Finally finished ( well almost ) a Nicholson Bench. This is my first real bench. Learned quite a bit about hand tools. Flattening the top taught me to let the hand plane do the work you just need to move it in the right direction. Its interesting moving more towards hand tools. At first I seemed to want to fight them but after a while I started to get the hang of it.
Couple of deviations. I couldn't stand all that empty space behind the front apron so I made my bench 27.5 inches deep and used the middle part to put in some tool storage. 5 Box containing, marking, measuring, and planes ( 3 block, rabbet skew, small plow, large shoulder, router ). These turned out to be very functional. Also poor a saw storage area on the back right side for Dovetails saws, and carcass saws, Will probably add a few as I move forward. Large shelf underneath for bench accessories I need to build yet ( i.e. Bench Hooks and Shooting Boards ). The more I move towards hand tools the more I like working with wood. Go figure.
SYP for the bench, except for some Walnut highlights here and there. Threw a couple of coats of Waterlox on it to just protect it a bit from stupid stuff I do constantly.
Used 3 Evans Wood Screws. Two for the face vise and one for the wagon vise. Face vise has 18.5" between the screws and 5 inches on either side. Wagon vise can easily hold a 2 X 12 with room to spare. I made some mistakes along the way but none proved fatal. Actually started out doing Schwarz's design and changed midway ( Schwarz has an tendency to angle everything and I don't think it really adds any functionality. Made me nuts ). Made for a few missing holes on the front apron but oh well. Sturdy, heavy, and very useable.
Couple of deviations. I couldn't stand all that empty space behind the front apron so I made my bench 27.5 inches deep and used the middle part to put in some tool storage. 5 Box containing, marking, measuring, and planes ( 3 block, rabbet skew, small plow, large shoulder, router ). These turned out to be very functional. Also poor a saw storage area on the back right side for Dovetails saws, and carcass saws, Will probably add a few as I move forward. Large shelf underneath for bench accessories I need to build yet ( i.e. Bench Hooks and Shooting Boards ). The more I move towards hand tools the more I like working with wood. Go figure.
SYP for the bench, except for some Walnut highlights here and there. Threw a couple of coats of Waterlox on it to just protect it a bit from stupid stuff I do constantly.
Used 3 Evans Wood Screws. Two for the face vise and one for the wagon vise. Face vise has 18.5" between the screws and 5 inches on either side. Wagon vise can easily hold a 2 X 12 with room to spare. I made some mistakes along the way but none proved fatal. Actually started out doing Schwarz's design and changed midway ( Schwarz has an tendency to angle everything and I don't think it really adds any functionality. Made me nuts ). Made for a few missing holes on the front apron but oh well. Sturdy, heavy, and very useable.