This is my other shop buddy... Snickers.  So named because of her coloring.  We've had her for about 10 years now...



  

Neighbor kid came over to watch me build an airplane.  He's quite excited about the project.  It's good to see kids so interested in aviation.
 


 

This morning I fabricated all of the legs and the upper doublers at once.  I was concerned about the legs all being of the same length so the bottoms would sit flat on the floor on all four legs... I hate work tables that wobble because one leg is a fraction shorter than the others.  To prevent that, I clamped a 2x4 squarely to the table to simulate the floor.  I then placed four legs side by side against the "floor" 2x4 and scribed a reference datum just a hair over 3" down from the top.  The top of each leg doubler was screwed in to match that line exactly, so that these legs will all be the same height from the floor when attached to the table top, which butts up against the doubler.  It's hard to describe on the web, but if you build some of these you'll know exactly what I'm talking about....



 

Four legs clamped up and ready to be drilled into place....



 

I used wood glue and screws, and clamped these legs in place after checking them for squareness.
 


 

You literally build this table from the top down, upside down.  Once the legs are in place, the cross braces that hold the bottom shelf are fitted.  I paused here, afraid I'd messed it up.  The outside 2x4's rest on the "bottom" of the doublers on the main legs.  You can see here that the doublers are on the OUTSIDE of the table... that's RIGHT, that's how it should be, but I did wonder and stop to double check.



 

The girls got home and came out to help me... we (she) vacuumed out all the mess I'd made in the table top.  You can see here that all of the lower doublers are in place; all that is left is to fit the bottom shelf.  Earlier, I ran across the street (see the open garage door?) and my wood-working neighbor, Barry, helped me cut the MDF down to size on his table saw.  He's hand crafting the most beautiful wine cabinet of his own design, including hand-laying the veneer and hand-carving some really beautiful claw legs.  Thanks for the cuts, Barry...
 




 

And there we've got the FIRST of two benches... the second one should go together MUCH faster now that we know what we're doing...  I wonder if the second kit from Van's goes together faster than the first one you build....  only one way to find out!  (Repeat offender already in the making).



 

She has every right to be proud... she helped build that thing!  Doesn't it look like she had fun?  She did!  Way to go, Lindsay!