Workshop Projects. Jeff Jacobson
stretchers in the base for a storage shelf. If you plan to build the drawer cabinet, follow the drawings shown above.
The vise comes with instructions, so follow them for installation. However, you do need to make handles for the vise. Make them from a length of dowel. Then, flatten one side on four 1½"-diameter wood balls, and secure them to both ends of the dowels with dowel screws.
The jigs I developed for the T-slot system are shown in T-Slot Jigs on page 3. These are a small sampling of what’s possible with this system, and with time, you’ll probably invent many more.
I sprayed my bench with lacquer to protect it from spills and then put the bench to good use. At the end of this project, you, too, will have a sturdy bench, a checkbook that isn’t as light as it would have been if you had built a European-type bench, and a lot more flexibility for holding your work.
Workshop Classic: A Bench You Can Rely On
A family tradition of matching the workbench to the worker continues with this no-nonsense maple workbench. Granddad would likely have approved.
by John English
The worktop on my grandfather’s bench consisted of a pair of railroad ties with an 8" gap down the middle. Granddad, who lived in Ireland, was a skilled artisan who built coaches and wagons.
My father is pretty good with his hands, too. The bench in his Dublin workshop is better suited to the work he does—refinishing antique furniture and tuning small engines—than Granddad’s would have been. The 3"-thick hardwood top rests on an iron frame, but the vise is a metalworker’s, and the top shows scars of butane torches, solder, and even a few hammer blows.
The point is that a workbench is personal—it must match both the work and the worker. Neither of the benches described above would be suitable for fine woodworking, but the model shown here is ideal for building furniture and casework. And it’s easily modified to suit an individual craftsman’s needs.
Design Basics
I built this workbench to fit my 6'-tall body. The rule of thumb is to locate the worktop at half the height of the user (in this case, 353/8"). If you need to build it higher or lower, simply adjust the length of the legs (see the leg subassembly drawings on page 14).
The top of the bench features two parallel rows of bench dog holes. The front row is close to the edge, but the back row is set in a few inches to help support wide subassemblies such as drawers or cabinet doors. The top is large enough to clamp a standard 5'-long kitchen base cabinet, with a few inches left to set down tools or hardware.
Four Bench-Building Basics
1. If you regularly build furniture or cabinets, the space between the last bench dog and the wide-open vise jaw should accommodate a standard 5' base cabinet.
2. A good rule of thumb is to size your bench so that the top is half as tall as the primary user.
3. To ensure stability when lateral force is exerted on it, a bench should outweigh the user by about 50%.
4. One row of bench dog holes should be set in a few extra inches. This makes it a little easier to support doors, drawers, and other large parts during clamping.
Material List
| T x W x L | ||
| 1 | Worktop (1) | 1½" x 24⅛" x 60" |
| 2 | Inside Liners (2) | ¾" x 4" x 60" |
| 3 | First Spacers (2) | ¾" x 4" x 6" |
| 4 | Common Spacers (14) | ¾" x 4" x 6¼" |
| 5 | Last Spacers (2) | ¾" x 4" x 5½" |
| 6 | Outside Liners (2) | ¾" x 4" x 60" |
| 7 | Worktop Sides (2) | ¾" x 4" x 60" |
| 8 | Endcaps (2) | 1" x 4" x 30" |
| 9 | Spline (1) | ½" x 1" x 30" |
| 10 | Lag Screws (14) | 3/8" Dia. x 3½" Long |
| 11 | Washers (14) | 3/8" I.D. |
| 12 | Leg Cleats (4) | ¾" x ¾" x 20" |
| 13 | Large End Vise (1) | |
| 14 | Vise Support Endcap Cleat (1) | ¾" x 1¾" x 12" |
| 15 | Vise Support Leg Cleat (1) | ¾" x 1" x 12" |
| 16 | Vise Support (1) | ¾" x 10" x 9" |
| 17 | Laminated Jaw (1) | 2" x 73/8" x 30" |
| 18 | Round Dogs (2) | Brass |