SHAKER-STYLE WORKBENCH

2012 August Home Publishing Co.

Heirloom Project

shaker-style

Workbench
at whatever angle you need for sawing, planing, scraping, or sanding. The tail vise and accompanying dog holes can accommodate flat workpieces. The leg vise works in conjunction with a sliding board jack to hold even the largest workpieces on edge for work with a hand plane. Whether youre jointing an edge, cutting dovetails, or surface planing stock, this solid-wood bench will absorb the forces of most hand-tool operations without a wobble. I used a combination of mortise and tenon joinery along with a few long bolts to make sure the base is sturdy enough for any task or project. The bolts allow you to periodically tighten things up to eliminate racking. On top of the rugged design, the beautiful Douglas fir will inspire your craftsmanship for years to come. All in all, this bench will be an indispensable tool and provide generations of service.

This traditional and solid design is as useful today as it was 200 years ago. It has all the features you need for building great projects.
Ive designed and built several workbenches over the years, some traditional and some more modern. But when it comes to Old-World, hand-tool craftsmanship, this very traditional style is tough to beat. This bench inspired by the massive benches used by Shaker craftsmen has sound construction, an ample worksurface, and an easyaccess storage cabinet. Its also designed to hold just about any size or shape of workpiece

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WS20028

2012 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.

OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 3314"D x 90"L x 3412"H

Benchtop is a lamination of edge-grain strips ripped from 8/4 stock
NOTE: Assembling benchtop in sections allows you to flatten each section using a planer

xt s

NOTE: Square bench dog holes are cut before assembling the top (see page 8 for details)

Updated tail vise is easy to build Cleat screwed to upper rails fixes benchtop in position Board jack supports workpieces held in the leg vise Stretchers attach to legs with carriage bolts, nuts, and washers

Traditional leg vise is built with off-the-shelf hardware Solid-wood track on front rail and underside of front edge of the benchtop allows board jack to slide to any position

Tenons on rails are secured with pegs

d
NOTE: Plans for the cabinet, shelf, and drawers that fit below the top of the workbench begin on page 15 NOTE: For information on where to find the hardware necessary to build the bench, see Sources on page 21

Chamfer softens the corners while the decorative lamb's tongue adds another traditional detail

Shop-made decorative plate serves as a washer for the carriage bolts that connect the stretchers to the rails

Contrasting walnut pegs lock rail tenons in mortises

{ The tail vise features strong jaws,

but it really shines when holding a workpiece at between bench dogs.

{ One way to personalize the bench is

to add decorative stippling. The details can be found on page 12.

{ A sliding board jack makes supporting

long boards a snap. The peg can be set for any width of workpiece.

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WS20028

2012 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.

This is callout text NOTE: This is

NOTE: All mortises in 3!/2" -square legs are centered on width

a.

2 2

3!/2

b.

6 3!/2 2 3%/8 5&/8 1#/4

A

3%/8
A

17!/4 !/16 &/16 2#/4" square mortise

31!/2

This is callout text NOTE: This is 3 31!/2

B

LEG

Mortise is 2" deep

!#/16"-dia. through hole

1!/4

2 2#/16

1!/8 1&/8" dia.hole SIDE SECTION VIEW

VISE LEG 8!/4 17!/4 is callout text 3 This!/16 NOTE: This is 1 8&/8 9%/8 6!/2 12!/4 17!/4 This is !/16 callout text NOTE: This is NOTE: All parts are glued up from 8/4 stock !/8" roundover on bottom and side edges 2!/4 Mortise is !/2"deep

SIDE SECT. VIEW

c.

TOP SECTION VIEW

A

d.
1 3!/2

LEG Lamb's tongue and chamfer on outside corner of legs only BACK VIEW

Typical Plywood endgrain &/16" 2 (#/4dia. " shown) 3!/2 !/2

starting with the LEGS

Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4" shown) 17!/4 !/16

The first requirement for any workbench is, of course, stability. It needs to be able to stand up to the weight of heavy projects, blows from a mallet, and the racking Typical Plywood endgrain forces of hand planing. (#/4" shown) And while the solid-wood top youll add later provides part of the solution, it all starts with a sturdy base. For that, I relied on heavy-duty
Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4" shown) This is callout text NOTE: This is

legs, rails, and stretchers assembled using mortise and tenon joinery. I started work on the base by building two rock-solid end assemblies. Although the left end needs to accommodate the leg vise and has a few different details, the construction of both is similar. Stretchers tie the ends together. LEGS. The end assemblies begin with a pair of legs. All but the left front leg are 312" square. In order to accommodate the leg vise, the left front leg is wider (6"). I glued up 8/4 stock to attain the necessary thickness for the legs.

If you cut them a little oversize, its a simple matter to joint them square and plane them to final thickness and width. JOINERY. After the legs are cut and squared up, you can turn your attention to the joinery. But before you begin, youll want to label each leg according to its position. No two legs are the same, so its important to avoid confusion. I also laid out the position of every joint on the face of each leg while I had them on the bench. All of the legs have mortises for both the upper and lower rails.

How-To: Mortise & Counterbore

A

This is callout text NOTE: This is

Drill 2"-dia. counterbore first, then the 1!/8"-dia. through hole

Forstner bit END SECTION VIEW 2" dia. 1!/8" dia.

Pattern bit

This is callout text NOTE: This is 17!/4 !/16

a.

a.
A

END SECT. VIEW Template

Waste

17!/4 Center !/16 piece of template is width of mortise

Drill &/16"-dia. through hole , centered on mortise width

2#/16
B

17!/4 !/16

Mortise. Attach the template to the leg with double-sided tape. Then use a plunge router to rout the mortises.
3

Drilling Bolt Holes. After routing the stretcher mortises, drill the bolt holes at the drill press.
WS20028

Drilling the Counterbore. Drill the large diameter hole rst, then swap bits and drill the through hole of the leg vise screw.
2012 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.

