Thread: Am I wasting my Time with woodwork?

Waldo sounds like a real possibility - I am free all of next Saturday and Sunday. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday After 2 pm I am usually free. Yes lets see what Lignum says.

We can make this as big or as small as we like. Al, has three steel benches/frames two huge solid ones that we cut down to size and one smallish one.

I am not sure what the Festool could do, but we will see.

If we want to do it in a day then yes some heavy machines will be handy.

Al has tones of 1 - 2 cm thick boards, if we got the best of them in the right lengths it would not be to hard to cut them into even strips for laminating a top. Possible 80 mm to 100 mm high x 10 mm thick and as long as the bench needs it to be, a max of 7 foot long and 750 mm deep. Stack them sideways and laminate it all up.

Unfortunately Al does not have many bench leg size timbers, so the iron frame seems like a good choice. Unless we laminate legs from smaller boards then using Lignum and his Festool to mortise the legs and rails.

Shedhand you should have seen me last night. I am a big guy sitting on this little bench, it must look funny. I straddle it cowboy style.

Another option that is available is that I have a bench here that I no longer need.

It has 4" Redgum legs with 4" x 2" ?? Redgum rails with a 60 to 70mm thick pine top. Top is from memory 2mt x 1mt. It can be altered to suit your requirements. I originally made to be a knock down affair as I knew it would not be a permanent addition at the time of making it.

You are welcome to it

Well there you go TS. A ready made tough bench some good hand tools, and you're away. Good on ya DJ.

DJ thank you for the offer, and I was just getting so excited about hanging out with Waldo and Lignum and building on from recycled wood and having a steel base. Also it is a question of getting it to were ever Waldo, Lignum and I will be working. Maybe we could use it for material parts, if you do not mind? We would need to cut it down to fit through the door of my shed, and to make it fit.

I was just getting really excited. Planning the beer the sausages and the experience of seeing how it is done first hand and getting to try it by hand myself. That learning is something that I think I really do not have, I read and read however I think it does not compare to seeing others doing it, and learning and talking about it.

DID I MENTION I WAS EXITED

I have been dreaming about a stable, solid workbench for over a year.

That's no drama, I could get it to Waldo's or Lignum's (wouldn't mind dropping in here to see his bandsaw jig thingo) place depending on where it all happens.

If it needs to be cut down that's fine too.

The top has been welded on and has glue and whatever on it , but it's
still nice and flat, so could do with a sand and clean up but apart from that, it's all good.

Do remember that it was bloody heavy.

I can't believe how generous you guys have been! A bench, a vice a couple of planes... it'a already a workshop!

I've got a suggestion for you with regard your limited work space; a combination machine table/bench. With a little forward thinking, some careful scavenging and a browse around the second hand tools market you could build a table saw and router table into a basic flat bench with dog holes and vices at very little cost. The catch is the use of mdf, but it's possible you could get your local supplier to cut it all for you ready to construct perhaps?

I've built four benches/tables for my workshop in the last three years primarily because I can't afford expensive tools, all of them were made from second hand or scrounged material, cheap second hand tools and very basic simple fittings available at extremely low cost. For example my latest creation, a table saw, cost me <$120 including an 8.5" circular saw, steel mounting plate for the saw, two vices, a 2"x4" pine based frame and 48mm thick MDF top. The only thing wrong is the fact that the bench frame is flatter than my workshop floor!

I've been at this for ten years now and I've only just produced my first peice of furniture less that a month ago. I only wish I had access to a forum like this when I started out, I'm sure I'd have made many fewer mistakes

Dave.

P.S. A workshop grows and changes with you, it will never be finished

Originally Posted by thumbsucker

...........
DID I MENTION I WAS EXITED

I have been dreaming about a stable, solid workbench for over a year.

Enjoy it all Thumbsucker!!! It is the BEST feeling when the time is right for a dream to suddenly become true


cheers
Wendy

hey, looks like he's gonna keep with the woodworking ;-)
It's great to see everyone helping out..

I think I've woken up in the middle of a fairy story!

You know, much of thumbsucker's frustration is because of you/us mob. It occurred to me yesterday as I was folding up my near 30 year old Workmate (the second model made of cheap tube sections with an MDF top), that all those years I had it as my only bench and vice, I didn't know any better.

