An Inexpensive Workbench #1: base complete & hand planing the top

Published Jan. 16, 2009 at 6:11 a.m.

I’ve been working on a new bench and thought I’d share the progress in case anyone is interested...I read Scott Landis’ Workbench book and a few excerpts from the Swartz’s book and I’ve come up with this...I’ve totally cheaped-out so far, and so far no regrets...Everything accept the vise faces is going to be constuction lumber; 2×6’s and 2×4’s (where I come from these are made from Spruce)...$60 is the total bill for the base and top so far; I haven’t bought the jaws yet.

Here is the base...The dimensions are 33 high, 4 feet long and 2 feet wide...Once the top is on the bench should sit at 36” the same height as my table saw so that it can be used to help support long boards for infeeding...The joinery for the base is with dadoes.

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Tonight I glued up the 2×4’s for the top...I picked the straightest boards from the Home Depot pile...I know you should let wood acclimatise but I wanted to get them together while they were still straight so I glued them up right away...It gives me a bench top over 3” thick so I’ve got room to plane it flat again if need be.

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I then cut the glue up down to 6 feet in length with my circular saw...And then I broke out my new (well really old actually but new to me) jointer plane and went to town...This is a lot of fun and excellent exercise to boot...First I planed the bottom flat, flipped it and started on the top...This pic is where I’m at now, mid-way though the top...I’m done for the night, I feel spent after planing for two hours straight!

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