Above 1200 Sq/FT Restored 1930's Auto Shop

[hobbitss]

Interesting you bring up the old way to title vehicles. My 1949 Willys Jeppster was titled a 1950, but clearly it was a 1949 with the '49 grill and all. Same thing as you mentioned, it was purchased in 1950 so that's how it was titled. Since I knew it was a '49, I really didn't want it titled as a '50 so I applied to the Secretary of State to have it corrected which they did. So it became titled a 1949. Thomas was very happy about that.

The truck you brought to my attention has merit, especially if they are correct about no Bondo. But it is a project, no doubt about it. Notice how little they had changed in 10 years. The Johnson shop truck was a 1949 and except for the grill it looks identical to the 1959 truck in the auction.

Thanks for thinking of me and passing the information along, you never know. ( and with that last statement, I fully expect to hear something from my darling wife!)

Thomas

It might help to put a Lincoln engine in it......

 

[markviii]

But then it wouldn't be stock! (seems to be a requirement around here)

 

[BB767]

If I missed it, I apologize, but did you put OSB or ply wood behind the metal on your walls? Thanks

Nope you didn't miss it, I haven't really posted much about the barn as yet. It's a Morton building.

Metal exterior over Tyvek building wrap on the outside...

The interior has horizontal stringers every 4' (1.2 m), insulation batts that are 8' (2.4 m) wide, vapor barrier...

...and interior metal secured by the stringers. No OSB or plywood backing the metal up beyond the stringers, nor does it need it. Morton uses their own proprietary metal, I don't know the gauge but it's an extremely rigid structure.

Thomas

 

[hobbitss]

But then it wouldn't be stock! (seems to be a requirement around here)

I've noted that trend but to properly respect the heritage of the property, you do need to have something automotive that is sort of home built...

If the Lincoln engine idea doesn't fit the bill there is always that flat head V-8 waiting to be re-assembled and installed in a new home...

 

[Sweet Old Bill]

That Flat Head idea is absolutely brilliant! Mr. Johnson would surely approve of that.

 

[Motown 454]

It looks great Thomas. I saw a Walker Jack forsale in conneticut and thought about your build right away.

 

[BB767]

Continuing with the Barn Bench Build (BBB). I had the corner in the barn nearest the lift established as the place to locate the bench, next was...



...drawing some working plans to work from. The bench would be built for this one specific area. The middle drawing shows the distinctive "L" shape the bench would take. I decided that two benches nested with each other was the best way to approach the "L" requirement. The top drawing shows the front of the the shorter 5 1/2' (1.7 m) bench and the bottom drawing the longer 9.3' (2.8 m) bench. For no particular reason I decided to make the tops out of maple butcher block. It's tight grained, won't mar objects placed on it, heavy-making it stable and, well.... it just looks terrific. I wanted a strong, hefty look, so 3" (7.6 cm) thick bench tops would be constructed and used. That would also provide extra weight to give stability.

Once that was decided I started to reason that I'd just build the entire bench from hard maple and concluded I would like to enclosed the base as well, just as I had done with the benches in the old shop. It's a neater appearance, provides handy storage and is much easier to keep the area clean, no nooks for spiders to build webs.

Next was to build the base upon which the bench would rest.



This was done much as the 3 other shop benches were, but this time using solid, hardwood material, primarily maple. Here is some random scrap lumber...



...that was turned into stringers. They are random thickness which doesn't matter at all.



The thinner board on the left is on the front of the bench, and will be the face of the toe kick so...




...that was selected from nice, straight, clear stock.



A better view of that board here.



The stringers were all glued and screwed to the outer frame.




The front board had to be screwed from the back side.



Here the top of the toe kick is being positioned and clamped prior to the actual plywood bottom of the cabinet being secured to the stringers and frame.



An end view of the top board of the toe kick being clamped in position. Note how it overhangs 2" to the left. It's 3/4" thick so when the plywood floor is installed both pieces will lay flush with each other.



Part of the cabinet bottom installed on the stringers and frame. I used 3/4" maple plywood for the bottoms and interior sides. In fact every part of this bench except for a couple of the bottom stringers (which were poplar) is maple.



A nice overview of both benches and their relative position to one another. The bottom or floor of the cabinets have been glued and screwed down here to the stringers and outer frame and now the top boards of the toe kicks are being readied for installation. This view is from the back side of the shorter bench.