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And they also have mortises for the stretchers. Because these mortises are all quite long and deep, I used a This is callout text NOTE: This is SECOND: Pull leg away from bit plunge router to cut them. 1 when second layout line reaches 6!%/16 To guide the router, I made a bit centerline template for each mortise. This Layout technique guarantees theyre all line sized accurately. It also leaves very 4 This is callout text B text smooth walls in the mortises to NOTE: This is This is callout 17!/4 NOTE: This is Centerline ensure strong glue joints. !/16 of bit Round Tall ROUTER TEMPlATES. Theres nothing t text aux. his is Hollow fancy about the templates that I fence a. END VIEW made. All you need to do is use !/2 some scrap wood or plywood 17 to !/4 !/2 1&/16"-dia. assemble them. Just cut two pieces 17!/4 leg chamfer FIRST: Pivot !/16 bit into bit so that top to the width of the mortise and glue !/16 layout line aligns LAMB'S TONGUE them between two longer pieces, with bit centerline 17!/4 TEMPLATE making sure to size the opening to (full size) !/16 match the mortise. Stopped Chamfer. The key to accurate stopped chamfers is the After laying out the location, layout marks on the workpiece and the fence. After that, all you need affix the template to the leg with to do is match them up and hold the workpiece at while routing. double-sided tape and begin routThis is callout text with a dado-cleanout bit, ing. Start 2 3 NOTE: This is Waste Plywood then switch to a pattern bit. The left Typical endgrain B (#/4" shown) drawing at the bottom of the previous page has the details. Take several Use a chisel to square up ends shallow passes, increasing the depth of chamfer V-notch blocks help to secure after each one. Then clean up the corleg while Lay template along Typical Plywood 17!/4 a chisel. ners using chiseling leg chamfer and leg endgrain Typical Plywood !/16 edge to trace lamb's LAMBS TONGUE. Now, you start (#/4can " shown) endgrain tongue profile This is callout text (#/4" shown) on the lambs tongue chamfer on NOTE: This is wood three of the legs. (The vise leg does Square the Ends. Youll need to clean up Lamb's Tongue Prole. Use the template n wn) not share this prole.) For this, start the ends of the chamfers with a chisel before above to trace the lambs tongue prole by installing a chamfer bit in the moving on to carving the lambs tongue. onto the sides of the workpieces. router table. I also marked the centerline of the bit on the fence. This Work from Take light cuts 417!/4 5 both sides to to prevent tearout way, you can make start and stop shape hollow !/16 marks on the leg blank to dene the length of the chamfer. You can see what the How-To box This I ismean calloutin text Chamfer NOTE: This is at right. Youll complete the lambs Avoid marring tongue with a chisel. Waste chamfer surface BOlT HOlES. At this point, I drilled Typical Plywood This is callout text endgrain the bolt holes in the stretcher morCarving the Prole. Take light cuts and pay Completing the Rough-Out. Make the NOTE: This is (#/4" shown) tises on the back legs. By drilling attention to the grain direction as you rough last few paring cuts with the grain and them now, you 17 can out the prole with bench or paring chisels. check the prole from both sides. !/4 use the drill press to keep them straight and !/16 make sure theyre centered on the 6 7 width of the mortises. 17!/4 As you can see in the right drawHand sand !/16 round to smooth ing on page 3, I also routed another Typical Plywood surface square mortise to hold the vise hard- endgrain (#/4" shown) Use a dowel with sandpaper ware on the back side of the leg. Then Refine the hollow to clean up hollow with a carving knife I drilled holes in the vise leg for the vise screws. On the front side, the hole for the vise screw needs to be Rening the Shape. A carving knife is the Sanding. If necessary, wrap a small piece counterbored for the nut. For this, I perfect tool for cleaning up the chiseled of 220-grit sandpaper around a 12"-dia. just used a Forstner bit. surfaces and rening the prole. dowel for the nal cleanup.
4
Typical Plywood endgrain

How-To: Lambs Tongue

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WS20028

2012 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.

#/8"-dia. x 3" walnut dowel

Notch cut at front end of rail only

C

Add !/16" chamfer around end of dowels before inserting

C

a.
!/2

2 !/2

b.

#/8

#/8

4!/2

22 26

UPPER RAIL This is callout text 1 NOTE: This is &/16"-dia. hole 1 1#/4 17!/4 !/16
D

This is callout text 4!/8 This is NOTE: !/4

xt s 9

#/8 1 17!/4 1#/4 !/16 !/2 #/8

8!/4

6!/4

1
D

c.

#/8 1 2!/4 #/8

/4

16

LOWER RAIL

Drill #/8"-dia. x 2!/2"-deep hole for dowel pins after assembly

This is callout text NOTE: This is #/4"-dia. x #/4"-deep hole to store board jack peg 17 10!/2 This is callout text NOTE: This is NOTE: Tenons are 17!/4 pinned in mortises !/16 with #/8"-dia. x 3" walnut dowels

NOTE: Rails are made from 1#/4"-thick stock

6!/4

4!/2

d.
C

completing the BASE FRAME

Leg
D

FRONT SECTION VIEW 17!/4 Plywood Typical endgrain !/16 #/4" shown) edge shows (how

Dowel sits !/16" proud of leg surface

Once youve completed the four legs, TENONS. The box below its time to get busy on the rails and I cut the tenons using a dado blade stretchers. The rails connect each pair and a long auxiliary fence on the of legs and form the end subassem- miter gauge. I also set the rip fence blies. After that, youll connect the to match the length of the tenon. two ends with the three stretchers. Now you can cut the tenons by raisRAIlS. As you can see in the draw- ing the blade to sneak up on a snug ing above, the two rails are dif- t in the mortises you cut in the legs Plywood earlier. Then cut the small notch in ferent widths, but both need a Typical endgrain the upper 1"-thick x 2"-long tenon. You can (#/4 " shown) rails (detail a). start by cutting both rails to final CUT ThE RABBET. Youll notice that the length and width. upper rails are rabbeted on the top

Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4" shown)

to form a long tongue. This tongue ts into a dado youll cut in the benchtop later. I cut the rabbets using the dado blade in the table saw by attaching an auxiliary rip fence and burying part of the blade. Then, its a simple matter to cut perfect rabbets. The left drawing at the bottom of the next page shows the details. STRETchER MORTISE. The lower rail has a shallow mortise in order to hold

How-To: Tenons & Notches

Rip fence This is callout text NOTE: This is a. #/4"dado blade This is callout text NOTE: This is 17!/4 !/16
C

Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4" shown)

This is callout text NOTE: Rip This is fence END VIEW 2 #/8 This is callout text NOTE: This is 17!/4 !/16

Tall aux. miter fence Aux. rip fence END VIEW 2 #/8

a.

a.

END VIEW !/4 !/2

Tenons. With a long auxiliary fence on the miter gauge and the rip fence used as a !/4 stop, cut the 17 tenons using a dado blade.
!/16

Shoulder Cuts. You can use the same blade and fence setup to make 17!/4 the shoulder cuts on the tenons.
!/16

Upper Rail Notch. Install an auxiliary rip fence and bury part of the dado blade to cut the notch in the upper rail.
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WS20028

#/8"-dia. x 8" carriage bolt

BACK STRETCHER

4 57 58
NOTE: Back and center stretchers are attached with #/8"-dia. x 8"carriage bolts, nuts, and washers

the center stretcher. The box below is callout text walks This you through the process. I NOTE: This is made a template and routed out the waste, then squared up the mortise with a chisel. Finish up by drilling the holes for the bolts. At this point, you can dry fit the !/4 clamp everyrails into the legs 17 and !/16 making sure thing in position. After everything is square, drill the holes for the dowel pins at the positions shown in the main drawing and detail d on the previous page. Remove the clamps and cut the walnut dowels to length. Brush glue in the mortises, on the tenons, and on the dowels, then assemble the ends.

7 CENTER STRETCHER
F

3 58#/4 59#/4 Shop made aluminum plate, refer to page 19

G

54!/2

55!/2

FRONT STRETCHER

NOTE: Front stretcher is assembled without glue

NOTE: Stretchers are made from 8/4 stock

b.

Lower rail

This is callout text #/8This is NOTE: #/8 #/8

G

TOP SECTION VIEW 1#/4 5!/2 1 !/2 This is callout text

NOTE: This is

d.
Back leg
E

Aluminum plate

STRETchERS
This is callout text The two end assemblies are joined NOTE: This is with three stretchers: One at the back, one at the front, and one cenTypical Plywood endgrain tered on the lower rails. While the (#/4" shown) mortise and tenon joints on the end rails are glued, the stretchers are 17!/4 bolts. This is a joined using long !/16 for periodically great way to allow tightening up the base. RIP TO WIDTh. The stretchers are made from 134"-thick stock ripped to the widths shown in the drawing above. After ripping them, cut each one to nal length. Each stretcher also requires a 12"long tenon on both ends. While all are the same length and thickness, youll note that the tenons on the

!/8" roundover 17!/4 This is callout #/8 !/16text !/2 This is a. NOTE:

c.

