Design Notebook: A New Bench

Another "thought exercise" sort of post.

Background & Purpose

One of the projects I've been (slowly) working on is clearing my garage to a point where I can use it as a shop.  It's going to take some time, since I'll also have to insulate it, but I've made a start.  One thing I've recently started giving serious consideration to is the bench.  What I'm using right now is roughly two feet deep by four feet long.  It's great for the space I have, but if I'm going to have more space, I want a larger bench.

I've been going back and forth on this internally for quite a while, and it may happen again, but I think I've figured out roughly what I want.  My two initial impulses were an English-style bench, with a wide apron and nothing underneath, or a Shaker style bench, with lots of built-in storage.  I think I've settled on the Shaker type, largely because I like the way they look.  The other advantage is that I know from experience that I'll keep piling things under my bench until any open space is full, and a Shaker bench will at least force me to get things somewhat organized.

Requirements

What I've thought about so far:

1) Weight.  It needs to be heavy to stay still, and shouldn't need to be moved within the shop very often.  A Shaker bench is good for weight, given the drawers.  However, I'm sure I'll move house again, so it should be possible to either break it down or somehow make it, if not portable, then at least moveable.

2) Tail Vise.  I'd like a tail vise of some sort... I'm leaning towards something like this, which seems to be the new standard.  It should be both more solid and easier to build than a traditional vise, and more useful than a wagon vise.

3) Front vise.  I'm torn on this one.  I love my leg vise:  If I were doing it again, I'd build it out of something harder and stiffer than pine, but using it is great.  On the other hand, it does have some shortcomings.  I'd really like to try a shoulder vise, which is something that would fit a lot better on a large bench than my little one.  What I'll likely do is build up a shoulder vise and attach it with Timber Lok screws, which would certainly provide enough strength to keep it stable.  If I end up not liking it, I'll either install a metal quick-release vise or another leg vise.

4) Holdfasts.  I'm not willing to give up my holdfasts, so I'll need to leave a gap under the benchtop.  The top plus the gap needs to total about 7", which is quite doable.  I'd like to shoot for a 3" top with 4" underneath.  I'll probably leave that space open, since it's not ideal for storage, and hang a shelf over the bench for the things I store there now.

5) Board jack/sliding deadman.  One of the things I dislike on my current bench is trying to support long pieces of wood.  I'd originally planned to replace it with an English-style bench with an apron, but I think I like the idea of the board jack better.  It will also leave some space for...

6) Storage.  I'm torn on this.  On the one hand, I can always use more storage.  On the other hand, I like working out of my toolchest, and I'm not sure I love the idea of having access potentially blocked by whatever I'm working on.  I think the drawers will likely end up filled with things like hinges, fasteners, and the like, with maybe a few rarely-used tools to fill out the set.  I can't know what I'm going to wind up putting in them until I've got it built, though, so I'm not going to worry about it.  One thing I do know is that I want the drawers to be transportable:  What I'm thinking at the moment is that for each drawer I'll cut a piece of wood (possibly 1/4" ply) for a top, and store it under the drawer.  When the time comes to move, I'll be able to pull out the drawer, tack the top in place with nails, and stack it in the moving van.  That way I can move the bench without all the drawers, and the drawers can stay packed while I move everything.

7) Top.  My current bench is just about 24" deep and 50" long.  I don't love either dimension.  The back 6-10" of the top really only get used for tool storage, which shouldn't be happening.  50" isn't really long enough to work on large assemblies, though I've been making it work.  The traditional Shaker bench is significantly deeper than I want, and I'd like to try out a tool well.  So my current thinking is to make a solid top about 18" deep, with a tool well behind that. I can always put spacers in the well if I need the extra space, and in the meantime it should stay useable.

Design Considerations

I built my current bench out of Douglas Fir and 3/4" plywood.  I like the Douglas Fir:  it's hard, it's stable, and it looks good.  The plywood I'm not such a fan of... it's stable and reliable, but I don't much like the look.  I'll probably stick to a frame of DF, probably in the form of 4x4.  I might just use 4x4 for the legs, and use either 2x stock for the rails:  that will depend on how much overkill I want to go with and what lumber I can find.

For the top, I'd like to go solid wood.  My current bench has a plywood top, and while it's OK, drilling dog holes really isn't practical with hand tools.  Since I'm planning on a tail vise, what I may do is make the front 3" or so out of some hardwood, maple or oak for preference.  I can cut square mortises in that before gluing it in place, and have a good way to deal with surface planing long boards.  Behind that, I'll almost certainly go with laminated softwood;  pine, more DF, or whatever's cheap and straight at the lumber yard.  Either way I'll want the top at least 3" thick, to provide a good grip for my holdfasts.  Alternatively, I may buy a prefab laminated top, if I can find one thick enough (or two at a good enough price).

I do intend to paint everything but the top and the leg that will likely be used as a vise:  the more photos I see, the more I realize I want some color in my shop.  I'm planning for white walls and ceiling to add light, so any color is going to have to come from the furniture.

Conclusion

None of this is settled, but at least the rough outlines should work well.  With luck, I'll be able to start on this project this summer.  Without... well, design work is good mental exercise, and maybe it'll help someone else who's trying to figure out what to do for a bench.

A Desk for a Modern Campaign

I haven't written here much recently, and I may not for the near future.  I'm in the middle of a couple of projects I can't talk about until January (or at least the end of December), so you'll likely mostly get theoretical discussions for now, and maybe a couple of tool and book reviews.  This will be the first entry I write as a design notebook entry:  when I was writing software, this was the sort of writeup I did before starting.

