Hello All!
I've finally completed my first woodworking project...a bench! I don't have many pics of the build but, I've decided to post the ones I do have.

I want to say THANK YOU to everyone here since I couldn't have done it without you. I especially want to thank Mr. Frank Pellow for the awesome documentation of his bench.

As a newbie woodworker I can't comment on the efficiency of Festool since I don't have a reference point. What I can comment on is how Festool excels in the safety arena...wow! I first started this bench using a table saw and after several miscuts and a big hole in the siding of my garage from an offshoot piece of maple, I decided to break down and invest in the TS55. Nuttin like being able to rip 10ft long pieces of 8/4 hard maple and still have all 10 digits when ur done!!!

Once again, A Great Big THANK YOU ALL!!!

Ken

Very nice Ken --- good job.

Justin

Beautiful bench Ken.

Fred

Thank you Frank,

I spent many hours and made many mistakes along the way. When I first decided to do this as a hobby, I contemplated buying a bench. Nah! I'll make my own, how hard can it be?? In hindsight...quite hard! You guys make it look too simple!!

At times it was frustrating, but at the start I viewed it as a learning experience. Boy did I learn a lot!!! Everything from ripping and squaring rough lumber, structural design, wood characteristics and movement, glue-up's, M&T joinery,  planing flat, sanding and finishing...you name it, It's All In There!!!

I couldn't have done it without the member's invaluable contributions on this forum.

Hopefully I will be able to contribute more in the future as I gain more experience. I am currently building an 8ft. wide cherry VC Ply built-in computer desk for a friend which is a whole new challenge for me. Cabinet making is teaching me that square is square, it is or it's not. If all goes well I'll post some pic's...just don't expect anything extravagant. It really is just a simple desk. Ok, gotta go. Time to get some ply and start cuttin!

Once Again, Thank You All

Ken

So Ken, what is the finish on the bench ?  Did I miss this?   

Justin

Thank you everyone, I think I'm starting to blush...

I'll try to put something together detailing as much as I can and post it soon. I don't know about being advanced, I believe it was more about determination and willingness to correct mistakes even if it meant hours of more work. The learning curve was long yet prosperous. It's not perfect by any means, yet even with the imperfections I can look at it with the satisfaction of knowing "I made this". I guess that's how most of everyone here feels.

Justin, I used minwax satin wipe on poly for the base and many applications of Watco danish oil for the top followed by carnauba wax.

Ken

Nothing like sizing your project to be purpose-built.  My surfin' buddies would be proud.  When I finally get around to building  my own bench, it will be purpose built too!  I'll size the vise to be big enough to crush my computer - so that when I retire I never have to touch another computer again

Beautiful bench!  Give the man a prize!

Keep up the good work.

Ken,

That is remarkable for a first project, very, very nice.
I really like the zebra with the maple.

Thanks for sharing.

-pete

I finally managed to get some time to add a few of the construction notes for my bench.

First let me begin by saying it started by researching "traditional Woodworker's" benches on the net and decided on a hard maple top. Shopping for the 2" maple was very hard since it really can't be found at my local HD or Lowe's. I finally wound up in the South Bronx where I found what I was looking for at an exotic wood supplier. While I was there I saw so many types of wood I've never heard of. Wenge, Sapelle, Anigre, Ipe, Morado...jeez. Beautiful stuff! However there was one species that really caught my eye, that was the Zebra. I decided very quickly that this would be the perfect compliment as an apron for my maple bench. $15 a board foot..who cares?? I had to have it!

Specs:
Top: 96.5"L x 30"W x 35.75H 8/4 Hard Maple d2s
Tool Tray: 3.5"W x 2" D
The top was all hand planed then sanded with RO125 from 60-180 grit and finishing with about 5 applications of danish oil and then "wet sanding" with platin s2000. The underside of the top was coated with 3 heavy coats of minwax water based poly to seal the wood against moisture.

Base: Hard Maple all 8/4 laminated using Titebond 3. 3.5"x3.5" with handcut 2" M&T joinery.
Bottom Slat Shelf: 4/4 Hard Maple with 1/4 roundover on top.
Stretcher's 66"L x 4"W x 1.75" (single pc. of 8/4)
Finished with 3 coats of satin"wipe on Poly"

Apron: 4"x 96.5  4/4 Zebrawood
Same as top.

The bench was designed to be a knockdown version in case it needed to be moved. I used the Veritas Bench bolts to attach the stretchers to the base, screws to attach the apron and a single 4" lag bolt screwed into both sides of the base from the bottom to the top to allow for wood movement. Made a few mistakes here, one of which was not paying attention and drilling the opening for the barrel nut on the wrong side of the stretcher! The fix was to drill 3 more matching holes and cover with 1.5" maple buttons which I stained to match the zebra. The other major mistake was using only 4" wide stretchers, I cut 3" blocks which cut with my psb 300 and attached them underneath to provide a 7" joint to the main base. I wanted to be 100% confident there would be no rocking or racking of the bench. It worked! SOLID LIKE A ROCK!!! Can do the Jig on top of the bench if ya feel like it!!

The Vise is Rockler's 12'' Quick Release End Vise which was attached to a 2" spacer underneath the top. Forstner bit for holes. I shaped the jaws by plotting dots 2" from the outside of the vise every 1" and connected the dots by hand, then I used the jigsaw to cut the shape.

Round dog holes were chosen for convenience and are 3/4" with 7.5" O.C. spacing.

In conclusion, this was a very challenging, time consuming and rewarding project and I owe a big thanks to everyone here. Thanks!!

Ken
Here are some pics...

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Here are the last of the build pics

Squaring up


Before and after sanding zebra


Ken

Great job Ken.

Thank you for the tips Dave,

I haven't been able to post much lately with my too hectic schedule. I put the cherry desk on hold for a bit, but will be returning to it this week. I'll be sure too post some pictures as I progress.

Ken