Back leg

TOP SECTION VIEW 1#/4 4 1!/2 17!/4 !/16

E

Lower rail

1!/4 1!/4
F

BACK VIEW

upper back stretcher are a little different. There is no shoulder cut on the upper edge. Instead, this edge of the tenon 17 sits flush with the top of !/4 the leg (detail d). !/16 POcKETS. The back and center stretchers have another feature D-shaped pockets in the back. These pockets hold the nuts and washers for the bolts (details b and c). To cut the pockets to shape, I made Typical Plywood another router template, as shown endgrain in the right (#/4" shown) drawing below.
This is callout text NOTE: This is

PlATES. As a nishing touch, I made decorative plates for the ends of the center rail. (Details in Shop Notebook on page 19.) The bolts t through the plates. ASSEMBlY. Now its time to assemble the base. Just t the stretchers into the mortises (without using glue) and drill the holes into the end grain of the stretchers using the holes in the rails as your guide. Typical Plywood Then add the nuts, bolts, and washendgrain (#/4"to shown) ers complete the assembly.

{ The decorative
plate also serves as a washer.

Rabbets, Mortise, & Pockets

Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4" shown) This is callout text NOTE: This is Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4" shown) Aux. fence
C

17!/4

a.

Clean up corners with chisel

!/2" dado clean-out bit

!/16
D

Plunge router with pattern bit #/4" radius 1#/4

Template
F

1!/2

END VIEW !/16 This is callout text #/4"dado blade !/2 NOTE: This is 17!/4 #/8

a.
This is callout text NOTE: This is !/2 D 1 Template END SECTION VIEW

a.
Template
F B END 1!/2 SECT. VIEW

Clean up corners with chisel

NOTE: Rout pocket in multiple passes

Rabbets. Using the auxiliary rip 17!/4 fence again, cut the long rabbets to !/16 form the tongue on the upper rail.
6

Stretcher Mortise. Attach the template to the lower rail with double-sided tape 17!/4 and rout the stretcher mortise. !/16
WS20028 Typical Plywood
endgrain

Stretcher Pockets. The bearing on a pattern bit follows the template to rout the pockets in the back and center stretchers.
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NOTE: Top sections are made from 1#/4"-thick hardwood, ripped into 3!/8"widths and turned on their side to expose straight edge grain

BENCHTOP 17!/4 !/16

NOTE: Benchtop is glued up in sections to allow planing prior to final assembly

a.

5#/4 !!/16

86!/2
H

3#/4 12 2

Benchdog holes TOP VIEW

1!/16

b.
80#/4 1 !/2 3!/2
J

85

!/2 1
I

59!/2

70 !#/16

!/4
NOTE: See Shop Notebook, page 16, for more information about routing bench dog holes

TAIL VISE SECTION

7!/4
J 70 Typical Plywood BENCH DOG This endgrain is callout text STRIP (#/4 " shown) NOTE: This is NOTE: Bench dog section and back strip of benchtop are glued on after cutting the dadoes on the underside of the benchtop

FRONT SECTION VIEW

NOTE: Finished width of top is 29#/4"

c.
H

building the TOP

This is callout text NOTE: This is 17!/4 !/16

1 !/2

1!/4

2 !/2

3#/4

FRONT SECTION VIEW

As I said earlier, mass is important in a workbench. And this laminated, solid-wood top provides mass in spades. Assembling the top in nar17!/4 rower sections is the way to go. This !/16 allows you to make a few method also preparations for the tail vise assembly. PREPARE ThE BlANKS. The rst step in a successful glueup is to start with properly planed and square blanks. The strips will be turned on their sides to expose the edge grain in the Typical Plywood assembled top, so by planing both
endgrain (#/4" shown)

sides you effectively joint the edges that will be glued up. Remember, youll be planing the assembled sections later, so dont cut the pieces to nal width or length yet. This gives you the option of cutting off any checking or planer snipe and planing the sections to nal thickness. RIP ThE STRIPS. I started at the table saw with a good rip blade. Just set the rip fence and rip the stock into 18 strips (this gives you one extra to help out with grain matching).

LAY OUT ThE STRIPS. Now you can arrange the strips for the best appearance. Once you have a layout you like, mark the top so you can reassemble the strips in order. (I used a triangle mark as shown in the center drawing below.) GlUING UP SUBASSEMBlIES. The main drawing shows how I grouped the strips into subassemblies. The idea is to glue up each subassembly, then atten and thickness them by running them through the planer.

How-To: Build the Laminated Benchtop

Outfeed support

Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4" shown)

Rip blade

This is callout text NOTE: This is

a.
17!/4 END VIEW !/16

3 !/8

A large triangle allows you to reassemble the strips ordertext This is in callout NOTE: This is

Ripping. Rip the individual strips a little bit wide. This allows you to plane the glued-up sections to nal width.
7

Grain Matching. Experiment with differ17!/4 patterns until youre ent color and grain !/16 the nal positions. satised, then mark
WS20028

Planing. After gluing up the sections, scrap off the glue squeezeout and run each section through the planer.

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29#/4 86!/2

NOTE: If you plan to add the drawer cabinet on page 15, don't attach the benchtop to the base at this time

Finally, assemble them all to form the full-sized benchtop. All this contributes to an easy final assembly of just a few joints. I started by breaking the main part of the benchtop into three sections of four or five pieces each. (I left the outside piece off for now.) I also glued up another, shorter section for the tail vise. Before you get started, let me give you a piece of advice. When gluing up multiple segments, the key to success is to be thoroughly prepared. Dry assemblies, including laying out the clamps, help everything go according to plan. With your clamps and cauls in This is callout text place, assemble each section with NOTE: This is This is callout text glue. After the glue dries, remove This is the squeezeout with a NOTE: scraper and head over to the planer. DADOES. The next step is to rout the dadoes on the underside of each sec17!/4 tion. You can see how I did it in the !/16 drawings below. I started with the 17 !/4 wider dado on the end of the outside !/16 section that holds the ange block for the tail vise. After that, you can glue up the main slab and rout the two dadoes on the main section to t over cleats attached to the base. ThE DOG HOlES. The tail vise will line up with a series of square dog holes in the benchtop. I routed the dog holes using a simple template and

BENCHTOP 5!/4

LEFT CLEAT
K

16!/2 22&/8

BENCH DOG SECTION #8 x 2!/2" Fh woodscrew

#8 x 2" Fh woodscrew 23#/4 !/4" roundover

24!/2 Back holes in cleats enlongated to allow top expansion

L

a.

!/4"-dia. hole 2%/8

RIGHT CLEAT

b.

1!/8 K This is callout text NOTE: This is 1!/2 Upper left rail

TOP SECTION VIEW (Top removed) Right back leg Back stretcher &/8 3!/4 &/8
L

c.
1!/2

Dadoes in top fit over top of rails

1 Right upper rail

L

Upper rail FRONT SECTION VIEW

Vise leg

16#/8

TOP SECTION VIEW (Top removed) 17!/4 !/16

!/2

!/4

pattern bit. For the details on this quick and easy template, turn to Shop Notebook on page 20. FINAl ASSEMBlY. For the nal assembly, simply spread glue on the edges of each section and clamp them all together. I also used clamps with cauls spanning the width of the assembly to help keep each joint aligned. After the glue dries, scrap off the squeezeout and clean up the top. Then you can cut the assembled benchtop to nal length.
Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4" shown)

ClEATS. With the top complete, you can turn your attention to the two cleats that help secure the top to the base. You dont need to add glue in the benchtop dadoes or on the tenons on the base. The cleats attach to the rails and reinforce the joint. You can see the elongated screw holes in detail b that allow the wood to move. After cutting the cleats to length, all you need to do is cut the rabbets and drill the screw holes. Then attach them to the rails.

