Thread: Frank Klausz/European Workbench WIP

Originally Posted by sercher

Sorry pal think groggy claimed that title last year.

mmmm dunno Ol Groggy was big but weight wise this stuff is like concrete!

the above picture actually doesn't tell the whole truth, I measured things up tonight and compared them to the Frank Klausz plan and my bench is only an inch wider, his bench is 3 inches thick with a 4 inch apron so size wise she ain't that much bigger. Saying that though my base is much thicker.

The front three boards are going to be only 5.5 inches wide by 4 inches thick and the last board is actually going to be split to one inch for the back board, so the pic above is a lot bigger I than its going to end up.

Lets see how things develop.

Originally Posted by sercher

Sorry pal think groggy claimed that title last year.

Dunno Sercher, Groggy's was a monster, but this one is going to give it a good nudge, I reckon. I've had the 'pleasure' of feeding some wood that went into this bench through the planer. I think Milo has filled the middle of each board with lead....

If he slows down just a little, he might be able to take away Groggy's title for the longest build as well....

Cheers

Originally Posted by IanW

Dunno Sercher, Groggy's was a monster, but this one is going to give it a good nudge, I reckon. I've had the 'pleasure' of feeding some wood that went into this bench through the planer. I think Milo has filled the middle of each board with lead....

If he slows down just a little, he might be able to take away Groggy's title for the longest build as well....

Cheers

Using lead filled boards is a good idea.

Its actually not far from the truth. I sometimes wonder why these boards weigh so much and some weigh slightly more than others?

Point in case I selected two offcuts yesterday for the end caps, as you can see by my pics there are some boards that are blonde and some that are a dark rich red colour. The dark reddy boards are suuuuper heavy!! a 1m piece that is 2 inches thick feels like it weighs in at 20kg maybe more.

The stuff is just brutally tough!

20 march 2012....post #1...."I didn’t want to be a guy that starts off strong and then takes the next 3 years to complete a workbench"

Don't want to be a nit picker, but we are at the 18 month mark

I do love this bench. It's scale is intense. Hope you never have to move home.

Dang! so busted! lol!

So embarrased....yes I did say that! I didn't quite realise how much my life would change when throwing an ankle biter into the mix! 18 months has gone and sneaking in an hour here and there is all I can do.

The main pain in the butt is actually getting help to shift these boards over the jointer, table saw or band saw, it is simply to dangerous to do it by myself. Like everyone else we are all really busy so dragging mates away from their families and spare time is really difficult.

I have two 7 inch sections for the top to be final machine down but I need some spare hands and time.....

ETA on the grand finish....maybe end of 2013!

Originally Posted by Evanism

20 march 2012....post #1...."I didn’t want to be a guy that starts off strong and then takes the next 3 years to complete a workbench"

Don't want to be a nit picker, but we are at the 18 month mark

I do love this bench. It's scale is intense. Hope you never have to move home.

ok getting there!

My new mate Ben who lives up the road and just so happens to be a really good woodworker has helped me lug these boards over the jointer a few times, we also had to drill the hole for the half inch rod which was more heavy lifting. I was going to stick with epoxy for joining the two slabs together but to be honest I couldn't face the hours of cleaning up the mess!!! my plane blades are stuffed from planning the stuff! So I used Titebond 3, went heavy with the applicator, I am confident that there is more than enough surface area to get a strong bond, I also hit the wood with some acetone to clean any of the waxy surface we then managed to glue the two 7 inch sections together.

Ben kindly loaned me his Veritas cabinet scraper to scrape the glue off and boy does that bad boy rock! Also a massive thanks to Bill and Ben for loaning me heaps of clamps, I couldn't have achieved this without your generosity!

All I need to do now is mill the five and half inch strip for the front including cutting the dog holes and we will be on the home stretch! I have milled the end caps and the spacer block already....now to find some more time!



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Wot's that spokeshave doing parked on your bench top!!

Didja finish off with that????

Originally Posted by artme

Wot's that spokeshave doing parked on your bench top!!

Didja finish off with that????

I think that's the Veritas cabinet scraper, Artme....

Lookin' good B. You might be building things on this bench before the year is out.

Cheers,

Originally Posted by artme

Wot's that spokeshave doing parked on your bench top!!

Didja finish off with that????

Well, if Mr Schwarz is now toothing his benchtops, why not go one step further with a travisher

Started on the dog hole strip, both boards arec2.5 inches wide by 4 inches thick. Whilst I was about it I dived in and milled the end caps and the spacer block for the face vice.

I then whipped up a dog hole template for the main top and the tail vice block. My issue was that my router bit with a bearing takes way to bigger cut so I double sided taped some straight MDF to raise up the first cut,then I will whip them off and do a second cut, the test piece worked out well.
I then orientated the end caps, spacer block and back board, I can now see a bench starting to take shape!!

I will route the dogs then glue them to the main top.image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg

a little progress on the weekend! I routed out the dog holes, what a crap job, dust like the Sahara desert! I had a few issues, I used the worst quick grip clamp in the world and the jig moved so on the first dog hole its a tad wider than the others then on the last one the lock off lever decides to pop up and my depth stop rod had loosened off with all the vibration I now have one thats a tad wider and one thats a tad deeper!!!! oh well its the last dog hole and will probably never get used. I hate that bloody Ryobi router, its like trying to tame a wild bull!

I decided to space the dog holes at 80mm apart and it worked out really well with the ten holes I needed fitting in perfectly. The dogs are beefy just like the bench!

Ben came over and helped me glue things up.....flattening this beast is going to be interesting to say the least...I think I am going to use the router sled technique.....anyone ever done this?

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Took the clamps off and cleaned things up, looks pretty good!!

I unpacked the Lei Nielson tail vice .....ooooh baby like Christmas!

Put the bench to use already, hooked on my plane stop and whittled up a bench dog, worked a treat!

Now to dock the ends and then flatten this sucker!

Originally Posted by Milo

Ben came over and helped me glue things up.....flattening this beast is going to be interesting to say the least...I think I am going to use the router sled technique.....anyone ever done this?

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yes! It is a fantastic way of doing it. I've done 4 tables with this method, 2 of them restos from hell. On top, also done 3 huge end grain boards and 2 x 2m slabs. All ended nice and flat with only a little belt and ROS to tidy it up.

Each jig is a little different for each job, but steady as she goes wins the race..... Very dusty!

Your table is art. Shame to dink it later on