heavy duty workbench plan

8/16/2019 Heavy Duty Workbench Plan

1/16

A FIEew,Durr

onrcrNan

A Imge,

h"oW

d"q

wail

Thel'IL alway

bewithin eorh f

1ou

bdlA. his

slid"e'inturage

nit

Tura

to

page

14

or

compbte

plor's.

Woodsmith

No. 133


2/16

Three aversof

MDF are

laminated

b

(eate

a too that

6

flat,

stabte. nd durab:le

Dauble row of dog

hales works

with doq

holes drilled in vise face

I

Stretchers

tabilize

.

long front & back

rails

, l

Heavyclutycast

iron vise s mortised

Sturdybench

,

NOTE:

solidmaple. helves

LOWER

FRONT AIL

NOTE:

For hreehandvstaraqe

oatians. ncludina

lirae

Jnder bench

toiageuhil,

turn

to

page

14

rc.t on cleats

-

Tenans are

ptnned

Construction

Details

Front rcw af dog

hales

designed for use with

ben.h

dogs and other

accessorie,

-

-

see

paqe

t 5,

corner blocks

reinforce

oints

''

to

prevent

rcaKtng

%

hardboard

splines

help

align top and aprans

OVERALL

IMENSION

94 1x 423/a D

35 H

fhATERtAtS,

SUPPLIES

& CUtflNG

DIAORAilI

A L e g s

4 )

3 x 3 - 3 2 3 / ' t

B Upper

EndRai l s

2)

11 /2x33/4-261h

C LowerEndRalls

4)

1lb x 41/z 261/z

D Upr

Fr lBk Ra i l s

2)

11 t : x33 /q-681h

E Lwr

Fr

Bk

Rajls

2)

11/z 41/z 681/z

F UpperSt re tchers

2)

\1bx33/a 27

c

LowerSt re tchers

2)

11 /2x41b-27

H

Corner

Blocks

8)

1t/2 21/2 71/2

| she Cleats

4)

11h

3/4

261h

I Ct r .She l f

1 )

3 / t

ly

-

267/ tax327ha

K EndShe lves

2)

3 / tpy .

267/ rcx16ha

L Top Layers

2)*

3/'r

MDF

33 x 91

M Suppor t

ock

1)

1 t / : x 6 - 1 5

N TopEnd

Pieces

2)

3/'r

^tar

-

15 x21

O

T o pF r t P e c e ( 1 )

3 / . a M D F - 6 x 7 6

P TopBk

Piece(1)

3 / t

MDF 6x91

Q

TopCtr.Pieces

2)

3/a

MDr 6 x 21

R F r o n t p r o n

1 )

1 t b x 3 1 / z - 9 2 1 / z

S Back

pron

1)

1 1 / : x 3 1 / z - 9 1

T LeftApron

(1)

11/z 31/z 341/'t

U R i g h t A p r o n ( 1)

1 1 / z x 3 1 / z - 3 5 1 h

V Face

lock

1)

3 x 4 1 / : - 1 8

*Note:

One op

ayeT tarts ut

oversrzed

W TopCleats

2)

3/a

MDF

11/2x2

.

(50)

8 x T

%'

FhWoodscrews

.

(T

)

#8 x

'1

/:' FhWoodscrews

.

(48)

#8 x

21/:'FhWoodscrews

.

(4J

14x 2 Fh

Woodscrews

.

(2)

5/16'

x 4tb' Hex

HeadBolts

'

(2)

5/s

Lock

Nuts

'

(4)

5lo

FlatWashers

.

(1)Woodwork ing

ise

.

(1)

7s -d

Hardwood

owel

48'

o

'

('l)

%'

Hardboard

'1

x 240

n. n

)

ALSONEEDED:

wo4xBsheets f %

MDF

and one

4x8 sheet f

3/a

maple

plwaod

11/2

gla

-

96 Hard Maple

(12.3

Bd. Ft.)

Boards @ 12.3

Bd. Ft.

(9

6 Bd. Ft.)

No 133 Woodsnitir


3/16

NOTE:

Leave top

eoges of teqs

square

@'

LEG

MORTISE

LAYOUT

31/r

Brse

When

it

comes o building

a

work-

bench, the base has

to meet two

requirements. It

needs to be strong.

And it needs

o be stable.

decided

to use

hard maple for

the base

because of its

strength and

the

added mass t

gives

he bench.

But

a

good,

less expensive

substitute

would

be

two-by

fi-aming lumber.

(

would

suggest Douglas lir.)

l[GS.

The first step n

building the

base of this

bench is to make

the

legs. As

you

can see n Fig.

1, each

1e9

Al

is

glued

up from

two

pieces

of

l%rlthick

stock.

I ripped these

pieces

slightly wider

than

the fin-

ished width

of the legs. This

way,

you

don't have o worry

about keeF

ing the two

pieces

exactly

aligned

when

gluing

them

up. After squar-

ing up each blank, you can cut the

legs o final

ength

(323l.rr').

I'loRTtSEs.

2rge mortise

and tenon

joints

are used o

oin

the rails of the

bench

with

the legs.

Before making

the mortises,

I laid them

all out on

the legs,

ike the

drawing n the left

margin shows. The

important thing

to notice when

lalng out

the mor-

tises is that the legs

aren't identi-

cal. The right-hand

legs and lelt-

hand legs

mirror each

other. This

way,

the

joinfline

won't

show from

the front of the bench €ig. 1a).

