Student workbench rescue - from fire wood to repurpose

About two years ago I drove out to Rhode Island to look at a large workbench. I purchased it

 and when I was ready to leave the guy that sold it to me asked if I was interested in a smaller student bench that he had. I took a look and said sure. It was in about 6 pieces and really beat up but I thought that some day I would do something with it. 


The two halves originally had a tray in the center. The business parts of the bench had been beat to death by students learning to use tools in an untold number of shop classes. They are made of laminated rock maple held together with iron rods and no glue. Each top was riddled with holes and other defects that needed to be patched.

I chiseled out the holes and glued in applewood, oak and cherry wood fillers. I planed and sanded the tops to make the patches flush while still retaining most of the "patina" left by the generations of shop students who had their way with the bench tops.


The center tool tray was split into three pieces that needed to be reunited. I glued them up and cleaned out the old glue and gunk that held the tray between the two halves of the bench. The end caps had been destroyed and the rabbit joint was cut at one side to remove the end caps. I had to re-cut a new joint and fabricate new end caps.

I used two pipe vises to hold the three sections together while I cut new joinery trued the sections back into a square configuration. 

I found a couple of 3 inch square pieces of mahogany that were aging in the wood pile to make new ends for the bench. I will be glueing and screwing them to the bench later today. 

I plan to raise the height of the bench to either 36 or 38 inches with a couple of oak blocks that I will run under the work top and screw to the legs. The top will be just under 36 inches wide by 48 inches long. 

I really thought about junking the whole thing because I kept having to move it around the shop but decided earlier this week to start working on it again. Now I am really glad that I did not trash or burn the bench. The honey colored maple will look amazing next to the mahogany ends. It will make a really nice hobby table or a great workbench for a small space.  

The dried woods soaked up the linseed oil and turpentine mix that I used to clean it. I am planning to use danish oil to preserve and enhance the finish before I move it to the shop to sell it. I was going to keep it but I already have so many rescued benches that I am getting a little crowded. I will post a final update once the legs have been reunited and the finish has been completed.

I only hope that the new owner will oil the wood once in a while to preserve the wood and make the bench live on for a few more decades.