Workbench WIP

[cpowell]

Re: Workbench Trestle Base WIP

What am I going to buy at Wall lumber? Let's see.....

100 BF of log run Cherry plus another 50 BF of good cherry
100 BF of his packs of Mahogany plus another 50 BF of wider and longer stuff
100 BF of 8/4 hard maple
40 BF of 4/4 hard maple

4 sheets of 1/2 baltic birch
4 sheets of 1/4 baltic birch
3 sheets of 3/4 baltic birch
2 sheets of shop grade birch ply

I want to go to Kyle's and get some purpleheart as well, but dread the trip considering I am going to Wall.

Primary reason I am buying the plywood is I have become totally disgusted with the plywood at the BORG. All of the hardwood plywood and luaun is now garbage. It warps so bad it is miserable to work with. I am finally wrapping up the 2 playhouses and want to get back to doing shop stuff. I want to get back to working on a chair, building a new bench with cabinets, and a few more things for my girls. I don't go to Wall much, but try to stock up when I go.

As far as the tool itch, I succumbed to it some. Got a new Fuji Q4 4 stage turbine with all the accessories. I think it is going to be quite sweet. Broke down and got a 1/4 HP power feeder. That thing is amazing. If you ever need to run a bunch of molding or anything, haul it over and we will cut it. I ran about 300 ft of ogee molding (playhouses) through it and it was all perfect.

Wow, that's a pretty impressive wood pre-gloat. 8-O

You may want to check out his Festool and other machinery while you're there. Of course, you'll need to stop by Woodworker's Supply, too. :lol:

The 8/4 hard maple Wall had on hand when I shopped there was 9 and 10 ft lengths. It took me a while to find widths I needed in pretty straight pieces.

The stock feeder and Fuji deserve belated suckage!


Chuck

 

[cpowell]

Top is glued up, clamped and drying.

I glued up sections of 3 boards, then glued two of the 3-board-sections together. I jointed between glueups to provide a good glue surface. I then passed each through the planer to clean up. I did NOT plane to final thickness since each glue-up required additional flattening.

It was really interesting mating the face joint for the final glueup. Each of the two pieces probably weighed 70 lbs (and felt like 100). Lots of fun running it through the jointer. The final joint line was NOT perfect but I can live with it. I had a few gaps of .008 inch maybe 1 inch deep. It just isn't easy keeping a heavy, long piece registered against the jointer fence.

Right now the width is 21.75 inches and thickness is 2.75 inch but thickness will be reduced a little when it's flattened. I still need to attach a front apron which should make the width around 23.5 inches or so, very close to the 24 inch width I originally wanted. I am planning my next few steps trying to avoid a screwup, although I'm confident I'll find a way.

Getting the grain all running in the same direction was not completely doable. Some of the sticks had grain that changed direction along the length of the board.

Next up is flattening the top, I guess. I am not sure exactly how I'll do it (router and jig will be first attempt) or how I'll know when I'm done. It would be nice to have access to a wide belt sander or 24 inch snipe-free planer with spiral cutterhead.

Here's a few pics - one before final dry fit and the second as it now sits, glued and clamped. Not much to see though. It looks like a big cutting board. :lol:

Chuck

 

[Travis Porter]

That is one BIG block of wood!

 

[D L Ames]

Your bench is looking great Chuck! How are you going to make the dog holes? Square or round?

D L

 

[jeff...]

That's one heavy duty top...

 

[cpowell]

Your bench is looking great Chuck! How are you going to make the dog holes? Square or round?

D L

I will make some round dog holes at some point. The way it's going, maybe Christmas! :lol: :lol:

BTW I'm glad to see you popping in here from time to time. :-D

Chuck

 

[cpowell]

Finished the dovetails for the endcap/front apron joint. Pics below. I'll butt the other end.