Dadoes & Dog Holes

This is callout text NOTE: This is Guide Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4" shown) Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4" shown) at text 17!/4 ThisFlush is callout ends This is NOTE: !/16

This is callout text NOTE: This is

Guide fence Pattern bit

H

17!/4 !/16

a.

Dog hole template

a.
!/2" straight bit 2 END 17!/4VIEW !/16 !/2

This is callout text NOTE: This is Strips are cut flush at ends 17!/4

a.
!/2" straight bit !/2 1
H

END VIEW

Template SECTION VIEW

!!/16
J

NOTE: For more on making this jig, see page 20

Wide Dado. Mark the location of the dado, then clamp a pair of guides to the underside of the top to rout the dado.
8

Narrow Dado. Use the same technique !/16 to rout the narrow dado that ts on the tongues on the end assemblies.
WS20028
Typical Plywood

Dog Holes. Once again, I relied on a template and a pattern bit to rout the recesses that will hold the bench dog.
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1#/4

a.

3!/2

TAIL VISE N SIDE BLOCK 20 Dog holes spaced 5#/4" center-tocenter

Q

TAIL VISE TOP BLOCK

O

16!/2

TAIL VISE FRONT BLOCK

P

%/8 %/8 %/8 4#/8

M

3!/2 FILLER STRIP 1#/4 1!/4 3!/2 2 3!/8 2

1!/4

2%/8

#6 x #/4" Fh woodscrew

2%/8

12

4!/2 3 7!/2

1!/8" -dia. x 3"deep hole 2

%/8 %/8 %/8 1#/4 1!/2" -dia. knurled knob 1!/8" I.D. rubber O-ring #/4" -dia. x #/4"deep hole centered on end of dowel 1!/8" -dia. x 12" hardwood dowel

1!/8"-dia. vise screw 10!/2 4 1!/8" -dia. through hole 4#/8 1!/4

4!/2 #/8
U

1!/4 FLANGE BLOCK GUIDE T RAIL END GUIDE !/2" -dia. STRIP hole through !/2" x 16!/2"- !/4" Baltic birch plywood
S

18#/4
M

TAIL VISE END BLOCK

3 2
R

#/8"-dia. x 4" lag bolt with washer

b.

GUIDE RAIL SIDE

END SECTION VIEW Tail vise assembly attached through flange block into dado of benchtop %/8
O U T S R

adding the TAIl VISE

This is callout text NOTE: This is

2#/4

#/4

Benchtop dado 2 2!/2

10!/8

One of the features I was determined to include on this bench was a classic tail vise. This type of vise is very versatile, especially for hand-tool work. A tail vise can hold workpieces flat between a pair of bench dogs, and the opening in the vise jaws can be used to hold awkward shapes and long workpieces vertically.

START wITh ThE BASIcS. The tail vise end and side blocks dene the shape and size of the vise, so theyre the rst order of business. For the end block 17!/4 I laminated 8/4 stock, then cut the !/16 block to nal size and drilled the 118"-dia. hole for the vise screw. DOG HOlES. The side block also houses three dog holes that point the

opposite direction from holes in the benchtop. I routed these using the same basic template, but reversed the angle of the slots. FINGER JOINTS. The vise body calls for a tough joint. I chose to use a nger joint here because it offers so much glue surface. Turn to Shop Notebook on page 19 for more details.

How-To: Make the Flange Block

1#/4" Forstner bit Aux. miter fence
B

10!/8

a.
U

Typical Plywood #/4" dado endgrain blade (#/4" shown) #/8 &/16 END VIEW 2#/4

Rip fence

2!/2 Dado blade

Aux. miter fence

a.

END VIEW 2 #/8

2#/4

Waste shown for NOTE: Drill through proper part entire workpiece orientation

Drill. After the mounting holes are drilled, install a Forstner bit and drill the large-diameter hole for the ange.
9

Dado. With an auxiliary fence on the miter gauge, nibble away the waste to create a square recess for the ange.
WS20028

Notch & Rabbet. First cut the notch for the guide rail, then ip the block over and cut the long rabbet on the opposite face.
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TOP BlOcK. The next piece to add is the top block. Its the piece that rides on a guide strip attached to the benchtop. After cutting it to size, Itext cut the long groove on the This is callout edge at the table saw with a dado NOTE: This is blade (Figure 1). To keep the top block aligned s is callout with text the end block during assemNOTE: This is I added a dowel. Just drill a hole bly, in the17 top block, then use a dowel !/4 center to transfer the position to the !/16 end block (Figure 2). Now glue the top block in place. FRONT BlOcK. The front block houses 17!/4 the !/16 end of the vise screw. All you need to do here is drill the hole for the end of the screw. Glue it ush with the front edges of the side block and top block. Figure 3 This is callout text shows how I added a ller strip to NOTE: This is cover the dog holes. GUIDE RAIl. A guide rail assembly NOTE: This is completes the moving portion of the vise. Its simply an L-shaped Typical Plywood bracket that ts on the underside. endgrain !/4 to connect the (#/4" shown) I used a bridle17 joint !/16 of the rail (Figside and end pieces ures 4 and 5). Then, mark the 17 !/4 locapical Plywood This is callout text tion of the end and front blocks endgrain !/16 and NOTE: This is (#/4" shown) cut the rabbets. After assembling the guide rail, attach it to the end block and the front block with screws (no glue), as shown in Figure 6. 17!/4 I made a guide strip for GUIDE STRIP. his is callout text !/16 of Baltic birch plywood. the vise out NOTE: This is After cutting it to size, just drill the countersunk screw holes as shown. Then, attach the guide strip to the benchTypical using Plywood screws. endgrain VISE HANDlES. I made a pair of cus(#/4" shown) 17!/4 vise handles from 118"-dia. tom Typical Plywood !/16 dowel. Youll maple need to drill a endgrain 3 "-dia hole in the ( #/4 " shown) ends of the dowel 4 for the knobs. You can nd out more about the knobs and other hardware that I used for the bench under the Sources on page 21. Typical Plywood endgrain BlOcK. TheThis ange block holds is callout text (#/4"FlANGE shown) the ange for the vise screw. NOTE: This is The box on the previous page shows how to make the block. Install the ange with screws (Figure 7), then use lag screws to attach the block to the benchtop in the 2"-wide dado Typical Plywood 17!/4 endgrain you cut earlier. !/16
(#/4" shown)

How-To: Build the Tail Vise

1
This is callout O text NOTE: This isa. Rip fence
O

2
Dowel center END VIEW
%/8

N O

!/4" dado blade

!/2 !/4

Top of top block flush with top edge of side block

17!/4 !/16

Top Block. Cut the centered groove on the top block by making the rst cut, then ipping the block for a second pass.

Dowel Hole. First drill a hole for the dowel in the top block. Then use a dowel center to transfer the hole location to the end block.

4
R O

a.

!/4

END VIEW

NOTE: This is M
Q Q

Tall aux. fence

O

2
!/4

Front Block & Filler Strip. In addition to housing the vise screw, the front block and ller strip cover the edges of the dog holes.