At the end of the base nearest the camera you can see where the top of the toe kick board will be installed. The mitered corner of the toe kick board...



...has dowels installed to help keep the to boards alined with one another and to strengthen the corner.



The corner when completed.



An end view of the toe kick all completed.

More of this exciting bench build is coming this way, stay tuned.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

I've noted that trend but to properly respect the heritage of the property, you do need to have something automotive that is sort of home built...

If the Lincoln engine idea doesn't fit the bill there is always that flat head V-8 waiting to be re-assembled and installed in a new home...

Joe, that is a positively inspired idea, brilliant in fact. Thank you. I should get some more tools on here for you as a way to show my appreciation.

Great idea that, just great. What a charmed life I lead, terrific friends, flying fabulous aircraft....and paid to do it, cool shop to play, er, I mean, work in, lovely wife, charmed I tell you, just charmed.........

Lucky Thomas

 

[BB767]

That Flat Head idea is absolutely brilliant! Mr. Johnson would surely approve of that.

Isn't that the truth. No doubt about. I'll have to set the wheels in motion at some point on that project.

Thomas

 

[hobbitss]

Joe, that is a positively inspired idea, brilliant in fact. Thank you. I should get some more tools on here for you as a way to show my appreciation.

Great idea that, just great. What a charmed life I lead, terrific friends, flying fabulous aircraft....and paid to do it, cool shop to play, er, I mean, work in, lovely wife, charmed I tell you, just charmed.........

Lucky Thomas

Toolssssss!!!!! Excellent.... Thank you...

Glad to be of help...
You sir are a lucky man...

 

[Omphaloskeptic]

Well, since we are 'hanger flying' about the flat head taking up residence in a future Willys project, I wonder if there is an adapter plate made to mate up with the old T-18? What a sweet 'farm truck' that would be with the PTO and a mount for the snowplow!

Thomas, that workbench is going to be woodworking art! I wonder if they make workbench doilies? lol

 

[BB767]

It's been a 14 hour day today but I'm accumulating material faster than I can get it on here so here goes...



Here I am channeling my Dad and great Grandfather using some of their hand tools. For certain operations you still can't beat well tuned up hand tools. This was my Dad's jack plane which he purchased in the 1940's and to the right are Grand Dad's smoothing plane and block plane from around 1910. They work extremely well and I get a lot of satisfaction using them and feeling the warm shavings curling off the blade and hitting the back of my hand just as they had done. It's my connection with the past I guess.

What I'm doing is leveling out the top toe kick board where it meets the plywood.



The base is now complete. This gives you an idea of the bench's foot print when installed in the barn.



The legs are laminated from 1" X 3" hard maple, for a finished size of 3" X 3". Two of the legs were 3" X 4" and 3" X 7" as you'll see.



Hard maple is an excellent choice because of it's tight grain and stable nature.



I often think of "machining" it when I cut it because it's so hard with very little tear out. It gives a nice crisp edge.



Next is construction of the center cabinet which will contain 4 drawers. The sides of it are 3/4" maple plywood for rigidity.



The legs were notched 3/4" so the plywood lays flush with the side of the leg. That's a notch for a stringer, the board that stretches across the top of the legs as seen is the previous picture.



The plywood was glued and screwed to the legs.



Here the drawer dividers and been fitted as well as the top finish stringer.



This gives you an idea where this drawer cabinet is situated in the bench. On either side of it will be cabinets with doors.



The divers were doweled to provide a better glue joint and to help with the divider placement. To the right on the leg you can see the receiving holes for the dowels.



A close up of the dividers in place.



I used heavy duty, telescoping ball bearing drawer slides with a 200 lbs (91 kg) capacity.



To install the drawer slides, jigs were made to aid in slide placement. The jigs have been clamped in place and the rear of the slide is butted to them on the left and on the bottom of the slide. Then the slide is screwed down. In theory it made the slide placement pretty fool proof.



You can see that the slide is set back 1/16" from the front of the cabinet. Using a jig allowed this to be repeated on all 8 slides quickly and with great accuracy. The jig on the bottom allowed for the proper spacing of the slides and kept them parallel.



The slides have now been installed on both sides of the drawer cabinet.

That's it for tonight, I'll have more coming up.

