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Workbench for the Amateur: Mortised Maple Frame, Two-Board Top, Side and End Vises (Boy Mechanic, 1913)
A full-size woodworking bench from The Boy Mechanic (Popular Mechanics, 1913), "suitable for the amateur woodworker" and made "by anyone who has a few sharp tools and a little spare time": a mortise-and-tenon frame of birch or maple bolted with lag screws, a top of a 2 in and a 1 in board, a side vise and an end vise on square slides, and a back board. All sizes are the book's.
It stands 36 in high, 80 in long and 24 in deep.
Intermediate
About 2 days
Instructions
1
1
Cutting list
Cutting list
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2
Read The Boy Mechanic
Read The Boy Mechanic
"If the stock is purchased from the mill ready planed and cut to length, much of the hard labor will be saved."
3
3
Make the lower frame
Make the lower frame
Cut tenons on the side and end rails and mortise the posts to take them. Fit them together and fasten them securely with 3/8 by 5 in lag screws through the posts into the rails, as the drawing shows.
Materials for this step:
Squared Timber1 piece
Lag Screw (Coach Screw)1 pieceTools needed:
Crosscut Saw
Tenon Saw
Mortise Chisel
Wooden Mallet
Try Square
Brace and Bit
Adjustable Spanner
Pencil4
4
Fit the crosspieces and top
Fit the crosspieces and top
Screw the 1-1/2 by 3 by 24 in crosspieces to the tops of the posts, countersinking the heads (or bore the top boards to clear them). Fasten the front, 2 in top board to the crosspieces with lag screws from underneath; screw the 1 in top board down from the top.
Materials for this step:
Squared Timber1 piece
Hardwood Plank1 piece
Hardwood Board1 pieceLag Screw (Coach Screw)1 piece
Wood Screws1 pieceTools needed:
Brace and Bit
Countersink Drill Bit Set
Screwdriver SetAdjustable Spanner5
5
Fit the end pieces and vise slides
Fit the end pieces and vise slides
Screw on the end pieces, countersinking the heads at the vise end. Cut 2 in square holes in the 1-1/2 by 4-1/2 by 10 in piece for the side vise slides and fit it in place, and cut square holes in one end piece for the end vise slides.
Materials for this step:
Hardwood Board1 pieceWood Screws1 pieceTools needed:
Brace and Bit
ChiselsWooden MalletCountersink Drill Bit SetScrewdriver Set6
6
Fit up the two vises
Fit up the two vises
Screw the 2 in square slides (guides) to the two clamp front pieces, countersinking the heads so they are clear of the hands. The clamp screws should be about 1-1/2 in diameter, bought at a hardware store. Fit a block under the crosspiece to hold the end vise's nut. With the slides in place, bore the holes for the clamp screws and fit them.
Materials for this step:
Squared Timber1 pieceHardwood Board1 piece
Vise Screw with Sliding Lever Handle2 piecesWood Screws1 pieceTools needed:
Brace and BitCountersink Drill Bit SetScrewdriver Set7
7
Back board and finish
Back board and finish
Screw the back board to the back as the top view shows. Give the bench "a couple of coats of oil" to finish and preserve the wood (boiled linseed oil, ours).
Materials for this step:
Hardwood Board1 pieceWood Screws1 piece
Boiled Linseed Oil1 piece
Cotton Cloth1 pieceTools needed:
Screwdriver Set8
8
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
Workbench troubleshooting.
Flow
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9
History and honest limits
History and honest limits
From **The Boy Mechanic, Volume 1: 700 Things for Boys to Do**, edited by H. H. Windsor, Popular Mechanics, Chicago, 1913 (Project Gutenberg #12655), "A Workbench for the Amateur". All sizes and the fastening are the book's; it names no oil, so boiled linseed oil is ours, as are the metric figures.
Materials
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Tools Required
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