End of filler strip fits into inside corner of end 17!/4 Typical Plywood and side blocks endgrain !/16 (#/4" shown)

Sides of filler block and front block are glued to inside face of side block

Rip blade

Bridle Joint. Install a tall, auxiliary rip fence and use a push block to cut the groove in the end of the side guide rail.
M

Aux. miter fence

S

6
a. END VIEW This is callout text 2 !/4 NOTE: This is
!/4

#8 X 1!/2" Fh woodscrew

NOTE: Guide rail is just screwed in place (no glue)

O

Rip fence Dado blade

Q N

!/2
P S

Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4Joint " shown) Bridle Tongue.

Sneak up on a snug-tting tongue by slowly raising the 17!/4 dado blade between passes. !/16

Attaching the Guide Rail. Predrill and countersink holes for #8 screws and then attach the guide rail to main body of the tail vise.

7
Flange fits in dado flush at top and bottom This is callout text NOTE: This is #10 x 1!/2" Fh woodscrew
U

Vise screw bracket attached with #8 x 1!/2" Fh woodscews Flange Vise screw
P U

FLANGE BLOCK

NOTE: Flange block screwed to underside of benchtop

#/8" x 4" lag screws with washers

Attach Flange to Block. Carefully t the ange into the recess and secure it 17!/4 Typical Plywood in position with screws. endgrain !/16
(#/4" shown)

Final Steps. All that remains is to add the vise screw bracket and handle before attaching the ange block to the bench.
2012 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.

10

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WS20028

a.
6

3!/2

1" radius 6

This is callout text #10 x 1!/2" Fh NOTE: This is woodscrew

!/8"-thick leather pad cut-to-fit

b.
LEG VISE
V

Vise leg

Leather pad
V

SIDE SECTION VIEW

2!/2

8&/8 1!/8"-dia. hole

1!/8"-dia. vise screw 17!/4 !/16

Vise plate

Flange

s callout text NOTE: This is

!/2" radius !/2

Flange bolt with screws

25!/4

#8 x 1!/2" Fh woodscrew

1!/8"-dia. x 12" hardwood dowel Vise leg #/4"-10 x 13" This is callout textthreaded rod NOTE: This is 1!/8" I.D. rubber o-ring #/4"-10 x 3" knurled knob 1!/2"-dia. knurled knob
Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4" shown) 17!/4 !/16

17!/4 !/16

Mortise for square nut

c.

Vise leg

#/4

Knurled knob

Square Depth of nut washer

Threaded rod

Cap nut SIDE SECTION VIEW

#/4"-dia. hole 1&/8 SIDE SECTION VIEW

3 1!/2"-dia. counterbore FRONT VIEW

#/4"-10 square nut

#/4"-10 cap nut with washer

cal Plywood ndgrain 4" shown)

installing the LEG VISE

Up to this point, the traditional workbench bears a striking resemblance to a more modern design. Thats no surprise since the needs of a woodworker today are largely the same as they ever were. But the addition of the leg vise leaves no doubt that this is a departure from the modern world. The leg vise is really just a lever, with an adjustable pivot point at the bottom and a moveable jaw on top. Both rely on threaded steel rods. The combination provides plenty of Typical Plywood endgrain holding power. (#/4" shown) In addition to the workbench's practicality, I also wanted to add a unique feature to make it stand apart

from other benches a stippled pattern on the face. For this, I used a rotary tool, a few different bits, and a fair amount of patience. The Shop Tip on the next page has the details. VISE FAcE. Once youve drilled the holes in the leg for the vise hardware, you can get to work on the vise face. After gluing up and cutting the blank to size, the next step is to drill the holes for the two vise screws and threaded rod. The How-To box below walks you through the process. Youll also need to chisel out a square mortise for the nut in the lower hole.

How-To: Build the Leg Vise

Back of leg vise #/4" This is callout text Forstner NOTE: bit This is This is callout text a. NOTE: This SIDE is SECTION VIEW Vise back 17!/4 of Depth square !/16nut Leg vise blank Cut to waste side of layout line Chisel mortise to fit square nut

is callout text NOTE: This is

17!/4 !/16

Leg vise blank 17!/4 NOTE: Drill holes !/16 through blank

Vise side profile layout line

Drilling. Use the holes in the vise leg to position the matching holes in the vise, then drill them out using a Forstner bit.
11

Hole for a Square Nut. The next step is to chisel out a square hole for the large nut on the back side of the vise.
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Inside Face. Cut the curves of the vise at the band saw. Start with the inside face, ending in a tight curve at the jaw.

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ShAPING. With that done, you can start shaping the vise. As you can see, its curved on the outside face, tapered on both sides, and Use a veining bit to cut a recessed on the inside to create the shallow V-notch This is callout text protruding jaw. I did most of this on field border NOTE: This#/4 is layout line work at the band saw. In order to make sure you have a Lay vise flat surface to rest on the band saw Layout plate and line table, youll need to make the cuts in washer This is callout text #/4 in place to the sequence shown below. I started NOTE: This is lay out 17!/4 border by working on the inside face. With curves !/16 the piece on edge, all you need to do Border. It pays to experiment on a piece is make a straight cut, curving at the of scrap to get a feel for the veining bit. #/4 end near the jaw (right drawing at Then use it to carve the border. the bottom of the previous page). 17!/4 %/32"-dia. The box below shows the ball !/16 bit sequence and techniques for shapThis is callout text is callout ing the rest of the leg vise.This Note that text NOTE: This is the area near the vise screw NOTE: fittingThis is stays flat. With the cuts completed, you can feather in the curves with a little sanding. After cutting the Start by Fill in space between making largest dimples tapers, I glued a piece of leather to previous dimples using 17!/4 randomly spaced !/8"-dia. ball bit the jaw to protect workpieces held 17!/4 !/16 in the vise. !/16 Typical PlywoodStart Large. Begin in Go Small. Move to endgrain a corner with the large the smaller bit to ll in STIPPlING. Stippling is simply add(#/4 " shown) 5 FRONT VIEW ( 32"-dia.) bit rst. ing a textured look to a field by some of the spaces. carving dimples. Its an easy thing I started by defining the border I began by attaching the ange to do, but adds an interesting Typical Plywood with a veining bit. The top draw- for the vise screw into the back of detail to the vise. endgrain ROTARY TOOl. I shown) used a rotary tool ing in the Shop Tip shows how to the leg. Its held in place with four (#/4" to do the carving. The great thing do this. After completing the border, screws. Next, mount the knurled about these tools is the wide array it was just a matter of creating the knob in the lower hole of the leg. of small bits available for this kind random textured pattern with the After that, its just a matter of threading the rods through and of work. I relied on just three ball 132"-dia. and the 18"-dia. bit. mill bits to get the look shown in screwing the vise plate to the vise MOUNTING ThE VISE. The nal step the photo at right. is to attach the vise to the leg. and the cap nut below.

Shop Tip: Stippling the Vise

{ Stippling adds
an interesting visual detail to the leg vise.

Shaping the Leg Vise

This is callout text NOTE: This is Layout line 17!/4 !/16

Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4" shown)

Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4" shown)

This is callout text NOTE: This is

SECTION VIEW

17!/4
NOTE: Sand surfaces smooth after cutting

1!/2" Forstner bit

Use doublesided tape to attach spacer to inside face of vise

!/16

Counterbore to depth of washer thickness

Spacer holds workpiece level

Outside. Cut the sweeping arcs of the outside face. Stop each cut at the at spot surrounding the vise screw.
12 WoodsmithPlans.com

Sides. Attach a spacer to the cutout area in the inside face to hold the workpiece level. This makes cutting out the sides a snap.
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Bottom Screw Hole. Use a Forstner bit to drill a shallow counterbore for the washer.

