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#53409
willofiam
Moderator

    hey tmac1956, I think the basic construction using most any technique in joinery will suffice for your bench, I use lamellos and pocket screws for joining panels together, you can add screws if you want but they can effect the appearance, the idea with joinery is that the wood will break before the glue joint, if properly joined. I would look at how far in detail do you want to go, for instance the panels can be raised panels made out of solid wood or you can use flat sheet of veneer plywood, your drawer boxes can be made with solid wood and a dovetail joinery, I usually use 1/2″ soft maple, dovetails and have the bottom housed in a dado for strength, the drawer fronts can be part of the box or a separate piece for either a raised look or a inset look, hardware can be added or a groove cut for a finger pull, ect.. ect… all these things can increase price. for the craftsman it is the time involved in how it is to be made, it sounds like that wont be an issue for you, as for the material cost going with solid wood can increase the price but sometimes it is not very much and of coarse depending on the type of wood you use. I have 3 watchmakers benches, a really old one I refurbished, it has the raised panels and knobs (I think it is on my shop site), one of the others is a design similar to your drawings, I find that there is not much need for having it “super strong” unless I was going to use a big hammer on a pocket watch (that could happen at times) but I think most woodshop techniques in building a cabinet will be strong enough unless they did really bad work (I say that because these benches are tied together with so many pieces). Maybe another thing to think about would be making sure you end up with one suiting your body size storage and organizing needs, If I made one I would make it much wider than what I have and maybe even an inch or two taller. I like being able to get things off the top. you have a great opportunity here to make a unique piece of furniture, as I have told my customers in the past, use your imagination and build a one of a kind, you wont be disappointed ;) ! All just my opinion, I cant wait to see what you end up with, as for me, you have my creativity boiling on this subject, thanks, William