Workbench expansion and contraction???
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I am building the workbench in Paul’s book and I can’t figure out how this bench doesn’t push and pull itself apart? The apron’s are glued to the legs, the top is glued to the apron, and the well board is fit tight and sandwiched between the top and aprons. When the top expands and contracts there is no give between the aprons? Won’t this be a problem?
I don’t have Paul’s book, so I don’t know what’s in it. But his bench’s apron isn’t glued to the leg. The back of the apron has a recess that receives the leg. The recess is a bit wider and has a slope on one side. This slope is for a wedge. So once the leg and the wedge are placed inside the recess, the leg and the apron are secured together with a bolt. In case the bench moves, the wedge will drop down (hopefully with gravity) and tighten the leg to the apron. Honestly, I’ve never had an issue with the tightness. The only issue I’ve been having is that the bolt becomes loose from time to time. Perhaps I need to use a locknut to prevent this from happening.
The book version bench has legs glued to the aprons with no bolts. I am in the middle of building it and have not decided if I want to glue or wedge/bolt the legs in place. Either way, you could leave a little gap between the wellboard and benchtop. The strip of quadrant moulding will hide the gap and allow for some expansion.