After the mortises

are laid

out,

you

can

begin drilling

out the

waste.

I

did this on a

drill

press,

using

a

Forstner

bit. Drilling overlapping

holes

removes most

of the waste,

and what little is ieft

behind can

be

quickly

removed

with a chisel.

You

can see in

the drawing at the left

that the mortises at the top oI each

leg are open

on one end. This way,

you

won't

have to worry

about

blowing

out the mortise

at the top

of the legs during

assembly.

To

complete the legs,

a

%o|

roundover

s routed

along he edges

of each eg

and on the bottom.Then

,'\

LOWER

END RAIL

NOTE:Rout toundaversfitst, then rout stopped chamfe5

arl,, stopped hamfer s rouled

on

the outsidecorner oI each eg.

RAlLS. he

legs are connected

by two sets of rails at the

top and

bottom. I started

by making the

end rails.

(All

the rails are made

from 1yr -1h1.1 tock.) You'Il

need

f|{o ltppet

en.d reiLs

(B)

and two

Louer end reits

(C).

After cutting

the rails to size,

you

can

cut tenons

on the ends to match

the mortises

in the legs,

as shown in Figs. 1b

and 1c. Since each tenon has

%

shoulders,

one set up on the table

saw

s

all

you

need,as shown n Fig.

2. Note that the

tenons on the

upper rails

are bare-faced

-

to

match the open mortises

at the top

o[ each eg.Finally.

he two

rnds

ol

the base can

be

glued

up.

[[0NT/RtAR

AI1S.xcept for their

length, the rails at the front

and rear

of the bench are

practically

identical

to the

end rails

(Fig.

3).'I1te ttpper

.fi'ont/buck

reiLs

(D)

and

Loner

NOTE:

I

sh6

deep

NOTE:Legs are

gtueo

up from

11/r :thick

tock.

1l) -thick stock

NOTE:Round

bottoiof legs

o.

3/16,, ,/

T

3

IV

NOTE:

Legs

are,

1

pairy o.,

fJff

'o

Tlnil vrEW

b.

1.-

NOTE:

No

-1,/a:

r


4/16

UPPER BACK

RAIL

.ft'otttlbacl;

ails

ft)

are cut to

size,

and tenons are cut ol1 he ends.

These tcnons are identical to the

ones cut on the end ra ils.

(For

a tip

on cutting tenons

on

long work-

pieces,

see

page

21.)

Before assembling he ends and

rails, here'sone other

detail o take

care o[. To hold some stretchers

that will be addedbelveen the front

and back rails,

a couple of shallow

dadoesare cut on the inside face of

cach rail, as shown in Fig. 3. Once

this s done, he rails and

ends of the

bench car all

be

glued

together

STRTT(HIRs.he stt'etclUs

(F.

G)

that I

just

mentioned are cut to size

from 1%rr-thick

stock. Stub tenons

are cut on the ends of the stretch-

ers, and then after brushing a little

glue

on the tenons,eachsfetcher is

slipped in betrveen the front and

back rails. A few screws help to hold

the stretchers n

place.

Once

the

stretchers are screwed

in

place,

he screwscan be

plugged

(Fig.

3b). \Vhile

you're

at it,

go

aheadand

drill

holes n

the legs and

pin

the tenons \Yith

%rldia.

dowels

(l'ig.

3c). I sandeda slight chamfer

on

the exposed ends of the

plugs

(andpins),

hen

glued

hem in

place

so they stood slightly

proud

of the

surface

(about

%err).

(0RNtRRAC[5.ach correr of the

base s reinforced with a couple of

contet' bLocks

H) (Fig.

4). In

addi-

tion

to beeling up the corners , the

lower blocks

serve an extra

pur-

pose.

They

provide

support for

some shelves that are added next.

SHtwtS. helvesare itted into

the

bottom of the bench

or

storing ools

and equipment.Or ifyou're going o

add the optional storage units, the

shelvesprovide flat,solidbase.

The shelves rest on cleek

(I)

that

are

glued

and screwed o the

lower

stretchers

( -ig.4).

Once these are

in

place,you

can cul a center slLelf

(,/)

and

two en.d slrclues

(

K) from

{rr

plywood.

The center shelf

is

simply cut to size and dropped in

place.

But the two end shelves

have to be notched

in

the corners

to fit around the legs of the bench.

DOWEL IN

LAYOUT

b'

srDE

EcroN

I

V|EW

#8x 2Yr"

Fh

woodscrew

No. 133 Woodsmith


5/16

NOTE:

All

pieces

suppart

btack)

a

------_---------

------------------

and

width)

After

it's

first layer,

t

will

be h.ir

In additionto makir

layer

ovcrsized,

a

notc

cut ln

one

corner

to

aroutd

the

hardwoor

glued

to

the first

layer

done

with

a sabre

s:

saq

and

you

don't

nr

tussy

with

the

fit.

(M]'

larger

than

the block.)

Oncc

the

notch

s cu

layers

can

be

glued

togcther

I usecl

yel1o,

ing

glue,

spreacling

t

surlaccswith

a 3rr

pailr

The

screws

help

to

1

layers

together

while

up. There's

jusl

one

awarc

of when you're

aclding

the

screws.

Later

on,

you'11

e dril l ing

dog

holes r

the

top of

the

bench,

tA)

ToP

cENTER

"

PIECE

@

SUPPORT

BLOCK

FRONT

PIECE

rop

It

goes

without

saying

hat

thc top

of

r

aurkhench

-cds

u bc

trong

alrl

5 tu |d ] u sknd up o r l l I heabu.e r

will

receive.

