After cutting the boards, I sanded the cut edges smooth and the laid out each board in the proper place on the large cutting board. All three of these boards have blood groove to catch the juices while slicing. I left that groove up on the large board and down on the smaller ones , but it's a matter of choice and style.
Once I had my placement, I clamped the boards with simple c -clamps and then drilled the holes for the dowells. A drill press would make this a snap, but I had no trouble drilling straight holes with a handheld drill.
Then came the dry fit. The thread dowels are 3 inches, the supporting 7/16" dowels are 4 inches and 6 inches.
Once I was happy with the fit, I used 5 minute epoxy to glue up the bench. You could use Gorilla Glue, Wood Glue, or any other craft glue for wood, I suppose.
The finished bench: I added two strips of magnet, one to each arm, to hold hooks in place before putting them in the vice. The holes drilled through the lower shelf in the rear rest ont he base board, creating a compartment for glue, a spool of lead wire, or anything else. I left the bench arm (left) flat and it holds a fly box with foar to let the fies dry if needed. Finally, the top back shelf holds 24 spools of thread.
The blood groove on the base should slow down the amount of things that get dropped to the floor, and make a good place to rest an X-acto knife. The arms are set slightly forward, which also means there is room in the back to drill or clamp an extension arm lamp or magnifier.
I think you are only limited by your imagination in these designs. This could easly to refitted to be a rod building bench or a reloading bench. It might even work for a pouring area for home poured jigs.
Good luck, if you make one. Post pictures of your ideas to the forum so we can all enjoy your work.
Please see the first page of this article and more pictures >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
