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Workbench Build

Started by lowpolyjoe, September 14, 2015, 05:14:58 PM

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rasman57

A good workbench is like a hunting vest or pair of boots....... they are much more comfortable and easygoing when they are not so new anymore.  Use and experience adds great character!     I would seal it up and go to work.   As it gets used it will take on character and be much more than the new build.       If you choose to put on some application you will be pleased to see the remarkable difference even in that construction grained wood.

lowpolyjoe

That's funny - I use Zinsser sanding sealer all the time :).  Shellac is my finish of choice because it doesn't stink like a lot of other finishes.  Does feel nice to the touch and looks nice too.  Last year I finally tried French polishing with shellac (not Zinsser's) and mineral oil... it did not go well  :D


I wasn't sure that shellac was a good choice for a workbench, but maybe i'll give it a shot.  I had some in my garage but I think it's really old at this point (I've heard shelf-life is fairly short for shellac products).  I haven't done any projects that require finishing in a long time.

Heading into the garage now to work on one of the vises - not sure which one yet.


Larry

Quote from: lowpolyjoe on December 19, 2015, 01:57:52 PM
I've heard shelf-life is fairly short for shellac products

Yes it does have a short shelf life.  Try it on a piece of scrap.  If it dries hard in less than 5 minutes its probably ok to use.

Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

lowpolyjoe

Thanks Larry.


Got to work on the leg vise this afternoon.



There was a lot of crud in the threads, so I hit them with a wire brush on an angle grinder



Threads cleaned up pretty nice.  I didn't clean up the hardware that will show.  I'm just gonna leave it it looking old :)



Drilled the hole in the leg slightly off from where it should have been so I had to do some chisel work that would let me shift the screw down slightly.   There's also a counter-sink relief to fit part of the screw hardware



Screw fits pretty well




Of course my forsner bit wasn't long enough to go through my 4 1/2" thick legs, so I had to improvise.  I drilled as far as I could, then popped through the back with an regular bit in an extender.  Then I used the exit hole to align the forsner from the back.



Honestly, I was shocked at how well the alignment worked out   8)






Ran out of time.   Hoping to get it working tomorrow.

lowpolyjoe

Got a little time in on the bench today


The nut that the leg vise screws into is a sort of tapered cone with a slot/key to keep it from spinning.  I had a hard time forming the rebate to house it.  I'm a little worried it might spin when in use, but i'll keep my fingers crossed for now.




I had to knock out a mortise in the leg vise so i figured i might as well make my bench useable for the task.  I put my new dewalt 20v drill to work and bored out a ton of 3/4" holes for the hold fasts.  I'm very impressed with the drill so far.  Even has a magical chuck that you can tighten and loosen with one hand.






I got the mortise done in the bottom of the leg vise.  Next up i need to make the peg board.  Hope to get to work on that tomorrow.

mesquite buckeye

That thing is starting to look like a real workbench.  ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball: Way nicer than mine. :(
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

Andy White

lowpolyjoe,
The bench is really looking good. You will have a great work surface for sure! It looks like you decided to go with the Gramercy holdfasts. A good choice, and great product at a good price. I love mine! You will have that thing finished soon, and it sure will be nice. Thanks for sharing this build.    8) 8)     Andy
Learning by day, aching by night, but loving every minute of it!! Running HM126 Woodland Mill, Stihl MS290, Homemade Log Arch, JD 5103/FEL and complete woodshop of American Delta tools.

lowpolyjoe

Thanks guys.

Yeah Andy, I've got a pair of the Gramercy holdfasts.  They're really nice :).   Such a simple, elegant design.

I did notice that some of my holdfast holes i drilled were not square to the table top.  That upset me.  Wish i was more careful with that.