But

it aiso

neerls

o

be

0at.

r. l1

rr ltc

un

of

rny,rt,r.kberrcl.

tq

a rc ie rcn( .e l l en

as: ( .mb l inR

.

pr-ujec{

I

l in

er : iurring

tocL.

So t

\

i n rpo l tanr

l ra r

l t e op

be

p, . r fe t t l ]

flat

(7rd

stay hat

way.

Although

solid

wood

is

a more

traditional

ciroicc

for

beuch

tops,

I

decided

to

use

Mt) '.

It's hea\.y,

tough,

aucl

very

flat.

And

unlihc

solid wood, you

don't

have

o worr

y

about

MDt'

twisting

()r

warping

out

of shapeover line. Plusas anadclerj

bcnefit,

N,ID '

s

a whole

lot less

cxpensive

han

solid wood.

ln

order

to beef

up

the

thick-

ress,

I built

up

the top

out

0f three

separate

"layers"

of ltnF,

as

you

can see

rr Fig.

5

above.

1'his

makes

l l l c

op

p len ty

h i . k

o , . rnunr ing l .

vise

and

for holding

bench

dogs.

'lb

rrake the top, start by cutting

the first

l.)/)

lolter

(L)

to finished

size

(Fig.

6). Then

before

adding

the

seconcl

ayer,

I

glued

a harcl-

woocl

nLplxr.t

bloc:k

1,41)o the

cor

ner where

the visc'will

get

mounted.

(This

bloch

will

give

the

screws

something

o bite

into when

you're

mounting

the vise

later.)

However,

as

you

car

see n Fig.6,

the

to p

piece

s

upsidc-clown

hen

you

glue

this

block in

place.

(1l.rat's

why

the

block

is

shown n

the right

corner)

5t(0t{DAYIR.he.secowlLruler L)

encls

up the

sane

size

as the

first

layer

But

trying

to keep

two

large,

iclcntically-sizecl

orkpieces

aligned

when gluing

them

together

can be

tricky.

So

I cul

the

second

layer

slightly

ovelsize

(r,/+rr

n

both length

@

TOP

Hall

maple

prons

l lrrf

arolnrl

three

Lrrcrs

o/r -tF

ar

lnllecr

lhd

hliftl,

flat

uork

vcfLtce.

SUPPORT

\

ELOCK'J

.-Afrro,

,n"i,'.

Trim

second

laver

(76

lon|

6"

Na s.rews

should

10

trVoodstnith

No 133


6/16

and

you

don't

wiurt

to accidentally

drill into a screw.

So I laid out

some

'no

screwzoles to

make

sure this woulcln't

be a

problem

fig.6).

I

Once he two layers

are

laminatecl

ogether,

you

can

tdnr tlle sccord layer flush with

the first using a router and a flush

trin

bit

(Fig.

6a).

THIRDAYtR.f

you

take a look at

Fig. 7,

you'll

see that the thircl

layer

is really made up of

sk sepa-

rate

pieces

of l,Ilp. You'Il

need two

ettd

pieces

(N),

a.fi ottt

piece

(O),

a

back

pi.er:e

(P),

ancl two center

pieces

Q).

Once these

pieces

ar e

cut to exact

size, hey can be

glued

ard

screwed o the second ayer

APRotlS.o

protect

and corceal

the edges

of the MDF, the top is

wrapped with 1%'Lthick hardwood

cLpt tts

(R,

S,

I

O

on all four

sides. f

you

look

closely at Fig. 8,

you'll

see that each apron is a little

different. To begin with,

the ends

of the right apron

and one end of

the left apron

are rounded

over

(Fig.

8a).

(fhis

roundover will

also

be created on

the face block that

will be

added to the vise.)

Second,a

pocket

is

routed n

the back face of

the front apron to

accomnodate

Lhe back

jaw

of the

bench

vise

(Fig.

8b).

(The

size of

this

pocket

will

depend upon the

vise

you

are

using, see

page

20.)

After

routilg the

pocket,

you

can

lout a

gl

oove

around the top of the

bench

as

well

as on the aprons

@ig.

9). These

grooves

will

hold splines

that help align

the aprons with the

top ofthe

bench.A router and

a slot

cutter

is all

you

need to make

the

grooves.

But note that

the

grooves

in the aprons

are stopped short

of

the exposedends

(Figs.

9 and 10).

SPI|NIS. nce

the

grooves

have

been routed,

you

can

glue

Lhe

aprons o the top

using splines cut

into ships fron

a sheet of

farr

hard-

board.

Clamping the front

and

back

aprons in

place

is

no

prob-

len.

But clamping

across the

length

of the bench is a challenge,

unless

you

have son.re

extra long

clanps. For a

simple solution, see

the margin

photo

at right.

No. 133

far rear

aw

af vise,

A coupLe f

clamped o t

o;f thc bench

,\o1t

o cnmP

endnprons

NOTE: f end of

apron ts exposed,

stopgtoove short

EN D

SECTION

VIEW

'1/a

slot

lVoodsmith 1


7/16

Iop

(conlinued)

\Yith

the aprons

attached,he

%rr-dia.

dogholes

anbedril led. herr

s

on

row

along he i:olrt

edge and a dou

ble ruw

al the

end

rfur

ie

vise).

