Rex Krueger patreon

Exclusive Video: Your Workbench Questions

🕑 Added 2020-01-29 14:35:56 +0000 UTC

Comments

Steve Parry

thank you, this is a exciting project for me in time to come :)

Rex Krueger

You're very welcome!

James Colburn

thanks. I've been wood working 40 year's now but mostly rough industrial. I work at an r.v. dealership where I do all the wood work. I have wanted to get into finer wood work but money is tight. I just wanted to say thanks for the info. ps I have desined and built metal working and wood working tools and rolling benches for my specific type of work.

Howard Tuckey

I just watched the video again, and I see you did answer my question about placing cutoffs under the top for holdfasts. Thanks again!

Rex Krueger

Wow. What a huge compliment. I'm really humbled that I could be of such help. I'm disabled myself, although I don't talk about it much. Glad to help.

Mark L

Rex, Thanks for the thoughtful explanations.

Mark Fannin

Okay, I'm still jazzed that I built the 30 dollar Roman work bench (with some help) - which is well suited for my physical disabilities. It's amazing - I can now build projects that were impossible before. And now I'm also jazzed about this modular high-modifiable bench. Wanted to say thank you for all the PDF plans your publishing. I print and study every one of them. Finally, a thank you for the Blender video. I am finding that product very helpful. You have improved the quality of my life Rex. Thank you.

Mark Petersen

My work area in my basement is about 100 sq.ft., mostly taken up by my bench and shelving. Any work with power equipment requires taking them out of a shed and setting them up in my back yard, and saving time and strength to put them all back. Of course, weather is a factor.

Csongor Halmai

(The ascii art should be seen with monospaced font.:))

Csongor Halmai

I think you misunderstand me. :) I was talking about gluing together 2x4s so that they form a sturdy block of timber as the top of the workbench. Then, instead of what most youtubers do, ie., working a lot on making the surface of this block totally flat by a plane, I would just glue a large, 3mm thick MDF to make the whole top flat. Here is a professional ascii art (:)) how MDF (M) would cover the 2x4 timbers (T) which are glued together (G) MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM TTGTTGTTGTTGTTGTTGTTGTTG TTGTTGTTGTTGTTGTTGTTGTTG TTGTTGTTGTTGTTGTTGTTGTTG TTGTTGTTGTTGTTGTTGTTGTTG Here in Australia, you can but such thin MDF: https://www.bunnings.com.au/3mm-standard-mdf-1220mm-x-2440mm_p0590054 Do you think this MDF cover is worse than the pure 2x4s? I know it is softer but it is totally flat and easy to replace if wears out. What do you think?

Rex Krueger

The top isn't bending, it's absorbing the blow. It does the same thing when I use a wooden mallet. If the top was bending, that elastic force would spring back into the mallet and fling it back at you. Lack of bounce indicates lack of bend.

Rex Krueger

Well, MDF is generally sold in 3/4" (18mm) thick. That size is pretty flimsy for a work-bench. It won't hold a peg or a holdfast and it has virtually no rigidity. The stock I used was 1.5 inch SYP, which is stronger, more rigid and lighter than MDF. For a table, MDF is great, for a bench, I think you need more.

Marten Veldthuis

Wait, I'm confused. Don't you actually want a lot of bounce from that rubber mallet? If you get little bounce, it means that the force is going into bending the top, whereas a lot of bounce means the top resists the force strongly and thus the force went into deforming the rubber of the mallet, causing it to bounce back up. Compare striking concrete vs grass, I know which one I'd rather be chiseling a mortice on top of. I'm absolutely confident you know more than me, so please explain what I'm missing :)

Marten Veldthuis

Not only have the English used up a lot of their forests in the ages past, but also the English Oak species doesn't tend to grow straight, so big wide and straight slabs of domestic oak are harder to find even for that reason alone.

Csongor Halmai

Sorry Rex, but why should I laminate three MDFs together? If the bench-top is, say, 60x180 (centimeters) then I need only one piece of MDF in this size. The rigidness is coming from the original top of the bench, I just add a 3mm thick MDF in order to make it flat. Or do I misunderstand anything?

Rex Krueger

I'll reply anyway: Thank you!

Rex Krueger

I think that idea is really worth a try. You might like it ans save yourself the trouble of a long rip..

Rex Krueger

I'm talking about when they are disintegrating from wear. You know, after you've already flipped them a few times!

