Moxon joinery bench

Well i can thankfully say this is finished, well 99% save for some suede which i need to order and some remaining finishing elements. I plan to wet sand it with wax.

Anyways, this was quite the endeavor. I’ve always disliked my current bench as it has no vise, and no easy way of face clamping. Thusly i set out to build a bench that will work perfectly for everything i will need to do. My big bench will suffice for larger work and layout, and this for joinery, jointing, planing etc.

I imagine some will see this and wonder why all the effort for a bench? Well why not? I have to look at it every day so why not make it nice in the process. Since it’s inception I’ve been drafting it to see what works, what doesn’t and what i might want to do next. No part of this was necessarily planned out, more off the cuff I’d say. I looked at a few benches to get an idea.

The legs are 12/4 Douglas fir from Lowes, they do have some defects and issues, but for the most part they’re nice, and some are even quartersawn a bit.

The stretchers are 8/4 cherry, sawn by a co-worker, which was originally to be the base, but wanted something more meatier.

The top, sides, and chop are quartersawn sapele, which by the way smells incredible :).

Speaking of the chop, much inspiration came from Christopher schwarz and his gorgeous lambs tongue. I hesitated prior to diving in, and figured I HAD to at least try. You never learn by just thinking and procrastinating about a new technique! It paid off big as I had no issues, all went well.

I felt i couldn’t leave the ends squared, so i pulled off an Ogee-esque flair on the bandsaw and fine tuned it with planes and a sanding drum. The transition to the sides was done all with a sanding drum, no not by a drill press or powered sander, by me. I regret it :(. Took forever!

The tool well i saw on Shannon rogers bench and i quite liked the idea, although his incorporated slots for his saws, i found it better to add a side holder for them, as I’d prefer not to throw a plane or the like into it. It has an ogee profile router in the perimeter.

For the most part all the tenons were done by hand with some table saw work to remove the bulk. I learned a lot and hope to get a lot better at hand sawing real soon!

I figure it weighs over 150LBS, I can move it, albeit it’s a beast!

LET ME NOT FORGET TERRYR AND HIS GRACIOUSNESS IN MAKING ME THE WHEELS!! I feel they make it, they’re gorgeous! Made from Wenge. There is a nut epoxied into the back of it.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask! This was a blast to build, but I’m glad to be done! Thanks for looking.