From log to workbench journal

[Mark J]

18 hours ago, Ron Swanson Jr. said:

While I'm mostly happy with it, there's definitely things I'd do differently if i were to do it again. 

I'd be curious, too.

[Von]

Here's my list of design decisions I'm making and my current thinking. I welcome anyone weighing in with their lessons.

1. Material? Red Oak, decision made by happenstance rather than deep thought. Please don't try to change my mind :-)
2. How dry should my wood be? Since I don't tend to woodwork over winter, this will probably be: "however dry it is come Spring of 2026, unless it's so wet I wait until 2027"
3. Design? I've leveraging TWW's recent split-top Rubio design. Split top for the usual reasons of each half fitting through my planer and not weighing a quarter ton. Lots of other options here - please don't talk me into revisiting this :-)
4. Size? ~2' wide and somewhere between 6-7' long. I'll see what my material (8' rough) yields and how that feels. I think my current (2x4 and plywood) bench is 6'. Much longer and it will necessitate a re-arrangement of the shop. Mainly I want it massive enough it doesn't move when hand tool working (the big weakness of my current bench.)
5. Finish? My take is I want it finished enough I can clean off glue and other stuff easily, but I want some roughness to it so it has some grip and stuff isn't sliding around. I expect I'll leave it somewhat rough (150 grit?) and finish with whatever oil I have handy or is cheap.
6. Square vs round dogs? I've got round holes in my current bench and a solid investment in round hold downs, dogs, etc. so I'm sticking with round. I've recently bought some of Andy Klein's posts and tops and plan to give them a try and incorporate them if I like them.
7. Dog hole pattern? I'm thinking Chris Schwarz pattern: a row in front in-line with the tail vise, a few in back for hold downs, and then where ever else I find them useful over time (maybe some in-line with the shoulder vise, depending what I do there).
8. Vises? I tried out a friend's Veritas Quick Release Tail Vise and think I'm sold on that due to the combination of looks-easy-to-install and quick release. I love the look of leg vises, but really don't know one will practically offer me that much over my current quick release shoulder vise.
9. Shelf? Yes, definitely a lower shelf for tools, bench hooks, etc.
10. Hold down and dog storage? Yes - hold downs in front right leg as is common, and storage for dogs somewhere on another leg.
11. Clamp storage? I currently have peg board between the legs on the short ends of the bench which I use to keep various clamps at hand. I'll probably do this again unless it's going to be in the way of a vise or something else.
12. Casters/mobility? Yes, either the Bennington Casters or the Rockler quick release plates. I have both and got the former recently to decide if I like them. Jury still out.
13. Planing stop? Installed one recently but haven't had a chance to use it much yet. Jury still out.
14. Flip-up bench hook for sawing? I have one now and like it for quick cuts. Will do this if I can find somewhere to put it between the end vise and the split (maybe on the "head end" of the bench to use from the back?)
15. Appearances/bling? I tend to be pretty practical with shop stuff and don't plan to spend time on purely aesthetic stuff. 

[wtnhighlander]

@Von I also plan to replace my bench within the next year or so. As dictated by shop size, mine will only be as long as my TS/Router table combo is wide, a bit under 6 feet. Bench serves as outfeed, too.  I love my current leg vise, but do want to add a wagon-style vise to pinch work between the dogs. 

My plan is to form two laminations of about 12" width to make the top, with a removable strip in the middle, maybe 3 or 4 inches wide. My current 24" wide bench is a bit narrow for some work, especially since I don't have space for a separate assembly table. Slots in the strip to hold chisels & such, and notches below so it can shift up as a planing stop. Remove it for clamp access.

I'm thinking a cabinet of drawers between the legs, but with about 6" of clearance under the benchtop for clamping access.

I'm waffling over material for the top. Current is SPF construction lumber, which is great for not denting work pieces, and self-heals when I resort to screwing a stop block to it for work-holding, but it does wear fairly quick. 

In any case, I find it necesssary to attach a bench this size to the floor to prevent it from moving when I hand-plane anything of significance.

[Mark J]

12 hours ago, Von said:

Casters/mobility? Yes, either the Bennington Casters or the Rockler quick release plates. I have both and got the former recently to decide if I like them. Jury still out.

 No personal experience with the Bennington.  I do have the Rockler style (fixed, non quick release).  But looking at the video I'm not convinced the Bennington is really better.  I'd rather step down and lever the caster in place than have to lift one end of the bench.  

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

@Von i can only add this, for finish i just went with BLO and a little paste wax. Cheap, foolproof and easy to work with. 

[Von]

On 6/28/2025 at 9:33 PM, Von said:

Here's my list of design decisions I'm making and my current thinking. I welcome anyone weighing in with their lessons.

Thanks all for the input. Two more design aspects I forgot to mention:

• Draw boring: I plan M&T joints for the base with 1/2" draw bores.
• Top construction: My lumber is 11"+ wide and ~2" thick. I don't think I've seen this tried before (and I suspect there is a reason), but I'm thinking about laminating two pieces vertically to make each half of my top instead of doing the standard horizontal lamination. I admit to aesthetic reasons for this: I like the idea of an continuous surface, kinda like a big slab. I'm uncertain the boards will be stable and flat enough for me to pull this off but I plan to give it a try and fall back to horizontal lamination if it becomes clear it won't work.

[Mark J]

1 hour ago, Von said:

I'm thinking about laminating two pieces vertically to make each half of my top instead of doing the standard horizontal lamination....

I'm uncertain the boards will be stable and flat enough for me to pull this off

I'm not sure, but I also wonder if such a top will stay flat?

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

On 6/30/2025 at 7:55 AM, Von said:

 

• Top construction: My lumber is 11"+ wide and ~2" thick. I don't think I've seen this tried before (and I suspect there is a reason), but I'm thinking about laminating two pieces vertically to make each half of my top instead of doing the standard horizontal lamination. I admit to aesthetic reasons for this: I like the idea of an continuous surface, kinda like a big slab. I'm uncertain the boards will be stable and flat enough for me to pull this off but I plan to give it a try and fall back to horizontal lamination if it becomes clear it won't work.

A few things to think about here. 

Not sure how that would play with seasonal movement. At a minimum, i would think you'd want to orient your legs so they move in the same direction as your slabs, assuming they're mortised in. It might also affect your gap stop(?)

The side grain surface is a little more resistant to wear and is easier to plane flat, at least in my opinion. Red oak is pretty tough stuff though so maybe that's not as much of an issue. 

Anyway, just a few things that came to mind. Carry on!

 

[wtnhighlander]

I you do go with the face laminations, I think orienting the growth rings to oppose one another will be more stable than otherwise. +1 on the edge-planing comment, though. Red oak can be a real bear to plane on the faces.

[Von]

With the arrival of my recently ordered Veritas Tail Vise, joining my previously purchased Veritas Front Vise and InKlein Dog Posts, I believe I now have all the major iron for my workbench. I opened everything to measure things because manuals never lie and now I'll store them for the, at least, next six months, putting them where I most want my roof to develop a leak.

The dog posts were an impulse buy taking advantage of one of Andy's sales. I should have a few extras and plan to install one in my current bench to make sure I understand installation and see how I like them. (It's not clear to me one can install them in a way that one can easily uninstall them.)

[Chet]

On 9/7/2025 at 6:22 AM, Von said:

putting them where I most want my roof to develop a leak.

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

I hadn't heard of those dog posts so i watched a video. They look pretty cool, but man that  install looks fussy. But i can see their value and utility too. And maybe it's not too bad once you get the jigs built, etc. Probably one of those deals where the first one takes some time and effort, but the ones that follow go like clockwork.  

I'll be interested to follow you on that! 

[Mark J]

Yeah, you're gonna have to "show your work" on this.

So how is the wood drying coming along?

[Von]

I plan on draw boring my bench using 1/2" dowels. I spent today learning how to make dowels using washers, as an alternative to a dowel plate, per this Paul Sellers blog post. There was much experimenting so photos may not be in order or show things I didn't end up using in my final process.

Basically the idea is you cut your stock down to size and then "sharpen" an end so it fits through your largest washer. In my case I was using two washers: a 9/16" and 1/2". I recessed the washers into a piece of oak and then drilled holes all the way through that were 1/16" bigger than the holes in the washers. The holes help keep the dowels straight as you drive them. I aligned whichever one I was using over a dog hole. For stock, I used some ash, the darker wood you see, and some red oak, which is what I expect to use with the bench. Both ended up working the same, but I had better results with the oak because it was more straight-grained.

This is not an activity for timidity, you'll want your biggest hammer. I think a big wooden mallet would be ideal. I don't have one so I settled for my big rubber mallet. You also want to take everything off your workbench that you don't want shaking off onto the floor.

I spent a bit figuring out you want your wood very close to the size of the dowel. Too big and I just couldn't force it through the washer. Here's a failure:

The size stock that ended up working for me was between the two washer inner diameters, right around 17/32". The bandsaw worked nicely for cutting it to this size.

A dowel being born.

Here's the result. Not the prettiest dowels, but I think they will work, at least the red oaks ones. The gain in the ash was really two wavy - you can see a bunch of run out. Next experiment will be to make a draw bore joint using these.

I wrapped up by prettying up my "dowel block." I screwed the washers in so I don't lose them, as when you are hammering on the block, whichever one is not in use tends to go flying.

 

On 9/8/2025 at 9:35 AM, Mark J said:

So how is the wood drying coming along?

Sorry, I missed this question when it was asked. The drying is coming along. When I started surface moisture readings were all 20%+ and they are now down to 9-13%. I'm feeling comfortable the wood will be "dry enough" by Spring.

