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Starting on My Anarchist's Workbench

19K views 128 replies 22 participants last post by  BigCountry79 
#1 ·
I went to 2 home depots and 1 Lowes today. I picked up mostly what I need for the workbench.

Picking out the lumber was a decent amount of work and sorting through the boards for nice ones took some time. The plans called for 9x 8' 2x12s, but I didn't find many quality 8' boards. The selection at a few stores was minimal, and I sorted through what was plentiful. I basically substituted 3 16' boards for 6 8' boards. I also got the 10' boards because they were straight and knot free. I only got boards with 5 or more growth rings through the center, no pith, and minimal knots. I also picked straight boards as I could, but we will see as they dry.

My plan is to make the bench slightly narrower than the plans (21') but add a narrow tool tray (5-6").

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3x 16' 2x12
1x 12' 2x12
4x 10' 2x12
1x 8' 2x12

2x 10' 2x10
1x 12' 2x10
 
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#3 ·
I do want to keep this thread kinda going, but I really expect the longest part of this timeline to be me waiting for the pine to dry out enough to work. I am hoping to rip them around Thanksgiving, and get the bench really started around Christmas.
 
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#10 ·
Very nice looking stock and quite an exciting project. I built the bench I still use in 1975 or 76 out of oak. They get better with age. You will not regret allowing the wood extra time to season before you glue up the top. 21" is a good width in my opinion. 18" is a little narrow. 24" is definitely too wide. These were called benches, not tables, for a reason.
 
#12 ·
Yeah...I might hate life if I decide to move and want to bring the bench with me... then again, it was about $250 in wood, so I can also say I rented it for $25/year for the next 10 years.

I need to rip them in my basement, and I have a few projects I want to complete before I bring them down, plus a family vacation...I think they will live in the garage for about a month, but I do want to get them up above the concrete floor...maybe they'll be a few lbs lighter when I actually haul them downstairs.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Another means of knocking down a bench would be "wedged tenons". They can always be tightened up if the need arises.
You should watch this method of making through leg tenons before you laminate your top. It makes those type of tenons FAR easier than chopping them through 5" thick stock!


Same idea from Christopher Schwarz (who should keep his hands in his pockets when he talks):
 
#21 · (Edited)
For Others:

In case you don't know, Christopher Schwarz has authored several books on woodworking workbenches, their history and design. "The Anarchist's Workbench" is a 334 page book containing the culmination of Christopher's research about woodworking workbench design. It is primarily focused on delivering detailed instructions to build your own "Anarchist's Workbench", based on the best features that Christopher has learned, along with the reasons and justifications for those choices.

Christopher Schwarz has generously made "The Anarchist's Workbench" available as a free PDF file download, or you can purchase a printed copy of the book in various forms. The book and PDF file are updated from time to time.

Information about "The Anarchist's Workbench", including how to order a print copy and the link to download the free PDF file:
https://lostartpress.com/products/the-anarchists-workbench

Here is a link to the free PDF file, as a convenience. This link points to the June 2020 version of the book, which is updated from time to time. Check the general web page above, to make sure that Christopher has not released another update since I posted this link:
https://blog.lostartpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AWB_Consumer_June-2020_v5.1-1.pdf
 
#22 ·
I've never seen the need nor the logic behind legs tenoned into the top. The only reason I can understand would be for historical accuracy. Keep in mind Mr. Schwarz is a hand tool woodworker who's focus is to preserve historical methods. I remember watching a video of him laboriously hand sawing out tenons and dovetails in a 5x5 leg, in the backround was a bandsaw. I'm not taking away from his work, just saying if a bandsaw was available in 1650 you can be they would have used it!

I would suggest you consider building the base of 2 trestles. Coupled by stretchers it will be just as sturdy and orders of magnitude easier to build. It can be easily disassembled if needed.

On both these benches I used through bolts (like bed bolts) into the stretchers which are housed in shallow tenons. Through tenons and wedges could also have been used.

Just something to consider.

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#23 ·
i've been waiting a couple days for someone to post up a picture of 'Anarchist's Workbench'
i finally googled it and i don't get it.
it looks very heavy, like back breaking heavy to even slide it across the floor
i can see a need if you were going to use a bfh on top of it, but i imaging it will on be tap tap tap on chisels
a properly made 2x thick top on saw horses will handle pretty much anything you throw at or on it

 
#24 · (Edited)
Yah, but then it wouldn't be an Anarchist's workbench. That's the "bragging rights" part of the project.
To your solution, even a solid core door and a 3/4" particle board screwed down will make a "good enough" work surface, BUT you can't put a vise on it and start edge planing it because it will slide off the horse closest to you. If it falls off the horse, it won't get itself back on to ride again.... just sayin'
 
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#25 ·
I know everyone has opinions on benches, and I appreciate that, but I have also found that if you try to take everyone's ideas from their use case and combine them into a "one bench that combines all the features", then you usually wind up with something awkward and compromised...so I'm going to stay relatively close to the design in the book (except taller because I'm 6'7", and with a tool tray because dropping bench planes sucks.)

I also didn't realize there were bragging rights associated with building a cheap bench from construction grade yellow pine...I consider the Scandinavian style benches and houndstooth dovetails more of a fancy/bragging rights bench, but maybe there's something I wasn't aware of (?)

I am not putting through tenons on the top. Just tenons formed through laminations of the leg, and some 2.5" x 5" mortises that I will mostly drill out and just chisel square. The author recommends against using lag bolts on the SYP, so I will heed that advise. The joints don't scare me. I've done them a ton although never quite this large.

I don't know...I kinda figured this would be the easy route towards building a noice bench. My shop is so small I've not wanted to upgrade my tiny bench until I got more space and I'm tired of the wobbling and fighting on the current bench. It weights over 100lbs.