Magicman

Maybe you will need to embed a 2015 penny on the underside such as Kevin (Logrite) did with the prize bench. 
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

lowpolyjoe

I'll have to look into that Magicman


Put together an ugly backer board to keep the nut in place





I cut down the chop for the leg vise and beveled the edges.    Looking pretty good, i thought :)





Then i realized my mistake :(.   Beveled the wrong side




lowpolyjoe

Drilled the stop holes in the pegboard or whatever it's called.  Drilled half way through, flipped and drilled the rest to try to reduce tearout from the spade bit.  still had a little mess, but not too bad




I flipped the chop around because of the bevel debacle.  Had to make a new rebate to fit the screw hardware but it call came together ok.





sandsawmill14

Quote from: lowpolyjoe on December 18, 2015, 08:43:08 PM
Took more work than I expected to plane down the dogs to fit properly.  I destroyed one in the process by planing it completely out of square.






Because each dog hole is slightly different, I used my new harbor freight stamp kit to mark the holes and the corresponding dogs so I don't mix them up down the road


what are the pegs and the grove down the center for  ???
hudson 228, lucky knuckleboom,stihl 038 064 441 magnum

lowpolyjoe

The pegboard (don't know if it has a formal name) is attached to the bottom of the moveable part of the leg vise (chop) and extends through a mortise in the table leg.  It has holes at different locations to accommodate different thickness of workpieces.   If you're going to clamp a 1" thick workpiece, you put the peg in the hole that's close to 1" away from the chop and then when you tighten the screw, the peg presses against the leg of the table and prevents racking, keeping the chop square.

Regarding the 'groove down the center', I assume you mean the groove in the benchtop?  That is supposed to get a piece of wood that will sit flush with the benchtop during normal use.   Then I can flip it upside down and thick 'prongs' will stick up out of the bench and I can push stock against them as a planing stop.   I had a 'brilliant' design that was supposed to let the plane stop sit at different heights depending on how I positioned it in the groove, but when I started building it, I immediately realized it wouldn't work as I planned.  I have the piece of wood that goes in that slot but I still have to rip it to the proper height and plane it to the proper width.  The groove has actually proved somewhat useful as a tiny 'well' - which is a common workbench feature that people build into their benchtops to store small tools below the surface so they don't interfere with laying workpieces on the benchtop.

sandsawmill14

thanks for the info :) i have my bench planed and ready to glue up but i was just going to make a big solid slab but  maybe i need to rethink my plans ??? :D :D :D  yours looks great btw :)
hudson 228, lucky knuckleboom,stihl 038 064 441 magnum

lowpolyjoe

Quote from: sandsawmill14 on December 27, 2015, 12:17:47 PM
thanks for the info :) i have my bench planed and ready to glue up but i was just going to make a big solid slab but  maybe i need to rethink my plans ??? :D :D :D  yours looks great btw :)

Thanks :).   

This Christopher Schwartz book was recommended to me and it has a lot of good info in it if you want to read something written by an expert

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1440310408?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00

lowpolyjoe

Working on my tail vise


I meticulously chiseled out a rebate for the stationary jaw







Afterward I thought I would prefer having the metal jaw level with the top of the bench.  So I sawed off the top of this piece so the top of the metal jaw almost poked through the top.  Then I realized that would mean I would have to chisel out an ENORMOUS slot from the bottom for the bench to properly mount the vise itself.  So I had to then glue the off-cut back on to the top of that piece.  Very frustrating.  lol   :D.  Glue'd up a double-wide chop at the same time



Need a dog hole in the chop






Mounted



In use.  Finally   8)









lowpolyjoe

I tested some old shellac I had laying around (sanding sealer).  It seemed like it was drying fine in a short time, so I sanded the benchtop and threw on a coat.  I'll probably add a few more coats but dinner was calling








sandsawmill14

hudson 228, lucky knuckleboom,stihl 038 064 441 magnum

21incher

Great job, thanks for sharing the build with us.  smiley_applause
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

grweldon

Looks really nice!  Good job!  Does it move when you plane the face of a board?
My three favorite documents: The Holy Bible, The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States.

Dodgy Loner

Now we're looking forward to all the purdy furniture you're going to build on that bench!
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

LaneC

  That bench is finer than a frog hair (old saying). Great job.
Man makes plans and God smiles

lowpolyjoe

Thanks everybody.   :)

Overall I'm happy with the result.  Still have a few things to finish up (deadman and shelf) but other stuff is taking up my time right now. 

I'm very much looking forward to learning to make furniture  8)

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