TL ,

keep

he

hole

par

ng coniistFnl

n

the long front

edge

(as

well

as o

guide

thedril lbit). rnade

h, simple ndex-

ing j iqshownn ig . l . For h , few

holes

al the end

ofthe bench, care-

fully laid

out each one ndividually

With

Lhe op

ust

about

complete,

I

added he vise. Depending

on

the

size of the vise

you plan

to install,

you

may neecl

to mount

a spacer

block

to t]re undersicle

of the bench

beforehand. Then

after t.rrounling

the vise , I

added a wood

Jlu:e

bloch

fI,')

to

the fiont

jaw

You

can read

more about

the

vise

mounting

pro-

ceclule

on

pages

20 and 21.

The last step to complete the top

is to rout a

srnall

(1/6rr)

chamfer

around the

top of the

bench and

around

the inside edge

of the dog

holes.

I wantecl

o incorporate

the

vise

into this

chamJer cletail

as

well,

so before

turning

on the router, I

closed the face

block against

Lhe

front apron.

Then I routed

the

chamfer

around the

top and the face

block, as well

as around the inside

of each dog

hole

(Fig.

12).

The

bearing on the

chamfer bit

doesn'tallow you to rout the cham-

Ier all the way nto

the corners

ol the

face block

or the ends

of the berch.

So alter

you're

done routing,

you

can clean

up thesc inside

corners

with a

chisel

(Fle.

12b).

ATTA(HING

HIToP. he

top of this

wor-kbenchs heavy

enough that it

will stay

put

without

being attached

to

the base.Butto keep

he top [-om

shifting or slid ing,

added a couple

of cleats o

Lheurderside of the

top.

These

cleals

fW)

are

ust

stfips of

MDF that

butt against he upper

stiles, ocking the top in position.

But before he cleats

are attached

you

shouldmake

sure hat he op s

set squarely n the base

Figs.

13a

and 13b).Then the

cleatscan be

screwedn

place.

Ei

rout

116 hamfer

around

top af bench

and dog

hales

\Yoodsnith

No. 133


8/16

WonKerxur

AccrssoRms

Even he shrrdiestbench s nothing

more han a fancy able if

you

cal't

hold

your

work

to

it

securelyThafs

where

all the holes drilled through

the top of the

workbench

ome n.

These olesaccept ccessorieshat

keep

your

work where

you

want

t.

BI

(H

DoG. he simplestof these

items s a tlpe of bench dog,

shown

in

the left

photo

below. t's

just

a

cylinder with a flat face at one end

and a spring n the side.A single

dog can be used as a stop when

planing

or scrapinga board.And

since he dog s brass, fs less ikely

to damage cutting

edge f

your

plane

or chisel slips.

(Rubber

face

pads

are also available, see the

photo

above.) By using dogs in the

face block of the vise

and

a

couple

more

dogs

in

the bench,

you

can

clamp

wide

panels

easily.

woNDtR UP.Bench dogs alone

won't handle

every clamping situa-

tion.

\4/hat

if

you

want to hold a ong

piece

from each

end? Or

need

a

board

clamped along the front edge

of the bench? That's where a

Wondzr Pup comes in handy

(mid-

dle

photo).

The name might

sound

Jike

a

kid's

toy or a super hero's

pet,

but ifs actually a small vise that fits

When

you

need o cut metal

pieces,

ifs best o use a machinisfs vise to

hold

them.The

wood

acesof the

workbenchand vise can be scarred

if you nick them with a hacksawor

try to clampdovn on a hreaded od

But since

don

uie my machinisfs

vise very

often, this

plate

lets me

mount t to the bench emporarily, s

shown n the

photo.

In the bottom ofthe

plate

are wo

%rldia.

dowel

pins,

spaced o fit a

pair

of dog holes.A bolt and wing

nut

secure

the assembly to

the

bench op through a third dog hole.

in any

3/,t

dog hole. Use t

with

a

bench dog

(or

another Wonder

Pzp) to securea workpiece.And

fvo

holes n

the

head

of the

Pup et

you

screwa shopmadeblock to it.

H01D-D0WN.ometimes

ou

just

need o hold a workpiece lat to the

bench op. n these ases,

ou

need

a hold-down

(photo

below). The

long

shaftallows

you

to clamp

tems

up to 8rr hick. Turning a threaded

knobgraduallyadjusts hepressure

the arm

places

on the

workpiece.

Note:Theseaccessoriesre

mal-

ufacturedby Veritas.See

page

35

for mail-ordersources.SI

& Vhen

you

n

an extia

pai

hands,

hes

accesso'esh

Jou

get

a

gr

Jour

prolec

Round.bench

d.ogs.Put &tgs n the

bench op arl vise,ad

lyou

can cLtrnp

warkpiecesn a lariety

oJwols

Wonder PuP

\Yith

its threaAed

shaft,

he Pup

serves s an eru). tise

that can be

placed

n aq dog ole.

Veritas hold.&nm. To keep

yow

work clnmped

innly

to the

bench

just

nghten he


9/16

WonrcsxurSronncs

Wmt n

swrea shapful

f nok

at

o1.umgertips?

ere's

dwmtswer.

ow do

you

make

a

great

bench

even

better? The

answer s

to add

a storageunit

to

the

base.Actually,

he

designwe came

pwith

features

zro storage

units-afrontcabinet

with drawers

nddoors

and

an open shelving

unit in back. And if

that's not

enough,

you

canadd

anoptional

eg-

board

storage

panel

o

eachend. Build

them

all, and

you'll

be able o

put

a shopfuloftools

at

your

fingertips.