I finally got a little extra room so I'm putting my bench in its own area, and I can go bigger and heavier like I've always wanted!
 
#27 ·
I know everyone has opinions on benches, and I appreciate that, but I have also found that if you try to take everyone's ideas from their use case and combine them into a "one bench that combines all the features", then you usually wind up with something awkward and compromised...

I also didn't realize there were bragging rights associated with building a cheap bench from construction grade yellow pine...I consider the Scandinavian style benches and houndstooth dovetails more of a fancy/bragging rights bench, but maybe there's something I wasn't aware of (?)
No, you are correct.
I made that statement in my post above, assuming that no one would get any bragging rights from throwing together a top on some saw horses. Even a laminated 2X top wouldn't qualify in my opinion because there's essentially no hand work involved in making that top except for flattening it.
Instead, those bragging rights would come from a making a bench that was painfully and carefully hand crafted with proper mortise and tenons and dovetails and weighs at least 600 lbs. There should be no confusion as to who gets the "bragging rights" !
 
#31 ·
I went to 2 home depots and 1 Lowes today. I picked up mostly what I need for the workbench.

Picking out the lumber was a decent amount of work and sorting through the boards for nice ones took some time. The plans called for 9x 8' 2x12s, but I didn't find many quality 8' boards. The selection at a few stores was minimal, and I sorted through what was plentiful. I basically substituted 3 16' boards for 6 8' boards. I also got the 10' boards because they were straight and knot free. I only got boards with 5 or more growth rings through the center, no pith, and minimal knots. I also picked straight boards as I could, but we will see as they dry.

My plan is to make the bench slightly narrower than the plans (21') but add a narrow tool tray (5-6").

View attachment 431197

3x 16' 2x12
1x 12' 2x12
4x 10' 2x12
1x 8' 2x12

2x 10' 2x10
1x 12' 2x10
 
#33 ·
I brought the workbench wood down into the basement so it can start to acclimate more. The moisture meter I bought reads about the same with this wood as it does with some SYP I've had a long time. I'm not sure I trust it.

After two weeks in the garage, it really didn't warp at all, but it definitely let off some moisture...The smell was super strong that first week.

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#34 ·
I made a little time in the shop again today. After getting the jointer knives sharpened and adjusted last night, I reconfigured the shop to allow me to mill the 8' 2x12s for the benchtop.


Most of my time was spent wrangling southern yellow pine and figuring out my cut list for a taller than normal 37-38" bench. (I'm about 6' 6" and my current 34" bench hurts my back. My 40" counter is a little high for handplanes though)


I probably put about 3 hours in today and I didn't get the first bundle glued up, but they are milled and they close up pretty well.


Total time: about 6 hours

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#36 ·
Lessons learned...
The bandsaw is perfect for the rip cuts

My 6" jet jointer will tip if I run an 8' long 2x6 through it without adding support.

The boards really didn't warp significantly.

After 2+months the wood still isn't quite equalized with the humidity
 
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#37 ·
You were lucky the boards didn’t bend you must have some fairly stress free wood there.

Dont get too hung up on moisture content numbers. The wood will equilibrate to whatever the environment is. We shoot for the magic 6%, but it may never get there if you have a shop In FL vs. CO.

My point is I wouldn’t get too hung up on it, steady state is more important then number, and it is acclimating to where it’s going to live, unlike furniture that gets moved into a house. If the numbers are pretty consistent I would just proceed with the build.

Are you planning to use an alignment aid?

How are you going to flatten the top?
 
#38 ·
I aligned the layers with a couple 18ga brads about 1/4" from the ends. It worked ok. They still slid around a bit. My wife came down to chit chat after I spread glue on the third board. I am pretty sure I broke one of my cabinet masters. Oh well.

I did a dry run before I added glue. I did find one divot so sent it through the planer again. I am hopeful I won't have any gaps in the laminations...we will see.

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The cast iron clamps are great, but I can't stand them up, so my shop is basically is use until I take these clamps off.
 
#40 ·
Lessons learned
1. Be messy and fast with glue
2. Biscuits help
3. Clamp on saw horses

I got the other bundle glued up. There were not many noticeable gaps in the top.

I used a plastic putty knife to spread the glue. It worked well, but I didn't move fast enough on the second bundle and it started setting before the clamps were in place. Hopefully that won't haunt me. It is hard to spread it with the putty knife without glue going everywhere and valuing over the sides. A roller might have been better, but those are surprisingly expensive. For the third glue up, I decided to just not care and I used more glue than needed, but it went much smoother.

For alignment, the 18ga nails weren't cutting it. I used biscuits 1.5" from the top for the final glue up and they saved time flattening the top.

I also assembled the last glue up on saw horses, and that was the way to go! I tried the floor for the first two, but it was a real pita. Plus I tried laying them flat then rotating them, and that was a terrible idea. Stack them like cards when you glue. Clamp them as they lay, and leave them be!
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Don't even worry about the squeeze out. It literally pops off when you remove the clamps.
 
#41 · (Edited)
Flattening the bundle with a scrub plane was pretty efficient and it got the glue of with it.

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Taking the glue of probably added 5 minutes of planning time.

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The top is larger than I even expected. I knew the dimensions, but laying the three bundle together gives a different appreciation for the mass.

Total time: 12 hours
 
#45 ·
What do you guys think of these that I picked up for my build.
I don't anticipate ever moving it but someone may have to and I'm thinking north of 400#'s
It will be in the basement but I do have a walk out.
 
#47 ·
#48 ·
I have a set like that (I bought from Rockler) on my other bench. The only thing I question about it is # capacity.
It's#600 rating for all 4 so it would be @150# for each one.
When you lift that first caster it could be taking half the weight of the bench.
 
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