2012 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.

a.
This is callout text 3 NOTE: This is

!/4 1 &/8" radius &/8

3" radius

NOTE: If building optional tool cabinet, install board jack after adding cabinet

54!/2 10 2!/4

FRONT VIEW 17!/4 !/16

Soften edges

NOTE: Board jack is made from #/4"-thick stock

BOARD JACK RAIL

#6 x #/4" Fh woodscrews

BOARD JACK #/4"-dia. hole 4

W

21#/16

This is callout text NOTE: This is

5!/8

4 This is callout text NOTE: This is 3!/8 2!/2 2!/2

Board jack peg

NOTE: Board jack peg 17!/4 is made from 1!/8"-dia. hardwood dowel !/16

c.

SIDE SECTION !/16" VIEW X roundover #/8

Bench top

8 !/4 !/8" chamfer SIDE SECTION VIEW

W

b.

%/16 #/8 Right front leg

Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4" shown)

adding the BOARD JACK

This is callout text NOTE: This is 17!/4 !/16 17!/4 To get the most out of your leg vise !/16 and bench, theres one more thing to add a board jack. Its a very simple and Typical Plywood device traditional endgrain used to support long (#/4" shown) workpieces held in the leg vise, usually for edge jointing. The Typical Plywood board jack slides on endgrain (#/4" shown) rails, allowing you to position it to accom{ A handy spot to modate just about any store the board size workpiece. jack peg. Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4" shown)

#/4" dia.
W

Board jack peg

!/8" roundover

d.
X

#/8 2!/2 %/16 #/16 SIDE SECTION VIEW Front stretcher

#/4

BODY. After cutting the blank to

size, youll need to cut a centered groove on both ends of the workpiece. These grooves t over two rails on the bench. I installed a dado blade in the table saw and a tall auxiliary fence to the rip fence to support the blank. For more details, check out the box below. After drilling the holes for the peg, you can cut the board jack to shape at the band saw. Install the board jack by positioning it in the opening in the front of the bench. Then, attach

the rails with screws. To make the board jack peg, refer to Shop Notebook on page 20. After adding a couple coats of oil and a light coat of wax to the top of the bench, its ready to be put to work. But if you want to add some drawers and a shelf for handy storage, then check out the cabinet plans starting on page 15.

How-To: Make the Board Jack

This is callout text NOTE: This is This is callout text NOTE: This is Tall aux. fence

a.
Board jack blank 17!/4 !/16

Aux. fence END VIEW 17!/4

#/16 #/8 %/16

!/16

#/4" Forstner bit Board jack blank

Cut to waste side of layout line

BOARD JACK

!/4" dado blade

Grooves. Cut the centered grooves with a dado blade by making the rst pass slightly off center, then ipping the blank.
13 WoodsmithPlans.com

Peg Holes. By staggering the position of the peg holes, you make sure the jack can accommodate any size workpiece.
WS20028

Final Shape. The decorative shape of the jack consists of just a few simple cuts on the band saw. Finish up with a little sanding.

2012 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.

Materials & Supplies

A Legs (3) B Vise Leg (1) C Upper Rails (2) D Lower Rails (2) E Back Stretcher (1) F Center Stretcher (1) G Front Stretcher (1) H Main Bench Slab (1) I Tail Vise Section(1) J Bench Dog Section (1) K Left Cleat (1) L Right Cleat (1) M Tail Vise End Block (1) N Tail Vise Side Block (1) O Tail Vise Top Block (1) P Tail Vise Front Block (1) Q Tail Vise Filler Strip (1) R Guide Rail Side (1) S Guide Rail End (1) T Guide Strip (1) 8/4 x 7 1/4 Vertical Grain Fir U x 96Flange Block (1) V Leg Vise (1) 312 x 312 - 3112 312 x 6 - 3112 134 x 412 - 26 134 x 9 - 26 134 x 4 - 58 134 x 7 - 5934 134 x 3 - 5512 3 x 2412 - 8612 3 x 312 - 70 134 x 3 - 70 1 1 2 x 1 - 2278 112 x 1 - 2334 312 x 438 - 1012 134 x 438 - 20 134 x 312 - 1612 258 x 312 - 412 3 8 x 258 - 12 3 x 2 - 183 4 4 3 4 x 2 - 712 1 x 1 - 161 4 2 2 2 x 234 - 1018 312 x 6 - 2514 W X
3 Board Jack (1) 4 x 8 - 21316 1 Board Jack Rails (2) 4 x 38 - 5412 (1pc.) 12" x 12" Leather (1) 112" x 12" - 18"-Thick Aluminum Plate (6) 38"-dia. x 8" Carriage Bolts w/ Nuts & Washers (2) 118"-dia. Vise Screws (1) 34"-10 x 36" Threaded Rod (2) 38"-dia. x 36" Walnut Dowel (8) #8 x 2" Fh Woodscrews (14) #8 x 112" Fh Woodscrews (2) 38"-dia. x 4" Lag Screws w/ Washers (17) #6 x 34 Fh Woodscrews (8) #10 112 Fh Woodscrews (1) 118"-dia. x 36" Maple Dowel (4) 112"-dia. Knurled Knobs (4) 118"-Inside Diameter Rubber O-Rings (2) Square Bench Dogs (1) 34"-10 x 3" Knurled Knob (1) 34" Flat Washer (1) 34"-10 Cap Nut (1) 34"-10 Square Nut (1) 12"-dia. x 3" Hardwood Dowel

Cutting Diagram
1#/4" x 7!/4"- 96" Fir (9.7 Bd. Ft.) A A 1#/4" x 7!/4"- 96" Fir (9.7 Bd. Ft.) B 1#/4" x 9!/4"- 96" Fir (12.3 Bd. Ft.) C D 17!/4 !/16 1#/4" x 7!/4"- 96" Fir (7 Boards @ 9.7 Bd. Ft. each) H H 1#/4"x 7!/4"- 96" Fir (9.7 Bd. Ft.) H J 1#/4" x 7!/4"- 96" Fir (9.7 Bd. Ft.) I I 1#/4" x 7!/4"- 96" Fir (9.7 Bd. Ft.) E G 1#/4" x 7!/4"- 60" Fir (6.1 Bd. Ft.) F 1#/4" x 9!/4"- 60" Fir (7.7 Bd. Ft.) W U R U K L S Q X V V D M M N O B C P P A A A A

ut text This is

Also Needed: !/2"x 16!/2"- !/4" plywood strip for part T

wood in wn)

14

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WS20028

2012 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.

Heirloom Project

workbench storage

Cabinet & Shelf

Get even more from your heirloom workbench by adding a cabinet that features a bank of drawers topped with a large, open shelf.
The Shaker-style workbench project will give you years of great service in the shop. This simple cabinet and shelf make the bench even more useful. The cabinet features five drawers: a deep drawer in the center flanked by a pair of shallow drawers on each side. Youll also note that the cabinet only fills a portion of the opening beneath the bench and is topped by a shelf. This makes it easy to keep tools, hardware, and supplies close at hand when working at the bench without cluttering up the benchtop. Just like the workbench, I built the cabinet with rocksolid joinery. The plywood case features tongue and dado construction. And its tough to make a stronger drawer joint than the locking rabbet. The drawer fronts and face frame of the cabinet are finished with an old-fashioned milk paint. This complements the heirloom quality of the workbench while providing an interesting contrast to its oil finish. It all comes together for a first-class shop fixture.
2012 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.

