Thread: A Bench Build Over Summer... I hope

So, I've been fairly slack updating this thread as to my progress of late, mostly because up until the last few weeks there hasn't been all that much progress to be had. My collection of recycled timber is staring to resemble something that might actually one day be a bench. I'm one face short of having the top timbers all dressed and ready to glue. The red gum legs and ices are getting there, some jointed, other yet o be coaxed from their sleepers. Best of all I'm having a great deal of fun.

Hopefully I'm able to continue making good progress, as I'm son to be without a workshop and a bench, my neighbours who were letting me use their shed have asked me to vacate so they can begin clearing their stuff out in preparation for selling up. If I don't get this done soon I'm going to be a tad stuck

Originally Posted by charlie250393

...., my neighbours who were letting me use their shed have asked me to vacate so they can begin clearing their stuff out in preparation for selling up. If I don't get this done soon I'm going to be a tad stuck

Make an offer for their house.

Last week I finally got my top glued together. Over the space of a week I glued my 11 beams up into 4 subassemblies before finally gluing the lot together. Not sure hat it weighs but it is certainly heavy. Now I'm busy fitting the Veritas tin screw that I'm using as and end vise so I have something to hold my legs with while I do the joinery.

Because many of the tasks to get this far have required two people to handle the timber safely I've been getting a lot of help from my father. In return I've been helping with his restoration of a 1938 Willys Overland that was once my great grandfathers, The last couple of weeks we've been very busy hanging mudguards, doors and finally the bonnet. After 2 years it is looking like a car again, at least from the outside

That overlander looks brilliant!


the bench top looks like it has some nice colour and will probably be heavy enough to stop the bench from floating away

After a bit of effort, a whole lot of fun and one minor mistake that was thankfully easy enough to hide I have now finished installing my Veritas twin screw as my end vise. For the Jaws i used 2 of the 3 best pieces i managed to extract from the railway sleepers i cut up. Quite excited now, having a vise makes it somewhat more bench like to my mind and less overbuilt table top

I'm now starting on my legs, also salvaged from the sleepers. I'm looking forward to getting it on a solid base that doesn't wobble every time i use a plane :P

2014-02-04 17.06.15.jpg2014-02-04 17.06.39.jpg2014-02-03 18.33.47.jpg

Starting to look like a real bench, good effort on the recycled timber too, just a thought on the legs, 4x6 is fairly big, if there's any issues getting that size out of the sleepers 4x4 is more than adequate, can't recall exactly but I think mine ended up at 86x86mm.



Pete

I have finished up with legs 140x90, it just worked out as the best size to avoid having half a dog spike hole showing on the side of one leg

Don't think it will blow over!!!

Have you begun the weight training yet so you can move the thing??

Oh how lazy I've been in updating this thread as to my progress, not that there is a huge amount to update, well at least not as much as I'd like.

I've given up on original goal of having the bench done before I return to uni next Monday but hopefully I don't miss that by much.

In the last month I've cut the mortises in the legs for the stretchers and mostly sorted my stretchers, dressing them to size and on the short ones cut the tenons to mate them to the legs. Cutting the tenons on and fitting the long ones are my next task.

The timber for the shelf I want to rebate into the stretchers has been prepped, it just needs to be ship lapped and cut to length for fitting, probably the last thing i'll do prior to oiling.

The major achievement in the last month that I just finished this evening is the initial fit of my bench crafted leg vise. Mine utilises the cross style support instead of a parallel guide. The fitting of this required the cutting of a pair of matching trenches in the leg to which the vise is attached and the chop. It took a lot of fiddling to fit but I am really happy with the result. I have a bit of tuning to do and I want to shape the chop a bit so it isn't so chunky, probably taper it a below the screw and add a bevel to the top but this an wait until the rest of the bench is done.

With a bit of luck and no major distractions I might be able to get everything finished by the end of the month, maybe either way I'm having a ball

Coming along well

A darn fine job so far!

Its simple design and simplicity makes it easy and quick to build. I am trying to decide whether to build this style of bench or the more English style.Thanks for the post.

So I've been meaning to update this for the last couple of weeks but unfortunately my internet connection has been somewhat erratic of late.<br>
<br>
Well in the end I missed my goal of getting the bench finished by the time I returned to uni however at the end of the first week, at about 8pm on the 14/3 my bench top was finally joined to the base assembly with drawbored mortise and tenon joints. <br>
<br>
In the 2 weeks since I have added a shelf between the stretchers and done the final shaping on my leg vise chop, it looked far to blocky so I have tapered it in width so it gets narrower as you move down from the screw to the bottom and cut a bevel on the top edge.I still need to drill my dog holes to work with the end vise and apply a couple of coats of oil but for the most part I’m finished and itching for the chance to make use of my new bench. <br>
<br>
I have found this project to be extremely fulfilling and quite educational. It gave me the opportunity to learn new skills, something I always look for in a project, and offered many challenges, particularly in my use of recycled timber. <br>
<br>
On the note of recycled timber, I had hoped to complete the project using entirely recycled wood and nearly got there except for using store bought dowel to pin my joints. I did try making my own pins but I didn’t have a huge deal of success. <br>
<br>
At some point down the track I think I might add a sliding deadman to the bench though for now I’m about ready to get stuck into another project, perhaps some sort of tool chest to store my growing collection in. Whatever the next project is I can’t wait to make use of my bench in making it.<br><br>Pics next post, for some reason i can't get them into this one