The reason

or dividing

the stor-

age

space nto

two separate nits

s

simple. First,

it allows

you

to have

accessible

torageon

both sides of

the bench.

And second,

t keeps he

drawers in the tront cabinet at a

manageable

epth,so items

don't

get

ost

at the back.

Of course,

here's no reason

you

have have

to build

both storage

units.

fyou're

planning

o

place

he

bench up

against a wall,

you

may

only want to build

the cabinet in

fronl So efs

start with that

one.

rRoltt

callltEt

The front cabinet s really

ust

a

ply-

woodbox that's sized o fit in the

space

beneatl tle top

of the work-

bench. fs divided

up into compar

ments or

the drawersandcupboard

storage

areas.The

center section s

constructed irst,

and hen he sides

are

added ater.

(tilTln

Sloloil.The

center ectio

of the cabinet s

ply'wood

ramewor

that creates

the openings for the

drawers. You

can begin by cutting

the top andbottom

A),two

uertfua

d;taiders(B), a hortzontal d,iuid,

(C),

and

a d,xtwer d,iuider

(D)

to

size

om

3/arr

lywood,

as

shown

n

Fig. 1 on the next

page.

The front

edges of all these

ply

wood

panels

need

to be covere

with strips

of

%rLthick

hardwoo

Bank

of dtawers Keep

our

hand.

ook

clean

md arganized

n these

enerousll.sixed.

drawers.PIus,

heJopen

on

full'extensrcn

slides

o

you

can

ill

them

run

front

m back.

t4

Shelving

Unit. U se

every itlch of the bench

b1 adding this shallow

sheluing nit

at the

back. It's

a

perfect

place

for

jigs,

hardware,

and

other supplies.

Plarc

start on

page

19.)

Pegboard.End.

Storage.

In

just

a

few

minutes

1ou

can have

this optional

pegboar

storage

dl1eI

moratted, t eachend.of tfu

bench.See

age

19 to

inl

outhow.

Woodsmith

No.13


10/16

pdg; , ,9 Et .

as shown n F ig . L

l

chose to do this before

asscmbll

because found it

a lo t easier rt,

ahach and rim

the

edging

flu5h

with each

panel

lying flat.

Once he

edging

s in

pJaee.

ou

can

set

up

your

dado

blade o malch

t}e lhickres:

of the

plyvoodyou

rr

u.ing (Fig. la). All the dadoesar r

the samedepth

and width, so when

rheblade \

set up. l 's

ust

a maner

of adjusting

our

rip fence

o

posi

ljon the dadoes

according o Fig. 1.

With all

the dadoescut, now

is a

good

time

to assemble

the center

section. used both

glue

and screws

to do this, drilling

all the

pilot

and

shank holes

beforehand

Fig.

1b). t

makes

sense here

to

work

from the

inside out,

starting by assembling

the horizontal

divider

between the

two vertical dividers. Then you can

add the short

drawer divider

and

the top

and bottom

panels.

slDls.

All

you

have

to do now to

complete he

caseof the cabinet s

to add a

couple of sides

(Fig.

2).

Like

the other

panels you

cut earlier,

the sides

(F)

are also cut from

%rl

pl1.wood.

But these

panels

are cut

l/arr

wider

than the

other

pllwood

panels.

That's

because they'll

be

rabbeted

along the back

edges later

to hold

a

ply-wood

back.

After

cutting

the sides to

size,

hardwood

edging is added

to the

front

edges. Then a rabbet

is cut

along

the ends

of each side to hold

the top and

bottom

(A)

of the cabi-

net

(Fig.

2a).

Before

assembling the

sides o the rest

ofthe cabinet,

a

/arl

wide

rabbet is

cut along

the back

edge of

each side

piece

o hold a

%r'

pll.wood

back that will

be added

later

(Fig.

2b). Then

the sides

can

be

glued

and

screwed n

place.

SHtLvIS.ith the case of the liont

cabinet completed,

he next

step s

to add

the slrcLues

G).

These are

nothing

more

than a couple

of

pieces

of

%

plnvood

with

hard-

wood

edging attached

to the ftont.

The

shelves

are supported

by

brass shelf

pins.

To ensure

that the

holes are

spaced evenly

and line up

accurately,

used

a sinple drilling

template that is

shown in

the draw-

ing in the

mar-gin at right.

No. 133

VERTICAL

DIVIDER

l

1946

t

7-

% '

EDGING

2

-z

OTE:A

palt

@xcept

]h'

pfwood

1

187/16

NOTE:Cut

a

2l

'

wide;

edging

strip

SHELFPI N

TEMPLATE

* A hcLtclbod

pl o.te

lktwt

1

accurately dr

fo.theshelf

Woodsmith 1


11/16

SMALL

DRAWER

Drowers Doors

The center section ofthe cab-

inet is designed

o hold five

dr-awers. hese are

graduated

in size to accomnodate dif-

ferent t]'pes of tools. But the

nice Lhing

s

that

the method

of construction is identical

for

all of them. So other than a

few dimension changes, he

procedure

s the same.

DRAwtR ARIS.started by

cutting the

r/z'Llhick

rl,ruLuer

.li

orrls and becks

(H,

I, J)

anrl drauer sicles

(K,

L) to

size

(Fig.

3). The fronts and

backs are cut 1rr narrower

than the cabilet opening so

there

will be clearance for

the fu l-extension lides.

