Thread: WIP - Groggy's Workbench

The following pics show the dimensions and design. I did some reading up on the golden mean, fibonacci etc, then just went by eye anyway. I think it is roughly following the Golden Mean. I'm sure some math nut will tell me if it is not

Now to do the actual cutting.

About 1:1.6

Hughie kindly gave me a set of golden mean dividers. Can bring them around if you like ;-}

Bolden mean and Fibonacci are all BS if you ask me. The most important thing is you are happy with the proportion.


The next post that is a Fibonacci number is post #987. Can you stretch that far?

Even BS has its uses

Originally Posted by Wongo

Bolden mean and Fibonacci are all BS if you ask me. The most important thing is you are happy with the proportion.

I agree. The Greeks and Romans swore by it, but what did they ever do for us eh? I reckon it is not a bad rule of thumb but eventually you need to put the thumb away and just look at it.

Originally Posted by Wongo

The next post that is a Fibonacci number is post #987. Can you stretch that far?

Well, at the rate this thread is going ... probably

Originally Posted by rsser

About 1:1.6

Hughie kindly gave me a set of golden mean dividers. Can bring them around if you like ;-}

It's just a bench Ern, please don't tempt me into abstract and arcane theories.

Darn these big dovetails. I cut the beginnings with the LN dovetail saw but it didn't go deep enough. I have a finely set tenon saw so I dragged it out of retirement and started cutting only to find it had a coating of rust in the top 2/3rds of the panel. Since this meant it kept jamming I spent and hour with a polishing disc making the saw nice and shiny then sprayed it with G15.

I'll go back out in a minute and finish the cutting. Then I have a 'little bit' of chopping to do.

Nah, not theory, just a means of articulating pleasing proportions.

When I take those dividers and check the bowls I like, guess what?

And otherwise I'm happy to credit the Greeks with souvlaki and other wonders ;-}

Cutting these big dovetails is good for practice. You can see how the LN saw is just too small for the job. Even with the bigger saw, it is 84mm from the tip of the teeth to the brass back. The dovetail is 84mm long, I lucked out

Second pic is cutting to the line. The white line is on the waste side of the knife mark. Pic number three shows a mistake that I have to fix up

Pic #4 shows how I square up the faces. I put the square against the face an mark the high spots with a pencil. Then a chisel is used to pare the pencil marks off. This is done diagonally as well since they are so big.

Last pic is showing a quick repair to the face where I mis-cut.

Us wood workers seem to do things the hard way. At least you took a break and let us know.

Originally Posted by Groggy

I agree. The Greeks and Romans swore by it, but what did they ever do for us eh?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWfh6sGyso"]YouTube - What have the Romans ever done for us[/ame]



Sorry Groggy, I had to.

Originally Posted by Groggy

I agree. The Greeks and Romans swore by it, but what did they ever do for us eh? I reckon it is not a bad rule of thumb but eventually you need to put the thumb away and just look at it.

Well, at the rate this thread is going ... probably

On the subject of Romans and Greeks, this is what Charlie Harper of Two and a half men had to say " the three things the Romans gave us are orgies, wine and bulemia, go ahead, ask me about the Greeks"

The Greeks also used the ratio 4:9 as a pleasing ratio, as in the Parthenon. (although the golden ratio was used in the Pathenon, it used largely 4:9. This is an excellent documentary on the parthenon) [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLCW0zKR4xk"]YouTube - Secrets of the Parthenon[/ame]
Nice going Groggy.

Cheers
Michael

Originally Posted by NCArcher

... Sorry Groggy, I had to.

Originally Posted by mic-d

... This is an excellent documentary on the parthenon)...

Indeed it is, good viewing, thanks Michael

Had a visit from Col and an old friend today. Over a lengthy chat about the bench I am happy that I seem to be on track. Get three woodworkers together and listen to the three opinions, then go with the fourth

Nah, really it is enjoyable to be challenged on what you are doing and to argue the case. I picked up some great tips and suggestions and just learned from some of the overall discussion. I am approaching the point where the end cap is almost done and I can do the final trim for length, then I can mark out and cut the tails before moving to the other end and repeating the process.

Not much to show that would be visible, just lots of scraping, filing and paring to get the cap 'just right' and square.