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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia
    Posts
    11

    Default Workbench in Progress

    Hi everyone,

    I'm building a copy of Bob Lang's workbench from Popular Woodworking magazine (in the US). I've just completed the base, and I'm very happy with it. This is my first project working almost entirely with hand tools, and I've learned a whole lot about basic woodworking skills (like sawing a straight line, marking out with knives, etc) which I'd been ignoring a bit until now. In particular I'm totally in love with my two E.C.E. bow saws, and my large veritas shoulder plane, which was absolutely essential in getting all these joints right.





    The wood is recycled Rimu, a very common choice here in NZ. It's fairly nice to work, but a bit splintery.

    I've got the top to do next, and Rimu is fairly soft, so I'd like something a little harder. The only other thing I have in my shed in sufficient quantity is Pink Birch, which the internet tells me has a Janka rating of a fair bit higher than Rimu, but it'd be great to have some Jarrah (or anything Australian really) to use.

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Dundowran Beach
    Age
    76
    Posts
    19,922

    Thumbs up

    Craig that looks superb!
    Can't wait to see the rest of it.

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    4,924

    Default

    Looks like it is going to be a very strong workbench. What sort of joints link the legs and bottom stretchers?
    Cheers
    Michael

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Laurieton
    Posts
    2,251

    Default

    Coming along nicely Craig.
    Bob

    "If a man is after money, he's money mad; if he keeps it, he's a capitalist; if he spends it, he's a playboy; if he doesn't get it, he's a never-do-well; if he doesn't try to get it, he lacks ambition. If he gets it without working for it; he's a parasite; and if he accumulates it after a life time of hard work, people call him a fool who never got anything out of life."
    - Vic Oliver

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Townsville
    Age
    40
    Posts
    375

    Default

    Nice going Craig - i'll be watching in earnest as a new workbench is on my cards sometime this year. Good stuff

    Cheers,

    WILL

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    blue mountains
    Posts
    4,882

    Default

    That is looking good Craig. I like the wedged tennons and dovetails. What is the plan for the top?
    Regards
    John

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia
    Posts
    11

    Default

    mic-d, the bottom stretchers on the front and back are wedged through-tennons. The tenon has sort of a half dovetail shape on the bottom, and the mortice is an oversized dovetail. That means that there's room for a wooden wedge cut at the same angle to slip in and force the through tenon down into it's dovetailed position. It feels really solid, seems like a great joint. It would have been really hard to cut, except that the legs are laminated from two bits of wood, and so this joint was cut open faced before the two bits were glued together.

    orraloon, I'm going to start the top this week. I've going to hunt through my pile of ping birch and see if I have enough bits that I'm happy with. It seems to be a mix of heartwood and sapwood, and there's a massive difference in weight and hardness. I doubt I have enough heartwood for the whole thing, but perhaps I can get the front half in heartwood, to hand up to a bit more bashing away on morticing chisels and so forth.

    I want the top about 75mm thick, so I'll be ripping the birch into bits that will probably be about 80x40, and then laminating them together to make the two seperate panels for the top. The panels are less than 300 wide, which means the entire thing can fit through the thicknesser for a final planing, although obviously I'm going to joint and plane them before gluing up.

    I've already found on this project that even when laminating just two bits of wood together (for the legs) they tend to get moved slightly by the clamps so that the one might stick out half a mm or so and require a few passes with the handplane. I didn't use any clamping force from the top and bottom to ensure they are flat, not thinking I'd need to for just two pieces. So, for the top I'll be using three hardwood cauls, with two F clamps on each one, to keep the benchtop panel flat while I then bring it in tight with bar clamps. Of course, that's the theory, never done it before.

    I've already got a nice quick release record style vice (it's a Groz, from carbatec) for the tail vice, but I want the big veritas twin screw for the front, and I might have to wait until next month before I can afford it. Still, even with just a tail vice I'll be able to perform a whole heap of tasks I've always had trouble with before. It's the hand planning wood comfortably that I'm really looking forward to.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    4,924

    Default

    Thanks Craig, I wondered if they might be wedged dovetailed M&Ts. I recently used a similar joint for my Roubo hybrid bench that's in the big stuff threads. Unfortunatley, I had to dig my mortises out.
    On your top glueup, I assume you'll use epoxy? As long as you do your glue up on a flat and true surface, have plenty of clamps and alternate them over/under the work, to prevent cupping, you shouldn't need the cauls. If all your joints are good, once you've nipped up the clamps tap down any misaligned boards onto the lower clamps. Don't tighten the clamps to tightly and don't forget to cover the clamps with paper etc.

    Cheers
    Michael
    Quote Originally Posted by craig_waitakere View Post
    mic-d, the bottom stretchers on the front and back are wedged through-tennons. The tenon has sort of a half dovetail shape on the bottom, and the mortice is an oversized dovetail. That means that there's room for a wooden wedge cut at the same angle to slip in and force the through tenon down into it's dovetailed position. It feels really solid, seems like a great joint. It would have been really hard to cut, except that the legs are laminated from two bits of wood, and so this joint was cut open faced before the two bits were glued together.

    orraloon, I'm going to start the top this week. I've going to hunt through my pile of ping birch and see if I have enough bits that I'm happy with. It seems to be a mix of heartwood and sapwood, and there's a massive difference in weight and hardness. I doubt I have enough heartwood for the whole thing, but perhaps I can get the front half in heartwood, to hand up to a bit more bashing away on morticing chisels and so forth.

    I want the top about 75mm thick, so I'll be ripping the birch into bits that will probably be about 80x40, and then laminating them together to make the two seperate panels for the top. The panels are less than 300 wide, which means the entire thing can fit through the thicknesser for a final planing, although obviously I'm going to joint and plane them before gluing up.

    I've already found on this project that even when laminating just two bits of wood together (for the legs) they tend to get moved slightly by the clamps so that the one might stick out half a mm or so and require a few passes with the handplane. I didn't use any clamping force from the top and bottom to ensure they are flat, not thinking I'd need to for just two pieces. So, for the top I'll be using three hardwood cauls, with two F clamps on each one, to keep the benchtop panel flat while I then bring it in tight with bar clamps. Of course, that's the theory, never done it before.

    I've already got a nice quick release record style vice (it's a Groz, from carbatec) for the tail vice, but I want the big veritas twin screw for the front, and I might have to wait until next month before I can afford it. Still, even with just a tail vice I'll be able to perform a whole heap of tasks I've always had trouble with before. It's the hand planning wood comfortably that I'm really looking forward to.

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia
    Posts
    11

    Default

    No, I hadn't considered epoxy. I was presuming that PVA would be fine. The ends of the slab have no breadboarding or anything, so I was considering springing the joint slightly to help combat coming apart at the ends. What can you tell me about the advantages of using epoxy (I haven't tried it before)?

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    4,924

    Default

    A crosslinking PVA would be fine. I prefer epoxy for that type of glue up since it has a longer working time and that reduces the stress involved.
    Swmbo when I am glueing up.
    Cheers
    Michael

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    melbourne
    Age
    89
    Posts
    738

    Default

    Craig,

    Looks like you are going well. I'm a bit jealous of the availability of rimu. Although I find it brittle and lacking in strength it has some excellent grain. I used it for the ceiling of my family room and have hoarded the left overs as it is quite expensive here.

    Michael,

    Love the SWMBO touch. Showed it to my wife . She agreed and this was her reaction



    Jerry
    Every person takes the limit of their own vision for the limits of the world.

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