Build of the week: a bench that folds flat

One sheet of plywood, eleven cuts and a pair of hinges. Reader Odile Brandt sends drawings and a cutting list.

See the drawings

Soldering without tears

Our electronics editor on tips, flux and the joint that will not take.

Which cordless drill?

Nine models drilled, dropped and run flat. Two are worth the money.

The glue myth

Does more clamp pressure make a stronger joint? We broke forty to find out.

Latest notes

all notes

Workshop: Kit radio maker to reissue its 1978 receiver Posted by tamsin on Monday September 22, 11:15 | from the warm-valves desk The two-valve set that taught a generation to wind coils is coming back, this time with a printed board and a mains adaptor in the box. The firm says the cabinet drawings are unchanged, so old cases will still fit. ( Read more... | 64 comments )
Reviews: Three bench vices under fifty Posted by hollis on Monday September 22, 09:40 | from the tight-squeeze desk We clamped, hammered and measured the jaw drift on three budget vices. One of them stayed square after a week of abuse; the other two are best kept for holding the door open. ( Read more... | 29 comments | Reviews )
Plans: Reader's weather station logs to a serial port Posted by tamsin on Sunday September 21, 18:02 | from the looks-like-rain desk A wind vane made from a bicycle hub, a rain gauge from a funnel, and forty lines of code to write the readings to a file every ten minutes. Parts list and source inside. ( Read more... | 112 comments )

Reader picks this week

all picks

Busy in the forums

all forums

Topic	Forum	Replies	Last post
Bandsaw blade keeps wandering	Woodwork	48	11:02 by perrin
Show us your shed	General	317	10:47 by wren
Cheapest way to anodise at home	Metalwork	22	10:31 by hollis
Hub dynamo hums at speed	Bicycles	9	09:58 by marek

My chronoskin

Nickname

Log in

Create an account

chronoskin poll

Where is your workbench?

Garage Shed Spare room Kitchen table

Results

Votes: 2,318

Last week's poll

Hand saw or power saw?

Both, it depends62%

Hand saw26%

Power saw12%

Votes: 3,104

Woodwork: A bench that folds flat Posted by tamsin on Monday September 22, 12:30 | from the flat-pack desk One sheet of plywood, eleven cuts and a pair of hinges. Reader Odile Brandt sends drawings and a cutting list for a bench that hangs on the wall when the car needs the garage. ( Read more... | 212 comments )
Workshop: Kit radio maker to reissue its 1978 receiver Posted by tamsin on Monday September 22, 11:15 | from the warm-valves desk The two-valve set that taught a generation to wind coils is coming back, this time with a printed board and a mains adaptor in the box. ( Read more... | 64 comments )
Reviews: Three bench vices under fifty Posted by hollis on Monday September 22, 09:40 | from the tight-squeeze desk We clamped, hammered and measured the jaw drift on three budget vices. One of them stayed square after a week of abuse. ( Read more... | 29 comments )
Plans: Reader's weather station logs to a serial port Posted by tamsin on Sunday September 21, 18:02 | from the looks-like-rain desk A wind vane made from a bicycle hub, a rain gauge from a funnel, and forty lines of code to write the readings to a file every ten minutes. ( Read more... | 112 comments )
Electronics: Rewiring a bakelite lamp Posted by hollis on Saturday September 20, 14:20 | from the mind-your-fingers desk Cloth flex, a brass lampholder and an earth wire the original never had. Photographs of each step, and the two mistakes to avoid. ( Read more... | 87 comments )

Pages:
< Previous
1
2
3
4
Next >

Older notes

A lathe from a washing machine (204)
Sharpening by numbers (151)
Why your shed is damp (96)
Dynamo lights compared (73)

Built something?

We run about one note in six. Drawings and a parts list help.

Send a note

Notes you have sent

This week in numbers

31 notes run, 2,904 comments posted, 118 notes still in the queue.