This was a LOT more work than I thought. 8-O I practiced HC DTs for 3 or 4 evenings before giving it a go. I don't have a DT saw so I used a Sharksaw (pull saw). I don't think the saw is set for ripping and it was dull by the time I went at the hard maple. It doesn't have a solid spine and is prone to wander starting out. I just stayed inside the lines and cleaned up with chisels. I touched up the chisels every so often to keep a keen edge. The edges on a few of them are buggered up but nothing a little time and sandpaper won't fix.

I left the end grain of the endcap a little proud of the apron face. I'll clean it up along with the endcap. The joints are not perfect but I really learned a lot making them. They are serviceable enough. I still need to rip the apron to final width to align with the endcaps.

Next step will be to bore holes through the apron for the front vise. Then I'll glue up the apron, align the front vise jaw with the apron and secure the vise with lag bolts.

End Vise DT Closeup

Front Vise Detail, metal jaw mortised into bench top.

Front Apron Clamped on to bench

Chuck

 

[Monty]

Awesome! I love that purpleheart - it's going to make a nice looking bench

 

[jeff...]

Man everything looks so perfect :icon_thum

 

[MikeH]

Chuck the bench looks great!!! :icon_thum You're putting me to shame. I just finished mortise 8 of 12 last night. I'll post pics in my thread in a few minutes.

 

[JackLeg]

Great looking start to a great bench! Keep us posted.

 

[mshel]

Hey Chuck,

For a first timer, the dovetails look great. You'll get better as you continue to cut them. Don't give up after this project, they come in handy when making chests, drawers, and a lot of other things. Heck, they look better than mine (on my bench). Can't wait to eyeball the bench when you are done.

Mike

 

[Travis Porter]

They look good Chuck. You clean them up and they will be great!

I like the purpleheart contrast! I got to get moving on mine again....

 

[cpowell]

I've gotten a few things done since the last post. I mounted both vises, applied a few coats of Danish oil to the bottom and set the top on the base. Then I sanded the top with 120 grit to remove the machine marks from routing it flat.

Mshel came by and helped me plane the vise jaws, endcaps and front apron flush with the top...actually he did the hand tool work while I looked and learned. He did a great job! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

I laid out the benchdog hole spacing and drilled two rows of dog holes. I used a jig to space the holes and help keep them perpendicular to the table top. It took a few iterations to streamline the process. A pic of the jig is below.

Once the top holes were drilled I bored holes on the front apron then softened the hole edges with sandpaper. I gave the top a final sanding with 120 and 220 grits and applied the first coat of Danish oil to the top. A few pics below show the front vise and front and top dog holes.

Chuck

 

[Monty]

That's an awesome bench - nicely done!!! I know you'll enjoy it. Do you have a picture showing your other vise?

 

[Sully]

Aw man :jealous: I am green with envy. That's one sweet looking bench. I too would be interested to see other pictures.

 

[Travis Porter]

Very nicely done Chuck!

You going to put a cabinet beneath or are you planning to leave it open?

 

[NCPete]

great looking bench!

 

[MikeH]

The bench is looking awesome Chuck!!! :icon_thum Mine is progressing slowly. I'm working on the last 4 mortises right now. I may have to add an additional long rail at the top of the base depending on how sturdy it feels without it. I'll post pics in my thread soon. Again GREAT JOB!!!

 

[cpowell]

That's an awesome bench - nicely done!!! I know you'll enjoy it. Do you have a picture showing your other vise?

Here's a shot of the end vise.

I will try to take a few more pics when the lighting is more favorable.

After playing with the end vise a little I see why you went with the twin screw. The cheap end vise I used has smooth operation but does rack pretty easily. I will take precautions when needed - shims/spacers, etc. - but I think it may be worth the upcharge to go twin screw...next time!! Given that I have not had a vise to work with before now, the front and end vises should serve me well. I am very happy. :-D

I intend to put two columns of 4 drawers underneath. I am still sorting out the details. Probably ply carcass, maple drawer fronts. I'll glue purpleheart to the ply edges for "face frames".

Further work will be on hold for a while. I got up from the computer desk this morning and my back went out. Time for muscle relaxers and a flat bed.

Chuck