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Thread: Long-overdue workbench build
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23rd September 2019, 08:50 AM #106Senior Member
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Really enjoying this thread, your ten steps ahead of me.
Having the same deal for the centerstrip of my bench top.
Tis about the best thing about having reclaimed stock.
In quite a rush to get my top laminated up, making up thick beams is slow going though.
I hope the winter lays off until it's all in one lump, so I can get picking and preparing stock for my endcaps and the rest of the frame.
when it becomes too cold.
Keep her lit!
Tom
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23rd September 2019 08:50 AM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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25th November 2019, 03:59 PM #107
Ok I'm back again aftr another long break. I've been fighting a leg infection for about seven weeks and just getting back to being able to stand in the shed for a while.
I can't stand for too long still so it's do a bit, come in and have a rest, repeat as necessary.
Over the past two days I have gotten the rough fitting done on the long endcap and the shoulder vise arm.
I still need to fine-tune the fit and drill some holes for bolts etc and some aesthetic shaping but it is starting to look more like a workbench.
20191125_154359.jpgI got sick of sitting around doing nothing - so I took up meditation.
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25th November 2019, 04:33 PM #108
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25th November 2019, 05:21 PM #109
Looking brilliant! 👍👍 Keep it up.
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25th November 2019, 05:56 PM #110
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25th November 2019, 11:10 PM #111
Looks suspiciously like an instagram shot....
work benches hey... Need to get on with mine....
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26th November 2019, 02:47 AM #112
I don't even have an Instagram account
One of the reasons I have been so slow in completing this is that as a partly complete bench (trestles and the main body of the top with just a solid flat surface with holdfast holes) it has proven to be very useful for completing other projects. It's easy to get sidetracked but I need to keep reminding myself that it will be even more useful with the two vises in play and the tool tray. Then there's all the jigs and fixtures to make - bench hooks, shooting boards, a big Moxon vise to do the dovetailing on the tool chest and ... and ... and ...I got sick of sitting around doing nothing - so I took up meditation.
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27th December 2019, 04:53 PM #113
One step closer.
Today I glued the two components of the dog hole row together.
It looks like a simple glue-up - just two parts and they are basically both flat, even though one side has the gaps that will be the dog holes in it. One component is thicker than the other which does not sound much like a problem either, even if the two top surfaces have to align as exactly as possible. In my favor is that there is two holes running through the whole assembly, one at either end, for threaded rod to help with alignment. It's a nice warm day but not too hot for a glue-up, I have got all the clamps, spanners, glue pots and brushes, damp rags etc all laid out. I did a full rehearsal so that all the clamps were close to the right spacing on the bench and the jaws open the right amount.
So, I poured out some glue and spread it on the marked out areas of the part with the dog holes in it so that it was only where it was needed. I lined up the other part as closely as I could. One end needed to be aligned perfectly, the other end still needs cutting to length. I carefully positioned Part A on top of Part B and was pleased to see that even though I was really concentrating on one end, I had managed to get the other end only about 1/32" off line. I was pretty pleased with that - UNTIL ...
... UNTIL I tried to move it into line. The glue had grabbed tight almost like contact cement. I figured it must be because the timber was so dry from the recent high temperatures and low humidity and it absorbed the moisture in the glue as the two surfaces touched. Working quickly, I was able to pull the two surfaces into alignment with the three Duo-clamps you can see horizontal in the photo. I was fortunate that the thinner component was a bit higher than the thicker component or moving them with the clamps would have been far more difficult.
With the components aligned I inserted the bolts through the holes I mentioned earlier and tightened them up to maintain the position then added the six parallel head clamps and that's where she stays overnight. Hopefully I have gotten away with it. I will find out tomorrow.
Lessons for today (which I passed the test on) - always have more clamps on hand than you think you will need and always know where you joiners mallet is.
And the one I failed on - if the timber is over-dry, wipe it over with a damp rag before glue-up.
20191227_155913.jpgI got sick of sitting around doing nothing - so I took up meditation.
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27th December 2019, 05:51 PM #114
BUT Doug.
What’s happened to the new one you built over Christmas???
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27th December 2019, 06:42 PM #115
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27th December 2019, 06:47 PM #116
So violence does still have its place in the modern backyard workshop.
Cheers Matt.
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28th December 2019, 01:24 PM #117
I will call it a win
There's the tiniest step between the two components. Too small to measure but just detectable with the fingertips.
It will be easily fixed with a jointer plane when the top is fully assembled,which was part of the plan anyway. I'm just happy it didn't become a major fix.
Looking at the local weather forecast, I might get a couple of not-so-hot days next week to move along to the next stage. I have one of those free-standing air conditioners in the shed but it can't turn 40 degrees into comfort so I tend to stay inside in the real air conditioning when it is that hot.I got sick of sitting around doing nothing - so I took up meditation.
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28th December 2019, 04:28 PM #118GOLD MEMBER
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As I am building my own, 40 year overdue bench, I just read through this and looked at all the photos, looks great. But upon going back to the start of the thread, I realised it has been going for over two years?, how far along are you now?
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28th December 2019, 09:59 PM #119
Now I have trestles completed and the top all laminated together apart from one glue joint between the doghole row assembly and the long section of he bench top. End-cap joinery is done as far as I can until fitted and cut to length for the tool tray. Shoulder vise is done apart from a bit of gluing and cosmetics. The biggest thing remaining is the tail vise. I have all the timber and hardware to make that on hand.
For nearly two years - as long as the trestles have been assembled and the long section of the top has been able to be supported on them - I have probably spent more time using it as a bench to work on as opposed to working on the bench itself. Even in it's incomplete state it is still a very useful bench particularly since the hold-fast holes were put in.
I also have other things that take up time in my life as well so like everyone else, I have to prioritize my time. I am also on a Veterans' Affairs pension for the damage the Army did to my body during my military service and some days are not good for heavy lifting, but I do what I can.Periods of illness/injuries have kept me out of the shed for more than a month at a time. Stinking hot summer days are better spent in the air-conditioned house.
Weeks, months and years mean little to me, I just do what I can on the day. I don't live by deadlines any more. I can do without the stress.
Anyway, I'm sure it's not the longest-running bench build thread on the forum and there will be other benches being built without a build thread that have been going longer still.
This is not a sprint, nor a marathon. It's more a long leisurely stroll in the park, stopping along the way to smell the roses and exploring a few detours and distractions.
Feel free to pull up a park bench and watch the progress of my journey.I got sick of sitting around doing nothing - so I took up meditation.
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30th December 2019, 01:40 PM #120
Weeks, months and years mean little to me, I just do what I can on the day. I don't live by deadlines any more. I can do without the stress.
Feel free to pull up a park bench and watch the progress of my journey.
Id think a bed and intravenous drip of liquid sustenance would be more applicableI would love to grow my own food, but I can not find bacon seeds
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