(Another) Workbench WIP

**Alastair** · 27th October 2008, 05:08 PM

Welcome to the last lap!

While not all that much was done during the week, enough of the multitude of finicky details were done to allow the job to be finished up at the weekend.

Started with the completion of the tail vice. The routed section of the top cover was laminated up with the complementary half cut from the timber slab, followed by jointing and machining to size. The mitred corner was marked up, cut on the bandsaw, and then adjusted to fit on the disc sander. At the same time, offcuts were laminated up for the false jaw, and glued into place. Time then came to glue the top cap into place. It was located in place by inserting 2 dogs, which were removed after clamping complete. (pic 1) Once again the SNAFU machine had been working overtime. Turns out that it is a coupla mm too short, and too narrow, again through me losing track of amendments along the way. Hopefully it is not too obvious, and I am being over critical. I might remove the assembly sometime, and take the excess off the false jaw, but I am stuck with the clearance.

Once the clamps came off, and it could be cleaned up with the plane, it also proved to be slightly out of alignment vertically. The higher end, nearest the bench was planed level. If this proves a problem in the future, I can raise the screw end without too much effort, but I will let sleeping ‘dogs’ lie for now!

Some offcuts of new Zealand Beech from an earlier project were resawn and joined to make the ramps. I should have marked these up for cutting the mitres, but instead, sanded them to fit, freehand on the disc sander. Clamping these into place (pics 2 & 3) required techniques reminiscent of Emmett, but got done. Next was turning the vice handles and buttons, and gluing into place. (pic 4) The final task was detailing the front vice, and machining a 3mm taper on the front jaw.

Then into the weekend, and the finishing. Much laborious planing removed the last of the routing marks from the slab. After final planing of this, together with the endcaps etc, all the edges were arrised, by plane where possible, and with chisel and sanding block in some of the corners. Contrary to my fears, it was not necessary to resort to the orbital sander, and hand sanding with 180# was sufficient preparation for finishing, given that this is still intended to be a working bench.

I considered Linseed oil, but decided against, on the grounds of smell, drying time and tendency to attract dust. Instead, stuck with hand wiped shellac. The base was wiped with one coat of 4lb cut, as was the underside. The top, front and ends first got 2 coats of 1lb cut, mixed with a generous helping of talc, sanding with 240# after each. Final coat was again 4lb cut, hand wiped. Once dry, the final finish was burnished with steel wool. Total finishing time -------some 2 hours.

Then it was time to drag down the adolescent muscles, and rearrange the garage to allow installation into its final spot.

Which brings me to the final product. (pics 5 & 6)

I have enjoyed the project, but am glad to be finished, and am looking forward to enjoying the fruits of the labour!!

Summary of project:

Recycled timber ex BOBAN --------------Free
Recycled Oregon ex next door demo------ Free
Purchased hardwood-------------------- ~$150
Vice hardware--------------------------- ~$110
Consumables -----------------------------~$25
8 weeks of weekend and evening labour ----Priceless!

I will post a full set of photos on the “Big Stuff” forum

Cheers for now.

**Groggy** · 27th October 2008, 09:57 PM

Very nice job there Alastair

Thanks for taking the time to document it for others to follow.

**Pops** · 27th October 2008, 10:08 PM

Hi Alistair,

Yes, what Groggy said. Great thread. Thanks for the effort. Really liked all the photos too.

A job well done. Top notch bench.

Cheers
Pops

**Woodwould** · 27th October 2008, 11:05 PM

Ditto. It was a great thread to follow and a very smart and useful bench as a result.

**Wongo** · 28th October 2008, 09:05 AM

Good work Alastair. It is great.

**Alastair** · 28th October 2008, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by Wongo

Good work Alastair. It is great.

Thanks Scott,

I found your bench build while trawling through old posts, so it is high praise coming from you!

regards

**Scally** · 28th October 2008, 09:58 AM

Great work.

