Thread: WIP - Groggy's Workbench

Amazing work Groggy. I have only been following your progress for a few months and am still making my way through the 58 pages of posts. I have been absolutely blown away by the attention to detail and perfection of construction - some awesome joints there mate.

In a world of doing it fast and cheap, well done for doing it so right.

Danny

Originally Posted by danny.s

I have been absolutely blown away by the attention to detail and perfection of construction - some awesome joints there mate.

In a world of doing it fast and cheap, well done for doing it so right.

Thanks for the comments, they're appreciated. Have a look at some of the other benches, especially the younger blokes. There is some great workmanship in them and I am always sneaking over to other bench builds to borrow ideas.

As for the joints, some worked really well (the mortises for the top and the dovetails) and some could have been better (leg to rail mortises), but overall I am pretty happy that the stuff up fairy seems to have been satisfied just watching this build.

HUZZAR!

OK Groggy, now the bench is complete, what's the first bit of furniture to be and how long do you anticipate it will take to finish?

Originally Posted by Woodwould

HUZZAR!

OK Groggy, now the bench is complete, what's the first bit of furniture to be and how long do you anticipate it will take to finish?

Still work to be done Woodwould. Dog holes, leg vise to make and install, flatten and finish the top etc.

Once that is done I would like to complete a bow front hall table in Mohogany. Time depends on my day job.

Bloody day jobs!

Originally Posted by danny.s

Bloody day jobs!

Work is the curse of the drinking class.

I worked on the dog holes this afternoon. It occurred to me that although there were a few examples of different ways to do dog holes there were no videos, so, since my son the cinematographer was home, I made a short video.

I have given the COLT forstner bit quite a workout and although I can say they are good bits they are not perfect. Cutting 140mm holes in Jarrah will allow a bit to show its true character. The video shows me drilling my 10th (?) hole, so it has already chewed through over 1m of Jarrah. These bit are designed to stay cool and to break the chips, which they do a pretty good job of. Still, at the end of 10 holes the bit has developed some colour due to heat.

The drill is a Pentagon-Kress hammer drill set on drill-only. I chose this one over my Makita as the Makita is all curves and I wanted something I could draw lines on to line up with my combo squares so the holes were perpendicular.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-S7sm9VpJU&feature=youtube_gdata]YouTube - ‪Groggy's Roubo Workbench‬‏[/ame]

Up there for thinking.

OK

own up all those who tried to blow the chips off the top of the bench

Originally Posted by Sawdust Maker

OK

own up all those who tried to blow the chips off the top of the bench

yeah me...tried to keep the drill steady too

How about clamping a piece of scrap to the underside of the bench and then drilling the hole in one operation? An auger bit would run cool with virtually no tendency to wander.

Yeah, Grogs - I agree with WW that an auger bit would have been a better choice for a job like that. Forstner style bits are hard to keep straight when drilling freehand, and as you amply demonstrated, don't eject chips once the head goes below the surface.

Years ago, I had a gadget that would have made that job much easier for you. It was a plunger stand for a hand drill. It worked pretty well. The shaft bush in mine eventually wore out & of course was irreplaceable. I looked at a new one, but by then they had "improved" it, meaning it was more plastic than metal, so I decided I could learn to live without it. Every once in a while though, when doing something like you've been doing, I really miss it.....

Cheers,

Is there any reason why you didn't drill the individual pieces on a pedestal drill, before putting the top together?

You may have mentioned it earlier, but I can't be bothered going back to check thru 59 pages.

The auger bit is a good thought, I'll give it a try. I only have some cheapies though and I don't have a brace either. Clamping scrap underneath is awkward as I dont have any really deep throated clamps, I figured it was easier to do it the way shown.