The Wired Workbench (a la FWW)


wouldwurker

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Pipe clamps installed, The ends just need to be cut and capped.

This is pretty much the full bottom system all that's left are the two buys and horizontal bar to hold the power cord and vacuum hose. Of course my Philadelphia Eagles are playing tonight so this will be finished later this week

At halftime, I'll put up a quick video of the integrated clamping system.

The plywood I used isn't Baltic Birch, but it's still pretty nice plywood (Home Depot's 'Sande ply'.... and it's soft so I don't want it to marr. could use a recommendation or two on a nice protective finish. Obviously I don't want it to be slippery, but this veneer would pop quite pretty, and it needs a tougher surface. I'm not too concerned about the sliding spacers as they are essentially disposable and can be swapped out as needed.

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Cut the lumber for the hose and power cord supports. Dados measured and cut for them to have a bit more support grooved into the table top. A bit of relative dimensioning was necessary to jive up with the built table.

Need to make a light trim, but don't feel like taking off the dado stack, so instead, bedtime.

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Vinn, This whole thing is pretty darned cool. And I would have said that even if your family didn't have a history of breaking knees!

 

I'm just seeing this thread today and realize it's easier to read one all the way thru in 15 min. (including the videos) than to follow along and put up with the commercials :D

 

Now I can't wait to see the final chapter!

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Well...this project would have been finished tonight....finito...

...but as I sat there looking at those two ugly 6 foot pieces of stud lumber that support the hose and power cord, I just couldn't take it. Too much time and effort in this bench to have those big ugly studs staring me in the face every day.

So I sanded them from 80 to 400. Why? Well, I don't know really.

Maybe my first true sign of becoming a real woodworker is the obsessive attention to detail and aesthetics, coupled with the inability to ignore sloppiness on something that's purely utilitarian.

Or maybe it's my OCD.

Either way...smooooooooth.

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Wrapping up for the night. That darn career really impedes on my woodworking time. :)

Framing lumber both sanded to 400g. Again, I really took my time on the symmetry of screw placement. I know that sounds silly but it really does look nicer in the long run.

Special thanks to Gene, Paul, Ace, and Peter for joining me in the shop this evening.

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Wrapping up for the night. That darn career really impedes on my woodworking time. :)

Framing lumber both sanded to 400g. Again, I really took my time on the symmetry of screw placement. I know that sounds silly but it really does look nicer in the long run.

Special thanks to Gene, Paul, Ace, and Peter for joining me in the shop this evening.

 

 

Looking awesome..  Nice Kiss reference as well!

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just out of curiosity, are you gonna put a finish on this?  if it were me I might paint it some gaudy color just for giggles, but maybe that's me.  I made a little cabinet to store my sandpaper and other finishing supplies and painted it with some magenta paint we had lying around, so now I have this pink cabinet heh.

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One question.....is the box that catches the sawdust sealed to it's surround somehow?  Seems to me if it was not the air would come up the cyclone from the bottom.

 

Jim - there's a drawer (dust bin) in what I'd call the dust bin box, which has no front.  I'll look back and find the pic. 

 

The perimeter of the dust bin box has weather stripping around it.  The door (panel with a hole in it) presses up against the weather stripping, creating an airtight seal within the dust bin box.  I'm sure the inside edges of the dust bin box could probably use a bead of silicone caulk, but so far no issues there.

 

The plan calls for a front door (panel) stop and a latch it keep it in place, but it just so happened that my piece dry fits pretty snuggly with a good smack.  I'm sure it'll wear down eventually, and I'll add the stops and latch

 

Posts #24, 32, and 48 (hike!) illustrate it a bit better..

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just out of curiosity, are you gonna put a finish on this? 

 

I am, and will seek advice on it.  It's halfway good looking plywood, particularly the top, and would look nice.  It's very very soft veneer though and could use the protection of a poly.

A hard, scratch resistant surface on the top is important, as long as it's not tooooo slippery.  I can always put cookies (the ones with the 3/4" bits that secure in your dogholes".  I always use cookies when sanding amyway. 

 

 As for the sides and the support beams, I'd like to build up a nice protective finish, and slippery is not an issue.

 

Waterlox maybe?  I heard you can skip the sanding between coats with that.

 

The edges will get banded with hardwood one day....not anytime soon.  It'll be good practice for case work.

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I have very little experience here, but I would think that a finish for any bench top needs to both be durable and easy to  touch up... because no matter how durable the finish you're gonna be working on this and it's going to get beat up  no matter what... so... wipe on poly or arm r seal or something like that?  I did some outdoor furniture with BLO/Spar mix and that's pretty darn scratch resistant and nice and flexible, though the spar may not be hard enough for the shop furniture. but maybe something similar with regular poly would work

 

my workbench top is kindof a joke, it's just 2 pieces of 3/4 mdf laminated and screwed together to make a 1.5" thick slab, but I put a couple coats of wipe on poly on it and it's held up rather well. the glue drips scrape right off and I don't mind the few dings and dents that i've inevitably made.

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When complete, it'll hold the bench top bandsaw (for now), OSS, and disc sander in the rear, possibly turned around backwards so I can work on it from the back of the bench.

 

The front will ONLY be used for ROS, hand-sanding, and dry assembly.  No chisels or glue will get near it.  Seems every ding and scratch on my main workbench marr the heck out of my work.

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