Acquiring the lumber
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| Enough for both the table and the workbench |
The good news with this project is that working with framing lumber is inexpensive. In fact, more than half the net cost of the project went into the pipe clamps and steel pipes. It is important to spend time at the lumber yard and turn over a LOT of pieces before settling on the right one. Large pieces tend to be the nicest, but I found enough good 2X4" so that there is no need to mill smaller stock from larger 2X8 and larger. Just budget a good hour to pick the 6-7 item carefully.
Mr. Bongotastic,
ReplyDeleteI have been considering building one of these for a long time.
It looks like such an easy build, since buying lumber from a local box store, one can work on their leisure, pick up a few common boards, work some more, and not actually getting into exotic wood.
Your small rendition has certainly encourage me.
I am also glad to hear that your smaller version is still heavy enough to work on as well as eliminating the long pipe for the end vice. That was the one thing that I was not really appealing to me.
I am going to build the base leg section first.
Then work on the upper section.
Once the base is built, I can lay some lumber on it and begin using my bench right away.
The temporary top can be saved for another project or hopefully be incorporated into the work bench itself.
Great looking bench - I hope it has been beneficial for your woodworking.
I would appreciate any measurements you could give me.
And any advice or any issues that came that you weren't expecting.
Thank you once again,
Mark
Hey Mark, this bench works GREAT: the twin pipe clamps on the front and the shelf gives me a wide range of ways to clamp any kind of work. I'll get a couple measurements together and pass them along shortly.
ReplyDeleteThe total length is 4' and depth is 24". The total height is 36". All lumber is is 2"X4" framing lumber, except for the main legs and traverse (2"X8") and top pieces which are 2"X10". The middle ridge is precisely the width of a 2"X4". The space between the beam under the tabletop is 36", each 3 beam has a 9/8" hole at 6" intervals (so they fit a 3/4" pipe). The first beam is flush with the table's edge, and has 4" clearance to the middle of the wide leg where the 2nd beam is located (this leaves enough room for the pipe clamp's counterpart to slide in and out). The shelf at the front is made with 1"X4" and 1/2" pipes (with 3/4" holes to fit them snug). Only the non-vice part of the pipe clamps are used. I fitted the tail hook so it would be flush with the end of the tabletop.
ReplyDeleteAll precise dimensions have to be done on the spot, depending on lumber. Had I had the jointer and planner at the time, I would have milled the lumber to better quareness (but I didn't at the time and it is fine as is).
The tricky bit is to fit the vertical pipes before the top part of the leg are in place: I used clamps to do this. The legs skates should be made with 2"X5" to allow for a bit more clearance around the pipe holes.
In the final bench, the two legs are centered with the tabletop pieces, which is not the case in the diagram.