Thomas

 

[drz rider]

Thomas,
I have just been turned onto this thread and it is as hard to put down as a good book. I really can't describe my excitment to go through your restoration of the shop and it's contents. I am only on page 40 of over 150 as of this writting, and had to stop and say thank you for this look into your life, and thank you to Chris for all her input on the thread also. As so many have said before me, this is just awsome!!
I was in aviation(A&P),all rotorywing for my stint, and to listen to you and others talk and knowing what your reffering too just makes this so much more than interesting, and having a few old tools restored along with some old automobile memorbilia(sp) I feel i can follow along and not be out of place. Thanks again!

 

[richla]

I was kicking some ideas in my head to make a small workbench/surface to fit into a corner of my basement: Then I caught up on this thread and I see what Thomas is working on for a bench, and I better go back to the drawing board!
EVERYTHING in this shop is amazing! As always, very inspirational, thank you, this has got to be the best thread on the internet.

 

[Sweet Old Bill]

Miss Chris,

Please check your pm's, Thanks,

Sweet Old Bill

 

[BB767]

Next up...



The drawer slides have been installed so the cabinet is now reassembled. Those are the dividers laying to the left and the dowels piled by them.



This is the drawer cabinet reassembled with the slides now installed.



I thought it would be a good idea to try the drawers out before they were made to see if they would need to be modified in any way. So I made a silhouette or side profile pattern view of the exact size of two different drawers sizes and installed the slide adapters to them. This is the pattern of the larger bottom two drawers.



Jigs were also devised to help locate and install the slide adapter plates on the drawer sides and verify that the jigs would work as planned. This is where the drawer would be at full extension of the slide.



The is where the drawer would be fully closed. Now I knew the drawer would close with the edge of the drawer flush with the front of the cabinet.



By doing this test I could also see that the drawer was positioned correctly in the cabinet with even space above and below each drawer. I now knew that the jigs would position the slide adapter plates correctly on the drawer sides.



Next was construction of the drawers. Since the drawers were rather large, about 30" (76 cm) wide by about 24" (61 cm) deep I used 3/4" stock for sides, front and back with 1/2" plywood bottoms, all maple. Shown here are the two different drawer sizes.



Once all the stock was sized and cut to length the corners needed to be dovetailed. This is the jig for that operation.



To keep from tearing out the end grain when cutting the pins...



...a line was scored across where the router bit came off the edge of the board...



...no tear out.



The dovetailing all done, here are the four drawers sets, two large and two small ready for assembly.



Parts all laid out and a dado (a small groove) has been cut into the sides for the bottom panel to slide into.



Ready for glue up.



All done.



A close up of the dovetailing. That's a slide adapter on the side.



On the inside of the drawers, the top inside edge was eased over with a router so that wouldn't be a sharp edge when you reach into the drawer.

Next time we'll see if they actually fit into the drawer cabinet...

Does Thomas still posses all 10 fingers after the Barn Bench is Built??...

Will Thomas ever get that ding dang Walker floor jack reassembled and will there be any parts left over if he does...

And how about all that "stuff" left in the tool shed and lean-to that needs to be cleaned out and Joe is so anxious to see...

Is he really going to take a new aerial photograph of the property with the same persective much like the old one from the 1930's and 1970's

Stay tuned to this thread for all of that and so more.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Thomas,
I have just been turned onto this thread and it is as hard to put down as a good book. I really can't describe my excitment to go through your restoration of the shop and it's contents. I am only on page 40 of over 150 as of this writting, and had to stop and say thank you for this look into your life, and thank you to Chris for all her input on the thread also. As so many have said before me, this is just awsome!!
I was in aviation(A&P),all rotorywing for my stint, and to listen to you and others talk and knowing what your reffering too just makes this so much more than interesting, and having a few old tools restored along with some old automobile memorbilia(sp) I feel i can follow along and not be out of place. Thanks again!

Hello drz rider, a fellow aviator is always welcome here, thanks for checking in.

