Building a Second Workbench - Step 1

I built my main workbench about 15 years ago,  it is still in good shape and serves me well.  Recently I got rid of a large desk in my shop and decided to put a workbench where the desk was.

I thought about what the ideal workbench for me would be and decided that the current workbench was exactly what I need with just a few modifications.

The original design came from Ken Vaughn in Lakewood Colorado.  I saw a picture of his bench and liked it. I contacted him and he sent me a drawing of his bench.  So that is why I call it the Lakewood design.

The base is made of construction lumber, 2x4, 2x6 and 4x4.  The top is laminated with 3/4 plywood, 3/4 mdf and 1 inch tongue & groove maple for a total of 2 1/2 inches thick.
The sides are 5 1/2 wide and made from 1 3/4 oak.  The top is mortised into the sides. This helps keep it flat.

 The bench is 34 inches high which is the correct height for me. You can see I can put the palm of my hand on the top when standing next to it.  The top is 6 foot 8 inches long and 30 inches deep which again works well for the type of work that I do.
It has two vises, a Lee Valley twin screw on the right end and a large single screw vise on the left face.

As you can see there are 9 drawers below for tool storage.  There is also a shallow tool storage compartment in the back center with a lid.  I keep bench dogs and hold fasts in there.

I start with the feet marking a radius on the corners and under it to make feet. I used a bandsaw to cut them out.

You can see that I rounded the corners and made feet by cutting out underneath .

Next I need to mortise the feet for the legs.

Taking a little off of the tenon with my low angle block plane.  Should fit in the mortise now.

Looks like it fits now.

Both fit now and are square to the foot.

Now I need to add mortises for the cross braces. Once they were in I dry fitted the base and lined up the rear cross member.  All I need to do is add a mortise for this piece and it will be time to glue up the base.

Glued up the base on top of the current bench.  Now to start working on the top.

Here is today's video:

Custom Kitchen Cabinet - Short Project

I finished the cabinets for my daughter and installed them in her living room.  They looked pretty good but she is yet to paint them.

Just when I finished that project, a friend called to ask if I would make a custom kitchen cabinet for a lady that he was working with.

I agreed to take a look and he talked me into making the kitchen cabinet. It should only take me about a day and one half.

I made a drawing and submitted it to the client and she approved.

I purchased some 1/2 inch and 1/4 in birch plywood, also some poplar.  The cabinet is to be painted.

I roughed out the frame with the 1/2 inch plywood. I am using a couple of sticks of scrap to hold it together at this point.  The angles make it hard to clamp up to see how it will look.

Next I need to make the face frame which is common for many kitchen cabinets.  Often cabinet makers use biscuits to join the face frame pieces.  But since this is a large front I used regular mortise and tenon joints of 3/4 inch deep.  Here I am gluing up the face frame and keeping it flat.  Note the 45 degree angle cuts on the edges to fit between the walls.

Next to make the doors.  I use my router bits to put a regular cope and stick joint on the edges of the cabinet doors.  I use the 1/4 inch birch plywood for the door panels.  This matches what she has in the kitchen.

Now to glue up the doors.

Now that the face frame is dry, I attach it to the front of the cabinet with glue and nails from the back side. Again, many cabinet makers would use biscuits to attach the face frame but with the 45 degree angles it is not that easy.  I added a piece of  4 inch poplar for a kick plate on the bottom. Here the cabinet is upside down so I could work on it easier.

After the doors had dried I attached them using Blum hidden hinges. I drilled 35mm holes in the backs of the doors to attached these hinges.

All done here with soft close hinges.

Hope it fits.  Here is today's video: