Bench complete...mostly

[fjdog]

Finally finished my first "real" bench. It is a small and stout with Hovarter leg vise and wagon vise. Still needs final flattening with jointer plane, but more-or-less all there. The top is hard maple and base is red oak. The whole build done without a power jointer (lots of hand work with the #6). Next time, I'll get a power jointer to speed up the laminations...hand planing all of that hard maple was brutal! Anyway, I am pretty happy with how it turned out. Seems to be heavy enough and that was my main concern. Overall dimensions are ~60"x~25".

 

[creasman]

Nice job! A good workbench is the best tool in the shop.

 

[Gotcha6]

That looks like it should give you years of service and enjoyment.

 

[Craptastic]

Whoa. Looks very nice. Well done! Any plans you could share that you built from?

 

[fjdog]

Here is the sketch-up file. It is mostly accurate, but I did have some small deviations during the build. I think the top is just a bit longer and wider than the plan (by maybe an inch or two in either direction) because I had a little more material than expected. Also, the legs are a little fatter for the same reason. But this gets you in the ballpark.

 

[Wilsoncb]

That’s one sexy bench.

 

[fjdog]

Thanks for all the nice comments!

Here's a photo I took when planing the hard maple for the top. I think I made about 4 or 5 piles of shavings that size. All done on my old super flimsy bench that was so light it scooted around the garage as I worked.

 

[EricS]

Great bench!! A tool that will last generations. Enjoy!

 

[Trey1984]

Very nice

 

[mdbuntyn]

...hand planing all of that hard maple was brutal!

You'll never see hard maple in a list of "hand tool friendly" woods

 

[fjdog]

You'll never see hard maple in a list of "hand tool friendly" woods

Agree completely. It tears out whenever the grain changes unless your iron is super sharp. I am thinking about putting a back-bevel on the plane blade for the final surfacing on the top to avoid tear-out problems, but worried that pushing the plane will be even more difficult!

 

[Reference Handiwork]

Finally finished my first "real" bench. It is a small and stout with Hovarter leg vise and wagon vise. Still needs final flattening with jointer plane, but more-or-less all there. The top is hard maple and base is red oak. The whole build done without a power jointer (lots of hand work with the #6). Next time, I'll get a power jointer to speed up the laminations...hand planing all of that hard maple was brutal! Anyway, I am pretty happy with how it turned out. Seems to be heavy enough and that was my main concern. Overall dimensions are ~60"x~25".

I'd feel very proud of that bench.

 

[Hmerkle]

Looks fantastic - something you should be proud of!

 

[Jobone]

Looks awesome

 

[mdbuntyn]

Agree completely. It tears out whenever the grain changes unless your iron is super sharp. I am thinking about putting a back-bevel on the plane blade for the final surfacing on the top to avoid tear-out problems, but worried that pushing the plane will be even more difficult!

Best to simply take a lighter cut

 

[Graywolf]

Congratulations, that will serve you for a long time.

 

[gamiller3rd]

well done

 

[Pat M]

That's almost too nice to use. Is the chop vise one of the X versions?

 

[fjdog]

That's almost too nice to use. Is the chop vise one of the X versions?

Yes, it is the hovarter VX21 with the x-link. The vises seem to work pretty well so far. No complaints except they were probably more work than expected to get fitted on the bench properly. I mis-drilled the holes in both the end-cap and the chop (for different stupid reasons). Thus I wound up with some decorative additions to hide the mistakes. Needless to say, they are a pretty good upgrade to the old vise I was using.

 

[kave]

Very nice! Almost looks like furniture to me. Just need to take a hammer and bang on it some so not to experience any anguish when using it!