Thread: Bench Questions

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

oohhh I knew there'd be someone sensible out there!!

Now you've really got me in a tizz Mick!

On the other hand, I'll be making a new mast for the skiff later in the year, nothing wrong with the old one but I want a hollow one, and I can rip that out of smaller bits......

You don't want a 16' solid oregon mast 100 diameter do you??

P

Umm, well yes. Actually my plans (Green Island 15) show a hollow mast, but I could live with a solid one if it's up for grabs . Actually that's one thing that's got me worried about building this boat, the plans call for clear oregon for all the spars. Where the hell am I going to get clear oregon from? I haven't seen any in years. That's why I reckon that it would be a waste to use this oregon for anything other than spars.

Mick

Now you're giving me the guilts as well!! After I've cleaned it up I'll make a decision!

There is clear oregon about, in smaller sections admittedly but it's not exactly "old growth" I have a couple of 6m lengths of 50 X 150 stashed which I'll get a good few 25 or 30 x 50's from.

I figured that building a hollow mast with 8 birdsmouthed wall sections will give ample opportunity to scarf a few shorter lengths without looking too tacky. If you haven't built one that way, it's pretty simple to get a good fair section and reasonably light. I've built hollow paddle tubes down to 4mm wall thickness quite successfully.

The Green Is boat is a bit heavier than mine, but the solid mast is a bit of a handful to get up so go hollow if you can.

Cheers,

P

Maybe you blokes can do a swap?

Mick you could send Midge a half a dozen sleepers or stair treads for a benchtop in exchange some clear oregan for a boat spare.

Hey Mick, are you in the local wooden boat builders club?

P, your bench plans are on the way, there are 8 pages, 1Mb in all.

I don't know if I've got anything for a benchtop but I'm sure I can rustle something up. Freight may be a bit excessive though on a mast. I didn't realise there was a local wooden boat building club, but then I'm not a real club type person, got enought to keep me busy for the next century or two.

I'm nowhere near starting on the boat for a while yet, so I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I do have a length of ally mast that's way too long that I could use but I think I'd prefer to go for timber. Got to finish our bed first, been sleeping on a slat base on 4 milk crates for 4 1/2 years now But I recently got stuck into it, should have some pics up in the next fortnight. Then there's the kitchen, and the SWMBO might be getting an assistance dog so I have to put up 3 gates and fix the fences, and and and etc etc etc. Boat's a few years off yet.

shipwrecked Mick

Yeah, the local chapter started as a splinter off the Townsville group.
http://www.woodenboat.org.au/nqldcairns/

They had an 'outing' on Lake Barine on Australia day.
I would have liked to have been there but I was working on the kitchen renos.

I'm not a memeber but a mate is, he's on his 2nd wooden boat & he also owns another that he won some sailing titles in back in the late '60s early '70s.

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

Ian,

It's not that I didn't want to take your advice, it's just that ANOTHER lump of oregon fell into my lap this afternoon!
I do take on board all the issues with softness etc, but it is a workbench after all!
Cheers,
P (happy even though it's not PROPER bench timber!)

Midge - Free wood is good wood! With that much in this top it will be pretty solid, and Oregon/Doug. Fir isn't all that soft, but is a bit splintery for my likings, in that application. I used some Oregon in a top myself, and that bench is still soldiering on well after close to 20 yrs of use. The apron and end-caps were hard (Canadian) maple, which is a bit tougher and heavier, but as far as I know the top has held up well enough. I used white glue to laminate it, too - I reckoned with all that glueing surface, even a half-a's'd bond would hold, which it seems to have done. Not much stress on those joins, either.
Like to come and take a look at that vise, someday when it is in place and being used...??
Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

Like to come and take a look at that vise, someday when it is in place and being used...??
Cheers,

Ian,
You're most welcome....if you live long enough!!!

I'll keep this thread updated!

Cheers,

P

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

Ian,
You're most welcome....if you live long enough!!!
Cheers,
P

Yairs, I know you have your reputation to keep!
S'okay - my very last and final bench-to-crown-all-benches has been sitting in a woodpile for 6 or 7 years already. I still have to cut the leg and stretcher bits out of the log! At the rate I'm going, general debility will ensure it stays pristine for the person who picks it up for a song at my deceased sale.
Avagooday,

Well the paint's off (except for the one top which is heavily concrete encrusted).

Sorry Mick - I worried all day, then came home took off the paint and discovered that there are nailholes and strapping scars on all sides... I'll be able to get good clear strips with one good face, but it would be difficult to do the same in three D for a spar... so it is now three bits, tomorrow twelve!

Echidna - Pic will show you graphically why it's going to be quarter sawn!!

So progress in a bit of a flurry!!

P

I don't get all much done in a day, but here is what's left of the beam...

I managed 11 usable pieces with one spare daggy bit, except for a small knot in one, and two nail scars the top is completely clear. I was scratching to get the two end boards though just made it, and probably a third are as good on the bottom, the rest have some flaw or nail holes!

Each is 65 x 70 deep and weighs 5 kg so the finished finished top will be around 730 x 1800 (20 mm narrower than planned!!) and around 55 kg.

Now I'll let them all sit for a week to get rid of all that stress, and glue them up in three pieces next weekend.

So far the "free" timber cost me a bandsaw blade after 9m of cut, when it discovered that one of the 12mm bolt holes it was cutting was full of concrete!!! I knew it wasn't going to cut again as soon as I saw the sparks!

The other "interesting" experience, having carefully found all the buried nails, was the washer sized bruise on the timber around the bolt hole, the washer had been overtightened below the surface of the timber, and the rust on the washer looked for all the world like black timber...... only broke on TCT blade, but had to buy them in pairs!!

Glad the thicknesser didn't find it.

Cheers,

P

My bench is laminated from 65x19mm strips of tasoak (was actually cheaper that way than thicker pieces, and i read somewhere smaller stripes are more stable). Final dimensions will be around 1750x760*65mm for the top.

Still building the base but it will be mdf shelves, on one side and four draws on the other. The MDF cabinet will be enclosed by a tressle shell with fine height adjustment on the legs so that it can be set the exact right height for a tablesaw outfeed.

Vices will probably be the cheapie ones from Timbecon/Carbatec for $69/$89 with a 225mm front vice and a 175mm tail vice. Honestly I can't justify the cost of the emmert clones or the record vices.

Hey Noodle!

Sounds like you'll have a serious bench top! Can you post some piccies?

No point in trying to justify the Emmert Clone I figured!!! It wasn't part of the logic, but I guess it's a similar cost to having to buy the timber?

Chers,

P

The top's glued up!

All went pretty well, I did it in three sections so I could feed each through the drum sander to give them a bit of a clean up before the final connection.

I didn't think to true up the ends on the jointer which would have been smart, because with sections of this depth there's no fudging, and the last of the planks was a fraction off square, resulting in one edge of the top kicking up nearly a millimetre over three boards.

Most of that was easy to fix with the help Mr Stanley's #5(the biggest plane I own), although I still have a few (little) bumps which should be easy to fix with a single pass of the #7 I hope to borrow this evening.

Ended up with two nail scars (sliced lengthwise) so that's a good start for what is going to be a working surface!

Cheers,

P

Steady on, Midge - at the rate you're going, this bench is going to get finished sometime soon!

Your record will be blemished!

Mind you, I can't talk , I've almost finished those two little tables (posted yesterday) after moving the bits round from surface to surface in my workshop for close to 3 years.....
Avagoodone,