My Shaker style workbench. After working for many years on sawhorses and makeshift tables I decided it was time to build a bench that fits my style of work. One that allowed good work holding and was suited for power tool use but was solid enough for hand tools use when needed. Plans for the bench are available here
Time to get started.
To get this build started I milled up enough cherry stock to make the legs and upper and lower rails. The legs are 2 in. x 2 in. and 33 inches tall. The upper rails are 2 inch x 3 inch while the lowers are 2 inch x 4 inch. The front and rear rails are 56 inches long and the side rails are 20 inches long.
Rear and end panels.
I also made the center supports for the front, back and end panels at the same time. While those were drying, I used my bandsaw to resaw some 1 inch thick cherry stock, and this allowed me to book matched the panels. The rear and side rails along with the legs received groves to accept the floating panels.
Starting assembly.
I used the Festool Domino for joinery but traditional mortise and tenon is another option. I assembled the rear panel and end panels and let them dry. The next morning, I assembled the two side panels and the rear panel. Now its time for the front assembly.
The front assembly.
I built the front assembly and the two center supports. The two center supports give me places for the drawer slides. Another result from this is that they transfer any forces from the top directly to the floor. This design has 12 points to transfer any forces from the top to the floor making it very solid.
Interior assembly.
The next step was to install 7 pair of drawer slides and build drawer boxes to fit. The plans have 4 shallow drawers (two in each cabinet) but I decided that I was going to use two one the left and one on the right. The extra drawer on the right can be added at a later time if I need it..
Let’s build the doors.
Now I am so close to complete. Time for the doors. These are standard floating panel doors. The panels are book matched and are set in grooves cut in the rails and stiles. I must say they look great. I added mission style hardware to finish off the main assembly of the bench.
At last the top!
The last thing to build was the top. I used white oak for my top. I made the top by laminating 28 strips of oak to reach my desired dimension. My final dimensions for the top are 28×72 and 2.75 thick. I finished the bench with three coats of a wipe on poly. The top has two coats, just enough to keep glue from soaking into the top while I am doing a build.
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