Thanks, Robert. It ended up taking 150 BF of Beech to construct the bench
frame and top by the time I finish. Some goofs, some cut off waste and
lots of saw dust, plane and planer shavings. The top is 27 inches wide, 75
inches long and 3 1/4 inches thick. The cabinet is maple ply, maple drawer
fronts with poplar for the secondary parts. The strip in the middle is
walnut as well as all the accents, drawer pulls, etc. It was finished with
two coats of danish oil, a penetrating finish made up primarily of tung oil
with some urethanes and volatiles thrown in. -Jim


"Robert Haar" wrote in message
...
On 11/6/09 5:17 PM, "Jim Hall" wrote:

Finished this today. Took a few pictures for posterity. You know
before I
add the woodworker's patina of scratches, dents, stains. Instead of a
tool
tray built into the bench top, I added a pullout tray for that purpose.
Guess I'll see now if in practice it actually functions that way. The
vise
on the far end has/uses two rows of round holes across the bench to add a
little flexibility for using hold down gizmos. Glad its done..

It is a thing of beauty - and very functional. Now you have us all
feeling
jealous!

Tell us more about the materials that you used. What is the dark strip in
the middle of the top? It makes a striking contrast. What finish did you
use?