Thursday, March 07, 2019

Extension to my MFT-style bench

I decided to build a small extension for my MFT-Style bench to support the waste side material so it didn't just fall on the floor after cutting. It's a really simple build but as ever there is quite a lot of designing and redesigning along the way to make it work how I imagined it.

The extension is very simple:
 The piece of MDF that forms the top is just something I had lying around and was about the right size. It sits in a rail made from a piece of softwood, also found lying around. The rail is made on the table-saw. I am so pleased I bought it!

There are a couple of supports and a strip of MDF that locate the extension in place. You can see these in the picture of the underside.

The timber supports have a rebate at one end that sits in a matching rebate in the vertical part of the rail.

My idea was to make this something I could put in place when needed and store out of the way when not needed. The simplest solution to how and where to store it that I could come up with was to make a couple of brackets and screw them to the legs of the bench on the end where the extension will be used.


It's out of the way but easily accessible and right where it needs to be.

I might yet build a slightly longer (or should that be wider) knock down extension that attaches in the same way but has its own fold out legs to support the other end.

The challenge as ever is where to stop it if I make it.