Rex Krueger

It's the same space I've been shooting the Low Roman bench in. I've just changed the angle because I'm standing up...but I am spoiled with a huge basement.

Rex Krueger

I've never had a bench that I couldn't clamp to before. We'll see if it bothers me...

Rex Krueger

Sometimes, we all need help just getting all the ideas to work together. I'm delighted that I could help.

William Allen

Well,it is time for me to make a permanent bench. I’ve waited a year now, having built a quick and dirty Nicholson bench from scrap wood. I’ve not made a new one because I keep experimenting. However, having seen your build I know now what I want as the main structure of my bench. I will be building the new one very soon. Thanks for cementing the ideas that have been floating about in my brain.

Steve Symes

I made a bench similar to that out of soft wood - it has worked really well and it is really heavy because I incorporated a set of 9 drawers underneath it as well - the only thing I did that was different was to leave an overhang on the bench top - not having a clamping place really drives me mad!

John Techs

Yeah I mean I don't see how it could hurt I just don't know if I'm missing something that a more experienced woodworker would laugh at. I know those SYP 2x10s are pretty strong unless I am educated otherwise I'll probably leave the last one full width on my build

Kevin Lundquist

I agree with you about the overhang. I have a couple of small clamp-on vises and a clamp on lamp. An overhang of a couple of inches would be useful.

Kevin Lundquist

Your basement just keeps getting bigger and bigger...

Kevin Lundquist

Instead of taking the top off and throwing it away when it gets dinged up , just flip the planks over and screw them back down!

John Techs

Was there any particular reason you ripped the last top plank in half rather than leaving the edge hang over to increase the size of the top and provide and easy surface to use clamps when needed? I have a cheap harbor freight bench and the thing that annoys me the most is that with the drawers directly under the top and the narrow surface in general, there's no real place to just clamp something to the top of it which I feel like I need to do pretty often. Is this not something I should need to do regularly for workholding? I'm still new here so I'm really not sure.

Shanni Marmen

I'm in an unheated shed. It was almost -20F this morning. Now its a balmy 20F. Minor projects happen on "warm" days in winter when I'm making sawdust and my basement for finishing. I'll wait until spring to try this.

Duncan

Great bench. I really like understanding the choices you make. So great video for me! And congratulations on having so many new Patreons. I love the community you are creating. No need to reply - go make videos!

Rex Krueger

Great question! To get the properties you need, you probably need to laminate 3 pieces together, which means buying and handling at least a full sheet. It's a pain and not cheap. Then the lamination is not fast and the top ends up super-heavy, which has some benefits (as you obviously know) but then it's really hard to move and I do intend this as a knock-down design. So, it's a totally viable method, just not one I would use. Oh, and I planed the top in way less than an hour. It really isn't a big deal.

Csongor Halmai

Hi Rex, I think your workbench is awesome. :) I had an idea which I thought was a very genuine one but from the comments it seems that it was not. :) I still would like to ask you about it. I saw in many videos that the builders of other workbenches devote a lot of time to plane the top. Is it not easier to grab an appropriately sized MDF that covers the whole bench-top and just use some countersunk screws to fix it to the bench?

Rex Krueger

I don't see why you couldn't add them.

Rex Krueger

I was in an unheated warehouse, running a sawmill and thinking about starting a Youtube channel!

Rex Krueger

I THINK I'm safe from cupping because I allowed the wood to settle for weeks before building. We'll see, I guess.

Adrian Abshire

BTW, I have a friend that sends voice responses to all his emails rather than typing - faster and more personalized

Adrian Abshire

I need WHEELS on all my benches and tools... :-(

Rex Krueger

Sure! None of the benches I was looking at (around 1900) had that feature and it seemed like it would add the complexity of the build for little benefit.

Mark Petersen

I built my bench a few years ago, structural base with a slab top. It has laminated 2x3s covered by very old maple flooring. I like it a lot and it will be the only bench I ever use, That said, a serious discussion of the principles of work benches and how they're executed, like this video, would have been very useful to me 3 years ago. Where were you?

Mick King

Bench looks great. Years ago, I bought an entertainment center made of 2x12 for the top and various other widths for the other parts. I have used it in the garage as a bench for a long time, but I replaced the top, which had been stained and varnished, because it warped/cupped/bowed. The 2 boards were not glued together, which might have been part of the problem, but they shrank a bit, the "seam" opened up, and it was not fun to use. So, splitting a sheet of plywood the long way and laminating, screwing it on, solved that. I hope your bench top doesn't cup....