Some last things to do before assembly of the base...

Cut the 3/8" drawbore pegs from cherry dowel stock; use a pencil sharpener to chamfer the ends (to make it easier for the pegs to wiggle through the offset holes)...

Final prep on the panels - sanding the outside faces, using a block plane to make some light chamfers on the edges:

Applying 3 coats of milk paint on the outside faces of the panels. Apparently this is something that Shaker craftsmen would do on the secondary woods of their benches:

Continuing on the base for the Shaker workbench...

Stopped-  and through-groove joinery on the legs, stretchers, mullions:

Making the 15 soft maple panels (with tongue and groove joinery) that will wrap around the sides and back of the base:

Using the router table to cut decorative beads on the edges of the panels:

Doing some dry test assembly and making some fine adjustments to make sure the pieces will easily fit together when we do the actual glue-up:

Next up:

Surface prep, milk-painting the panels, and the big base assembly!

With the leg mortises done, it was time to move onto making the tenons on the stretcher beams, end stretchers, and back mullions.

Test cuts, test fits, and cutting shoulders on the table saw...

Cutting the tenon cheeks for the large stretchers on the bandsaw...

Finessing the shape and size of the tenons using a chisel, block plane, and sandpaper...

Doing a dry test assembly...

That's looking like a pretty beefy base frame!

The Shaker workbench will have a pretty beefy frame, and the main joinery between the legs and rails will be mortise and tenon. Here we are getting the leg mortises cut...

First - mark the layout lines, and hog out the mortises using the Festool XL:

Then finesse the mortise walls with chisels to clean up the ridges:

Drill out the peg holes that will be used for the drawbores on the tenons that fit into the mortises...

So, this spring I have a handful of house/yard projects to get worked in between stints on the new workbench build.

Last summer late, some of the local deer re-discovered our gardens, and in one night almost completely wiped out everything that had been grown, wasting a whole season's worth of labor by Hannah. So this year, we decided to install an electric fence around both gardens to deter them from coming back.

Making up the insulator mounts and installing them on the fences, installing the polywire...

Installing the ground rod and solar fence charger...

Running underground cable from the solar charger to the fence wires...

Ready for action...

I milled up all the cherry timber-frame pieces to final dimensions for the Shaker workbench...

Jointing, planing...

Cutting to final width, length...

Gluing up some double 8/4 for the beefy legs and front and back stretchers...

Drum sanding, planing to final thickness, widths...

Arranged, sorta...

Well, the decision is in - I plan, Lord willing, to build the "Ultimate Shaker Workbench" by Fine Woodworking magazine. I will be making it a few inches deeper and will probably adjust the drawer arrangement, but basically the same plan.

I obtained some 8/4 thick cherry and 4/4 soft maple yesterday for the timber frame base and the side and back panels.

Today, I put the miter saw and table saw to work, rough-cutting the blanks for all the structural parts of the bench base. After all that cutting, there was a marked scent of cherry wood sawdust in the air!

Now that the farmhouse dining table is completed, it's time to move on, Lord willing, to the next big wood project - a large piece of "shop furniture" - a proper workbench.

Initially I wanted to build a version called the Jack Bench, a bench designed by Charlie Kocourek. I really like the adjustable height feature (its hallmark) which would allow me to use it at a low height for doing assemblies, at a medium height for joinery and table saw outfeed, and a high height for doing close up detail work. This is a very nice, solid bench that is ergonomic. You can view the Jack Bench website at https://www.jack-bench.com/

However I realized that I am definitely going to need a lot of storage in my bench (for tools, jigs, etc.), which is prohibitive with the jack mechanisms inside this model.

So, now I'm leaning toward a Shaker style bench, somewhere in the neighborhood of these photos from Fine Woodworking, Popular Woodworking, and Woodsmith:

Still noodling on it; hope to pull the trigger soon...

Getting the table all wrapped up the evening before...

Arrived at our friends' house (pre-stay-at-home order!), ready to heft it from the van into their dining room...

Unpacking and assembling the legs back on...

Turning it upright and setting in place...

A happy, godly family; worth it all!

"And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."
(Col 3:17)

Sola Deo Gloria

Pre-finish prep for the top: block planing & scraping edges to remove scoring marks.  Sanding at 120 & 220 grit, then burnishing with a maroon 3m pad (to help the stain absorb a little lighter)...

Staining with GF Antique Oak stain, with help from two skillful wiper-downers :) ...

Applying 6 coats of GF HP Flat water based topcoat, buffing between coats...

Installing tabletop fastener clips to attach the apron to the underside of the top. Re-fabricated some extra-long z-clips for attaching at the ends...

And that's it - the farmhouse dining table is all finished!  All glory to the Lord!

Next up: the delivery!