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vtsteam:
Holy cow, I didn't realize drawer handles would be such a hot topic  :)

Well, I'll probably spoil the suspense by saying it, but I just planned on making them out of wood! Lots of idea creativity here, though. :beer:

Today I went to the lumberyard again and picked up a sheet of 1/4" tempered hardboard (we used to call it Masonite) to surface the bench with.

After I got back home, I replaced the benchtop timber I had sawn off a few days ago to gain access to the back of the bench. It was just a matter of screwing the 2 by 4s to the rear legs and to a cleat under the joint between the two sections.

Then I took an 8 foot 2 by 4 and ripped it into a 1-1/2" square section, and rabbeted it 1/4" deep and 3/4" across on the table saw to serve as a cap. The rabbet is there to accept the hardboard. I attached the cap to the benchtop all the way to the back wall, further stiffening the joint between the two halves of the top.

Then I ripped a full length strip of hardboard (without a helper or a big bench it was like like trying to saw a wet noodle!) and screwed it down, countersinking the screws.

Here it is when I was done. The bench is back to the full 8' long, and the cap padded it out to just short of 20" in width.

S. Heslop:

--- Quote from: vtsteam on December 17, 2014, 09:42:44 PM ---Not from the evidence, I've seen!  :bow:

--- End quote ---

I don't think i've ever fully finished a project. I'm one of those guys that gets a thing to the point that it's working, if just barely, and that's good enough.


--- Quote from: NormanV on December 18, 2014, 10:29:44 AM ---I was a DT teacher, before I retired three years ago, but not in UK so I didn't have to follow the British National Curriculum. I had the kids doing wood turning and making proper stuff. I think that they mostly enjoyed it and learned something. I have heard that my successor has them doing written work most of the time.

--- End quote ---

I visited a DT teacher at the school my mom works at. Canny guy, gave me a bunch of wood and metal that they'd probably end up just throwing out some day. Had some big disks of mahogany that they'd gotten from an old fire station where used them to hang the helmets, and they came in handy almost immediately for extending the legs on my grandma's chair. They were the right colour and shape too.


--- Quote from: vtsteam on December 18, 2014, 11:25:58 AM ---a forum like this one preserves our skills

--- End quote ---

It sounds corny, but i've learned more from the internet than I ever did in school.

RussellT:
Well just to add my thoughts on handles....  :scratch:

I think given the width of the space that making the handles as flat as possible would be a good plan - sonner or later you will be cursing sticky out ones.

I like the brass ones but I think they would cost more than the rest of the project put together so I wouldn't go for those.  I approve of the sentiment with the rope ideas but I think they would spoil the look of the drawers.

I have some other ideas  :scratch:  You could use lie flat leather strap handles as used on trunks and briefcases.  I'm sure you could make something from an old belt.  I think that would look better than rope or string.

You could use webbing instead of any of the leather or string suggestions.

You could make wooden flush handles as used on boats and set them into the drawer fronts or use a router to make a knob directly in the drawer front (beyond me - but I suspect not beyond you).

I think the drawers look great - far too good for a workbench. :clap: :thumbup:

The drawers on my workbench don't even match - they have been reclaimed from old furniture and rails bodged to fit.

Russell

DMIOM:
Handles - if you don't want all-the-way-through holes, and there isn't enough meat to run a hockey-stick pull along the edge; how about pocketing a pull? (almost-through pocket and then run a drawer-pull cutter round the edges of the pocket?) - like this

Dave

vtsteam:
After pulling out the vise and drill press to see how they fit on the bench top, I decided to spend the afternoon cleaning off the storage rust.

Since it's too cold to keep a tub of water and soda electrolyte, or connect a hose to rinse them off, as in summer, I decided to try to use a damp cloth to carry electrolyte, and clean some pieces, in situ.

Here's what the vises and drill table looked like:

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