Workbench Leg Size

A little more info please...

Scott Burr in rainy Ben Lomond,CA

>How big is your bench going to be? What kind of vices you got? The list can go on..

Re: Workbench Leg Size

ThomD

>leg for sled foot:

Klaus bench 2.75 x 3.5

Fortune bench 2.5/8 squared.

Leg without a foot:

Kirby 3" square

Re: Workbench Leg Size

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI

>The legs on my shaker style workbench are 1-3/4" x 1-3/4" square if I remember correctly. The smaller leg works because of the panel assembly. It is solid as Gibraltar. If you choose to build an open bench where the legs and stretchers alone provide the support for the structure you would want to use larger legs, mainly because any mortices cut into the legs will weaken the leg at that point. I would get a book on bench design and read up on all the past bench design threads here, there have been a few, before just jumping in without checking to see if there is any water there. The whole design has to work together overall.

Re: Workbench Leg Size

Garrett in Victoria

>Square them up and go for it.

The key to stability is far more about racking than weith bearing. Wide stretchers and aprons top and bottom will eliminate any tendency to rack. You can join them to the legs with traditional mortise and tenon construction, or use simple bolts and get an exceptionally string joint plus the ability to disassemble if ever necessary.

Here's how I did mine with 3" square legs laminated from 3 maple boards:

The frame members go together with 3/8� x 6� bolts � except for the two lower I� thick stretchers where the 4 bolts are 5/16� x 6� - available from any hardware store (my all-in cost was $10.00). A 1�� Forstner bit makes the holes to accommodate the fender washers and nyloc nuts, and if you have one, a mortising machine is an easy way to square one end of each hole. (I removed the mortiser�s vise to provide enough room for the wide boards.) Otherwise, it�s not difficult to square them off with a mallet and chisel, but either method requires a backer board or cutting in from each face to prevent tearout. A 1/8� roundover bit smoothed the edges on both sides.

Before drilling the holes, I had marked center lines to the butt ends of the frames, and that made it easy to transfer the lines to the legs. I made a simple jig to ensure that the matching holes did match, and used a long bit to drill both the legs and the frames.

It was a treat to assemble them and have everything line up.

(The extra holes in the first end unit in the photo above are for the rods and quick release arm of a Record vise clone.)

I first assembled the end units and then added the two long top and bottom rails usin ght e same bolt method. A couple of pieces of 1� maple with square maple pads on each end were used to span the bottom of the legs to act as lower stretchers. The pads were cut to provide the correct final height, and simply screwed on to enable easy replacement in case any height change should become necessary.

The complete bench build is detailed here.

I've been using the bench for a year, and it remains as solid as when it was built.

Cheers, Garrett

Re: Workbench Leg Size

Dave Thompson

>There's alot of variance in this thread, and I'm sure all of the answers are just fine. FWIW, On my bench, the legs are 5"x5" maple, with dual 2"x7" stretchers in between. I didn't want to take a chance that they would be too puny when I first built it. Being the first bench I had built, I wanted to error on over-engineering, which I think I accomplished. ;-) During a dry-fit only, the bench didn't budge. It was overkill, but overkill worked just fine.

The second bench I built was a shaker style built with 3.5x3.5 douglas fir legs and raised panelled sides. That was fine too.

enjoy,

Dave

Re: Workbench Leg Size

ThomD

>Structurally it is pretty hard to make them too puny, but it is possible to make them look flimsy even if they work just great. I think it is aesthetic. After all an 8' 2x4 every 2', is sufficient to carry a second floor around here, with snow loads on the roof.

The other thing is how huge the hardware you are using is. If you square up 2.5 inch wood, which may be thinner after the planing, and then blow a huge hole into it for wedged tenons, they could easily end up weak. But with bolts they might be great. That is why a lot of the classic benches have legs of 3" plus in at least one direction so the stretchers can be mortised.

Re: Workbench Leg Size

paul womack

>2 1/2 inches thick by 10

Hmm. I'd aim to get 3 legs out of that, as close to 2 1/2 x 3 1/3 as planing will allow.

Since racking forces tend to be along the length of the bench, I'd put the longer side (3 1/3) in that direction.

BugBear