For some time now I have wanted to make a copy of Roy Underhill’s folding workbench. It would be something I could take to colgaffneyis events, both for formal demos and as a useful table to have around.

The actual design calls for starting with a 2 x x piece of wood — A real 2, as opposed to the nominal (1 1/2″) boards in the stores. I did not have any thing like this. So I took a couple of 1 x x (nominal) pieces of maple, four feet long and joined them edgewise, with dowels for reinforcement. Here they are clamped together while the glue dries:

The joinery is strictly by dowels. I did not want to use any metal objects, e.g. screws, both for historical authenticity and because I might be drilling dog holes, through the surface. This was still not wide enough, so I needed to another maple board. I did not have another four foot maple board.

However, I did have two two foot maple boards, a 1×4 and 1×6. I ripped (sawed along the grain) the 1×6 into a 1×4. I don’t have any power saws, so I used my big Japanese rip saw:

I then had two two foot 1×4’s, which I joined end to end to make a four foot board. This is not a strong joint and I would not use it by itself. However, it will be joined to the other maple boards, and have other layers underneath it. So I think I can get away with it here.

I need it to be flat and straight. The end cuts on both pieces were square and I checked for straightness against another board. To ensure flatness I clamped both ends of the board to my workbench and held the middle down with my large anvil:

This should keep it in shape while the glue dries. The next step (hopefully tomorrow night) will be to join it edgewise to the other maple boards. Even then I will have only a 3/4″ thick piece, so I will need to add a couple more layers. I expect I will just use pine for those.

Somewhere in the process, I think while ripping the maple board, I managed to cut my right shin. I did not notice it at the time and kept right on working. After I finished for the day I noticed this:

There is less here than meets the eye. It all washed off in the shower. The puddle on my foot is impressive, but that was not the point of injury. I don’t have antigravity in my shop (though it would be useful at times).