Wood is quite expensive
Welcome! / Forums / General Woodworking Discussions / Wood and Wood Preparation / Wood is quite expensive
- This topic has 23 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 3 months ago by Gary.
-
AuthorPosts
-
Hmmm good point. I’ll have to think about how to approach that. No space for an indoor workshop unfortunately. Might be able to stick it to the side of the shed. That might be strong enough. I’ll have a think about it though.
EDIT: Just worked it out, my workbench would have weighed around 12-15kg which is nothing to be honest xD Have to think of something else now.
9 January 2015 at 8:37 pm #123310If your workbench is going to be outside could you concrete the legs into the ground? It should give some rigidity to a light weight bench.
I have an old snooker table in the attic which I have been using as a makeshift workbench for a bit. Its not very good as a bench because of the walls which protrude over the surface.
However I thought of making this which would extend the edge by about a foot and give me a good surface to attach a proper vice to. I could screw it into the side of the snooker table also and then I could have an interior workshop.
What do you guys think of the attached plan? The snooker table is quite heavy and has fared quite well in weight terms over these past few weeks.
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.9 January 2015 at 10:40 pm #123314Have you looked on Ebay for reclaimed timber? You could get old roof joists fairly cheap, just have to make sure there are no nails still in there. I’ve seen railway sleepers for £20 each, they’re 3 metres long 300mm wide and 170mm high. I reckon you could make a workbench with a few of those, have to admit I wouldn’t fancy ripping them down by hand though. Alternatively, there are always second hand benches coming up on Ebay, quite a few on at the moment for around £50, bound to be one in your area come up sooner or later.
20 January 2015 at 10:16 am #123710For mine, I have picked through construction lumber, slightly oversized, and knabbed the best bits. Under $2/lm. Working within a shop budget, I am buying my timber on the installment plan, as I need it. For example, I bought all the wood for the legs first, and I didn’t buy the wood for the aprons until I had finished the legs completely. It’s took me so long to finish the legs, the $30 I spent on timber was a distant memory by the time I had to mess with the aprons. When I finish the aprons, I’ll start looking around for material for the top.
FYI it probably took about a month of sundays for me to finish the legs, and it probably will take you that long too, if you’re doing Paul’s bench design. Working on a bench with just hand tools is a real learning experience.
When I built my bench, it was before I had discovered Paul’s lessons. I somewhat made plans on my own, plus read the available books from the usual “gurus”. Like most of us, cost was a major factor. Overall, it has turned out to be a good, serviceable bench. One thing that has worked out well was using laminated layers of Baltic birch plywood. It’s stable and heavy. But, if I were to start over on another one, I would follow Paul’s design….EXACTLY. Construction methods, vise placement, aprons, wider tool well, and especially bench height (after several months of daily lower back aches, I raised the height of mine 4″ – much better!). Paul’s method and plans would have definitely saved me a good bit of money. Of course that has also proven true with tool selection and sharpening methods too. Bottom line is you should take the recommendation of a man with 50+ years of seeing what works and what doesn’t. You’ll save money and have better equipment as well.
[attachment file=”DSCN0264.JPG”]
[attachment file=”DSCN0265.JPG”]
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.When I built my bench, it was before I had discovered Paul’s lessons. I somewhat made plans on my own, plus read the available books from the usual “gurus”. Like most of us, cost was a major factor. Overall, it has turned out to be a good, serviceable bench. One thing that has worked out well was using laminated layers of Baltic birch plywood. It’s stable and heavy. But, if I were to start over on another one, I would follow Paul’s design….EXACTLY. Construction methods, vise placement, aprons, wider tool well, and especially bench height (after several months of daily lower back aches, I raised the height of mine 4″ – much better!). Paul’s method and plans would have definitely saved me a good bit of money. Of course that has also proven true with tool selection and sharpening methods too. Bottom line is you should take the recommendation of a man with 50+ years of seeing what works and what doesn’t. You’ll save money and have better equipment as well.
[attachment file=”DSCN0264.JPG”]
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files. -
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.