It's got router gouges in it, and epoxy drips and one of the plastic winding handles is a lump of wood now, and it was light and I cursed it often along with myself for not being skilled enough, but I didn't know that I needed a flash bench and more than one chisel or plane, and somehow things still got built, and got a lot of satisfaction out of it all. And at the time, it was the best thing I'd ever bought. The fact that I'm still using it speaks volumes for it.

Keep it simpe thumbsucker, don't buy stuff you think you need, or that other people tell you to. When you need something, build a project without it and work out if you really do. Your bench and vice are a fantastic start, but don't be in a hurry to take the next step.

If you do it slowly and carefully, you'll get the same feeling I do whenever I use any of my tools "this is the best thing I've ever bought!"

(The above does not apply to any of the really cheap Chinese power tools that are waiting replacement! )

Cheers,

P

Originally Posted by djstimber

wouldn't mind dropping in here to see his bandsaw jig thingo.

DJ, it would be great if you came along for the working bee and barbecue. Waldo, Lignum, DJ, and Thumbsucker.

Originally Posted by thumbsucker

, lets say I am a very low income earner.
.

Well, I make $13 hour before tax. 3 kids. etc.

I don't know how that compares with you, but Yes, I understand how frustrating it is.

Often your stuck doing nothing because you don't have the dough to fix the problem. simple as that.

And its one of those feilds where you really need the right tools for the job.

But, if you keep at it, things will eventually improve.

But I definetly would get in the habit of moving on from problems quickly. Don't dwell on any kind of stuffup for long at all. Stuffups are so frequent in my life at least, thats what lifes really all about. Managing them.

My boss is excellent at that. Everytime there's a stuffup....he shows no anger or depression at all, hes just straight into .......' ok, how do we fix this problem '.......no blaming people, no couldhave's, shouldhave's, wouldhave's........just moves straight on thinking about the future.

Today I cut a joint wrong......yesterday, I broke some glass,,,,,,Friday, I drifted a door on the table saw at work, screwing up the cut...........The day before that I ran a line of nails too close to an edge that was to be slotted.

Its just life mate. Don't worry about it. Just don't give up eh.

As for your workbench. Find an old door fromsomewhere. There often flat enough. Thats what I did once. I ripped off a door from this dive I was living in at the time........screwed it to a couple of beatup sawhorses, bolted a hobby vise off it, and no worrys.

I understand those frustrations! My favourite sort of woodwork at the moment involves scouring op shops and markets for old tools to put to use. Golden rule is never spend more than $5. So far I''ve got 5 handsaws, 4 planes, 5 tape measures / rulers, misc punches, hammers, spanners, wrenches, screwdrivers etc....

Free stuff: Freecycle.org.au Lots of free timber, I gave away my old workbench - previously known as a steel framed office table. Also in Brisbane we have the Weekend Shopper every Sat - lots of free stuff, cheap stuff. Oh, and then there's skips.... and friendly builders.... and forumites giving stuff away....

Cheap stuff: Ebay! Yes sometimes there are still bargains. Graysonline - last week I forgot to bid on a workbench which had a very nice looking vice attached to it, last bid I saw was $29.... Local paper again....

Like you I"m broke - can't make the car payment this month...

Originally Posted by apricotripper

As for your workbench. Find an old door fromsomewhere. There often flat enough. Thats what I did once. I ripped off a door from this dive I was living in at the time........screwed it to a couple of beatup sawhorses, bolted a hobby vise off it, and no worrys.

What you described was my work bench for 28 years. I made lots of things on that workbench, cot, bedheads, computer desk, wardrobes, bookshelves, bannister rails, Laundry shelves. Made even more mistakes, both on and off the bench, like trying to get away with buying cheap wood for my sons cot only to find it was all slightly twisted and having to go back and fork up the readies for straight stuff.

Oooer! I dream of a workbench like that! I'm currently using a concrete slab. At least when I drop things I know they'll land on the "bench." It can be right PITA when they roll under other things on my bench, though... like the timber racks, or the machinery, or get sucked up by the DC's bench-sweep.

Actually, I tell a fib. Only a little one though... it's not the bench I dream of, it's the space to put it! Then I could squeeze in another piece of machinery, and go right on using the ol' slab the same as usual...