This was the first slab-top workbench I built, and I made it entirely by hand (save for one long rip when I defaulted to the band saw because I thought I might pass out).
The bench’s size was dictated by the wood that was available, which is why it’s 18-1/2” wide and less than 6’ long. You work with what you got. It’s a good bench for an apartment, but its small stature is its biggest weakness.
The other fun part about the benchtop was that the cherry had rotted a bit, and so I stabilized it with epoxy, which I tinted with black iron filings. This was in 2010, and I had no idea that epoxy and rotted slabs would ever be a thing. And then Roy Underhill, decided to take a whack at it.
If you are interested in reading about its construction, Popular Woodworking has been vacating its vaults of all the plans we built up there through the last 20 years. They’ve made it a free plan, which you can get here.
If you are going to make your own version, make the top 22” to 24” wide and a full 6’ or 7’ long. And skip that stupid door below (it wasn’t my call).
Some products shown in the video. These are not affiliate links.
- Benchcrafted Classic Vise and Crisscross.
- Sheldon quick-release vise
- Millers Falls planing stop from Patrick Leach
— Christopher Schwarz