Trestle Workbench

DoubleD Jun 01, 2016

My very first attempt at building anything 'big' like this. Wife got busy with a new project which kept her busy in the evenings and I decided I wanted to pursue a hobby that my late father had introduced me to. I try to be handy around the house so I bought some tools and decided to make a bench. It didn't turn out perfect, but I'm satisfied with the result; and more importantly, I learned a ton making it.

I sketched up my plans based on a design I found in 'Fine Wookworking' and adjusted it to fit what I think my requirements will be going forward, and still being workable in my small shop.

Dog holes drilled and final coat of finish on.

Added some dog holes to hold my pups and clamp.

The maple stock I purchased from a local mill.

My original sketch up and notes as I went along. Obviously quite tired one evening as I couldn't add 3 3/4 + 1 1/2. :-)

Legs and stretchers ready for assembly.

Tenons ready to go.

Drilled out as much material on the drill press before using the chisels to finish off the mortises.

Gluing up one section of the support structure. As an aside that little work table holding it is what I worked on for this entire build. You can see the planer on the floor in the background. Whenever I needed to joint, plane, cut, etc the tool went on this little guy.

Support structure final glue-up.

Some gaps in my joinery. Will need to flush these out.

After using a flush-cut saw to remove a bit of the tenon.

Adding a coat of finish to the structure. I used a 3-way mix of tung oil, poly, and mineral spirits to thin it out.

I glued up the table top in sections, then ran those sections through the planer before the final glue up. In all I think there were 3 sections. Cauls on top to prevent the pieces from shifting up under the clamp pressure.