SHOW US YOUR WOODWORKING BENCH - a summary thread

[Fuzzie]

bench.jpg

PRIMARY FUNCTION:
Making stuff. Most projects are built using traditional joints made with handtools from materials roughly sized by machinery.

DIMENSIONS in mm:
1830 x 600 x 900

MATERIALS (timber species etc):
Reclaimed Ironbark structural grade timbers.

VISES INCLUDED:
Face vice: Joplin 9" Quick action
Tail vice: Integrated sliding dog block

LINK TO YOUR BUILD THREAD (if applicable):
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f213/w...kbench-165040/

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:
A 2nd generation bench that includes things missing from my first bench. The final design choice was heavily influenced by the material I had on hand. The timber was reclaimed from weathered structural Ironbark left over from a deck renovation.

In my opinion the Ironbark is way too heavy and hard to make a bench this size out of, but given what I had on hand it was either going into this or into a skip. The bench build won, but I still have a pile of half rotten joists that are only good for firewood.
THINGS YOU PARTICULARLY LIKE :
I made it without doing too much damage to myself.

THINGS THAT YOU WOULD CHANGE (in retrospect):
No retrospect yet, I've just completed it.
THINGS THAT YOU WOULD INCORPORATE NEXT TIME :
If I ever build another bench, the main components will be light enough for one person to handle unassisted.

WHAT or WHO INSPIRED SOME OF THE INCLUSIONS (provide links):
Just about every bench design I ever looked at. Some of the more relevant links are included in my build thread.

[FenceFurniture]

Orraloon and Fuzzie, thanks for your input. Good stuff.

John, are you confirmed for the BBQ on the 5th?

[orraloon]

FenseFurniture,
I will be along on the 5th. Better send me a pm with the address as I have not long since changed my email.
Rgards
John

[IanW]

PRIMARY FUNCTION:
Mostly fine furniture, but lately lots of saw handles & marking gauges.....


MATERIALS (timber species etc):
Sugar Maple, Walnut, Rosewood tail-vise screw, spalted Foambark (drawer fronts & cupboard doors) & ply:

Bench red.jpg

VISES INCLUDED:

Face vice: Home made:Seat held.jpg

Tail vice: Ditto :Tenon cleaned up red.jpg

LINK TO YOUR BUILD THREAD (if applicable):
Built quite a few years before the internet was invented, I'm afraid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:
I had a table saw & router (which I used for cutting dog slots & some grooves for splines) but mostly done with hand tools, so decoration was kept to a minimum.
Height 850mm, Length 1800mm, W 500mm (including tool well).

THINGS YOU PARTICULARLY LIKE
Solid, doesn't move a mm under heavy planning or sawing. Can do almost everything I need with a few extras like the "Moxon" style vise for dovetailing wide boards.

vise screws.jpg Support1.jpg

Cleaning up fronts.jpg Preparing sides ed.jpg

THINGS THAT YOU WOULD CHANGE (in retrospect):
A bit longer (not much) would have been handy on occasion, but I can live with it as-is.
My biggest mistake was to space the dog-holes in the tail vise the same as on the bench top. That meant if something just didn't quite fit in one position, there was a lot of winding to get it to the right spot. Murphy always made sure that each time I went to put something in it, this occurred. So I fixed that by pulling the vise to bits (major surgery!) & adding more dog holes at half the spacing of the bench holes.

THINGS THAT YOU WOULD INCORPORATE NEXT TIME :

A slightly thicker top & some appropriate holes opposite the tail vise, so I could use a holdfast - something I didn't appreciate the value of at the time. I only need one occasionally, but it would be so much quicker & easier than using clamps, as I have to do now.

WHAT or WHO INSPIRED SOME OF THE INCLUSIONS (provide links):

It's based on the Frank Klausz bench featured in FWW waaaay back. The size is close to Frank's but I deleted the shoulder vise, so the left & right leg assemblies are the same instead of having the 3-legged left set as on his.

Cheers,

[FenceFurniture]

Bewdy Ian. What's the go with what I'll call your "faux deadman"?

[IanW]

...... What's the go with what I'll call your "faux deadman"?

It was an add-on quite a few years down the track - got tired of dragging over billets of wood or old chairs to stick under heavy pieces held for edge planning, etc. The close holes & a couple of different sized pegs to choose form work well, but I over-did the sliding part, with rubber wheels rolling in a groove in the top of the board screwed to the bench legs. It works, but I wouldn't bother if I had to do it again, just use a vee-shaped chunk riding on a matching board as others have done. I had a wip in a thread which I can't find atm (seem to be having no luck a'tall with my search terms, today!).
Cheers,

[wattycoo]

TITLE
Roubo

PRIMARY FUNCTION
Handtools, attempted fine furniture

DIMENSIONS
2365mm long x 610mm wide x 825mm high

MATERIALS
combination of tallowood and red ironwood top. Undercarriage cypress pine.

VISES
Leg vise Carbatec vise screw.

VICES
Shiraz

BRIEF DESCRIPTION
I slavishly followed the instructions in Chris Schwarz first workbench book, this was my second woodwork project.

THINGS I LIKE
The weight - this thing does not move, the length but it could be longer, the flush top and legs great for clamping large pieces of timber.

THINGS I WOULD CHANGE
I got the planing stop in the wrong place. The vise screw - I would at the least like a Lie-Nielsen vise screw, a Benchcrafted would be lovely.

