Thread: My first wood working project

Off to a good start.
Just a suggestion that should make life easier. The blue cross members can be at a different height from the long stretchers and will not get in the way of the through tenons.
A solid bench is the start of good woodworking and a great learning curve.
Regards
John

Originally Posted by orraloon

Off to a good start.
Just a suggestion that should make life easier. The blue cross members can be at a different height from the long stretchers and will not get in the way of the through tenons.

The blue cross members have a small 35mm tenon which were calculated to sit snug against the larger yellow tenon. I'm hoping there is enough bite. If not, maybe some dowels drilled through might add more support?

Mark,
Thats not going to have nearly as much strength as another through tenon would or even a half lap then screwed or bolted. This is a bench after all and the aim is for solid. Does not need to be pretty. Also being a first bench it is going to show you the way to what can be better on the next one. I am on bench 4 now and even that one has a few things altered since built.
Have a look at some past bench builds to see what I am getting at. Pictures say it better than I can.
SHOW US YOUR WOODWORKING BENCH - a summary thread
That plus other builds in the bench section should give some ideas as to design and structure.
Regards
John

Looks like a great project that will have a great payoff. Good luck! I'll be watching.

Cheers,
Luke

Originally Posted by orraloon

Mark,
Thats not going to have nearly as much strength as another through tenon would or even a half lap then screwed or bolted. This is a bench after all and the aim is for solid.

Thanks John, that's a great thread. I was originally going to go with long feet like in IanWs Bench, but decided against it as I'd love a leg vice one of these days, so i was trying to keep my front legs flush with the front of the table.

I've already cut my shorter blue braces so I guess I can either make the table overhang on the backside, or reduce the overall width. It's already pretty narrow at 570mm, would hate to go any narrower.

In your opinion, do you think there is anyway to continue with the blue braces and maintain rigidity?

Mark why not drawbore the blue ones rather than making them through tennons?

I guess if they are already cut then 35mm deep tenons it is for the blue ones. More than one way to skin that cat. I would however glue those shorter tenons in with epoxy to make the best of what you have. The 1 hour setting should be fine. The 5 min stuff will not give you enough time to clamp up. If the top rails are not yet cut see if you can get through tenons on top.
Regards
John

Originally Posted by Pac man

Mark why not drawbore the blue ones rather than making them through tennons?

The yellow will be the wedged through tenons, and the blue would be butted up against them in (what I could only describe as) elbowed mortise in the leg. I'm not sure I'd have enough bite with a drawbore since I'd only have about 25mm to drill through. Unless I'm misunderstanding you?

Originally Posted by orraloon

I guess if they are already cut then 35mm deep tenons it is for the blue ones. More than one way to skin that cat. I would however glue those shorter tenons in with epoxy to make the best of what you have. The 1 hour setting should be fine. The 5 min stuff will not give you enough time to clamp up. If the top rails are not yet cut see if you can get through tenons on top.
Regards
John

The top will also be mortised into the legs, so there will be a lot of strength along the length of the blue length (at least at the top), but I see your point.
In terms of the glue, I've got some heavy duty high strength slow drying glue. It's been used in a commercial setting to date successfully, so I was going to throw a bit of glue into the joint. Hopefully that holds it. Otherwise, we'll all chalk it up to a learning experience, and I'll buy some more timber to fix.

I guess if it becomes loose over time, I could put some threaded rod through the blue braces (connecting the legs) and bolt it up.

A quick update,
All mortises for the bottom rails have now been cut, and test fitted together (pictured below)

20170910_164401.jpg

Being my first mortise and tenons, these things vary from tight and snug fitting all the way through to, falling out without pressure.
Orraloon, you were right, the shorter tenons just want to pop out.

This originally was going to be a non-fastner built bench, but now I'm thinking I might cut off the yellow through-tenons to sit flush, and drive some bolts through to lock the shorter braces to the legs.

Epoxy was suggested as it is gap filling so kind of fills any spaces in less than perfect joints. As a backup bunnies have steel corner brackets that could bolt on to the inside corners. Lay a storage shelf over the lower frame and you won't see them. Anyhow progress is being made. Don't beat yourself up about having to revert to fasteners as they do a good job and have hauled my a$$ out of trouble a few times. Building a bench at the start of woodworking has a few benefits and the main one is you learn a good deal along the way.
Regards
John

Makes sense. Love the idea of the square corner brackets. Would be nice to hide them with a shelf.

In terms of epoxy, there's a ton on the market. Do you have any suggestions? Should i go for fast setting, or slow setting? Any brand in particular?
Would something like this and this work?

I dont think that the brand matters a whole lot but avoid the quick set 5 min stuff. You need enough time to clamp the joints up. Spoils your day if it sets half way assembled.
Regards
John

I have used the West system epoxy with a thickener in it (micro balloons or fluff) and it certainly works. However, for gap filling I love Epox-E-Glue from Botecote Marine. It is a paste that is high strength, gap filling and can be coloured if you need to (using spirit dye or dry powders).

David

Today I attempted to flatten my bench top. Since I don't have access to a jointer/planer I've found myself a taurus router (i think they're from aldi), I bought a 33mm 1/4 bit and built a jig.

I used some DAR pine as the sides and base.
as for the sled I cut up some 3mm ply and framed it with some DAR pine. I then drilled offcuts to the base of the sled to ensure it followed the rails. The clamps on the edges are there to act as a stop for the router, so it didn't cut into the rails.

You can see the bench top was chamfered and pretty roughly glued together. I had cheap F clamps, and an uneven surface.

20170916_144716.jpg


My plan was to create the jig half the required size and move the bench top. This didn't work so well in practice. Every time I moved the top the jig would need to be re-calibrated. The lock on the router was pretty loose as well. It seemed to un-tighten after a while. Next time I do this I'll create a jig that spans the entire length of the top

20170916_174329.jpg

But after a time I managed to get everything pretty darn smooth. There are lines left from the router bit, but I'm hoping they'll sand out. I've got another bench top piece to go. Feeling pretty pumped that I managed to get this to work as well as it did. The chamfered edges of the pine are now gone, and the top is fairly flat. A good outcome. I still need to square the ends of the table, and connect the legs up!

20170916_174347.jpg