New bench

After ripping the old bench from the garage I wanted to build a new sturdy replacement similiar to something I remembered my grandfather had built. I salvaged two 8 foot 2x12s and a 2×8 from the old bench that were covered in paint, oil, nails, holes and other materials. I also purchases a few good quality 2x4s and four nice 4x4s for stock. I was determined to challenge myself and build the bulk of the bench with no metal using only wood joinery techniques.

I started with leveling my sawhorses perfectly using two cross-strings.

Working on the bench inverted, I clamped the 2x12s and 2x8s together and framed them to a layer of 2×4 to give the benchtop a very strong surface. I used some screws in addition to the clamps for temporary holding while all the glue set. This gives the benchtop an effective thickness of about 3 inches but still has room around the edges for clamps and dogs.

Using the table saw I notched out the lap joints on the 4×4 legs. I then chiseled out the remainder of the wood.

Lots of leveling, squaring and clamping during the gluing stage to make sure nothing drifted. Only one spanner across the back of the bench because I’ve always hated hitting my knees on structural supports on the front of benches.

It sure was heavy when all together!

Although the lap joints are very strong I wanted some added strength. I drilled four 5/8″ holes through every joint and hammered in hardwood dowels with glue. It gives a nice look and a little added strength. I then power sanded the dowels flush.

The benchtop surface has a lot of wear and tear from 20 years of abuse. I chiseled out any rotted wood metal fragments then filled in the holes with an epoxy based wood putty.

Next came finishing. I hand-planed the roughest of the benchtop flat, then orbital sanded with three grades of paper from course to very fine. I used a compressor to blow out the dust between passes. My lawn was covered in sawdust because I did it all in the driveway. Good fertilizer!

After sanding and a final cleaning with mineral spirits to get out the last of the dirt and dust I applied one coat of sanding sealer, another fine sanding, then three coats of oil-based poly urethane to the legs and frame. The benchtop I gave 6 coats of oil-based poly urethane and fine sanding and mineral spirits between each coat, finishing with wet sanding. The result is a very hard but not slick benchtop that is very smooth. The urethane adds a little reddish tint with each additional coat similiar to a fresh cedar look. I was very happy with the finished product.