I typically do more home improvement then woodworking. Both are rewarding. Home improvement usually wins out because it address a specific need or deficiency that everyone in the house agrees about. To date, Im the only family member that finds deficiency with our furniture.

The BenchMark Table

When I work on home improvement (and woodworking) my shop usually spills out into my drivechoice. I typically schlepp wooden, metal or plastic saw horsed (I have all three) around from the back of the house where they live and create an ad-hoc work material support system.When I first read about the Benchmark table on ToolRank.com I immediately thought I’d found my solution. It was a collapsible aluminum table that could easily be setup in the drivechoice and maybe even the shop too.

The table, on arriving in the shop.

The table is a bit pricey ($350.00 to $500.00). At first I didn’t question the cost, I just needed to save up to get it. Following my birthday I put together all the Amazon gift cards I got (the only thing I’d asked for), added a bit of my own cash and pulled the plug on the table.

These are the plastic end caps which I broke a few of.

Once I received the table, I did second guess the price as I was assembling it. While the instructions are clear and easy to follow, the little green pieces that line the edge were a bit tricky to install. BenchMark is nice enough to include 4 extra, but I broke all of them during the installation. Because one of the cross pieces and the aluminum angle that makes the side weren’t lining up square to each other, I actually kept screwing right through the green plastic bit, tearing through it’s base. Even after I switched from a screw gun to a screw driver, I still damaged one. Finally, on the last little green plastic piece I went ever-so-gentle and managed not to break it. Luckily, it’s holding so well now that I’ve forgotten which one gave me so much trouble.This bit of frustration, on an otherwise easy assembly, did lead me to question the cost. For hundreds of dollars I was expecting an issue free assembly.

It fits, but it takes up just about all the currently free space in the shop.

I was also a bit disappointed by the relative size. In my one car garage shop, the table is big (64.25"L x 37.5"W) and not really practical to use (as I’d hoped it would be). However, when moved to the drivechoice, it shined.

The drivechoice is much less then flat. The adjustable feet make it easy to
keep the top of the table flat. They adjust in mere seconds.

When setup in my very uneven drivechoice, the table was very stable. The adjustable feet meant there was no wobble and I was easily able to adjust any twist out of the top.

A full sheet of any sheet good is handled with ease.

Once I threw a full 4’ x 8’ sheet of ¾” OSB on the table, I knew it was worth it. Since then, I’ve put full sheets, partial sheets and boat loads of PVC trim on the table. Through everything, the table has been absolutely rock solid. No matter what I’ve done with it, I’ve not been able to make it wobble. This was one of my prime concerns and the reason I’ve alchoices stayed achoice from the Festool Multi-Function Tables. I’ve played with MFTs many times in multiple stores, and they alchoices wobble.

It handles doors with east too.

Itll handle long boards too (with a touch of support).

I’ve now had the table for a bit more than 2 months. I’ve found that the table excels as a work surface. I don’t mean to suggest it’ll replace a real work bench, but as a surface to cut, drill and mark pieces and especially as a work surface for general home work (rather than fine woodworking) the Benchmark table is fantastic. If you find yourself needing to set up, breakdown and move your work table the Benchmark is the choice to go.Editors Note:Rusty asked to see photos of the table folded up (which I should have included originally). Thanks for the request, Rusty. Here is the entire photo gallery, including the table folded and in storage.

BenchMark Table

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Following the sanding, I moved on to the part I was most leary of: the ebony plugs. Just getting the ebony had proven an issue. I had taken too long ordering it from Bell Forrest, and through no fault of theirs I wasnt set to receive it until two days after I needed it. Forced to find it locally, I turned to woodfinder.com and found Exotic Woods USA in Northport, about 20 minutes from my house. A quick call and trip up there resulted in 3 nice ebony pen blanks. Using the technique shown in Kelly Duntons recent Fine Working article the narrow ebony sticks proved easy to cut. I then used Marcs pillowing technique. By pillowing, cutting and repeating I was easily able to make 10 (1 test, 8 real & 1 spare) little ebony plugs.

Pillowed plugs, ready for action.

Luckily, I had ordered my Veritas square hole punch in time. Following the simple included directions it proved quick & easy to make 8 simple shallow square plug mortises. The key is to square the hole punch before making the hole, so that you’re plugs will sit square to your stock. Since on of each pair of the shallow mortises ran into a Domino mortise, I dry fit Dominos to provide a backing and prevent blow-out that could have later prevent the Domino from fitting.

Achieving perfect, square holes was quite simple with the Veritas Square Hole Punch

You can fit square holes over round pilot holes.

No that the rails and stiles were ready, I proceeded to glue-up. With only 4 Domino joints, glue up proved very easy and only required two parallel clamps and an empty bench. I ended with a bit more glue sqeeze out than I would have liked, and there is a wisp of light visible between the edge of one rail and the connecting stile, but as the glue cleaned up easily and the light disappears once the matting was installed in the frame I’ll call it a successful glue up.

A fairly stress free glue up.

The final pieces to be assembled were the ebony plugs. To install them I pared the sides of each plug slightly so they would fit in the mortises and applied a small amount of Tightbond III glue into the mortises. Then I fit in the plugs and drove each down with a wooden mallet. Since I made each plug and mortise by eye, they’re slightly even, but probably not enough for any one to notice.

The Walnut becomes even richer in tone during the finishing process.

For finish I used blond shellac. I applied 6 coats of a 1 lb cut. Rather than go through the work of mixing my own shellac flakes (I could be missing something here, but that seems choice too much like work) I instead used Kenneth’s fantastic Woodshop Widget to determine how much I should dilute some Zinnser shellac to get to a 1 lb cut. I applied the shellac with a rag and sanded it with synthetic steel wool before and after the final coat.See the frame take shapeThe Greenwich Frame, Part I: DesignThe Greenwich Frame, Part II: Fabrication Begins

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