Finally putting aside discouragement… A little workbench project help?
Welcome! / Forums / General Woodworking Discussions / Projects / Finally putting aside discouragement… A little workbench project help?
- This topic has 28 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 8 months ago by David B.
-
AuthorPosts
-
4 August 2017 at 11:31 pm #314288
I would agree with the others in the forum. I have made a clock years ago in high school and it used machines to make it. I enjoy the hand tool method much better, the point is though that you will make mistakes. You need to realize that you are human and not alone.
My first attempt to make a router plane base and it has turned into a lovely door wedge or door stop. I have a lovely piece of wood with no real function to it.
I have a saw horse following Paul’s method and it doesn’t have level legs and looks awful but it’s my first attempt. My wife looked at and said the first time is always the learning phase. I have learned that practice will make you better.
Planing like Paul is like trying to walk when you are only a week old. It’s an acquired skill you’re not born with it. I highly doubt that anyone was born with the ability to plane straight, true and level. Paul probably has things when he started out that looked embarrassing but he kept at it and got better.
I need to make saw horses to make the work bench but I have the next one ready, I have a bit more experience now and will be more consistent with my sawing and layout and marking. My error was cheap with the cost of wood here in Canada so I went and got more.
I think the bench top looks good and just a bit of remedial work. You have someone who is offering a thickness planer, so if you can take the offer. Offer to return the favour in kind, or offer dinner out.
Good luck and keep at it.
8 August 2017 at 7:27 pm #314429And here is what it looks like now! I was so excited when I fit the well board that I put the first coat of BLO on it before I completely finished it! Oops.
I will be picking up bolts and plywood today from the big box store to install the vise I bought from Lee Valley almost 2 years ago. I almost can not believe it. Almost finished! It is solid!
There’s a story behind the hand print, but that is for another time.
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.8 August 2017 at 7:39 pm #314433Glad to see you almost got it done. Remember the feeling you have now when you get discouraged again. Sometimes our best highs (or the most learned lessons) come from when we are at our lowest.
10 August 2017 at 1:49 am #314444The vise was just attached! I took the whole thing apart and applied a coat of BLO to bring the color out.
One of my boys decided that it needed a saw kerf in the end of it. Either way, I am excited to put it to use! My first project may be a place to store my tools. Hooray!
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.10 August 2017 at 6:30 pm #314456It will have plenty of saw kerfs on it pretty soon.
So what’s up with the hand print? I think you should make that your maker’s mark!
11 August 2017 at 12:37 am #314460Derek, I am SO glad you asked! The hand print has been adopted as my maker’s mark. There is a lot of symbolism behind it.
I began to get serious about working wood in 2005. I outfitted my garage shop with a table saw and a band saw. I also had no idea what I was doing. One day, I was cutting mahogany on the table saw. It was one of the first times I ever used a push stick. It slipped. That day, I lost a fingertip, almost 2. After recovering a bit, I decided to get rid of my tools and machines. Unfortunately, the desire to make things with wood never left me. Nearly decade later, I couldn’t take it any more. One day, I ran across a Paul Sellers video on YouTube. He was talking about getting off the conveyer belt. The way he taught using hand tools inspired me. I began to slowly buy tools from EBay. When I finally had the space, I decided to start again. This time, I had instruction (YouTube videos are better than losing limbs). My first project was this bench. I couldn’t get the blasted tops square, so I dropped the whole thing again. (Are you sensing a theme, yet?) My oldest son actually inspired me to get back at it. This bench is the first project I attempted and completed since losing my fingertip. The mark is a symbol of perseverance for me and evidence that I really can.
It is my left hand that is missing the tip. Although I am right handed, I sometimes –okay more than sometimes– make mistakes as if I am not using my dominant hand. Try writing with your non-dominant hand, and you get the picture. There is more to they hand thing, but this post is long enough.
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.11 August 2017 at 1:00 pm #314466Thanks for sharing! You’re not alone with that story. I think many of us here are either power tool refugees that got “scared straight,” or have the itch to make but not the room or budget or inclination for the power tools.
11 August 2017 at 2:31 pm #314468I feel your pain in regards to getting injured. Almost cut my index finger off. just above the middle joint, earlier this Summer. I was a little scared to get back in the shop, but I told myself I have come this far, managed to acquire most all the tools and machinery that I need, I am going to get back on that horse that keeps driving me to work with my hands. Nice work on the work bench.
Funny (true) story–my whole foray into woodworking began with some lower-end (i.e. equipment that cost hundreds, not thousands) equipment I was given by my father-in-law or that I purchased shortly thereafter because I watched some Norm Abrams videos and got a bug up my a$$ to make things. I had enough close calls with that equipment (notably the table saw and planer) but fortunately never had any significant blood letting or permanent body-part separation incidents.
However, humorously (now), it wasn’t until I watched that first Paul Sellers (building a workbench video when you don’t have a workbench) video that I really got interested in hand-tools and had my first “noteworthy” injury. A friend of mine who worked for Irwin/Lenox in a prior career set me up with some chisels and I was starting to learn to sharpen them…Well, long story short, I did not yet have a proper sharpening station (nor a place to secure one) and was trying to make one out of MDF (big mistake) while kneeling on my concrete garage floor for leverage. I ended up slipping and jamming that 3/4″ chisel straight into the flesh above my knee requiring a late night ER visit and several stitches. I couldn’t build the bench and get the vise installed quick enough after that! (I think I finished it 2 months later).
Side note (somewhat silly) – Sometimes, if I manage to have a minor injury while making something I’ll let a little bit of blood stay in the project for good measure. I recently turned a bowl on my lathe and nicked my knuckle. As a result, there is a faint reddish/orange stripe around the outside of the bowl that I let stay and sealed in as part of the finished product. A nice reminder…and I can tell people I really put myself into my work. 😉
- This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by David B.
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.