You are very kind with those comments about the project(s). Trust me, you nor anyone else is out of place here and I'm especially glad you don't feel that way. Our point is to share and provide some useful information such as how to clock pop bottle caps or the proper way to wax your anvil, answer a few questions that might come up from time to time, stimulate some thoughts on refurbishing "old stuff" and most importantly have fun! You've got a bunch of fun reading ahead of you (I hope it's fun anyway). Welcome to Garage Journal and this thread. Chris and I both hope you enjoy your visits here.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

I was kicking some ideas in my head to make a small workbench/surface to fit into a corner of my basement: Then I caught up on this thread and I see what Thomas is working on for a bench, and I better go back to the drawing board!
EVERYTHING in this shop is amazing! As always, very inspirational, thank you, this has got to be the best thread on the internet.

richa you will make me blush if you keep that up! Thank you though for the feed back on what you're seeing here. It is rewarding to me when folks check in here and have found some useful or insightful information. I've been very blessed my whole life and I don't mind one bit sharing that blessing with others. Please be patient when I'm gone every so often. I love the flying, but at times it's hard to keep up with the thread when I'm out of the country. But so far they've always let me back in so not to worry.

Thomas

 

[markviii]

Thanks for the pictures, Tom! And yes everyone, he still has all 10 fingers (actually 8 fingers and 2 thumbs! He's definitely not "all thumbs" by any stretch of the imagination.). Now I know exactly what he's doing during all these 12 hour+ days (as if...). I've been terribly busy, too, getting things together for our 40th high school reunion, being hosted at our house. Eeek! Gotta get moving. Garage sale this weekend, then the remains to be donated or tossed. Whatever I'm taking out is not going back in the house, various attics, garages, and apartment storage closets.
Spring housecleaning on steriods!
I'm behind on stuff, but it WILL get done on time.

Chris

 

[PureSilver]

Your woodwork is gorgeous (as, it must be said, is the rest of the garage)... So many ideas, so little time!

 

[hobbitss]

Next up...

Next time we'll see if they actually fit into the drawer cabinet...

Does Thomas still posses all 10 fingers after the Barn Bench is Built??...

Will Thomas ever get that ding dang Walker floor jack reassembled and will there be any parts left over if he does...

And how about all that "stuff" left in the tool shed and lean-to that needs to be cleaned out and Joe is so anxious to see...

Is he really going to take a new aerial photograph of the property with the same persective much like the old one from the 1930's and 1970's

Stay tuned to this thread for all of that and so more.

Thomas

YES!!! More Junk and Tool Photos!!!!!

Aerial photos?? Does that mean your putting in a runway on the property across the street??
The runway will have a second use as a Test n Tune Drag Strip..

Enjoying the cabinet making class for now..

 

[BB767]

Have you noticed I'm getting these posts on a little late at night? The long days have all been worth all the efforts, the bench is turning out splendidly. Here's the latest...



By using this test pattern drawer you can see what's going on in the cabinet with the drawer in action which you'd never be able to see if the full size drawer was there. So everything looks and works well; it's time to mount the adapter plates to the real drawers.



These are the two jigs used to ensure that the slide adapter plates are installed correctly on each drawer. Just **** the adapter to each jig and screw it down. No muss no fuss.



The smaller drawers needed a different jig set up but still the same idea. Really makes the adapter placement easy, why even a pilot could do it!



All the adapters are installed and so...



...time to see if they really work.



The fronts of the drawers will have finished 7/8" maple faces installed on top of these drawer fronts, that's what the holes are for. They will be full overlay which will cover up the slides on the sides.







Next will be construction of the doors and the two end panels.



This is the raw stock that the frames will be made from. The doors and end panels will have 3" wide frames with 1/2" plywood panels in the centers, all hard maple....next time.

Must get some slee...............

Thomas

 

[bluestripe67]

Thomas,
I just finished catching up on what I call the, "Supreme Garage" restoration. I'm still shaking my head at the fine workmanship you put forth on every aspect of the project.
Your latest, the bench and related drawers cause me to have to pick up my lower jaw from my lap. Beautiful and well thought out work. Dennis

 

[BB767]

Your woodwork is gorgeous (as, it must be said, is the rest of the garage)... So many ideas, so little time!

Hello PureSilver and welcome to the family here at the 1930's auto shop. As you can tell if you've read much of this thread we meander a bit here and there but I always come back to the old shop and related material associated with it and it's history.

This latest woodworking project should be largely wrapped up shortly and then back to more about the old shop.

So much to tell and so little time!

Thomas

 

[BB767]

So...



...after the raw door and end panel stock was properly dimensioned...



...it was checked to see that everything was square and correct size.



The ends of the frames were drilled for dowels and dados were cut, those are the grooves cut down the center of the frames that the plywood panels will sit in.



A router and hand chisel were used to square up the ends of the dados where the saw blade stopped.



The dados on the short ends of the frames could be sawed to the ends since those won't show.