{ Drawer Cabinet. You cant beat handy storage. This set

of drawers offers plenty of storage and versatility to keep your tools where you need them, within easy reach.
15 WoodsmithPlans.com WS20028

CASE TOP

building the CASE

Construction of the cabinet starts with the plywood case. As you can see at right, its fairly straightforward. The case consists of top, bottom, and end and divider panels. A plywood back panel and edging complete the case. TOP & BOTTOM. A good place to begin is with the top and bottom. These identical panels need a tongue cut on each end to t into dadoes youll cut later in the end panels (detail b). I formed the tongue by cutting a rabbet on each end at the table saw (left drawing below). Then cut two dadoes to house the divider panels, as shown in the center drawing below. END PANElS. Next up are the end panels. Each panel has a dado cut near the top and bottom edge to hold tongues in the top and bottom, as you can see in the right drawing below. The panels also need a rabbet on the back edge to hold the case back (detail c), so you can cut these now, too. ASSEMBlY. When the joinery is complete, you can dry assemble the parts and cut the two divider panels and the back panel to size. Then apply glue to all the joints of the case, except those that hold the back panel in place. Its best to

53!/2

54

BACK

NOTE: Attach back after drawers are installed

B C

7 11!/4 11!/4 6
C

15!/4
D

CASE BOTTOM

DIVIDER

11!/2

EDGING

5!/2 15!/4
B

END PANEL

a.
NOTE: Case is made from #/4" plywood. Case back is !/4" plywood. Edging is !/4"-thick Douglas fir 53 7

FRONT VIEW #/4" ply. !/4

b.
!/4
A

#/4

c.
#/8
D B A

!/4" ply.

FRONT VIEW

!/2 TOP VIEW

!/4

keep the back open for easy access as you position and install the drawer runners later. With that in mind, youre ready to glue up the case. You can set the back panel in place temporarily to help square it up. EDGING. With the case assembled, the edging that conceals its front edges comes next. To make the edging, plane a board to the same

thickness as the plywood case components, and rip strips to width on the table saw. At this point, its just a simple matter of adding the strips to the front of the cabinet. Work your away across the front of the cabinet, cutting the length of each strip to fit, and then gluing and clamping each one in place. And then you can move on to the drawers and shelf.

How-To: Simple Case Joinery

A

Aux. rip fence

a.
A

END VIEW

a.

END VIEW

a.
#/4"ply.

END VIEW

#/4" ply.

!/4
Dado blade is buried in aux. fence

#/4 #/8

Cut the first dado, then rotate the workpiece for the second cut

!/4

Size width of dado to fit tongue on mating piece

!/4

Rabbet the Ends. With the dado blade buried in an auxiliary rip fence, start by cutting rabbets on the top and bottom.
16

Dadoes. Cut the dadoes after installing a long auxiliary fence on the miter gauge to keep the workpieces square.
WS20028

Dado the Ends. Now cut a pair of dadoes in each of the end panels to t over the tongues in the top and bottom.

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DRAWER STOPS

3 5!/2

#8 x 1!/2" Fh woodscrew

SMALL DRAWER SIDE

F G

2@!/32

14#/8
I L F J

DRAWER RUNNER
11
I

LARGE DRAWER BACK

K

20&/8

LARGE DRAWER SIDE

21#/8 5#/8

SMALL DRAWER BOTTOM

14&/8

SMALL DRAWER FRONT

LARGE DRAWER BOTTOM

5#/8 10#/4

a.

TOP VIEW !/8

F

#/4

11!/4

b.
J

#/4
!/4" ply.
G

!/4

NOTE: Drawer fronts, backs, and sides are made from !/2"-thick hardwood. Drawer bottoms, stops, and runners are made from !/4"plywood

LARGE DRAWER FRONT

!/2 SECTION VIEW !/4

c.
#6 x #/4" Fh woodscrew
J

SECTION VIEW

add the DRAWERS & SHElf

Now that the case is complete, the drawers are the next order of business. Since the drawer fronts get painted, I used poplar for the front, back, and sides. The drawer bottom is made of plywood. BUILD THE DRAWERS. The drawers are sized to create a 116" gap all around when placed in the cabinet. They are joined with locking rabbets, and the bottom ts in a groove. After cutting the parts to size, see the How-To box below to make the locking rabbet joints. When the drawer joinery is complete, cut the groove for the bottom on the inside face of each workpiece, as shown in detail b. The drawer sides also need a centered groove to fit over the drawer runners. I cut this groove before I assembled the drawer. This way, the front of the drawer remains intact. You can use a chisel to complete the groove through the drawer backs after assembly (right drawing below). Your final steps for the drawers are to cut the bottom to size and assemble the drawers. DRAwER RUNNERS. The drawers are used to position the runners in the case, as shown in detail c. Start by cutting the runners to size and drilling a countersunk hole near each end. Check the t of the runner in a drawer groove, and sand for a smooth, sliding t.

#/4 #/4 #/4

!/16" shim

Use shims for spacing

!/16" shim

Add Runners. With the drawer on shims, slide the runner into place and mark its location. Then screw it in place.

Next, insert the drawers in the case. At the front and back, use shims to establish a 116" gap all around the drawers. Then insert the runners from the back (margin illustration at left). Measure and mark the location of the runners, and install them with screws. BAcK & STOPS. With the runners in place, you can now glue and clamp the back to the case. The back seals the contents of the cabinet and holds the drawer stops.

How-To: Make Locking Rabbet Drawer Joinery

J

Tall aux. fence

Aux. miter gauge fence

Take light, paring cuts to remove waste

DRAWER BACK

!/2

!/4

!/4
J G

!/4

Aux. miter gauge fence

F I

!/4

Groove. Install a tall auxiliary rip fence to cut a groove in each end of drawer fronts and backs.
17

Tongue. Use the miter gauge to cut the inside tongue to length to t into the side.
WS20028

Dado. Now cut a kerf dado at each end of the side pieces to hold the tongues.

Side Groove. A chisel cuts a clean notch to continue the side groove through the back.

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Speaking of the drawer stops, there are four of them attached to the inside of the back, one each for the two sets of end drawers and two for the center drawer. The two stops on either end have countersunk holes drilled before theyre attached to the interior of the case. These holes are for screws used to attach the cabinet to the center stretcher on the workbench. Once the holes are drilled, apply glue to all the stops and hold them in place on the inside case back for about a minute until the glue sets up. FINISh UP. The back and the interior are now complete, so you can turn your attention to nishing the exterior of the cabinet. Youll add paint and hardware in these nal steps. For a finish, I used milk paint on the front of the drawers and cabinet. Then I installed the drawer pulls. Before installing the cabinet, you need to add four shelf cleats to the workbench to support the ends of the shelf. As you can see in the illustration and detail b at right, these are just strips of wood that are cut to size and screwed to the lower rails at each end of the bench. Then you can attach the cabinet to the bench by driving screws through the stops at the back of the case to hold the cabinet to the center stretcher. Now slide the drawers into the cabinet.

NOTE: Add cabinet and shelf before installing benchtop

58#/4 24!/8

SHELF

54!/2

SHELF CLEAT
P

SHELF EDGING
NOTE: Cabinet removed for clarity 1

#/4

10!/8 NOTE: Shelf is #/4" plywood. Cleats are hardwood. Edging is Douglas fir #/4

a.

