Thread: Finally started

Good stuff Rod. A handle like that is a nice start and I'm looking forward to the rest of it.

By the looks of that no tea leaf will walk awy with it when finished. Looking really good!!

Why not start with the vice handle. You gotta start someplace then just imagine a bench hanging off that handle.
Looking like it's going to be good and solid.
Regards
John

Cheers all,
Yes it should be a substantial bench after reading posts about what you like about you're bench I got mass was the key to a hand tool bench so these old posts and the spotted gum we had milled a couple of years ago should do the trick. The design is still in the what where stage so any advise is most welcome. I haven't cut the legs to any sort of length yet they are at about 1m which was the old post cut in half and the checkout's that were already in them lined up pretty close so the end rail heights are set because of that and they were also drilled through the checkout and not all the same, so my draw bolts through the tenons aren't all exactly central to the rail but not enough to not be able to work around. I have to look at vices now to decide at what height to cut the posts on or above the top rail's.
Regards Rod.

I have been getting the bench frame together the posts have been half jointed for end rails and morticed for long rails the top rail's have been fitted and the vice holes have been drilled in the front face of the vice/bench I still need to get something for the front jaw. The tracks for the sliding deadman have been cut and fitted I used some New Guinie Rosewood for these as it is quite a naturally greasy timber so hopefully it will slide well when fitted still looking for a piece the right size for the slide. I had to cut out a small circular section from the top long rail to allow for the vice Q/R parts under the front vice. The end vice for the moment will be a standard 9" bench vice it will be fitted totally into the bench top with new heavier faces to allow for more dog holes for clamping and for stops. I was going to cut the posts of flush to the top of the rails but then it would be very involved fitting the vices so the top will sit on the top of the posts as they are 55mm higher than the rail. When I cut the tenons I used my small trimmer with the plunge base fitted and routed the section before In cut the rail to length so that you don't have to worry about dropping off the end of a rail when cutting unsupported then do the final cut to length to expose the tenon

I made up the sliding deadman today and fitted it to the bench,as I have mentioned I am trying to make this bench as economically as possible so what I had in the size I wanted was some Red cedar a bit soft but I wanted something 40mm odd thick to help keep the dog's square to the bench face and it was what suited for that. I hard faced the runner section to the slide with blue gum to give better slide and life.
Regards Rod.

Looking good, Rod.

I like your 'deadman', and it reminds me that I need to re-visit mine. I made a too-clever thing that slid on shower-rail wheels. I felt quite pleased with myself when I set it in place & it slid up & down very smoothly. However, as soon as it gets a bit of sawdust in the bottom track (which happens within 5 minutes of starting work), it tends to jam & throw itself out of the track onto the floor! I ended up taking the damn thing off and went back to using a bit of 4 x 2 clamprd in the tail vice. Works ok, but it's a fixed distance from the front vice, so any short pieces I need to support won't reach. My next attempt will be something simple & robust like yours!

Cheers,

Thanks Ian,
it works quite well and with the bottom track being a simple 90deg edge no dust problem the top end I did a relief cut into the bottom of the V for dust. The deadman slides very well and travels the full side from the vice on to the end and plenty of height variations as well with the 50mm spacing of holes.
regards Rod.

I have got the frame to a stage where the top is needed I thought it would be a little while before I had the timber for top so I started to look at tool storage some others mentioned about the problems with under bench storage with access when clamping to the bench but I feel that with a small cupboard with access at the opposite side to the face vice it will be a small inconvenience at most. I started to run the material for the draws for the storage cabinets I plan they will be back to back boxes with draws on one side and a draw to the bottom with a pair of doors above the other. But as it turned out I had to go into town for other things so I got the timber for the top which is 90x45mm 12mpg pine I dressed both edges and have laminated two sections up at 370mm wide so that I can fit each through the thicknesser at our wood work group so 370 is it.(mine is only 300mm)

Following this with great interest. I recently scored a (almost brand new) 52 1/2 Record vice with quick release, which I am thrilled with. The only trouble now is that I have to upgrade my bench to fit it . What length are you making the bench?

Hi MrFez,
Good score with the vice. The bench top is 2000mm x 745 x 83(not including what I do between them) the height is 945. I put the tops through the thicknesser today got a small amount of slip in the thickness of one panel during glue up,it was a bit busy at the time applying glue like a one armed paper hanger doing multiple glue ups on you're own is quick at best apply,spread, roll apply,spread time and time again all the time concerned about the drying time and getting the clamps on as soon as possible.
I had a smoother run as you would expect on the second run and had time to get a couple of calls and clamps on the faces to line all the boards up on the face much better than the first where there was about 3-4mm up and down over the width where the second was a better surface with only a mill here and there on a pretty flat face.
I liked what bubblegoose did with the centre on his bench and intend similar on mine to see how it goes I like the idea of using as a bench stop for small work planing box sides and the like. The time has also come to start fitting the vices and look at dog hole positions to begin with I am using a simple q/r bench vice as an end vice and with nice thick jaw face with holes for long clamping on the length of the bench and a large face q/r vice on one side.
Regards Rod.

Thanks Rod ~ Looking really good so far.

I see there is a gap between the side rails and the top. How will the top be fastened to the frame?

Hi MrFez,
The top sits on the top of the legs and the long side's of the frame and there is some more framing to go in across the width so I will be fixing to the side rails and the cross rails. the space between the posts on the ends 55mm high will accommodate a full width draw at one end and a half width at the other along with the end vice this space can be used for dog storage and other needs. My table saw switch is giving me trouble at the moment so I need to get that seen to before much more can be done on any projects.
Regards Rod.