Prototypist

Field manualsFree

How to build a pine bench

A starter design, and the manual it prints. Yours starts with your AI.

ContentsPage 2

Every build gets its own manual.

Tell your AI what you want to build. Prototypist works out every part, cut and screw, checks it, and prints you a manual: numbered, drawn and to scale.

Try a size

A pine bench

mm

long, with a laminated top.

Drag the number or type one: the parts, cuts and pages below follow.

Print this manual

Order of work

4 stages, in this order.

1
Build the front frame
2
Build the back frame
3
Join the frames with the end aprons
4
Fix the top

Pine bench2

AssemblyPage 9

1of 4

Build the front frame

Drill 2 pocket holes in the inside face of the front apron (B), at the end that meets the leg (A), with the jig set for 35 mm stock.
At each of the 2 joints: clamp the front apron (B) to the leg (A) so the faces are flush, then drive the 63 mm pocket screws.

Check The frame is square: the diagonals match.

4 × 8g × 63 pocket-hole screwPocket-hole jigDrillImpact driverClamps

Pages 6 and 9 of the pine bench’s manual, as they print: every part lettered and counted, then one step per page.

TechniquePage 8

How to make

Pocket screws

Angled screws from pockets drilled in the hidden face of one piece. Strong, quick and out of sight: aprons to legs, frames to tops.

Set the pocket jig and its drill collar for the thickness of the piece with the pockets.
Clamp the jig to the hidden face and drill each pocket with the stepped bit.
Clamp the pieces flush, then drive the pocket screws until they just pull tight. Do not overdrive.

RightPockets on the hidden face, screws sized to the piece. They stop inside the wood.

WrongScrews too long for the receiving piece break out of its face.

SizesPage 14

Sizes at a glance

Height	Width	Depth	Weight
450 mm	900 mm	300 mm	about 6.7 kg

Print at 100%. This bar is 100 mm long; measure it before you mark anything.

Each kind of joint gets a page on how to make it. The manual ends with its sizes and a ruler: print at 100% and it measures 100 mm.

CataloguePage 3

Starter designs

Start from one of these, or from nothing. Each resizes: change a number and every part, cut and page follows.

Benches

1 Pine benchCatalogue no. 0014^steps Workshop

2 WorkbenchCatalogue no. 0027^steps Workshop

3 SawhorseCatalogue no. 0032^steps Garden

4 Potting benchCatalogue no. 0045^steps Garden

5 Garden benchCatalogue no. 0053^steps Garden

6 Raised garden bedCatalogue no. 0062^steps

Prototypist3

Catalogue, continuedPage 4

Storage

7 BookcaseCatalogue no. 0073^steps Storage

8 Wall shelfCatalogue no. 0083^steps Storage

9 Garage shelvesCatalogue no. 0093^steps Around the house

10 Step stoolCatalogue no. 0102^steps Around the house

11 Steel-frame deskCatalogue no. 0114^steps Benches

12 Jarrah wedged benchCatalogue no. 0123^steps

Explore what people have built and shared

Prototypist4

Your AIPage 5

Bring the AI you already use

Prototypist has no chat of its own. Connect Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any app that speaks MCP: it reads the manual, changes the design while you watch, and every change it makes can be undone. The address to give it:

Claude

ChatGPT

Claude Code

Cursor

VS Code

Codex

Others

1In Claude (web or desktop), open Customize, then Connectors.
2Choose Add, then Custom, then Web.
3Name it Prototypist and paste the address below. Choose Continue.
4Choose Sign in now, then allow Prototypist when it asks.
5In a chat, open the + menu, then Connectors, and switch Prototypist on.

https://prototypist.app/mcp

Claude’s free plan allows one custom connector.

Prototypist5

Prototypist

Free to use.

Sign in with your email address: we send a code, no password to keep.

Sign in

Set in Special Gothic Condensed One, Atkinson Hyperlegible Next, Special Elite and Old Standard TT, and printed the 1960s way.