Hello to all and new workbench piccies...

[Vivia]

What a welcoming bunch, thank you!

I've had a play around with the photos in the posts, so they should now all be thumbnail sized now.

Peter, in answer to your questions and as the OH said the legs are mortice and tenons (pic below), and are pinned together with white oak.



The worktop is made out of Iroko wood, which we bought in the form of old school science desks from the local Education For All Trust, which were then cut up, and thicknessed. You have to be careful when doing woodwork with Iroko though as the dust can cause severe allergic reactions and is apparently carcinogenic. When it was finished the top was given a few coats of Danish Oil to finish it.

Now to find a suitable seat! I'm not sure whether to be looking for a low stool or a high-ish chair though really!

Vivia

[snow_imp]

Wow, what an amazing work bench!

And an amazing OH to sort it all out for you.

I'm so envious.

Oh yes, welcome to the forum too

[Emerald]

Lurvely bench, know you have to bash it about a bit to make it looked used x

[ps_bond]

The legs are mortised into the top and held by gravity plus 6 3.5inch screws into the top through the top leg stretcher. The top is Iroko and the legs are Redwood Pine pinned mortise and tenon. The pins are white oak.

Ah, I'd missed the pins in the photos. Did you slot the stretcher screwholes, or is that not really necessary given the morticed top?

I wouldn't recommend jointing 2" squares, the preferred method is to joint the faces and have the edge grain as your worksurface.

I shall go back and re-read Frid as penance My current one is pine, MDF and ply; it's more of a tinkering space to see what I want out of the next bench I make.

Thanks for the warning on the iroko - sounds like much the same as most of the tropical hardwoods on that one. Lovely stuff for a bench though! I have some old lab benchtops around that may be a mahogany of some sort...

[Emerald]

What a welcoming bunch, thank you!


The worktop is made out of Iroko wood, which we bought in the form of old school science desks from the local Education For All Trust, which were then cut up, and thicknessed. You have to be careful when doing woodwork with Iroko though as the dust can cause severe allergic reactions and is apparently carcinogenic. When it was finished the top was given a few coats of Danish Oil to finish it.


Vivia

hi, i maybe being totally daft here please feel free to say so but... if you are going to using this bench for torchwork etc etc then is this wood a good idea or is it just the dust that causes a problem? x

[Lindyloo]

OMG, just popped in on this post. I looove your bench. And I'm so jealous that you have a handy OH. Mine is hopeless. I do more of the DIY around here than he does - thanks to growing up watching my dad. He was an engineer, and rather handy.

Will you keep the bench in the garage, or do you have a room for it in the house? Just nosey... and incredibly envious.

[Di Sandland]

Jo, as far as I'm aware, its just the dust. Nasty stuff Iroko dust, beautiful hard wearing wood tho

[Vivia]

Di's onto it, it's the fine airborne dust from machining the wood itself that is potentially harmful, but it is a very hard wearing wood and quite common. As I mentioned earlier in its previous life this wood was used for school science benches. Obviously anyone wanting to use it themselves should research the subject though, I'm sure allergies to this sort of wood dust probably varies as much as any other allergy!

Anne, George and Linda- thank you for your comments, shall pass them on to OH (although he's probably lurking around here itching to join in), who will be thrilled to be described as handy. Linda, for the time being the bench will have to stay in the garage as there's just no room in the house. The spider's in my garage just won't know what's hit them. Do most people have their work areas in their houses or somewhere else?

Peter- not quite sure what you mean, do you mean is it slotted to allow for movement in the top?


Vivia

[ps_bond]

Peter- not quite sure what you mean, do you mean is it slotted to allow for movement in the top?

Yup, precisely what I mean - sorry for being obtuse.

[Vivia]

The 3 screws are places close to the center to allow the wood to move out from that point, the mortise are loose to allow for movement also. The wood is so old and has been acclimatising in planked form for nearly a year that its a little irrelevant with this piece as its so stable. Slotting would be idea for a top thats newly machined or a wood thats more prone to movement such as beech which is a common favorite for worktops. If you don't have all the tools and know how to do this I'd recommend having a look at Ikea's worktops, they look quite good and are reasonably priced.