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

Looking good, @Von. 

Here's an alternate method that you may or may not find useful. Gary is something of an online friend of mine. 

 

 

[wtnhighlander]

Dowels made by turning the stock through a cutter of any sort can be succesfully made without regard to grain orientation. Fine for many purposes, but draw-bored joints really demand dowels with no grain run-out. Hammering through a die generally guarantees the resulting dowel is straight grained, or it will fail during the hammering.

I think one reason commercial dowel plates have so many holes is that you can start with square stock through a die that just clips the corners, and progress down to the desired size in small increments. This is very helpful for working with riven stock to get the straightest possible grain.

[Von]

On 10/21/2025 at 8:17 PM, wtnhighlander said:

Dowels made by turning the stock through a cutter of any sort can be succesfully made without regard to grain orientation. Fine for many purposes, but draw-bored joints really demand dowels with no grain run-out. Hammering through a die generally guarantees the resulting dowel is straight grained, or it will fail during the hammering.

No run-out is my goal. Based on my limited experience, the hammer/washer approach works if the grain is fairly straight but it doesn't work miracles. There is plenty of run out on the ash dowels I made, but with the oak it followed minor shifts in the grain well.

On 10/21/2025 at 8:17 PM, wtnhighlander said:

I think one reason commercial dowel plates have so many holes is that you can start with square stock through a die that just clips the corners, and progress down to the desired size in small increments. This is very helpful for working with riven stock to get the straightest possible grain.

Agreed. I think for my relatively small run (I think I'll need 20 ~4" dowels), I can make the two washers work. A dowel plate would give a lot more flexibility.

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

Oak splits very, very easily - which to my understanding is a major reason for it's rise to prominence as a building material and furniture wood. 

[Von]

Mades some mortises today for draw bore testing on some practice pieces I glued up. I aimed to make them 1" W x 3" L x 1 3/4" deep as called for in the TWW plans, but turns out my 3/8" 1/4" spiral upcut bit only got me to 1 1/2" deep and it's also tediously small, so I need to either find or buy a larger bit.

I used my moxen block set up shown below that I've used before for smaller mortises. I've never used it with a mortise wider than my bit before, so first challenge was allowing controlled movement L-to-R in the photo below, i.e. the mortise width. Turns out some 5/16" drill depth stops on the edge guide rods worked well. I loosened the thumbscrews on the router base and let the depth stops limit the width of the cut.

Results after some squaring of corners and other clean up. Obviously I still need to tune how I'm lining up my stops, as I'm off on my lines. I think the issue is mostly me gauging the edge of the spiral bit incorrectly. Maybe a bit of sold rod the same diameter as the bit for set up? I welcome suggestions. I went ahead and made two mortises on each side for practice. I hope to do some cut tenons and do the draw boring later this week.

Edited October 28, 2025 by Von
Corrected size of bit

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

Von are these mortises going into the legs to accept the stretchers? 

If so, you should have plenty of room to clamp a piece of scrap to use as a stop, though if memory serves, i just marked all 4 sides of the mortise and stopped when i got close to the line instead of using a physical stop. 

[Von]

On 10/27/2025 at 4:41 PM, Ron Swanson Jr. said:

Von are these mortises going into the legs to accept the stretchers? 

Yes, a pair of stretchers on each end and one lower pair down the length of the bench.

On 10/27/2025 at 4:41 PM, Ron Swanson Jr. said:

If so, you should have plenty of room to clamp a piece of scrap to use as a stop, though if memory serves, i just marked all 4 sides of the mortise and stopped when i got close to the line instead of using a physical stop. 

Yes, I can easily see doing that for the four lower stretchers. For the high stretchers on the ends of the mortise are only 1/2" from the top of the leg, so I'd need to be creative there as the base of my router will hang over the end of the leg. Hmmm, maybe I leave the legs long and route the mortises before cutting them to length?

And maybe it's the small size of the bit I was using, but once I get past an inch or so in my plunging, I can no longer see my lines with all the generated dust and small aperture between the router body and the base. I might be able to start my mortises by sight and then shift to a bearing-guided bit, but it's hard for me to imagine doing the whole operation by sight.

Thanks!

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

I would lay 2 legs end-to-end, with the 2nd leg serving serving as support for the router and use a stop block. Just make sure they are both secured to the benchtop so they don't move around on you

[Sergio Escudero]

Von, I envy and admire you. Milling your own wood is fantastic. At the rate you're going, you'll finish your bench long before I do. I'm still getting my head around it and preparing to make the dovetails for the end cap. I can't afford to make a single mistake.

[gee-dub]

Super cool idea with the depth stops on the edge guide rods!

[Von]

On 10/30/2025 at 9:54 AM, gee-dub said:

Super cool idea with the depth stops on the edge guide rods!

Thanks. The big challenge is somehow I have three 5/16" depth stops, each of which uses a different size hex key...