Thread: WIP - Groggy's Workbench

Originally Posted by IanW

I hope Groggy won't have that attitude when it's done - or at least not for long, because it's going to get a few battle scars unless he is about a hundred time more careful than average. Still, I wouldn't want to be a witnesss to the tantrum when the first big ding happens.

One must pay homage to a dedicated craftsman who constructs for himself a workbench of such beauty and finesse!! Let us all but hope that the scars will be few, and the subsequent blood-letting not accompanied by blood-curdling banshee wails.

Let each man exercise the art he knows.

(Aristophenes 448-380BC)

Tomorrow is a red letter day. After much mucking around and moving the top along the frame and back again I have finally marked out the mortises. Tomorrow, with a bit of luck and the strength of a strong Kiwi mate, the top will undergo its penultimate flip.

The mortises will be routed and chopped, then the top will be flipped for the final time and inserted onto the tenons. After that the leg vise can be made and the mortise in the leg for the runner can be chopped.

when is the party?

Next year!

After two years of helping me flip the benchtop, KiwiBrucee dropped over today to do me one last good turn. The bench top is 2520 x 650 x 140mm. Multiply that by 835kg/3 to get the weight then add another 10 kg for the wagon vise and hardware - 200kg.

No wonder KiwiBrucee looked happier than I was to do the final turn of the top! (no, that IS his happy face, really!)

Here are a few pics showing the top just prior to the last flip; mortises cut, second wipe of oil and vise runners installed. One of the vise runners is 'pinched' by the mortise and tenon so it must be installed first.

Thanks for all the help Bruce, I have really appreciated it

Yeeehaaah!

The champers is on ice & soon to be cracked.......

What will you do with yourself when it's finally done - you are going to have a big hole in your life, me lad (?!).

BTW - it does look like a bench after all (& quite a nice one at that).

Turning the top went remarkably smoothly. We removed the subframe that has performed flawlessly since the frame was made and left two cross-pieces place for support. Then, overlapping the mortises by about 10mm we removed the cross pieces. Finally, with one at each end, we lifted and nudged it along the final 10mm until it dropped into place.

A little bit of pushing and sitting saw it drop halfway. A large rubber mallet gave a few good thwacks until the head popped off it (I swear I heard the bench laugh). Out to the garden shed and return with the adjusting hammer. Using a block of wood to avoid divots I gave a few solid hits and eased the top down, getting a mm or two each time, and changing ends often.

The top was on! I am very pleased with the mortises, as close to perfect as I could have got them - they slid over the two year old tenons and were firm all the way down. Hitting the top with a sledge hammer was a bit of a giggle, normally I would be gentle but the bench just absorbed the blows without a creak or complaint.

The skirt is nice and flush with the legs and everything is VERY rigid. Next jobs are filling holes and finishing the top, laying out and boring the dog holes then working on the leg vise.

I am one happy chap today.

Now all you have to do is to update your will
To include your masterpiece

A solid set of legs there, the ones on the bench as well.

Super shmick

That's KiwiBrucee in the pic with the persuader. I like the photos of Sally, she is looking at the top then in the last shot has weepy eyes, I felt the same way

Amazing.

Here I am thinking that you loved working down under.

Lookin good

a glass of cabernet to celebrate this momentus occasion with you

One can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel

It's been great watching this project come along.... and it has come up looking fantastic. One thing I wasn't sure on was how the fluted legs would look, I thought they could be a bit over the top, but them and the stop chamfers look excellent. Now the top is on, legs and top and everything is on they look excellent proportioned to me.

Originally Posted by Groggy

That's KiwiBrucee in the pic with the persuader. I like the photos of Sally, she is looking at the top then in the last shot has weepy eyes, I felt the same way

She always just looks hungry to me! Maybe we need a close up!

Nice bench!