Thread: WIP- Sharpening bench

Originally Posted by aldav

Congratulations on the build and thanks for posting it in such detail.
"It's got something to do with the interaction of elbows and shoulders. On the other hand if using a lower bench with the arms hanging from the shoulders I get a much better result."

I hope I'm not hijacking. As an apprentice, I was told to straddle a saw horse and sharpen my chisels and plane irons on an oilstone resting on the top of the saw horse.
The reason? It put the oilstone at the right height to eliminate back-ache while allowing good control and pressure on the tool.

The height of the bench is definitively something I’ve considered. At close to 6”3 I feel I can get away with a slightly higher bench, but I do agree there’s a balance when deciding on a bench height. In saying that I haven’t decided on a height but it will be around 850mm high.

The bench will be used as a sharpening station, but I’ll also add drawers underneath for not only sharpening related stuff but other stuff also. The plan is to sell the tool chest trolley that I currently have the tormek on and store everything else in the chest in the drawers in my sharpening bench.

A little progress today:

Used my HNT Gordon A55 to plane the laminated legs and stretchers. I absolutely love this plane, gives a glass like finish and it’s a joy to use.



Also cut the stretchers to legs in preparation for the tenons to be cut. I’ll use my sled with the flat grind blade

I’ve cut the side stretchers to fit and used my domino to join and it’s starting to take shape. I also cut the legs to length, ended up settling on 840mm total height (800mm frame height and 40mm for top). After some trials I think that’s the perfect height for me.

Also cut some of the tenons, pretty happy with the fit. Hoping to get the wedges cut for the mortise and tenons and glue the whole frame up by the weekend. Then I’ll move onto making the cabinet for the drawers.








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All the joinery for the base is now complete and dry fitted. Still need to plane/sand, glue up and insert wedges but it’s starting to look like a bench.



Started working on the cabinet. The cabinet will have drawers to store my tormek, accessories and even a tub to rinse my stones. I really didn’t want to spend any money on this build and just use what I had on hand, but I really couldn’t be bothered gluing up panels for the cabinet so I just went to Bunnings and got 2 panels.

Used my MFT station to cut the panels to length. Absolutely loving this bench, it’s so handy and makes stuff like this a breeze.



Used my domino for the joinery




Another handy use for the MFT station is getting repeatable dominos placed mid panel.



Dry fitted and testing the fit- perfect!

I’m leaning towards finishing the edges in milk paint for something different.

Just to follow up on alday's comment on bench height for a grinder setup, I'm also in the process of building a sharpening station principally for my new lathe adventure (tricky without sharp gouges - no !). I've decided on a 1/2 speed 8" grinder with a Wolverine-type jig but am not sure about the bench height that will making gouge sharpening as good as possible. I guess it has something to do stance and elbow/arm positioning, and although I've watched many experts on youtube, height to the sharpening wheel/jig seems pretty variable? Is there any rule of thumb advice for setup for a novice?

I know with workbenches the recommendation is the palm of your hand when your hands are by your side, but given you’re using a grinder ideally it would be a bit lower.

For me I measured the height of the bench that I’ve been using with my tormek. I’ve spent lots of time using it and found that it was a good height, but would be even better if it was slightly lower. I also did this with my waterstones, and because I use a jig I found I could get away with a slightly taller bench.

I think the best way is just trial and error, if you can somehow make a temporary adjustable height bench with sawhorses etc and build it up to work out the ideal height.

Good idea - thanks. i'll do that.

Stretches glued up and wedges installed. Cut them with a flush cut saw and planed it them down. Pretty happy for a first time effort, but I think aesthetically it would look better with thinner wedges.

Next up will be glueing up the side stretches which will compete the base frame. Then I’ll move onto the cabinet and install the web frames in preparation for some over the top piston fit dovetailed drawers.

Hi Andy,

I like the look of the wider wedges you've used. I'd love to come and have a look at this build when you finish it. I need to do something similar.

Cheers,

ajw

That Silky is pretty spectacular. I like the contrast of the wedges too.

Originally Posted by ajw

Hi Andy,

I like the look of the wider wedges you've used. I'd love to come and have a look at this build when you finish it. I need to do something similar.

Cheers,

ajw

No worries mate. Yes very handy to have, I don’t mind sharpening but it’s the set up and finding a work surface to do it on which is always the challenge.

With the base now complete, I’m moving onto the cabinet/drawers. Happy how the base turned out, some nice figure on the silky oak too.



You can see behind the base I’ve already started on the French cleat/wall storage that will sit above the bench.



The cabinet will have 6 x dovetailed drawers and will all be 75mm tall. I think this will be a good height for what I’m storing.

First up I need to make the web frames which the drawers will slide on. With these planed down to finish thickness I moved onto making the dados for the web frames to sit in.

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The cabinet is coming together nicely, the dados have been cut and edge banding applied. The edging was cut slightly oversize and I’ll plane them flush.





Before I start making the web frames I decided to prepare the drawer material. I’m trying to use timber I have on hand, and this slab of golden cypress I’ve had sitting around for a while. I ripped down oversized lengths, then dressed and resawed them.

I’ll let them sit for a week or so and let them settle in the workshop before I dress them down to finish dimensions. Really happy with the grain and should make really nice drawers.

Finally got the cabinet glued up. The dominos really helped with assembly, then just added glue and screws for a relatively stress free glue up. Just need to plane the edging flush.

Hoping to get the web frames cut and installed tomorrow then start on the drawers.

Thanks for watching !