**Wongo** · 28th October 2008, 10:26 AM

Alastair,

I really think it is a good idea to have the bench away from the wall. There are times that you wish you could do work on the other side of the bench. Is it possible in your shed? It is a bit of waste for such a beautiful workbench, don't you think?

Another tip: I have a leather mat (1.6m x .8m) on the workbench during a project. It is a great to protect your work pieces when they nicely machined.

My workbench is still very solid and flat. I love it.

**BobR** · 28th October 2008, 10:54 AM

Great bench Alastair. You will really notice a difference working on your next project. I have bought the hardware for my new bench but will not get to build it until next year at the earliest. Planning to sell up in the next few months.

**Alastair** · 28th October 2008, 11:40 AM

Originally Posted by Wongo

Alastair,

I really think it is a good idea to have the bench away from the wall. There are times that you wish you could do work on the other side of the bench. Is it possible in your shed? It is a bit of waste for such a beautiful workbench, don't you think?

Another tip: I have a leather mat (1.6m x .8m) on the workbench during a project. It is a great to protect your work pieces when they nicely machined.

My workbench is still very solid and flat. I love it.

Hi Scott,

I fully agree, but since my shed is the garage, and has to be shared with boat and 1 car, (which cannnot be parked outside because of a shared driveway) it isn't possible on a permanent basis. I would only be able to move away from wall during the day, and while I will do this when necessary, that bench is HEAVY, and I would prefer not to compromise the rigidity by putting it on castors. We'll see.

I like your idea of a leather covering. I'll experiment with my router mat and see.

regards

**Wongo** · 28th October 2008, 12:15 PM

Forget about the router mats. They are useless. It doesn’t grab the timber/workbench once it has dust on it. Or you can watch it after you use it but I think it is a waste of time.

The next best thing is a yoga mat. It is heavier and tougher. It has no holes for dust to get underneath it, so it won’t slip. The only problem is it is too bouncy when you are tapping the work with a mallet.

A piece of leather is perfect. It is soft enough to protect the wood, but firm enough take the hammering. I bought mine from the bloke who sells leather belts at Paddy’s market. It only costed me $30.

You are right about not putting the bench on castors. It is just not the same, and you should not move it all the time anyway.

**Alastair** · 30th October 2008, 05:24 PM

FWIW, I have posted the final set of "as built" photos.

Pics 1 & 2 General views

Pic 3 Front vice detail. Final planing of jaw top, and shellac to come.

Pic 4 Tail vice detail

Pics 5 & 6 Dogs and tail vice in use

Pics 7 & 8 Detail of top and tool well

Pic 9 Showing the little bit of 'figure' I found among the Tassie Oak!

Thanks to all for their interest.

regards

**Skew ChiDAMN!!** · 30th October 2008, 06:01 PM

Very, very nice!

So nice that I'd be afraid to use it.

I hope you'll post an update in, say, 12 months with a bit of feedback as to how it meets expectations?

(I'd be concerned about racking, but somehow I doubt you'll be using it in quite the way that I abuse benches...

)

**Harry72** · 30th October 2008, 09:17 PM

Top notch work Alastair!

**Alastair** · 31st October 2008, 09:15 AM

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

Very, very nice!

So nice that I'd be afraid to use it.

I hope you'll post an update in, say, 12 months with a bit of feedback as to how it meets expectations?

(I'd be concerned about racking, but somehow I doubt you'll be using it in quite the way that I abuse benches...

)

Thanks Skew,

Yes, I expected to have a bit of new bench phobia, part of the reason for using waste materials, and doing only a basic finish was to avoid this. It was built for function, so fully intend to do all the planing, sawing, chiselling etc on it, to take advantage of the solidity. I have kept the old beat up bench tho', and will reserve the drilling, glueing, painting, finishing for there.

Racking will be an issue with the front vice, particularly with the assymetrical wide jaw, but I will resort to a shim pack for the opposite jaw, a' la Wongo. Tail vice will have to see. What is hidden is that it runs on 3 full length hardwood runners, 40mm sq, across width of 350mm, so should be quite resistant.

regards

Thread: (Another) Workbench WIP

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