New Shop, New Bench

When Alice and I were shopping for a house one of my criteria was a refuge for myself.  Of course, I have my "Fortress of Solitude"in the country, but that won't last for ever. And so I've been busy converting the garage into a workshop.

In the basement of the house we purchased together some 3 years ago  now, we found this:

The top being made up of 3 chunks of vertical grain fir about 3-1/2" thick, 11 inches wide and 7-1/2'long.

They have become this:

The planks have been planed down to exactly 3.5" giving them a new surface and making them the same height as my compound miter saw (which sits in the gap between slabs.  With the 2-foot runout on the end the bench is just shy of 9 feet.

If it looks unsteady it isn't.  Although I plan to add cross bracing, the whole frame is clamped together using just three 1/2-inch threaded rods. The tension keeps everything quite rigid and the weight of the fir is substantial.