So here are all the pieces/parts ready for glue up. On the right are some of the maple plywood panels that will be in the centers of the frames.



Those plywood panels will not be fastened in the frames, but will float. To center the panels up in the dados, these rubber/silicone (not sure what they're made of to be honest) spacers balls were used.



They are equally placed in all the frame dados and there they will center the panels.



Here you can see the four sides of the frame with the spacers balls in place. They are glued with a drop of white glue and a small brad secures them into the dado.



The dowels are inserted and with two side of the frame glued up, the panel is placed in the dado and the other sides attached and glued.



The completed frame and panel are then clamped and allowed to dry. Notice the clamps are on opposing sides from each other. A framing square is used on the unit to ensure that it is not being distorted with clamping pressure and it's not uncommon to have to shift clamps around to get even pressure. You do whatever you have to to keep it square.



Here it is completed with nice, tight joints, square and it lays flat. Wood expands and contracts as it absorbs or losses moisture from the surrounding air. Allowing the center panel to float in the dado without being fastened helps keep the frame joints from breaking loose.



This is where one of the end panels will call home soon.



Same for the other end panel around the "L". Next time we'll start to lay out the legs and the bench will begin to take form. Thanks everyone for your patience. I think you'll find the end result worth this little diversion.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Thomas,
I just finished catching up on what I call the, "Supreme Garage" restoration. I'm still shaking my head at the fine workmanship you put forth on every aspect of the project.
Your latest, the bench and related drawers cause me to have to pick up my lower jaw from my lap. Beautiful and well thought out work. Dennis

Greetings Dennis and I'm sorry about your jaw. Bet that'll leave a mark. Wow, "Supreme Garage" huh? Hey Chris did you hear that? See, I told you it was worth all that lost sleep, I just knew it.

Well thanks Dennis for the vote of confidence. There's more on the way here. It would sure help if I could figure out a way to make it a 26 hour day though.

Thomas

 

[tig]

Stunning workmanship Thomas. It is a pleasure to watch you work!

 

[reddog289]

I now have a reason for me buying the magazine Shop Notes, Having not yet mastered my metalworking skills, I have planned for the future. My family seems to like to out do one another in the woodworking craft, So I got plenty of help there. BB767 those pieces of furniture are going to look greater when they are done.
Every time I check in here I am amazed.

 

[Boosted1]

Thomas,
Like most of your projects, I love this bench build. Thanks for posting.
I am building a bench also, but nearly as involved and nice as your.
All of my benches up to this point have been on wheels. This one will be fixed.
When looking for bench top options, I decided on low cost option of using a solid core exterior door. Only $45 and it is a solid 1.75" thick and perfectly flat Just sharing ideas.
Look forward to seeing the rest of your build.

 

[gasgas17]

I have a couple benches made with solid core exterior doors. They make a great solid top.

 

[Whataboutbob]

I had to join and my first post had to be here. I found this site by googleing garages and was clicking on different threads and found this one... WOW... what a read, the history, the pictures, the craftsmanship, the cars, all are out standing !!! Thanks for sharing.

 

[BB767]

OK, here we go for some more Barn Bench Building...



This is the small "L" bench and it contains a 3" X 7" post which is key to where the two benches come together in the front.



Here's a better look at it from the back side...



... and the front. The longer bench has a leg that will **** to this one so 3" inches of it will be behind that leg and unseen. You will see 4" of both legs.



These legs are just standing on the base right now and aren't secured. This is just for layout purposes. When those legs are installed they will form a close, tight joint. This is a good view of how the stringers, the boards that go between the legs at top, are installed, a mortise and tenon joint.



A look at the stringers and the tenon ends. The legs will receive a mortise where the tenon will fit into it.



The stringers are for cosmetics to finish off the top of the cabinet and to help locate the tops of the front legs.



The other end of the bench.



Across the ends then...



...is where the newly constructed end panels will be located.



A top view, looking down on the front, left corner leg. The end panel (seen across the bottom of the picture going left) will sit in the groove cut in the leg on the right.The end panels won't be fastened to the legs, they will float free and are are captured by that groove. The stringer tenon is seen to the right of the word "top".

Organizationally this might be a good time to mention some tips on a project like this. I don't mean this post on the bench build to be a woodworking/cabinetry treatise, that's not my intent. There are other good forums for that so I'm glossing over much of that detail. Rather this is what I'm doing at present for the property and these are some of the ideas I used.

