Thread: Another workbench WIP

This morning, before pottering off to the salt mine, I glued on the second half of the first skirt. Surprisingly, it looks as though the scarf may not look too bad!. Tonight, I'll start on the other skirt and then with any luck, later this week I can add the end caps and put the benchtop to one side while I work on the undercarriage!

Coming along nicely! It's nice to be able to do a little bit at each end of the day.

Originally Posted by Woodwould

Coming along nicely! It's nice to be able to do a little bit at each end of the day.

Thanks WW. It is nice to do a little each day, especially as the benchtop now weighs more than I want to move frequently (although I reckon I will be grateful for that heft once the beast is finished). So a break during the day or overnight usually means I can recover enough for the next round of Sumo wrestling with the top!

Did you remember to close the glue lid?

Originally Posted by Christos

Did you remember to close the glue lid?

A gentle zephyr blowing from left to right in the photo keeps the glue in the bottle!

Have to admit that I looked at that photo and thought "how does he keep the planes from sliding off?"

Doh

Originally Posted by jmk89

This is where I got my blockboard from http://www.ecocore.com.au/products/- I see that also have it made from bamboo as well as poplar. They seem to have interstate distributors for those who don't live in Sydney or NSW

They do free sample packs, so I ordered one, and it looks like good stuff to work with, if you don't want to use solid wood, nicely finished in e.g. poplar, bamboo etc. Not sure about prices though.

I tipped my head on the side to look at that pic & snap... bugger, back to the chiro.

Sorry about the photo orientation - posting from my iPhone using Tapatalk is great, but I can't turn photos around.

So the second side skirt has been done and glued onto the benchtop and the final step is dovetailing the endcaps on.



One question: do you think I should put the bench up on its legs so I can use it as a bench first or put the endcaps on first? It probably doesn't make much difference for me as I have my existing bench available for the bench joinery work, while I make the bench. And I feel somehow that it might be best to get the end caps on so that I don't snag myself on the ends of the skirt pieces that I have left long for the dovetail pins.

Do the end caps now or it will never be finished.

Originally Posted by Cliff Rogers

Do the end caps now or it will never be finished.

Glad to see that three wise men agree (or three fools do not differ, take your pick)

So tonight's job will be to tidy things up at the ends so there is a nice flat surface for the end caps to bear against.

Then maybe I'll lay out the dovetails. I'm thinking that I'll do two dovetails for each joint (two half pins and one full pin in the middle). I'm also tossing up whether to make the dovetails half-blind, so the front of the skirt doesn't have the endgrain of the tails showing.

Jeremy. if it was me, I would be doing the dovtails the easiest way I could, and that's a standard through dovetail, for the endcaps. Afterall, it's only a bench...(flame suit on).

Ya gotta see tha dovetails - braggin rights