At last started my workbench project
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- This topic has 31 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 1 month ago by Carlos J. Collazo.
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24 February 2014 at 2:39 am #28250
Gotcha Dave. Thanks buddy. You’re right, I should check out the planing stock videos. Good tip. Thank you. I’ve heard some like to use alum angle iron, which I suppose is manufactured straight, but I prefer to make some out of wood. It’s like a mini-project within a project. Lovin it!
Well you’re certainly having fun there Carlos aren’t you? I did pretty much what Dave said (regarding the cauls) I just didn’t keep them on once I’d clamped the tops but that might have more to do with my limited number of clamps. Looking forward to the next update.
24 February 2014 at 5:21 pm #28279Yeah, Jon buddy, I’m having a blast! A giddiness comes over me every time I glance at the top.. I’m gonna ride this fun until the wheels fall off! lol Either that or end up in the poor house! lol..It’s taken me a long time to be able to get to this point of building myself a work bench like this…I’m sure when building the Dalek there was a similar sort of excitement (if i can be as bold as to say that).
4 March 2014 at 5:33 am #28582I had non-woodworking matters take up a large part of the last week, but in the late morning today I was able to pop into the “shop” and make a pair of 24″ winding sticks. Wood is pine radiata from the home center.
The main links I used for guidance were:
Paul’s youtube video #2 on Planing and Preparing the top.
http://paulsellers.com/2011/11/winding-sticks-for-guaranteed-flatness-and-more-beyond/
The ones I made today are just some simple ones to allow me to move forward to flatten the bench tops and aprons. I almost considered trying my hand at making some nices ones, applying a dark stain, and inlaying a light wood like maple. But then I thought going into inlaying didn’t seem appropriate at this stage of my training.
Looking to get back to the garage again this week to finish flattening the tops.
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.10 March 2014 at 10:57 pm #28813Very useful thread (I’m going to start the top of my bench).
I’m looking forward to seeing your work finished, Carlos!
I’m sorry, I’m a little ignorant: when you speak about “clamping a cawl”, do you mean this: https://www.google.com/search?q=clamping+cauls ? Sorry, again. (blush)
Carlos, a real simple way to get a nice strip along one edge is to take two boards of contrasting colours e.g. Walnut and maple. Edge glue them together, once dry rip them in half about 3/16 of an inch from the glue joint. Plane them parallel. Really easy to do.
12 March 2014 at 12:34 am #28836Emilio – Thank you for that! Also, I’m very glad you find this thread useful! That is why I wanted to do this thread. I have been helped by others posting their work bench builds and I love how we share our experiences on our projects here on the site.
Dave – Never thought of that! Your advice often shows the way to the light for great ideas based on your experience. And I appreciate that. Thanks, buddy!
Carlos
Carlos, your welcome! Never ever think things are too complicated, they usually are not. If you want a little rectangle at the corners, just watch Paul install the hinges on the toolbox, same thing but replace the hinges with a piece of white plastic or contrasting coloured wood.
16 March 2014 at 7:14 am #28963Currently about to begin crosscutting the tops. I have flattened the 1st bench top section which was a fun odyssey in itself. And I have just finished glue-up of the 2nd slab and will be flattening it.
As I move to crosscutting I am a little anxious about cross cutting the tops, aprons and getting a straight enough cut that it won’t make planing down to the gauge line too challenging. I realize I may have misplaced anxiety, but I have made a couple dozen cross cuts and I haven’t gotten them absolutely square, though I am improving.
Was wondering if the planing down to the cut line of the tops/aprons was challenging or was it easy to do, since its end grain? Paul in the Yotube video easily did it but I believe he cross-cut dead square.
I am making my knife wall and defining it with the chisel. I believe my sawing technique is good. However, I think the knife nick on the corners might be a tad
off, so that might be where I might need to practice right there.If the cut is not absolutely straight, should I practice some more before cross cutting or should the plane handle it?
Thank you.
16 March 2014 at 2:37 pm #28966Carlos your knife wall should track around the piece without any variance. If you are getting a variance then something is wrong. Make sure that you are referencing from the same edge consistently. Mark it out with a pencil, if the pencil lines do not meet up all the way around start looking for the error. Keep doing this until your line meets up perfectly. Then you can lay down the knife wall.
Paul generally shows starting the cut in the knife wall and then deliberately cutting slightly away from the wall as the cut progresses. This leaves three sides of the piece with the faint remains of the original knife wall. Then he planes the end grain until the knife wall is gone. This ensures a perfectly square end. Since I adopted this method I have had no problems.
Planing the end grain of your bench top is really no different than any other board, just much bigger. A sharp plane and shallow setting will make all go well.
Good luck!
Carlos, I agree with Greg but discovered early on that you need two square edges. So assuming you have flattened one face of the top using winding sticks, you need a square edge to that face. Edge is the narrow bit and face is the wide bit. Mark these so you know these are both the square sides. Now mark your cut line along the face using the square edge as your reference. Next is to knife down the square edge using the square face as your reference. Now flip the top over and mark the opposite untrue face using the square edge you just marked. Flip the board up so you can join the knife lines on the untrue edge. The lines should be spot on. Always use a reference face/edge.
As for the end grain, just sharpen up before planing it and it will work just fine. You can bring the end down fairly easy in pine. One thing to think of doing on all your exposed edges is to put a camber on all corners, it prevents chipping and slivers!
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