Bench top done, aprons done, legs done. It was time to get this thing assembled. I had sat the aprons on the legs and driven the wedges. This was sufficient to hold the legs in place while I drilled the holes for the carriage bolts. Once the bolts were inserted and tightened, I laid the bench top in place. I measured out the remaining space between it and the rear apron. This will be the rough size of the well. While I’m there, I also marked out the grooves that the well would sit in.
First thing I had to do was pull out the plow plane. I needed to plow a groove along the back side of the bench top. I then had to create a matching groove on the inside face of the back apron. I had left the back apron too wide so I needed to use the router for that one. I quickly created a supplemental sole for the router and attached a home made fence. This allowed me to groove the back apron with a little room to spare.
Next, was to create the well board. Earlier, I had take a few common pine boards, jointed their edges and paneled them together. I clamped the bench top to the bench and used it as my new work surface. I clamped the well board down and I used both planes to get it flat and straight. I then took it outside, placed in on the saw horses, and ripped it to size. I left a little extra width so I could shave it to fit. Last step was to measure the grooves I had plowed in the top and apron and make the corresponding rabbets. This is how the well board is inserted so it needs to be snug, but not tight.
I didn’t, and still don’t, have a rabbet plane. I have discovered that, as long as you are going with the grain, the plow plane will create a rabbet just fine. In my case, the rabbet was so wide that I had to use the plow plane to make two grooves that added up the total size of the rabbet required. This took a little longer, but it was easy enough that it didn’t warrant the purchase of a rabbet plane. I’m a minimalist for a reason.
I test fitted the well board and had to take a few shavings here and there to get it to fit, but once it fit, it slid nice and tightly into place. There’s no need for adhesive or hardware as the friction fit is more than sufficient to hold it in place. This is also useful if you decide you want to cut holes, make additions, or even replace the well board.
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