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I've been communicating with Khal Tom about work bench design and not being able to post pictures in a pm I thought it would be better to start a post about the subject, not that it's the first one on them. Tom is concerned about racking in the design so I took some pictures of my bench which turned out to be rock solid and I'll post them so Tom and others can see. Feel free to join in on this. BTW it only took me an hour to clean it off enough to be able to post pictures.
Photo #1- Shows the stretcher that goes between the two halves of my bench (another photo will show that). It goes between stretchers that are between the legs going crossways on the bench. It also shows where I store most of my small clamps as well as some of my layout tools. There are slotted holders for 2 framing squares, one small framing square, 2 speed squares, a hook rule, and a center finding rule. One of the things you will be doing at the bench is layout so you might as well have those tools handy. Same goes for the clamps.
Photo #2- My bench has an L built into it. This photo shows where the main bench and the L meet. There is an apron on an apron here which solidifies the stability of the main bench. Maybe it was overkill but it worked.
Photo #3- This photo shows the stretcher at the front end of the bench where I mounted my twin screw Veritas vise. This is the Cadillac of vises in my opinion. The stretcher between the front legs and the structure for the vise jaws further solidifies the bench. Also in the picture (under the vise) are some Veritas Wonder Dogs. They allow clamping to just about any shape.
#4- This photo shows the opposite side of the main stretcher. Also with clamp storage for most for my spring clamps and a few smaller C clamps. Also shown is the stretcher across the middle of the bench.
#5- I saw an illustration of a bench before I built mine and it had a trough down the middle and it seemed like a good idea so I incorporated that idea in mine and I've never regretted it. Mine holds sandpaper, dowels wrapped with sandpaper, sanding sponges, pencils and markers, driver bits, utility knives, and my bench dogs. Yes it fills up with sawdust and needs to be cleaned regularly. Also in the picture is my power solution. Others have have used the same solution. I think one of them is Harry. Since I couldn't run a cord under the concrete floor I ran one across the ceiling and left an outlet box hanging over the bench. That turned out not to be enough outlets most of the time so a power bar gets plugged into it.
#6- The last shot is the far end of the bench. Also a wide member there. Also in this photo and the last is that Milwaukee 12" slider. Deadly accurate right from the factory and they say it will be. I started out with a 10" Makita chop saw which left lots of room on the "L". Next was a 10" slider which started encroaching onto the main bench. The 12' definitely encroaches onto the main bench so there maybe a change in the works.
Hope this helps Tom.
Photo #1- Shows the stretcher that goes between the two halves of my bench (another photo will show that). It goes between stretchers that are between the legs going crossways on the bench. It also shows where I store most of my small clamps as well as some of my layout tools. There are slotted holders for 2 framing squares, one small framing square, 2 speed squares, a hook rule, and a center finding rule. One of the things you will be doing at the bench is layout so you might as well have those tools handy. Same goes for the clamps.
Photo #2- My bench has an L built into it. This photo shows where the main bench and the L meet. There is an apron on an apron here which solidifies the stability of the main bench. Maybe it was overkill but it worked.
Photo #3- This photo shows the stretcher at the front end of the bench where I mounted my twin screw Veritas vise. This is the Cadillac of vises in my opinion. The stretcher between the front legs and the structure for the vise jaws further solidifies the bench. Also in the picture (under the vise) are some Veritas Wonder Dogs. They allow clamping to just about any shape.
#4- This photo shows the opposite side of the main stretcher. Also with clamp storage for most for my spring clamps and a few smaller C clamps. Also shown is the stretcher across the middle of the bench.
#5- I saw an illustration of a bench before I built mine and it had a trough down the middle and it seemed like a good idea so I incorporated that idea in mine and I've never regretted it. Mine holds sandpaper, dowels wrapped with sandpaper, sanding sponges, pencils and markers, driver bits, utility knives, and my bench dogs. Yes it fills up with sawdust and needs to be cleaned regularly. Also in the picture is my power solution. Others have have used the same solution. I think one of them is Harry. Since I couldn't run a cord under the concrete floor I ran one across the ceiling and left an outlet box hanging over the bench. That turned out not to be enough outlets most of the time so a power bar gets plugged into it.
#6- The last shot is the far end of the bench. Also a wide member there. Also in this photo and the last is that Milwaukee 12" slider. Deadly accurate right from the factory and they say it will be. I started out with a 10" Makita chop saw which left lots of room on the "L". Next was a 10" slider which started encroaching onto the main bench. The 12' definitely encroaches onto the main bench so there maybe a change in the works.
Hope this helps Tom.
