Awesome! I too am a beginner and am about to build a bench. Considering the Paulk bench, but I'm not super excited about the saw horse legs he has. So I'm looking for how others did it. Looks like you just set yours up on store bought saw horses. That's not a bad idea, but I'm still thinking about building a different type of base. Well, anyway, thanks for your video. I learned a valuable tip here. Drill the pocket holes before you cut out the openings. Excellent tip.
the best i found online fifteen or so years ago was the shopdog sawhorse (edit: twelve. just looked at the original video i found: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GkqhJh2wSgM.html ) ... especially with the sacrificial 2x4 (or whatever) beams ... that can be used to "lock in" (bungee cord to draw in the legs and bite onto the 2x4). this paulk bench... super sturdy but the funky angles tricky to figure out particularly for a first time diy'er ... but. i just came across this, that shows exactly how to achieve the necessary speed square work: (how to make the best diy foldable sawhorse ...) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-s8LOog0KBjY.html
Make your own track saw out of scap plywood. Its free. Cut a 2" x8' and 8"x8' piece of 1/2" glue and staple flush on one side. Take your saw and rip off the piece. Instant free track saw
Great video! I'm going to build this bench. A tip that was passed to me is when you need to drill a hole pattern like the pattern for the holes for the dogs, lay pegboard down and use the holes for a guide.
Thank you so much for this, this is the first time that I've seen someone with a "beginners" setup make one of these, rather than someone with thousands of dollars of tools and an existing workshop. Very helpful!
What are the finished top dimensions? Is it full 4’ x 8’ or less? Looks like 3’ x 6’. I’m getting ready to build a similar top but thinking of going 6’.
When this was delivered it was in a box that had been opened and resealed. I now know why. If you are put off by complicated assembly then this is not for you. It took me about 45 minutes which was not helped by a missing step and reference to a figure that does not exist. If however you persist it is a very inexpensive small work bench which is Easy to use ru-vid.comUgkxyFZUPFEey-PuqsPMxqaykBhgA1LWxFHh and sturdy.
Finally! the first build video of this Pauk bench Ive seen where the guy doesn't already have an equivalent mft bench to build on and $10,000 in festool
It is to bad that you did not get a good understanding of using 20mm (industry standard) holes. Also the importance of accuracy in drilling the holes. They have to be perfectly square and your bench is not. This will transfer to making your projects and you will constantly fight to make things square. Hopefully others will not follow your methods. Good luck.
I think I was pretty clear about my shortcomings as a woodworker. The bench has been the single most useful thing in my shop since I built it, but what do I know? 🤷♂
Rich Thomas, and all: YES! Nicely done, Robbie, you indeed are off to a good start. You'll end up using this for most everything. My woodworking teacher taught me that a really good woodworker is one who knows how to hide his/ her mistakes.
I love John Mayer scaling this wall pretty masterfully. He did not conform, rather he and the Dead have both successfully transformed. What a blessing from God it is. Heaven meets heaven. Amen❤🔥❤🔥❤🔥
After more than 35 years as a professional woodworker I can tell you the quality of how you fix your mistakes is often the measure of how good you are. I’d say you’re off to a good start. Well done young man. Welcome to the craft.
Agreed! I’m on my 37th yr of construction and I can vouch for Rich’s comment in that how you recover from a mistake lends itself to a quality that builds character and one’s ability to problem solve. The finer the woodwork you do the more problems you will encounter and have to learn to adapt to produce a good product. Real life is so much more unpredictable than on paper. Good job! Btw I stumbled on this video after purchasing Ron’s plans for the mobile workshop and his router/table saw work bench. I have been using my trailer as a mobile workshop to decades and thought I had the Cadillac trailer setup. (Until I saw Ron’s masterpiece). I am looking forward to building mine and will be putting my own touches on it. 👍👍
@@M30263 I have a Paulk inspired tool trailer from several years ago. The improvements he developed during the COVID period has me ready to start over. It’s been a great asset for me these past several years and I expect the improvements to be well worth the time and material investment.
I do have a couple of suggestions for potential Paulk bench builders to consider. Bench height: to save your ageing back, try jacking up the top surface of the bench to ELBOW HEIGHT. I'm in my late 80's now and it's the only way I can work comfortably doing many woodworking jobs. Make the top surface with about a 3 inch overlap all round. This provides an additional way to hold down the workpiece using clamps around the edges of the bench. This also reduces the number of holes you should need to provide on the top surface.
Ron Paulk falsely advertises his workbench. His pics show it as a CNC cut out, but his plans, that I paid for, don't work with a CNC. There are no dog-bones for the corners, etc. When I brought this to his attention, he replied that his plans weren't for CNCs.
Yup, I've been using it that way for a couple years now without issue. I will say, the sawhorses need to be well-built because this bench is heavy with 3/4" plywood.
I built this bench too. The major thing it lacks is an extended edge to allow clamping at the edge. I ended up adding a one inch “rim” of hardwood. The dog holes are not very good for using dogs, but instead using modified clamps, as you demonstrated. To use actual dogs, the top needs to be much thicker.
After using this for almost two years, I don't disagree with your points. I have since installed a tail vice and am considering adding a moxon vice to the front side. The bench certainly isn't perfect, but no bench is. I still love it and use it daily.
I'm at a similar stage in my woodworking as yourself, with just a circular saw and trim router. Really enjoyed the video, nice build 👍. I've built a track out of mdf for the circular saw with hinges one end and attached it to the mft bench. Still got to mark all the wholes about with the 4,5,6 method and test the cuts for square. I've attached an mft board to my kreg horses. Yours looks lot more professional. Just shows you what you can build with few tools 🔧
Did you think putting t-tracks in the top to replace one or two row/columns of the holes is a viable option? I am getting ready to build a table and the holes or t-tracks seem to be the two most common styles, would a hybrid make sense? Great video, now a subscriber. Cheers, Chris
Interesting idea. Probably comes down to your preferences & needs. I'd be worried t-tracks would lift out with any significant amount of clamp force applied. That said, I'm considering adding a router lift to one side of my bench, and will likely install t-track for a router fence. Maybe I'll do a follow-up video on how my bench has changed since the initial build.
Well done mate. When you make a mistake, you learn. When I did my old one, I managed to grab some 1/2 mdo plywood on sale at 84 lumber. Because I was using 1/2" (for the weight savings) I glued and stapled my bench together. When doing the sides and the spacers., I went and bough a huge cheap hole saw to do the radiuses and then connected the dots with a upside down jig saw. The hole top drilling thing can go one of two ways. I you can be fairly accurate and just use the hole for clamping, or you're using this as Ron does as an oversized mft bench. If you can accurately layout the holes and drill them then avenues open up to you. I think it was about 4 years ago that a fellow Brit named Peter Parfitt came up with the parf guide system. I'ts been improved since my mark one version and you see Ron Paulk use it regularly.
Definitely if you can afford it invest in a festool rotex sander I just recently purchased one and it is night and day difference definitely worth the investment also Bosch makes a similar sander for about $400 cheaper either way you can’t go wrong way better than a 5 in Random orbital sander from the local home improvement store