To start, once the legs were all made, they were first sorted into front and back legs by cosmetic appearance. The more interestingly grained ones were set aside for the front legs as these would be seen. Then they were matched up according to color. I tried to get the ones that were most nearly the same grouped together. There are a total of 13 legs involved. Most of them are the same dimension and could easily get mixed up. So once they were grouped they were assigned a place on the bench and then numbered on the bottoms of each leg. A corresponding number was placed on the working plans so the front left leg became #1, left rear #2 etc. Many different machining operations were done on the various legs so this helped to keep from getting them mixed up. Also a front and a rear of each leg was noted on the leg to help orient the leg. I didn't want end grain on the leg showing on the front of the bench. It's only seen from the side. This also prevented a cut being made on the wrong side or end of a leg.



Here's the left rear or #2 leg from the top looking down. You can see that it has different cuts made as compared to the front #1 leg. The notch on the bottom left is where the 1/2" plywood back will fit. See those boots? I tried my best to get them out of the many different pictures I've take out at the property over the years but sometimes I was unsuccessful and this is one of those times. A goooood trivia question, how many pictures have I posted on this entire thread, from start to now, with my dumb boots showing? So please forgive me when they tend to sneak into the picture. I try to be conscious of them when taking pictures but I guess they're just soooo big it's hard to work around them, but again, I digress, sorry...




Here all the legs have been placed on the base, in the approximate spot they will be installed in.



It's now taking form and starting to look like something. More is coming up...

Thomas

 

[reddog289]

All I can say is wow.

 

[Kevin54]

Heck, that isn't a bench, that is a piece of furniture

Thomas, you are an amazing individual. From furniture building to flying the big boys and everything in between. A truly diversified individual. I wish I had half the talent that you have.

 

[hobbitss]

Heck, that isn't a bench, that is a piece of furniture

Thomas, you are an amazing individual. From furniture building to flying the big boys and everything in between. A truly diversified individual. I wish I had half the talent that you have.

Originally Posted by JC23 View Post
One of the most dangerous things in the world is a property-owning gearhead with earth moving equipment...haha

It that the heavy equipment they need to build the runway/test track???

 

[markviii]

Gee, thanks, Joe. You would have to keep reminding him about the runway/test track. The village likes us now because of the improvements on the property. They might revise their thinking, kind of like when the pool hall moved in to River City. Tom already has a reputation as being a bad influence (not here in our little town, of course) because he introduced a high school friend to go-carting back in the late 60s. Thank goodness the father of that friend isn't around to see the drag racing spectacle!

Chris

 

[hobbitss]

Gee, thanks, Joe. You would have to keep reminding him about the runway/test track. The village likes us now because of the improvements on the property. They might revise their thinking, kind of like when the pool hall moved in to River City. Tom already has a reputation as being a bad influence (not here in our little town, of course) because he introduced a high school friend to go-carting back in the late 60s. Thank goodness the father of that friend isn't around to see the drag racing spectacle!

Chris

Your Welcome, Think nothing of it, My Pleasure...

The Epic Garage build will be an Airplane Hanger!!!

 

[MetalMangler]

Your Welcome, Think nothing of it, My Pleasure...

The Epic Garage build will be an Airplane Hanger!!!

And of course the Hanger wouldn't be complete without a home-made bridge crane to help with engine overhauls (http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=24751#post24751).... In fact, the new barn out back would become soooo much more useful with one there as well!

MM

(Oh, and Chris.... No need to thank me. I do it all as a public service. )

 

[BB767]

Stunning workmanship Thomas. It is a pleasure to watch you work!

Said the man with a fabulous garage. The workmanship I see on your garage has no peer as far as I can tell tig. I see you have a wonderful life partner in a wife as well.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Thomas,
Like most of your projects, I love this bench build. Thanks for posting.
I am building a bench also, but nearly as involved and nice as your.
All of my benches up to this point have been on wheels. This one will be fixed.
When looking for bench top options, I decided on low cost option of using a solid core exterior door. Only $45 and it is a solid 1.75" thick and perfectly flat Just sharing ideas.
Look forward to seeing the rest of your build.

I have a couple benches made with solid core exterior doors. They make a great solid top.

Solid core doors for bench tops are one of the most cost effective ways to do a bench top, no doubt. Lots of bang for the buck with them.

Thomas