Bench Plan Outline

Christmas vacation was very nice. In addition to spending some time on a lathe and explaining to a TSA representative that my mallets were for striking chisels and not airline personnel, I got to experiment with some benches. I will post more later regarding what I learned and how it changed how I am going to build my bench.

I spent a lot of time in the airport figuring out how this thing is going to go together. None of the bench components are original ideas. And, I will give background information/credit where it is most appropriate. For now, I just want to get my outline up so that I will have something to go by.

The majority of the wood for both the base and the top of the bench is going to come out of the two 12/4 ash boards I posted photos of the other day. The remainder will come from some oak, cherry or black walnut. I am not sure yet how it is going to shake out.

I hope to get the drawings done for the bench this week and posted by the end of the weekend.

This is the outline for what all I can tell has to go into the bench at this time. (Sorry, the post did not appear in the outline form I had intended. It makes it a little difficult to follow).

I. CUTTING/MILLING
A. Chainsaw
1. Separate Slab 1 & Slab 2 from main slabs
B. Woodmizer
1. Take ears off of Slabs 1 & 2
2. Cut feet/leg tops/uprights length-wise
3. Cut stretchers in half length-wise
C. Chopsaw/Bandsaw
1. Cut wood to rough length
2. Cut wedges to be used in base
D. Jointer
1. Joint edges of all stock
2. Joint one face of all cut components but slab 1 & 2
E. Planer
1. Plane all stock (except slab 1 & 2) to thickness
2. Plane slab 1 & 2 to flatten (on sled if necessary)

II. BASE
A. Feet
1. Cut arches w/ either band saw or coping saw
2. Clean up with file and scraper
B. Mortise & Tenon (See: Hoadley to insure proper M&T orientation)
1. Cut tenons on risers (tenon saw, 8 total)
2. Cut mortises in feet (Drill press and chisel clean, 4 total)
3. Cut mortises in leg tops (Drill press and chisel clean, 4 total)
4. Glue up and wedge tenons
C. Stretchers
1. Cut recess in stretcher ends (Bore out and connect with coping saw)
2. Cut nut recess (Drill press and chisel)
D. Assemble base
E. Base hardware, etc.
1. Stainless machine bolts, nuts, washers, all spray painted O.D. green
2. Bullets for top out of 1" dowels
3. Cups/live rubber for under feet

III. TOP
A. Slabs
1. Biscuit jointer slots for big biscuits
2. Glue up slabs - need plenty of clamps
B. Dog Hole Strip
1. Cut dog holes (back saw and chop relief with chisel)
2. Cut tail notch
3. Cut dovetail pin
4. Biscuit joint and glue dog hole strip to top
5. Glue on dog hole strip cover
6. Glue 1" x 1" strip along backside of dog hole on bottom of bench

IV. END CAPS
A. Left End Cap
1. Cut pin
2. Groove for spline - do NOT cut full length or will show in tool till
3. Cut half-blind pins on other end
B. Right End Cap
* Needs more study in conjunction with mounting tail vise

V. TOOL TILL
A. Apron
1. Clamp apron on back of bench and mark dovetails
2. Cut dovetails and fit into end caps
3. Cut grove along bottom of apron to accept till bottom
* Till floor needs to be even with bottom of bench
B. Tool Till Floor
1. Dry fit
2. Attach to bottom of bench with screws
* screw through slots perpendicular to bench to allow for seasonal changes
C. Ramps
1. Determine and cut correct miter
2. Glue into place

VI. BOTTOM SPACERS
A. Attach with screws only (slots too)
*Note: vises need to be laid out to insure spacers do not interfere with movement

VII. FRONT VISE (Ref. Woodcraft product sheet)
A. Front Spacer Block
1. Note and bore clearance holes for dogs
2. Attach spacer to bottom of bench with glue and screws
B. Front Vise Face Block
1. Laminate vise face block
2. Bore holes for screw and guides
3. Cut rounded edge (use whatever technique worked well for feet)
C. Bench Top Prep. for Accepting Vise
1. Bore rod and screw holes (clamp face to bench for pattern)
* Holes slightly larger than guide and screw holes (approx. 1/4")
* Make sure holes are perfectly perpendicular
2. Plane flat bench and vise face
D. Attach Vise:
1. Attach vise to face block
2. Present guide rods and screw through bench face
3. From back side, slide carriage onto rods and pull flush with back of dog hole strip
4. Tighten vise screw
5. Once face block is positioned, attach carriage to bench

VIII. END VISE
* Needs more study

IX. FLATTEN TOP
A. Use smoothing and jointer plane

X. FINISH
A. Oil and wax
1. Galoot wax formula
a. 1 part beeswax
b. 1 part turpentine
c. 1 part boiled linseed oil
2. Application
a. 2x daily for 2 weeks
b. 2x weekly for 2 months
c. 2x monthly for 2 years
d. As needed for life

Vises

Santa Claus and Woodcraft Clearance rack was good to me. This is my shoulder vise. The screw is 1-1/4".


This is the tail vise.


Both have Acme threads:

BenchTop

The chief lumber inspector is having a quick look at this ash for suitability as a bench top.


It is some nice 12/4 stuff.


There is some nice figuring in the wood.


I have considered two 10 or so inch slabs.


Although each piece is cracked on the end, I should be able to get some nice legs out of here...


...and here.


This is some of the old 4/4 black walnut I want to try and incorporate somewhere on the bench - maybe the caps of the tail vise.

