First workbench build
Welcome! / Forums / General Woodworking Discussions / Projects / First workbench build
- This topic has 20 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 2 months ago by poolshark86.
-
AuthorPosts
-
25 January 2017 at 2:56 am #308675
Just started this yesterday, and so far I HATE our American 2×4s and their stupid round edges. Spent about 2 hours getting one face flat
Danny,
I agree with you completely. Last year I helped a beginning woodworker build a bench. He was having problems with the same and wanted me to find him a table saw to rip off about 3/16″ off of the rounded edge. I showed him how to make a straight edge and use his skill saw to cut the edge off. If you have a Circular saw/Skill Saw it may save you a lot of energy. I’m a hand tool guy but when facing a monumental task I look for alternate methods. If you don’t have a skill saw perhaps one of your friends does. It could save you a lot of fun with the jack plane.25 January 2017 at 5:38 am #308681It took me a second to realize you were making a joke about the shavings from the jack plane… I was picturing a contraption that had some kind of circular blade powered by a giant hamster. Because that’s how my mind works… I laughed both times, too! (First, when I imagined the giant hamster contraption, second when I noticed the photo and figured out the *actual* joke) *shrugs helplessly*
I don’t have a workbench yet myself (indeed, I still need to get my new (old) tools in working order…and figure out how much pitting is *too* much for an old rip saw to still be salvageable…) so I wish you the very best of luck!25 January 2017 at 8:10 am #308682Building this workbench entirely by hand with rounded construction lumber is possible, but very tedious. One option you might consider would be to buy larger stock, like a 2×8 or larger, and saw your pieces. That way you start with atleast one edge you can straighten by hand. You could ofcourse also remove the bulk of the rounded section with a handsaw anyway, or even a chisel if you felt like it.
Another suggestion I would make is to take some time orienting your boards before glue up. Primarily, you want all the grain running in the same direction, which makes planing the top much easier, and if you can manage, have as many knots as possible on the underside.
My own workbench tops have finished out at 2.5″ thick, which might seem on the thin side, but is still incredibly sturdy. Since you have already bought your stock (it would seem), and are determined to do it all by hand, I would strongly suggest reducing the edge (rather than the face) by sawing, chiseling, or even chopping it away carefully with a hatchet. Removing the 1/8″+ of material, even with a coarsely set jack plane, is going to take you a long long time and a lot of effort.
27 January 2017 at 12:05 am #308743Feel your pain had the same problem with mine. I persevered and did it by hand just took a ton of time. I made the mistake with the first glue up of not taking the rounded edges off first before glue up. It is a lot easier for whatever reason to jack plane the rounded corners off one board at a time then doing it when the top is fully glued up. I also ended up with 2.5″ top what are the odds of that
27 January 2017 at 3:22 am #308746All good suggestions, thanks guys. I am in a hurry to laminate the tops before my straight lumber turns into something that resembles a bannana lol. I don’t trust the lumber from home depot one bit for this application, alot of it feels a bit wet still. Has anybody ever looked at buying a pre laminated beam “glulam” for this,a 3 1/2 ×13× 20′ beam runs about 200 bucks where I live. Anyways, I did get a chance to put great Grandpa’s old plane through its paces after I tuned it up and made a new tote. I restored it last year but it needed some additional love to bring it up to its former glory
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.Nice looking plane. It will serve you well.
I am also building a bench out of radius-edged 2×4. I did not take off the round bits before glue-up, just smoothed out the faces. One side of the benchtop is flattened, as is the well board. One apron came out horribly twisted but I am almost done flattening it. The other apron isn’t that bad so I will save it for last. What really helps is my husband joins me with a second plane. 🙂 This is way more fun with two people.
In the end, the round edges on the 2x4s dissappear as the laminations are planed flat. It seems less trouble than cutting them off first.
I want to keep planing aprons this weekend. If I get super ambitious I may start laminating legs.
27 January 2017 at 8:58 pm #308771[quote quote=308678] Anybody have a giant hamster?
Not quite, but a dedicated scrub plane I think comes fairly close. It’s light, narrow, and its 3″ chamfer blade is good at eating away rounded edges when run square or diagonally over the surface.
/soj[attachment file=308772]
- This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by Sven-Olof Jansson.
- This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by Sven-Olof Jansson. Reason: Typo
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.27 January 2017 at 11:04 pm #308775I’ll second Sven’s thoughts on a scrub plane. I have the one he shows in the picture. It’s a beast. I put a 1/4″ deep hollow on the back face of two 16′ long 4x4s, that were decorative columns surrounding a fire place mantle, because they weren’t sitting tight to the wall. It took less than 10 minutes.
28 January 2017 at 9:11 pm #308796I will join you benchmakers next week! While I could avoid bevelled edges, I will have to struggle with other challenges. It is almost impossible to get wood with dimensions that are needed, except for the top, where I got exactly the right size. The aprons and well board will be one piece each and the legs will be massive. I considered renting a table saw for rip-cutting other dimensions, but I have no place indoors to use it, and outdoors it is way too cold at the moment.
It is all construction wood, so I won’t be able to do much more than rough sizing, when I got it here.
By the way, did anyone notice, how carefully Paul Sellers oriented all parts according to the grain, in his workbench video?
Dieter
Welcome to Workbench World, Dieter! Before using solid pieces for aprons and tops, you may want to do more research. Sometimes the solid wood splits or warps dramaticly as it dries. I laminated my benchtop months ago and it hasn’t moved much since. More work, yes.
About grain orientation, I tried keeping the grain going one way. However, the grain changes direction in a single board. A sharp plane is key.
29 January 2017 at 1:00 am #308810I have “upgraded” an old bamboo board with legs and aprons half a year ago, similar quality. There is no movement at all, so I am not too concerned about using one piece for each apron. Actually, Paul Sellers says in his video, that he had chosen the narrower boards, because wider boards are hard to get. The tops will be laminated, and I think, they will keep everything square and straight, once glued to the aprons. We shall see. Apart from that, the weather here is cold and dry, and I will let the wood rest for another week, before I check it for square and flatness.
As for grain orientation, I probably saw more than there was. Wood always tends to bend away from the center of the tree, and some people insist, that you have to remember this, when laminating wide boards from narrow boards. I watched parts of the videos again, and it seems more random that at first. But when laminating, I mark the general grain direction of the individual pieces, to make it easier to plane the entire surface later on.
Dieter
30 January 2017 at 2:36 pm #308838Started the legs today, I needed a break from planing and gluing up laminations! I’m using 4×4 posts, this time I am sawing the round overs off. Three rip cuts later and I’m ready to get back to planing my lamination haha! Each cut is taking about 20 minutes. Paul’s right, this is donkeys work lol.
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files. -
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.