Background and Purpose

I've been thinking for a while that I need a new desk.  Up until a couple weeks ago I was using my kitchen table, which meant it was usually too cluttered to actually eat at.  A few weeks ago I picked up a desk cheap at the thrift store down the road, but I don't love it.  It's better than using the table, but not by a whole lot.  So while I won't have time to start building, it's time to start thinking and planning.

I decided quickly that I wanted a desk that could be closed.  It's going to be in a "public" part of the house, and I'd like to be able to just close it up and hide my mess.  I also knew that I wanted a writing slope, cubbies for sorting mail and documents into, and space for my laptop and, ideally, an external keyboard.  That means I'm looking for, ideally, something like an old secretary desk.

All of this, combined with having helped friends move furniture recently, got me thinking about campaign furniture.  I've always loved the style, and the ability to just strap it closed and move it as is is a big incentive.  The downside of campaign furniture is, of course, the expense of building it.  Last night, though, I came to an important realization:  furniture designs change over time to fit new requirements.

Requirements

So:  what are the requirements of a modern piece of campaign furniture?  I'm going to assume moving a couple of times a year;  say, something a college student might need, or someone who moves north in the summer and south in the winter.

1) It's more likely to be moved by minivan than by mule, and up staircases rather than mountains, so while it should still be solid, it doesn't need to be quite as bombproof as an original piece.

2) Humidity may still be an issue, but not to the point of rotting the wood, so teak or mahogany aren't really necessary.  The same goes for insects:  if bugs are eating your desk, they're likely also eating your house, so you've got bigger things to worry about.

3) Weight matters.  Much like a tool chest, we want the majority of the weight to be in the contents, not the box itself.

4) Getting around tight corners and up narrow staircases is an issue.  I know from experience that something 30" wide by about 20" deep can be worked around almost any odd corner, but things that are longer can sometimes be a challenge.  Figure 40" in length and 20" front-to-back is an absolute limitation, with smaller being better.

5) It really sucks to have a chest of drawers start opening itself halfway up a staircase, so each drawer should be able to lock (or at least latch) for transportation.

6) It needs to have space for a laptop,  keyboard, and mouse.  People who are likely to move often are less likely to have a desktop computer, so allowing space for that is probably unnecessary.  If an extra monitor is necessary, it can probably just be treated like a small television and left on top of the desk.

6) More and more people like standing desks, so it should end up reasonably tall.  I use a standing desk, and I find I like a keyboard to be at about 45" from the floor and my monitor to start about 10-15" higher, depending on the size of the monitor.

7) At least one lower drawer should be large enough to store hanging files:  treating it as a lateral file is probably most sensible, which means the inside dimension of the drawer needs to be at least 13" front to back.  Adding space for the drawer face and the cabinet back means a total depth of at least, say, 15".

Design Considerations

Since weight matters, I'd like to split something that tall into three sections, rather than two:  it'll make it much easier to carry, especially if lower drawers are used for storing file folders or something like that.  So:  figure two bottom sections totaling about 40-43",  with the top section a little shorter than either of the other two.  That sounds like two sections of 20" each, and one of maybe 15".  Add some low feet to the bottom section, and the bottom two sections will run up a bit further, bringing that total to around 44", give or take.  That sounds like a top section of 15" (external size) will be about right.  So now we know two sets of external dimensions:  we have a 15" minimum depth, and two of the sections will be 20" high, while the third is 15" high.

For reduced weight, let's go with stained pine for a material.  Getting 15" wide pine should be relatively inexpensive, it's easy to work with, and it's light.  We have a winner!  Walnut or oak would be more historically accurate, and stronger, but also more expensive and heavier.  Depending on my budget when I actually build it, I might go with one of those, but pine is more likely.  While the traditional thickness would be about an inch, 3/4" should be more than strong enough.

File drawers are usually about 12-13" deep, and should go on the bottom.  Given that, I'd say the right configuration is:

• Bottom Case:  20" high.  12.5" drawer on the bottom, for files, and the remainder of the space taken up with a single shallower drawer.
• Middle Case:  20" high.  A single full-width drawer below, and two or three narrower drawers above.  Alternatively, a file drawer below and two or three shallower drawers above.
• Top Case: 15" high.  The full space is used as a secretary, with a slot for a keyboard and mouse at the bottom, space for a laptop just above them, and drawers and cubbies for paperwork and desk supplies scattered through the space.  A pass-through at the back for bringing power in and data cables (like an HDMI cable) out would be necessary.  A slide-out writing slope somewhere in the middle would also be nice.

For feet, I'd probably go with something removable, either turned feet or a bracket foot that clips or screws in easily.  They might or might not be removed for transport, but it would be nice to have the option.

Especially with a weaker wood (like pine), joints are critical.  The traditional half-blind dovetails should work fine, although through dovetails might be stronger.  Alternatively, rebates with brass screws would work just fine.  Brass reinforcement will do its job at the corners, and looks fantastic, so it gets to stay.

Conclusion

At this point, the design is basically done:  it's a three-component unit, with a file drawer at the bottom.  It's made of 3/4" pine, probably stained dark, and reinforced at the corners and some edges with brass.  It has one or two file drawers, along with some other storage, and stands about 58" high overall, and 15" deep front to back.  Pretty much the only variables turn out to be the configuration of the desk section, and how wide it is.  I'd be inclined to go about 36", because I know that will fit in the space I have.  Wider would be fine, narrower would be OK up to a point.  I wouldn't make it less than 30" side to side, because I think it would start looking less like campaign furniture and more like someone went overboard with a chimney cupboard.