Change (,) of course

I recently received an e-mail forward from my father-in-law. It read "one of the greatest secrets of life is to have both wisdom and patience". At the bottom of the e-mail was a photo of a bird dog watching a skunk eat out of its bowl. In a rare feat, I have managed to bring wisdom and patience together in my shop. I am postponing the building of the Chestnut Prospector.

I purchased a 1:12 scale model of the Prospector back in October. As of the middle of December, I had managed to build the strong back. To scale, it would have taken me 18 months to get the strong back built for my real canoe. After some reflection, I realized that now may not be the best time in my life to try and build a canoe in my only work space.

This, of course, creates a project vacuum. To fill this vacuum, I am going to build a workbench. It is going to be a traditional workbench, more or less Ulmia style. Thanks to Woodraft's current deep discounts and free shipping, Santa Claus should be dropping a side and tail vise down the chimney real soon.

I hope to pick out the wood for the bench top this weekend. I'm gonna have a look around in the lumber stash, but according to Big John, there is some ash that is a prime candidate for the job. White oak is a possibility, but I do not think it is dry yet. Also, the ash came off of Uncle Hiram's place. We sawed it in August of 2003, so it should be nice and dry. I am not sure what kind of wood will be used for the trestle base. I may use some black walnut for accent on the tail vise and end caps. I am just not sure right now.

Regardless, the canoe model and book has been shelved for the time being. The workbench is the big project.

Wet Weekend

Thanksgiving break was very wet. Did not get to do much until Sunday afternoon.

Saturday, I did make some racks for the kayaks. The front rack is a little wide, but it makes sliding the kayak toward the back a lot easier. Once I pick Sally's kayak up from White Sands, I will either add the second rack on top, or I may see if it will fit on the same rack.

In the past few weeks, my shop had turned into train wreck.

This is the top of the laundry room shelf we had in our apartment. We did not really need it in our house. It has been taking up room in the shop since it got there.

So, I decided to cut it in half.


Now, I have two semi-decent wall shelves.


All afternoon, Old Man Winter was announcing his arrival.


French food and wine are good - French cleats are great.

This is my shop buddy. I haven't confirmed this 100%, but I've got a feeling he only really comes around when I put out a can of sardines.

My Dad had picked up a Stanley/Bailey #6 some time back. Since it looks like flattening my #7 jointer is going to take more than a couple of hours, he loaned his #6 to me. It feels good. It makes some nice curls.

I got my shop somewhat organized. While it looks really out-of-sorts here, there are actually aisles of racks. I'm not sure how long this arrangement will last.

I've got plenty of room around the bench now.

Plane duty

This is a #7 Jointer plane I bought from a fellow when I ran the ad in the Market Bulletin about old planes. He had bought a lot of them at a school that was selling their old shop equipment. It is pretty rough looking, but it did not have much rust, and appeared not to have any pitting.

I bought this bench plane from him also. I am going to make a convex blade for it and make it a scrub plane. In theory, I could just swap a convex blade in and out of my bench plane when needed, but I have the feeling that I am going to have to open up the throat on it a little with a file to take the bigger shavings.

This is the bottom of the jointer. You can see waves in the sole perpendicular to the sides.

After lapping it on some 100 grit on a piece of float glass, you can really see the waves. I am not sure where these came from. They are pretty evenly spaced, so they must be milling marks left over from the original manufacture. If so, I can understand why people may have hated shop class.

I have lapped a number of blades and other things on my only sheet of wet/dry 100 grit. I'll need to pick up more. But, until then, I used a coarse DMT stone.

After quite some time, the sole is starting to look like this. There are a number of scratches in the sole. Additionally, a pit popped up right on the front of the throat. Also, on the leading side of the throat, there is a little dip. It it triangular shaped and can be seen in the picture. I am not sure how that got worn down. But there are few scratches in the sole too, so I figure this little fellow had a pretty rough life.

This photo was taken too close. But, this is the sole of the Stanley #4 I got off the clearance rack at the Woodcraft in Virginia. The sole came pretty flat. The photo was taken after I had done a bit of lapping on it. You can see how the corners and edges, especially on the leading edge, are starting to mill down. The darker gray are the milling marks leftover from the manufacturing process. These are quite deep.

Lots and lots of this will eventually produce a mirror finish sole.

Chicken & Brisket - Smokin Saturday

No, chicken & brisket isn't a Nabisco cracker. What it is is, is a good Saturday diversion.

Take a 4 lb brisket and score the fat cap in a cross-hatch pattern


Brine in a salt and sugar solution for a couple of hours


Rub down with a dry rub - with sugar, of course


Putting the coal to Ole 382


Mr. Brisket gets a lean-to


Meanwhile...back in the lab...Mrs. Leghorn is getting a chimichurri rub.


"Hello, Mr. Brisket."
"Why, hello, Mrs. Leghorn..."

A morning and most of an afternoon later. Note the pink "smoke ring". The smoke doesn't actually turn the meat pink. The ring is the result of the meat being cooked at a low temp in a closed environment. The fire emits gasses that dissolve in the moisture on the surface of the meat. New compounds are created which are similar to the nitrates that are added to deli meat to keep them pink.

White meat and clear juice - but notice the charred exteriors. According to one website, a two hour BBQ can release as many dioxins into your food as 220,000 cigarettes. Okay. So, according to this information, there are about 660,000 cigarettes worth of dioxins in this food. But, it was still cheaper than sending the pair to the Flora-Bama for the weekend.