THINGS I WOULD INCORPORATE
I keep thinking about dog holes but battens seem to work. An end vise but then I would need dog holes to maximise it's benefits and battens seem to work quite nicely.

WHAT OR WHO INSPIRED
Need I say it. Every thing Schwarz says about benches in his book has been borne out by my experience, PLUS a huge amount of help with the assembly by LYN!

[FenceFurniture]

The Cypress looks very speccy Ross.

When you say Shiraz for the vices, do you mean vise, or do you really mean vice?

[wattycoo]

The Cypress looks very speccy Ross.

When you say Shiraz for the vices, do you mean vise, or do you really mean vice?

I really mean VICE - nice Riesling tonight

[IanW]

Darn - I forgot to say in "Things I like about my bench" that the tail vise is just about its best feature. I couldn't live without one now!
Cheers,

[Twisted Tenon]

This thread has come at a really great time for me. I have been planning a build for the past year (or more) and have been trolling though various posts both here on the forum and other sites. I am in serious danger of over thinking this project . I've bought the Chris Schwarz book and the other day a mate phoned me and told me that he had just had a heap of firewood dropped off at his place and would I like to check it out.

As the pics show there was enough "potential" here. Can't see too clearly but it's all seasoned hardwood and there are 90x90 posts in good condition as well. The bench top will be 3"x2". It will take me a long time just to de-nail the stuff.


IMG_0064.jpg IMG_0065.jpg

So in the spirit of this thread I will say the following
Type - Definitely a hybrid (plain and stable)
Hand tool use (for the most part)

I do like the idea of the sliding dead man so will just have the leg vise at the front. To early to decide if I will kick in for a real tail vice or make do with my current Dawn No7

TT

[swk]

POST TITLE:
I know it isn't as flash as many, but it (sort of) works for me

PRIMARY FUNCTION:
All the stuff I do (which is some woodwork, a bit of electronics, a little metal bashing too).
At the moment there are bits laying around for:
Restoring an old hand made anvil which belonged to my father.
Making some felt lined component holders for a glider restoration project I am doing.
Making a manometer for testing aircraft instruments
Making a 6x4 set of book shelves for my partner (the big folding wedges on the left were for clamping the door frames.)

DIMENSIONS in mm:
(length x depth x height) 2200 x 900 x 1000

MATERIALS (timber species etc):
The frame appears to be mostly oregon, but the top is jarrah, mdf and masonite (see below). Some pine bits added on. Some original bracing is old skirting board (meranti or similar) !

VISES INCLUDED:
Dawn 7
And auxiliary small metal work (Clarke?)
It also has a boating "cam cleat" on the right hand end for straightening lead cames for lead light.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:
This was a bench that I bought off an old leather worker called Les*
After I bought it I did some fixing up and modifying.
Originally it was narrow jarrah top (6 inches each side) with a wide floorboard bottomed tool well in the middle, about 40mm deep. The top had been well chopped about, especially around the vice. I hand planed both pieces of jarrah flat again and squared them up (2 baulks about 2m long by 50x160). The tool well floor boards I got rid of (actually I think I made some shelves out of them) and replaced the middle with mdf (raised up with pine packers) to get a flat work surface. Covered the whole lot with masonite to protect the surface.

I later added a pull out drawer below (temporarily) made of pine (packing crate wood, about 50mm square after planing) with a chip board bottom. That stores tools I use on a day to day need ie my worker chisels planes and hammers etc (not the real good or special stuff).

There's also a (what do you call 'em) wooden hook for shoving long boards into for planing their edges. I added that too, on the left had side of the apron. In the picture, the white extension cord is hanging in it.


THINGS YOU PARTICULARLY LIKE
It's big

THINGS THAT YOU WOULD CHANGE (in retrospect):
It's big

THINGS THAT YOU WOULD INCORPORATE NEXT TIME:
Smaller and holes for dogs.

WHAT or WHO INSPIRED SOME OF THE INCLUSIONS (provide links):
I can't remember!

GOPR2571.JPGGOPR2573.jpgGOPR2574.jpg

*Les was an old retired leather worker who used to get his enjoyment from doing a bit of woodwork in his back shed. His eyes were no good, but that never stopped him. The things he made were square but rough (he couldn't see the detail I think, so there were gaps and misfittings all over.) He gave me and the ex a small set of shelves for our wedding present, rough as guts they were. I kept them for years, I didn't have the heart to throw them out. )
There came a time in Les' life where he seemed to give up in frustration and simply announced all his leather work and woodwork stuff was up for sale. I bought the bench and a couple of saw horses (still have those too). My ex-FIL bought most of his small tools.
Les died suddenly about a week later.
On reflection I don't know if Les knew he had not long to go and found a home for his things or if the ending of his hobby finished him off...

[pmcgee]

... and the other day a mate phoned me and told me that he had just had a heap of firewood dropped off at his place and would I like to check it out.

Truly the best type of mate!

There's also a (what do you call 'em) wooden hook for shoving long boards into for planing their edges. I added that too, on the left had side of the apron. In the picture, the white extension cord is hanging in it.

A crochet?

Ahhhh ... the vise on a block in a vice trick. Good thinking '99'.

Cheers,
Paul

[IanW]

SWK. -Your next project is a tool cupboard, with some more organised storage for those tools in the top drawer, right?

Cheers,

[swk]

Your next project is a tool cupboard, with some more organised storage for those tools in the top drawer, right?

Cheers,

Nope )

Those are my "users" where I can get at them easily. The good tools are in the boxes underneath the bench! And they are, mostly, organised.

Regards
SWK