Thread: WIP Chris's 21st Century Bench

Spent the latter half of last week working on the seriously big dovetail joints for the top and bottom rails. I had no previous experience with dovetails, and suspect I should have started on something smaller!
I used a jigsaw in a Triton router table (thanks Brian!) for the lengthwise cuts in the male joints, then a japanese crosscut saw for the shoulder cuts, then a Triton saw/workbench to cut out the waste in between, then a lot of fine tuning with chisel and scraper to seat things cleanly. Vic Ash is certainly tough stuff to work with.

Chris

This is looking really good. It's hard to see in detail, but the dovetails look good. Grain in the long stock (presumably the top) looks great. Keep it up!

Trav

I've finished the leg glueing and have the bench standng in situ but not fixed. I've calcluated that I still have 25 operations to go, so I'm taking a bit of time off to attend to some other projects. Hope to be back soon.

Have to agree!! This is looking really great!!

Timber looks to be really fit for purpose!

A couple of pics for those of you admiring the grain. I spent a bit of time deciding which bits to put next to each other. The right hand (front) side has a pinker colour than the left hand side. I plan to finish it with Liberon Finishing Oil, which should enhance the grain well.

Looking really good! I keep thinking that one day I will have time and money to build a nice workbench too

noice

For those following this thread that might consider making a 21st century bench, I have been given a new, sealed unopened DVD which gives everything you need in the way of instruction on how to build it. It can be seen here - VIDEO – Build the 21st-Century Workbench | Popular Woodworking Magazine

I will also list this in the for sale section on the Marketplace.

I am after $18.00 for it plus any postage or pick it up here at Hoppers Crossing. Vic.

Col.

SOLD

I will take the vid, Pm sent


Thanks


Frank.

Hi Chris - I am also in Canberra and also building the 21C bench - in recycled Brushbox. Almost up to building the trays stage.

Didn't think of taking pictures along the way. I'll have to take some pics now though and post them - with the caveat that your dovetails are neater than mine....

Roger

Roger,
I'd be interested to see the pics. I'm about to restart on mine, having just about completed my big garden project (or at least the first stage).
Chris

Nice job Chris.

I've been looking at all the different bench builds and following the links. The variety of design and hardware is vast. I've been out of the loop and it's a job catching up.

Well I'm back on the job and have been making progress. I've trial fitted the top and the tail vice, made jaws for it, and marked out the dog holes. I've also made the centre trays, and made the shelf from secondhand remilled floor board timber.
I was planning to use a 3/4" brad point drill bit for the dog holes, but was surprised to find it nearly impossible to obtain in Canberra. In looking online I came across a thread in the Group Buys section, which alerted me to the poor experience with exit holes that others had experienced. At first I thought that I would join the plan to obtain a German FCE (first clean exit) bit, which will have to be made to order, because it isn't made in 3/4" or 19mm normally.
I then came across a bit made by ICS in the US, and have today posted my trial experience with that here:
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f12/co...7/index30.html
So next it's dog holes, then sanding so that I can finish the final assembly.

Have finished the dog 'oles and the oiling except for the bench top surface, and the old floor boards came up well for the shelf - see pic.
I have now started to install the Hovarter face vice hardware, and to assist the steel transfer bar to slide against the underside of the bench top the maker calls for paste wax to be applied to the bar. According to info on the web, paste wax stays soft, so this makes sense. My question is, what is the equivalent to paste wax for this purpose in Australia?
regards
Chris