Counted on Monday at noon

Woodwork

all notes

Build of the week: a bench that folds flat

Posted by tamsin on Monday September 22, 12:30 | from the flat-pack desk | 212 comments

One sheet of plywood, eleven cuts and a pair of hinges. Reader Odile Brandt sends drawings and a cutting list.

What you need

The whole bench comes out of one 18mm sheet with a strip left over for the stop. Odile had the timber yard make the three long cuts, which leaves eight for a hand saw.

One sheet of 18mm birch plywood
Two 100mm steel butt hinges and a folding stay
Sixteen 40mm screws and a bottle of glue

Cutting and hanging

Mark every piece before cutting any of them. The top is hinged to a rail screwed into the wall studs, not into plaster, and the leg frame swings out underneath it.

The drawings

The cutting list is a plain text file; print it with lpr bench.txt or open it in any editor. Dimensions are in millimetres.

Comments

all 212

Hinge the leg frame the other way by perrin on Monday September 22, 12:58 If the legs fold towards the wall the stay is not needed at all: the weight of the top holds them shut. I built mine that way in the spring. ( Reply to this | 14 replies )
Re: plywood grade by wren on Monday September 22, 13:21 Shuttering ply works and costs half as much, but fill the voids along the front edge before you hang it or the vice screws will find them. ( Reply to this | 3 replies )

About the author

Odile Brandt has sent nine notes since 2001. This is her second build of the week.

Her submissions

Older notes

A lathe from a washing machine (204)
Sharpening by numbers (151)
Why your shed is damp (96)
Dynamo lights compared (73)

Built something?

We run about one note in six. Drawings and a parts list help.

Send a note

Sent: 14
Published: 9
In the queue: 2
Comments received: 1,046

All
Published
In the queue
Returned

Title	Section	Sent	Comments	Status
A bench that folds flat	Woodwork	Sep 18	212	Published	View
Rewiring a bakelite lamp	Electronics	Sep 12	87	Published	View
Truing a wheel with zip ties	Bicycles	Sep 20	0	In the queue	Edit
Is linseed oil worth it?	Ask chronoskin	Sep 3	0	Returned	Edit
Crystal set in a tobacco tin	Radio	Aug 27	340	Published PICK	View

Returned notes carry a remark from the editor. Notes in the queue are read within two days.

Returned: Is linseed oil worth it?

Edit and send again

Drafts

You have no drafts. A note you preview but do not send is kept here for a month.

Start a note

Editor's remark

"A good question, but we ran one like it in June. Try the forums."

On: Is linseed oil worth it?

Your best read

Crystal set in a tobacco tin has been read 18,400 times.

Read the comments

Error: Your note was not sent. Correct the link below and preview it again.

Note: The submissions queue is closed on Saturday night while we move servers.

Guidelines

Why was my note returned?

Usually because we ran the same thing lately. The editor's remark says which note to read.

Can I send photographs?

Send a link to them; the note itself is plain text.

Who owns what I send?

You do. We only ask to publish it here.

We read every note, and we run about one in six. Open with the thing itself and what it does; leave how you came to build it for the second paragraph, or for the comments.

One clear sentence on what it is
A link to drawings, photographs or source
What it cost and how long it took

In the queue

Truing a wheel with zip ties (Sep 20)
Bandsaw fence from angle iron (Sep 21)

Formatting

Plain text is best. Leave a blank line between paragraphs.

Web addresses become links.

Build of the week: a bench that folds flat

Soldering without tears

Which cordless drill?

The glue myth

Latest notes

Reader picks this week

Hand tools

Electronics

Bicycles

Models

Busy in the forums

My chronoskin

chronoskin poll

Last week's poll

Older notes

Workshop

Older notes

Built something?

This week in numbers

Woodwork

Build of the week: a bench that folds flat

What you need

Cutting and hanging

The drawings

Related notes

Comments

About the author

Older notes

Built something?

Submissions

Returned: Is linseed oil worth it?

Delete submission

Drafts

Editor's remark

Your best read

Send a new note

Your note

Guidelines

In the queue

Formatting