Next the half-blind dove-

tails that hold the drawer

together can be routed.And

a

groove

for the drawer bot-

tom can be cut on the

inside face of each drawer

piece.

This

groove

is centered on the back of the drawers

with ease, This space is lor the drawer

false

the bottom

pin

of the drawer sides. I

used

fulfetension metal drawer

i:onts that will be added next.

This

way,

it

won't

be

visible on the

slides to mount

the drawers

(Fig.

IATSERONrg.helaLse

fi'ottts

(O,

encls of the workpieces a lter the 4). One halJ of the slide

s screwed P,

Q)

are cut

from

%rlthick

hard-

drawers

are assembled.

to the side

of the drawer, and the

wood

(Fig.

5). They are

simply

tRAw[R oTIoms.he

tlru.uter bctt-

other hall is screwed

o the side of scre,,ved

o the f:ont ofeach drawer

tonts

(M,

N) are allcut from

{rr

ply

the cabinet.

fhe

importart thing is so that there

is a

%6

gap

all around

wood. After they're cut to size, the that when mounting the slide

to the front of the drawer

To make it

drawerscan be gluedup. the cabinet, you allow 3/+ clear- easier o adjus t the false fronts, try

DRAwtRl.lD[s. ecause

I warted

ance between

the slide and the drilling

oversize screw

holes

to be able to

get

to items stored al front edge of the cabinet

(Fig.

4b). through the

%'Lthick

drawer i'onts

SMALL

DRAWER

SIDE

, . @

dratrers Plentl

\,Yith

heatry-dut1,

ull.

ertcnsion lrau,er lides

ou

canmake

goctl

rrse f erer,r-

nch

of

cach rawer.

a.

small/medium

19h6

/_

b'

Large

iii

Woodsmith

No. 133


12/16

first. Then attach the false fronts

using screws and

finish washers,

The oversize holes in the drawer

Ironts should

provide

enough

play

to adjust the false fronts for a

perfect

fit.

Once

he false ronts

are

n

place,

you

can add he metal drawer

pulls.

D00Rs,o enclose he shelves on

either side of the drawers, I added

two doors. These are frame and

panel

doors, assembledwith simple

stub enon and

groovejoinery.

To rlake the doors, start by cut-

ting the cloor raiLs

(R)

and stiles

ISJ

to size

(Fig.

6). Nert, a

groove

is cut

on the inside

edge of each

piece

to

hold a

p\-wood

lrame. \4hen these

grooves

are complete, sfub tenons

are cut

on

the

ends of the

rails

to

fit

in the

grooves

n the stiles.

PANtls. ach door

panel

is

just

a

piece of larrpl1'r,vood. fter cutting

the door

paneLs

(T)

to size, the

doors can be assembled.

HlNGtS. he cabinet

doors are

mounted

on common butt hinges.

wanted

the hinges to match the

other hardware, so I spray

painted

some

ordinary steelhinges black.

After the spray

paint

has dried,

the hinges can be attached

to the

cabinet.To make

this as easyas

pos

sible, mortised eachhinge into the

door stile, but screwed t directly to

the sideofthe cabinet

Fig.

6a).And

creating

he

mortises n

the door

stiles s easy. simplyset he door

on edge and ran it acrossa dado

blade on

my

table saw.

A

tall auxil-

iary miter

gauge

encewill help sup

port

he doorwhile

you

do his.)

Now that the doors are hung, a

pull

can be added to each.Then to

keep each door closed,

installed

a

small magnetic catch

(Figs.

6b).

These catches are mounted to the

underside of the top of the cabine t,

and the strike

plates

are mounted to

the back of eachdoor

No. 133 Woodsmith l7


13/16

Bqrk

At this

point,

the

font

storagecabi-

net s

practically

complete. he only

thing that's eft to do s add

a

back. f

you

ake a ook at Fig. 7,

you

can see

that he

back

s

madeup ofthree sep

arate

ieces

f

%rr

ly.wood.

here

are

two backend,

anels

U)

anda

arger

bach enter

anel

V)

\4tren

measuring o determine

the sizesof these

back

panels,

eep

in mind

that they fit in between he

rabbetscut in the sides

of the cabi-

net but completely over

he back

edges f he

cabinetopandbottom.

After

the

panels

are cut to size,

they're simply

glued

and nailed

to

the back of the

cabinet

with

wire

brads

Figs.

aand7b).

lNSTAll.lt{GHt

ABlNtT.

nstalling

he

cabinet n

the bench couldn't be

muchsimpler. t just slides ntoplace

until the front edge s flush with

the

lower ront rail of

the bench.

tt .

t i

h$

16 1 '

a:Z .: '

t l | l 1 -

'

-\

a

4,

@,j

TOP

SECTION

IEW

TIATERIAIS

Fnorr

tonlor lgrrrr

A Top/Bottom

2)

B Vertica

Dviders

2)

C Hor izDvider

1)

D Drawer iv ider

1)

E Edglng

1)

F Sides

2)

G Shelves2)

H Sm.Drawer

r./Bks.

4)

I

l\,4ed.rawer rlBk

2)

J Lg.Drawer rlBks

4)

SUPPI.IES

.

(48)

8 x 1

Zz

FhWoodscrews

.

(16)

r ' Brasshel f ins

.

(5

pr.)

0' Full-Extensionrawer

lides screws

.

(26)

6 x 1 FhWoodscrews

.

