This all began with my wanting to get ducks. I already have 5 chickens, but I thought, hey, why not 2 ducks as well?
But then of course, that means I’m going to need a new coop, that can house both chickens and ducks. My poor chickens have needed an upgrade for a while, so this is a good reason to do it.
And that means, of course, I’m going to need a lot of pallets. And to get all those pallets ready for building, well, that means I’m going to need a proper work area. And a proper area needs a workbench. And thus, I’ve arrived.
I already have a base made of really heavy metal, so really all I need is the top. The base was my Dad’s and had some old mdf top on it which was all swollen and crumbling, and I figured that if I’m going to get a new one, I might as well do it right.
So I started investigating and eventually came across roubo bench designs, like a proper carpenter’s bench with built-in vices and whatnot, and that got me properly excited. It’s not going to be a proper roubo, but inspired by one.
This was the impetus I needed to get sorting out my back patio. Most of it was piled high with boxes and baskets that Mum left behind and it took me about 2 days to get through half of it. But that was enough to make room for the bench base.
After much sketching and changing and thinking, I finally trotted off to Bunnings and bought 6 lengths of structural pine - 90 x 45mm x 2.4m. For some reason, Bunnings keep this particular size on a mezzanine floor down the back of the trade section, which means each piece has to be carried down stairs to load on your trolley. Luckily, when I went, 2 nice blokes were there buying timber too, so they helped me pass it all down, over the edge of the balcony, and down onto my trolley.
I managed to fold down the back seat of my Outback as well as put the passenger seat right back, and that way, I fit it all in. Woot! I picked up some pva glue, clamps and a very cool long sash clamp thing. I really wanted a 90mm t-bar slash clamp, which was on the Bunnings website, but after visiting 3 different stores and nobody having them, I gave up and bought this one instead. I actually really like it.
So here it all is:
The wood is all in really poor shape. I know it’s only structural grade pine, but I had the feeling that lots of people had already been through and picked out all the best bits. So even though I went through every piece, what I ended up with is still pretty twisted, bowed and knotty. Oh well. I keep telling myself, it’s only a workbench and not fine furniture.
