Denim's Workbench build

10 years ago I inherited a workbench and tools from my grandfather. This was the start of my woodworking hobby (obsession really) and I had to modify the workbench with blocks for extra height, dog holes and a new vice to suit my needs. Since then I've gained a good understanding my current requirements for woodworking and have been planning to build a replacement and pass on my grandfather's bench to my sister who has recently taken up the hobby as well. The original bench consists of 3 stair stringers bolted to an industrial sewing machine base. A simple solution for a Polish immigrant with very little money and a need to to build his family's furniture.

Fast forward to today and I've reached the first milestone for my new bench; the base dry fit. The bench is Roubo inspired with a leg vice, sliding dead man and a L tail vice. I can't really justify the funds for the fancy and very nice benchcrafted hardware so I'll be delving into the world of making my own timber screws for the vices. This consist of learning to make my own large dowels and construct a thread making jig, numerous runs and attempts before getting 2 ideal candidate for the bench.

The legs are build from 140mm x 3.4m lengths of kwila and (until the recent purchase of a thicknesser) were an absolute titan of a job to dimension. The thicknesser has made a very quick job of it and I'm very thankful for my new shop assistant!

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After cutting the tenons on the bandsaw, I measured the location and added the mortise layouts on the legs.

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The waste was quickly removed with a forstner bit, the remaining with a chisel and fine tuning until a good fit was achieved.

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Here's the dry fit ready for draw bore preparation.

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My plan was to leave it there for the day but I was too excited after seeing the build coming to life and decided to get started on the draw bore preparation. I rived a length of Victorian Ash into an appropriate size ready to create the pins and cut them in smaller lengths to make it easier to punch through the plate.

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I then began hammering the lengths through the holes from the largest to my desired diameter.

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The reason I used Victorian Ash is because I'll also be using it for the bench top. I think it's an easily accessible and inexpensive timber that has a good balance for density and give. The colour of the pins will help tie the top to the base. I know it's not a furniture piece but it's nice to have those little associations.

This is all I have for now and will provide a few updates as this build progresses but there may be some time between updates. I hope you enjoy the photos and my explanation. :)


Regards,

Denim

I may be blind and ignorant but Ive never seen those plates before, looks a great way to relieve ones frustrations.

Did you buy or make it, details on it please...

Tonto, LN make them or you can just drill whatever size holes you want in a piece of quarter inch plate, chamfer the starting edge of the plug/dowel and knock them through

pm sent Denim

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tonto

I may be blind and ignorant but Ive never seen those plates before, looks a great way to relieve ones frustrations.

Did you buy or make it, details on it please...

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Tonto, I made the plate about 5 years ago from some scrap stainless steel I had laying around. I wanted to try draw boring the end caps of a desktop made from cypress pine and figured a plate with graduated holes and a flattened, polished face would provide enough of a cutting edge to create the dowels I needed. It worked perfectly and this is the first time I've brought out the plate since; giving me excellent results a second time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Huon pine fan

chamfer the starting edge of the plug/dowel and knock them through

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Another tip is to keep your stock short to avoid breaking them when bashed through. :)

Regards,

Denim.

Today I found enough time to drill the holes for the draw bore pins and clean up the faces of each piece. I started to plane the faces with my low angle jack but even with the best care and attention I was still getting some tear-out.

It was time to break out the card scrapers.

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I love using card scrapers and this choice made my job so easy!

While cleaning up the faces I came across one leg that I'd posted a repair for a few months back. The split wasn't so bad and I thought the bow ties would keep everything together but either my imagination is playing tricks on me or that split is growing... :(

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I have a dilemma if the split is growing. I don't have enough timber to make another leg and so my considerations surround saving the leg. Do I add another bow tie up further in the leg, wait for it to split in the next few months after I've build my bench or do I force the crack and glue it back together with some epoxy?

The last photo is after all the surfaces are prepared as much as I really need to. I'm not going overboard because it's just a workbench, I treated my last one pretty mean and will continue to do so with this one I suspect.

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Okay, maybe I'll be a bit more careful with this beauty!

Regards,

Denim.

[QUOTE]

While cleaning up the faces I came across one leg that I'd posted a repair for a few months back. The split wasn't so bad and I thought the bow ties would keep everything together but either my imagination is playing tricks on me or that split is growing... :(

Attachment 452805

I have a dilemma if the split is growing. I don't have enough timber to make another leg and so my considerations surround saving the leg. Do I add another bow tie up further in the leg, wait for it to split in the next few months after I've build my bench or do I force the crack and glue it back together with some epoxy?

[QUOTE]

In many trades to stop a crack from growing, simply drill a hole at the end of the crack for it (the crack) to run into. Then you could fill the hole with one of your dowels..... something to consider

I'm sorry it's been a while between updates as my wife and I decided to build a new bathroom and it took a great deal of my time. During the renovation I spent my spare time searching for good, cheap usable timber for the top and eventually found some but it was a little wet so I stacked it away until my Christmas break.

I didn't take any photos of the timber prior to surfacing but here are a few of the bench top lamination. Something to note was that I don't have a jointer and didn't want to spend a lot of time hand planing each length so I built myself a router sled.

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It was a great time saver. :)

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While waiting for the top glue-up to dry I started fitting the base together. I had revised the depth of the bench to 600 mm as I only have a small space to work and I've been using the same size bench top for the last 12 years without any space issues. Why change what works?
The problem was that the base side rails were too long so I had to cut them down to the appropriate size and create new tennons. I've spent a great deal of time using my bandsaw over the last year and I feel quite proud of my skills with my favourite tool in the shop so I used bandsaw to cut easy, repeatable tennons and got to fitting the base together.

I initially had decided to draw bore the whole base but in retrospect I felt it wasn't a great idea (for moving etc.) and so left the draw boring to the sides only. The front/back rails had the holes for the draw boring but I bolted them on and added some false draw bore pins.

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Tomorrow I will continue with the top lamination. I'll need to figure out a way to flip this big boy over by myself so I can add the mortices for the base to sit in.

I have also been working very hard to prepare myself for the monstrous challenge of creating my own wooden threads. The study and preparation are all done, including notes, templates etc and I'm really excited to get on with this part of the build. The tail vise is going to be a Klausz traditional tail vise and the leg vise will be constructed from all the bench top off cuts.

Until the next post, enjoy!


Denim.

The last two days progress. I quickly flattened the underside of the bench top and then cut out the mortices for the base to fit into and assembled the bench.

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I also cut out the deadman cavity for the front rail, the tool slots for the back rail as well as the dovetails.

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I've layed out the pins for one end cap and will do the other over the next couple of days.

Regards,

Denim.