(26)

6 Finish ashers

.

(0)

4%' DoorPullsWscrews

.

\2

pr.)

x 11/2 uItHinges

Wscrews

.

(2)Maqnetlc atches 5trikes ndScrews

.

(76)

16 1 WireBrads

CUTTING DIAGRAM

%

x

51/r 96 Hard Maple

(3.7

Bd. Ft.)

ALSO NEEDED:Two

theels ol

lz

maple

plwood

and two sheets of

t/4

maple

plwood

3/<

ly

-

21 x

647/s

3hp)y .

21

x 18he

3/a

p|y.

21 x 341h

3h

fly.

-

21 x 41/<

3/ax%

48l in . f t .

3h

ply.

211/'t 197/ta

3/< ly. 20 x 145/ta

1 /2x31/z_

155k

t / 2 x 3 t / 2 - 3 3

1/2x43/ax33

K

Sm./Med.DrawerSides(6)

1/z

x 31/z 193/q

M 5m.Drawer tms.

2)

1/a

ly.

197ha151ha

N Lg

Drawer tms.

3)

%

ply

-

197/a

327/ra

O Sm.Drawer al se ronts

2)

3/qx35k

161/z

P IVed.Drawer a lse ront

1)

3/tx3s/e

337/a

Q

Lg Drawer alse

ronts

2)

3/qx

3/q 337/s

L Lg.Drawer ides

4)

R Door

Ra s

4)

5 DoorSties

4)

T DoorPanels2)

W TopiBottom

2)

X Sides

2)

Y Div ider

1)

Z

BackPane

(2 )

AAShelves

2)

1/2x43/e-193/c

U

Back

End Panels

2)

1/t

ly.

155/ax 197/te

V BackCenterPanel

1)

1/t

ly.

343/ax197/ta

Srrrvne

Ulll

3,/<

x 21/z

1051e

3 / q x 2 1 / z - 1 7 1 3 1 a

l/t ply - 101/a 133/t

3/t

ply.

71/2 647/a

3/<

ly.

73/ax

197/ra

3/t

ply

-

71/z

187/ta

l/a

)y.

321he 197/ra

3/'+

ly.

7% x 31l1 /ra

3h

x 9'/a 96 Hard Maple

(6.2

ad Ft)

1/2

x 7le'

-

96 Hard

K K

2

K

K

x9%

-

96 Hard

,%

Woodsmith No. 133


14/16

Shelving

nit

The ront storage abinet

oesn't om-

pletely

ill

the space nder he bench.

So

I

addedan openshelvingunit at

the back.This unit startsoff as

a basic

box and eatures he

sameconstruc-

tion as he ront

cabinet.But the urit

isn't

asdeepas he front cabinet,

ld

therearen'tanydrawersor doors.So

ids

quite

a bit easier o build.

I started building

the shelving

unit by cutting

he main

pieces

o

size.

As

you

can see n Fig. 8, here's

a top atJJd.ottotn

(W),

two

sid€s

(X),andad,i

d.er Y).These

anels

are all cut from

%rr

plwood

and

then

%r'

hardwoodedging s applied

to the front edgesof each

piece.

Once he

edging s in

place,

ou

can begin on the

joinery.

Rabbets

are cut on the

endsof the sides o

hold the top and bottompanels.A

rabbet

s also cut along

he back

edgeof eachside o hold

the back

panels

hat will

be added ater.

The

top and bottom

panels

each

receivea dado o hold

the divider

panel

(Fig.

8b).

This

dado s cen-

tered

on the ength ofthe

panels.

When

you've

inished

cutting all

the rabbets

and dadoes,he shelv-

ing

unit can be assembled. ike

the

cabinet,

hese

pieces

are

ust

glued

andscrewed

ogether

@ig.

8c).

SHRI ltlHouS. eforeadding he

back,

someshelf

pin

holes need

o

be drilled n the cabinet

ides.

uain

I used a

simple emplate o do this.

But

since he spacingof

theseholes

isn't the sameas he

front cabinet,

you'll

need

a new emplate

Fig.

8a).

Once the shelf

pin

holes have

beendrilled,you can add a back to

the unit. This time, he back s made

up of two identically-sized

anels

of

larr

ply.rvood,

s shown n Fig.9.

After cutting these wo back

pane\s

(Z)

to final

size, hey can be nailed

in

place

with

brads

@ig.

9a).

SHIIVIS.ll that's eft now s to add

lwo shBlues.44). These arepieces

of

la

ply.wood

with

a strip of

hard-

wood

edging

glued

to each ront

edge

(Fig.

9). When he shelvesare

in

place,you

can slide the shelving

unit into the bench

ust

like

you

did

with the front cabinet.

W

I th6"

l_

NOTE: All

pieces (except

edgind aie

3/a

plwood

BOTTOM

ffyou're looking

or additional torage,

these

pegboard

palels provide

a con-

venient

place

o hanga ew exka oolsat

the endsofthe workbench. he best

part

is that here'shardly

aryttring o them.

All

you

need o do s nail somecleats

to the legs and upper and lower

end

rails of the bench.Then

place

a

piece

of

pegboard

against he cleatsand ack a

second

set of cleats down to hold the

pegboard

n

place.

Add a few hooks,

and

you're

eady

o

hang

some ools.

o.

1

2"

45/s

Woodsmith


15/16

NOTE:Remove

ront

jaw (with rods) before

aftacntng rear

law

.'.

.-, .