TOP VIEW

b.
SECTION VIEW
O

#8 x 1!/2" Fh woodscrew

2#/8 3#/8

!/4
P

&/8

Cleats align with top of center stretcher

ShElf. A shelf on top of the bank of drawers makes a great place to keep tools close at hand. You can cut the shelf to size and then notch out the front corners with a jig saw to t around the legs (detail a). The shelf gets an edging strip to conceal its front plywood edge.

Cut this strip to size and then glue and clamp it in place. Now lower the shelf in place from above so that it rests on the cleats. Secure the workbench top (page 7) and the board jack (page 13) to complete your new, greatlooking workbench.

Materials, Supplies, & Cutting Diagram

A Case Top/Bottom (2) B End Panels (2) C Divider Panels (2) D Edging (1) E Back (1) F Small Drawer Sides (8) G Small Drawer Fronts/Backs (8) H Small Drawer Bottoms (4) I Large Drawer Sides (2) J Large Drawer Front/Back (2) K Large Drawer Bottom (1)
!/2"x 5!/2"- 96" Poplar (3.7 Sq. Ft.) F F F F F F F F !/2"x 5!/2"- 96" Poplar (3.7 Sq. Ft.) G I I G

ply. - 1114 x 5312 3 ply. - 111 x 7 4 2 3 ply. - 111 x 6 4 4 1 x 3 - 140 rgh. 4 4 1 ply. - 7 x 54 4 1 x 221 - 11 2 32 1 x 221 - 147 2 32 8 1 ply. - 103 x 143 4 4 8 1 x 53 - 11 2 8 1 x 53 - 213 2 8 8 1 ply. - 103 x 207 4 4 8
G G G G G G

3 4

L Drawer Runners (10) M Drawer Stops (4) N Shelf Cleats (4) O Shelf (1) P Shelf Edging (1) (20) #6 x 34" Fh Woodscrews (8) #8 x 112" Fh Woodscrews (5) Drawer Pulls w/Screws

1 ply. - 3 x 111 4 4 4 1 ply. - 3 x 51 4 2 3 x 1 - 101 4 8 3 ply. - 241 x 583 4 8 4 1 x 3 - 541 4 4 2

#/4" x 3"- 72" Poplar (1.5 Bd. Ft.) N D ALSO NEEDED: One 48"x 96" Sheet of !/4" Birch Plywood, One 48"x 96" Sheet of #/4" Birch Plywood
NOTE: Part P is cut from Douglas fir

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Cutting Long Finger Joints

Cutting the nger joints in the tail vise end block for the Shaker-style workbench is a simple task with a dado blade installed on the table saw. But when it came to cutting the nger joints in the mating side block, I couldnt use the same technique. The nger joints on the side block are 312" long too long to cut with an 8"-dia. dado blade. So I had to come up with another method. I started by using the fingers already cut on the end block to

lay out the notches on the side block (Figure 1). Then, in order to get a deeper cut, I swapped out my dado blade for a standard rip blade and cut each notch by making a series of passes, as shown in Figure 2. Even with a 10"-dia. blade though, I couldnt cut the notches to their full depth. So the remaining waste needs to be removed by hand. This is simply a matter of cutting along the sides of each notch

with a hand saw, as shown in the photo above. (I used a Japanesestyle rip saw.) Then the remaining waste can be removed with a chisel (Figure 3).

2
Tall aux. fence Take multiple passes to remove waste between fingers

Use fingers cut on end block to lay out fingers on side block

Rip blade

Pare away remaining waste with chisel

Making Draw Bolt Plates

1!/2 %/8 %/8" rad.

5#/4

The end assemblies of the workbench base are tied together with a stretcher. Theyre connected with carriage bolts and nuts. A pair of shop-made plates are used with the carriage bolts. These serve two purposes they add a decorative element but also act as washers for the bolts.

To make the plates, I started by laying out the profile on a piece of 18"-thick aluminum bar stock. Using a hack saw to remove the bulk of the waste, I roughed out the rounded profile at each end. Then you can use files to refine the profile and create the chamfers on the edges, as in Figure 2.

To create the square holes for the carriage bolts, start by drilling a 38"-dia. hole near each end of the plate. Then with a small triangular file, you can square up the holes to hold the carriage bolts (Figure 3). The last step is to paint the plates and carriage bolts using a black spray paint.

#/32" chamfer

1
4!/2 %/8

Hack saw

File profile edges smooth

3
Square up hole with file

#/8 #/8 !/8

NOTE: Enlarge pattern 200%

&/16

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To create the round tenon on the end of the board jack peg for the Shaker-style workbench, I used a clever router table technique. SETUP. As you can see in the drawing at right, the diameter of the tenon is determined by the height of the router bit. An auxiliary fence covers the opening in the router table fence and acts as a stop to control the length of the tenon. And a support block clamped to the top of the router table helps to control the workpiece. To establish the shoulder of the tenon, hold the dowel used for the peg against the support block and slowly push it into the bit until the end contacts the fence. Then rotate the dowel clockwise to cut the shoulder of the tenon. The rest of the waste can be nibbled away by moving the workpiece back and forth over the bit until the tenon is complete.

Making Round Tenons

Aux. fence

Backer board keeps dowel centered over bit

Dowel is rotated over !/2" straight bit to create rabbet

a.
Auxiliary fence and backer board are secured with clamps END VIEW Auxiliary fence

#/4

#/16

!/2" straight bit

#8 x 1!/4" Fh woodscrew holds template secure to dog rail

2!/2 @%/32 9!/2

NOTE: Template is made from #/4" plywood. Cleat bottoms are Notched !/4" hardboard guide

Routing Dog Holes

Cleats Dog rail

Cleat bottom

Guide

1!/32

2!/2 Cleat bottom 9!/2

a.

Guide This is callout text NOTE: This is Dog rail edge 95 TOP VIEW 17!/4 !/16

Notched Cleat guide !/4

b.

END SECTION VIEW Hold-down screw Guide

!#/16 Cleat

Cleat Dog rail Cleat bottom

Armed with a template, a mortising bit, and a router, creating consistent dog holes for the workbench is a snap. The template straddles the workpiece and is held in place with a screw. The bearing of the mortising bit rides against an opening in the template to create a perfectly shaped dog hole. As you can see in the drawing at left, the template consists of two guides attached to a pair of cleats at a 5 angle. One of the guides is notched to create the recess for the head of the bench dog. To use the template, simply position it on the workpiece and secure it with a screw. Note: The dog holes in the tail vise side block face in the opposite direction of the dog holes in the top of the bench. So to rout the tail vise dog holes, youll have to remove the guides from the cleats and ip them over. Then reposition the cleats to straddle the wider side block.

Typical Plywood endgrain (#/4" shown)

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MAIL ORDER SOURCES

Woodsmith Store 800-444-7527 Lee Valley 800-871-8158 leevalley.com McMaster-Carr 630-600-3600 mcmaster.com Rockler 800-279-4441 rockler.com

Project Sources
The Shaker-style workbench requires some hardware, including tail vise screws (70G01.52) and bench dogs (05G02.01), both of which can be found at Lee Valley. Youll also need a 3" knurled knob (6121K132), a 34"-10 acorn nut (91875A190), and 112" knurled knobs (6121K25). All of these were purchased from McMaster-Carr. The workbench was finished with two coats of General Finishes SealA-Cell wiping varnish. Paste wax was also applied to the benchtop. For the storage cabinet in the workbench, youll need cast Victorian pulls (02W26.32) from Lee Valley, and blue milk paint (39130) which is available at Rockler.

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