Thread: work bench WIP

Hope you didn't do all that work early this morning and wake the neighbours


Looking good so far, you won't know yourself when you begin using that.

Just looking

so far so good. Timber turned out nice.

A few more progress pics
I made some barrel nuts for the short aprons
I plan on placing a board on the deadman dogs for any edge planing, it will make more sense when the top goes on and the vice in
I am using some flooring left over from a house build for a btm shelf
and the dodgy pine benches bolted together without door on top
barrel nuts.jpgboard on deadman dogs.jpgedge planing.jpgsome flooring.jpgpine benches.jpg



Pete

The main undercarriage with a few coats of BLO, also the floor in and progress on under bench storage, a set of draws on the right and I'm thinking hand saw storage on the left. Still have the solid mdf door for the top atm, the top matl is pre dressed and is just acclimatising/relaxing for a while before I glue it all together.

bench in place.jpg



Pete

Looks good!

I have been working on the top for the bench,
holes for bench dog or surface clamp.jpgsurface clamp.jpgrouting grrove for bench hold down.jpgcloseup radius bit .jpgclamped up boards.jpgalignment pin.jpg3 sets of boards glued up.jpg
First pic is drilling a heap of holes for the surface clamp in what will be the front of the bench

Third pic is using a 3/8" roundover bit in the router to form the holes for the bench hold down/dogs or surface clamp, rather than drill holes in the top I thought the router method might be a bit easier and less work for the old drill....and me the only issue I thought I might have had was the two boards with half a hole slipping at glue up time but I solved this by putting a 3/4" steel pin in one hole at glue up time

I glued up 3 sets of boards at about 300 wide, this is so I can pass them over the jointer and then thru the thicknessor, I then only have 2 joins to deal with at final glue up.

Last pic is the 3 sections layed out to see what the top will look like, should be heavy enough, wide enough, long enough......



Pete

I let the 300 wide sections settle for a while, truth be known I was putting off moving them due to their weight , also I was thinking about making some infeed/outfeed tables for the jointer and thicky, I made one for the jointer which worked well, once I had started I wanted to keep going so I rigged the hospital bed up for the infeed to the thicky and a couple of saw horses for the outfeed and of course I damaged my back moving them

First pic is one section on the jointer outfeed extension table, 2nd is edge jointing with the handplane,I put a slight concave curve as per normal edge prep for gluing, 3rd is cutting off the waste, this was about the limit for the saw, 4th is a coat of BLO just on so it's still a bit glossy and an overall view.

jointing btm face.jpghandplaning edge to be joined.jpgcutting end square.jpgfirst coat BLO.jpgoverall view.jpg

Next is the main vise, I have had this in it's box for about 6 years waiting for a bench and now it has found it's proper home. I set it back from the front face so I could put a false jaw on which then brings it out flush with the front of the bench top, a function I like and don't see in many benches, mostly setout from the front, maybe I am missing something, the top is secured by coach screws along the front rail and then substantial buttons at the sides and the far side to allow for movement.
bench vise.jpgside view vise.jpgfalse jaw lined up with front.jpg

With the way I have the bench vise setup I probably could do without the tail vise but I had it as a result of one of FF's group buys, I'm sure tho one will be better than the other for specific work, I installed it a little different from the instructions, I wanted it close to the front edge and I only set it as deep as the main body, I didn't bother with the cover plate, I can add that later if needs be. I also set it into the bench the length of the knob, I thought surely with that sticking out the end of the bench I'll jag a hip on it I used the router with a 1/2" straight bit and just plunged in for the dog holes, I made a spacer block with a 1/2" hole which gave me hole spacing of about 3 1/2"
tail vise.jpgtail vise knob.jpgtail vise dog holes.jpg




Pete

Pete

A very nice build. I particularly like the use of recycled timbers. I also take heart, in my case, that this is another example of something that has spent a long while in the pipeline .

Regards
Paul

Not sure how I missed this - nice build

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Pete

A very nice build. I particularly like the use of recycled timbers. I also take heart, in my case, that this is another example of something that has spent a long while in the pipeline .

Regards
Paul

Cheers Paul and everyone for encouraging words.
More than a few years back I had the "I'll build a bench" thought, just need a vice and a bit of book learning/research and away I go, many moons later I now have a bench..... but still not finished. The temporary bench served me well and I improvised as required, what is interesting tho is it was good not to rush into a bench build cos the temporary bench gave me a few insights into what features I wanted and how they might be best setup to suit me, plus a few other stars had to line up like getting onto the house demo timber.



Pete

Nice work Pete,
I have the same Hitachi saw. Mine has build my house, shed, two extensions and cut miles of roofing iron. It's has many cheap blades and just keeps plowing on.

Pete, nice bench! In regard to mounting the vice flush i have done the same. The only advice against I seen from Paul Sellers where he says to grab a piece of wood in your hand and put it in the vise. If you have the vice flush your knuckles will be in the way where if it is proud of the bench you can leave your hand around the wood. I don't think it matters that much honestly but would probably mount mine proud of the front next time.
Mike

Originally Posted by Ball Peen

Nice work Pete,
I have the same Hitachi saw. Mine has build my house, shed, two extensions and cut miles of roofing iron. It's has many cheap blades and just keeps plowing on.

Yep, dad bought that one many years ago, it also built a house and shed as well, it doesn't get a lot of use these days but still handy to have for those specific jobs.

Originally Posted by code4pay

Pete, nice bench! In regard to mounting the vice flush i have done the same. The only advice against I seen from Paul Sellers where he says to grab a piece of wood in your hand and put it in the vise. If you have the vice flush your knuckles will be in the way where if it is proud of the bench you can leave your hand around the wood. I don't think it matters that much honestly but would probably mount mine proud of the front next time.
Mike

I can understand that there is the possibility of jamming a knuckle, another one of those things to be aware of, I still like mine as it is tho




Pete