*--

(11/a'

hick)

THIRD:

ayout

SuopNoms

you

have a

snrooth,

paddecl

face

the lergth

of the

bench or clal.rping.

The

large thce

block has

dog holes that

align with

thc holes in

thc bcnch so

you

cal

sccurewiclework-

pieces.

lt also sprcads

clanpilg

pressurc.

To inslall

tht'vise,

you'11

neecl

o take it

aparl first.

This isn't

as scar y as it

sounds. B5r renoving a

cotter

kel', I was

ablc to

seDarate he front

jaw

of

ny vise

(a1ong

with the

guide

rods

and threaded

shaft)

[-onl the rearjaw

Insfallation

of thc vise

bcgins beforc'

.ou

attach

the i'onl

apron. As

you

can

scc n Fig I,

a

pocket

is

laid out and

r-outed n

thc back ace

0Ithe apron.

Position

his

pocket

so

tht'

vise wil l

be center

d

betwcer the dog

holcs in

the beuch.

Its size s

r,/r,;

wider

ancl a11erhan

thc

rear

aw

of the visc.

Once lhc pockel is

clone,

hc apron

can be

altachcd

o the bench

top

ancl

you

ca| movc

on to

the seconcl

tcp

-

attach-

irg the vise.

Siarf by adcling

spacer

block under

thc bench

top.Tl.ris

piccc

,lis he

gap

llelwecn

the

s?,pllo11

bltr;l;

(l,I)

and

fhc vise

irounting

plate (l'ig.

3). I

routerl

a.ifrr rounclover

on

olre

e(lgc so it woulcl

fit

snugly

behincl

lhc

ja w

After the

spaccr is cut to

size. 1's

glued

n

place.

Ncxt, a selies

of holes

neecls1obc drilled. If you

iook

at l. ' i .q.2,

ou'l l

scc

1wo

counterboredhoics

n

thc top of

lhc bencl. i.

'I)rese

acccpt hex head

bolls

that

pass

througlr

fllounting

o Vise

Aclclinga visc

to

the worl


16/16

the vise. And

hvo holes

through

the tionl

apron

allorv

access

o screws

that attach lle rcar

jaw

t0

thebench

Fis.

3b).

To 1a1'

u1 hs ht1..

;I

the

berch top,

yoll

wiutt to

worii

out liom

the center-

l ine oi 1hcpocliel n the

aprol

atrl the

centc,rline

of the mourting

p1ate.

The

ncxt thing

Lo do is

to

dril l the access

holes

through the

fr ol]t apron

(Fig.

2). Thcsr:

holes need

to be

big enough

to allow

lhe

screws

to

pass

fhrough. Her-c

again, ay

out the

holes by worhing

lron

the centerlines

of tl.ie

rearjaw

and he

pockel.

The third step is rrak

ing

and nrorrnting

th e

wood.[rr:r,

Dlocl'' l]. This

consists

0f two slabs

of

1Ll,rr-thick

maple

gluecl

together

(Fig.

,1).

Before

rloin.q hat,

a racliusneecis

to be

cut on each

end of

one block as

you

can see

in irig. 4a.

did this

on thc

band

saw, helr

sandcd l]e

curves

mooth.

Alter

gluirg

the

piect's

togelhcf,

ay out

an(l drill a

cotqrleol ciog

holcs r the

jaw

so hat

thcy aligrl wilh

the holes

in the

bench.

Then

to mounl

thc face

block,

ust

usc the vise 10

clan4r 1he

block

against

the apron lvith the top

edges antl

cnds llush

(Figs.

zla

and

,1b).

-l'wo

scrcws

secule t

fo theja\a'.

lvhen

you

clo-se

hc

jaws

of the vise,

f

oull

rolicc

a

srtrail

ga p

bctweerl thc

aprol l incl

the bot10[l

of the facc

block,

like

l

ou

sec in the

photo

at right.

DoLr't

lvorry.

The vise

aws

cant

(tilt)

in

slightl]'

at thc top.

Thc reason s that as you

cianp

a worlipiece,

it

lorccs

the top

oI thc.vise

apart.This

li lt heeps

hc

jarvs

paral1cl.

i

S

T|r rrr1.,

d.qcs

f

tfit

141's

ilr

n

sliqfirh

r , . , ( . r . , r ' ' . ' .

r ' i l . , .

rhrrr

ciri l o Jr-rtr

h.r ()f cdg.s

)rrrt

Cuttingenonson long Roils

When

twas ime

to cut he

tenons

on the

raiis for

lhc

workbench

on

pagc

6, I

neecled

way o

handle

.ie

long

pieces

sa{clir.

I.i.q.1

shows he

outrig

ger

system

l

carne up

with

1o support

he ends

that

cxtend

past

the wing

of the

lablc saw.

Just

clarrp

a board

to a saw

horsc

so tl.iat

it rnatches

the height

ofthe wing.

An

auxilialy

felce

attached

to the

nitc.r

gauge

helps sulDort

th e

piece.

And a

hold'clown

clamped

to

the lencc

kceps tl le

rail

pressed

firnly

to the lablc.

This

lets

you

use

bolh hands

tcr

push

the

rvorhpicce

through

the cu..

W

'

Clamp hold

dawn

to auxiliary

fence to

prevent

rail from

tipping

, o{,'^,,,

;,'i'-

.-'

t

a

edge of

autrigget support

level with

table saw winq

Outrigger

t\

heavy duty workbench plan

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