46 - Utility Workbench, страница 18

FEATURE

MK: -4 C".

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To make inexpensive footpads for the legs, I cut squares from an ordinary plastic cutting board.

There's one thing for sure about this utility bench. It won't budge when working on a project That's because it's designed with a heavy-base that adds mass and stability to the bench.

END ASSEMBLIES. The base starts out as two end assemblies connected by a back, see drawing. Each end assembly is made up of two legs and a side.

LEGS. The legs are thick posts made by gluing up two pieces of l¹/2^,,-thick stock, see Fig. 1. To accept the sides (added later), I mounted a dado blade in the table saw and cut a long groove down the length of each leg, see Step 1 in Fig. 1.

At this point, you can set the front legs aside. But the back legs still need some work. To create a notch for a stretcher and a shelf, start by cutting a wide dado in the inside face of each leg, see Step 2 in Fig. 1. You'll also need to rabbet the back inside edge of each leg to hold the back, see Step 3 in Fig. 1.

SIDE PANEL. After completing all four legs, you're ready to add the two sides (B), see drawing above. These sides are ³/4^M MDF panels that fit into the grooves in the legs, see details 'a'

#& x V/z" Fh — WOODSCREW

FILLER 5TRIP

(3/4" x 12" " 34"-THICK STOCK)

NOTE:

BACK AND SfDES ARE³/*" MDF

and 'b' above. After positioning the sides flush with the top of the legs, they're simply glued in place.

FILLER STRIPS. But this means that the part of the groove below the side is still exposed. So I glued a filler strip (C) into each groove.

FOOTPADS. The bottom ends of the legs also need some attention. To prevent the end grain from wicking up moisture, I screwed a plastic footpad to each leg, see margin.

BACK The next step is to add the back (D). It's a large MDF panel that connects the two end assemblies and keeps the bench from racking.

FRONT LEG

LEG DETAIL A

STEP 1

(MAKE FOUR)

(BACK LEGS ONLY)

CUT %"-WIDE GROOVE, DEEP TO ACCEPT SIDE

16"

CUT 1'/₂"-WIDE RABBET ³/₄" DEEP TO HOLD BACK

NOTE:

RABBET "STOPS" AT DADO

After cutting the back to size, it's simply screwed to the legs.

STRETCHERS & BASIS

Now that the base was starting to take shape, I added a system of stretchers and rails to provide sup-. port for the top and shelf, see drawing on top of page 19.

BACK STRETCHERS. I began with two long stretchers that span the back of the bench, see Fig. 2. An upper back stretcher (E) is cut to length to tit between the two rear legs. But the lower back stretcher (F) rests in the dadoes cut earlier in the legs, so it's 3" longer.

The length isn't all that's different about the back stretchers — they're also different in width. The upper back stretcher is 3" wide. But I ripped the lower back stretcher to a width of 2V4", see Fig. 2b. This way, when the stretcher is set in the dado, there will be V4¹' clearance above it —just enough to slide in the shelf.

Before attaching the stretchers, there's one more thing to do. To accept the rails, you'll need to cut a groove down the length of each piece, see Figs. 2a and 2b. Then just clamp the stretchers in place and secure them with screws driven j through the back of the bench.

FRONT STRETCHERS. Now you can turn your attention to the two

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ShopNotes

No. 46