Planer
Plunge router
Jigs
Band saw
Table saw
Belt sander
Chisels
Electric Drill
Wood Glue
Masking tape
Quick Action Clamps
Wood Dowels
Linseed oil

Tyler begins by squaring the stock of the entire bench. This process refines each piece of raw wood stock to ensure that all the boards are flat and will align well with one another. For each board, Tyler flattens one side using a joiner (figure C). Then, using a planer, he cuts the opposite face of each board parallel with the first (figure D). Tyler finishes the remaining sides by cutting each board on the table saw.

Figure C

Figure D

Figure E

With the stock squared, Tyler routs out mortises for the heads of the leg assemblies with a plunge router guided by a secured plywood jig template (figure E). The guided router digs out the desired shape and depth of each mortise. He then refines the mortises with a chisel.

Next Tyler forms the foot members for each side-leg assembly by joining three pieces of wood together. Here he drills holes through the boards to insert wooden dowels (figure F). The dowels serve to keep the boards in alignment during glue-up. Tyler cuts and spaces the middle board forming mortises. (The top members of the side assembly are similarly crafted, but as only two boards are used, the plunge router creates the mortises.) Then Tyler liberally applies glue to the inside of the boards, inserts the dowels and presses the boards together with quick-action clamps. The glue dries for a minimum of 24 hours (figure G).

Figure F

Figure G

Once the glue has dried, he squares ends of the top and bottom members using a quick cut on the band saw (figure H). Tyler scribes the curvature on the top and foot members by tracing around a roll of masking tape (figure I).

Figure H

Figure I

Then he cuts the curves on the band saw (figure J) and finishes the top and bottom members by smoothing the curves on the belt sander (figure K).

Figure J

Figure K

Next, Tyler routs out mortises on the boards that connect the head and foot for each leg assembly using the plunger router. Then, he crafts tenons on the stretchers and the leg boards to fit into the mortises. He test-fits each tenon into the mortises until achieving a proper fit along the width of the tenon (figure L). He trims down the length of each tenon on the band saw (figure M).

Figure L

Figure M

Figure N

Tyler decides to "close off" the ends of the base with squared wood panels. To fit the panels, Tyler creates grooves along the inside of the leg assembly boards with a dado blade on the table saw (figure N).

With the base components complete, Tyler begins assembling the base by first inserting the panels (figure O). Then he clamps all the pieces together and measures to ensure the legs are square. He uses two equal length pieces of wood and lines them up to the opposite corners (figure P). If the measurements are equal, the leg assembly is square.

Figure O

Figure P

Figure Q

For the critical connection of the stretchers to the legs, Tyler fortifies the mortise and tenon joints with a steel bolt (figure Q). Embedded steel cross bolts in each stretcher receive the long bolts through the leg assemblies, thus completing the base. (Note that the cross bolt remains outside to illustrate the connection)

In the next segment, Tyler proceeds to craft the bench top.