Lots of small things completed this weekend. The aprons have their lag bolts installed. One end of the rear stretcher is pinned, have to remember to pin the other.

The wellboard is fitted. At the tail end I have to fit a cutoff from the benchtop to span between the benchtop and the rear apron. It’s been shaved to half height. The idea is to allow shavings to be swept out while preventing tools from falling off. Just need to glue it up now. BTW, the well board will run about 6 inches past the end of the benchtop at the tail end. That way is can serve as a support for any longer boards that are mounted in the tail end vise.

I’ve drilled out the rest of the dog holes on top. Still need to drill the front apron. Ive been using a thin planning stop that grabs two holes at a time. Now I want to make a thicker one on the same model. The dog holes are a 1 foot intervals, so I drilled their respective positions on top of the front apron, and fitted dowels with the end stained black. This acts as an impromptu ruler.

The top still needs to be screwed to the top plate of the trestles. I’m not sure how critical these are, but Paul did it so I’m following suit. In the meantime, it sits tightly to the trestles. So I got out the #5 and made sure it was flat in all directions.

When I extended the depth of the apron, the vise hole became too low. So I cut through the top edge prior to laminating on the new top of the apron. This leaves a hole below the vice that I’ll probably close in. Meanwhile, I’m already wishing for more knee room and may trim out some space from the middle of the apron.

The bottom line is that by next weekend I should be oiling the bench and moving it into its semi-permanent location.

Then I suppose it will be on to hanging back saws, building some tool storage on the column behind the bench, figuring out how to,store,wood under the bench, building a sharpening board and a bench hooks and the means to store them on/in the head end of the bench.

Suggestions or recommendations on any of these topics are welcome.

Cheers,

Rick G

Decided to try doing something to avoid losing pencils & sharpeners.

I still need to wedge the tail-end trestle and screw both trestle top plates to the bench top, but already this thing is RIDGID.

Also working on softjaws for the vises and retrofitting a dog on the tail vice.

Then there’s going to be a lumber rack underneath.

Finally, I’m working on tool storage. You can see a rack on the column for my more ‘utility’ chisels.

Spent some time in the shop beginning the long process of organizing (which includes making places to put things). Once that’s done, my wife promises to recycle much of what’s in the basement so I can expand, including a sitting area where I can ponder (in lieu of a cuppa).

In the picture attached you can see the bottom of a small piece mounted on the column. It has a total of four shelfs. With plans made up on the spot – it’s about 85% complete.

The fixed jaw of the main vise now has extended plywood soft jaws. The movable jaw gets the same treatment next weekend. The strop now hangs to the left of the vise (which needs an extended jaw). At the far end of the face hang a couple backsaws and a coping saw. All hangers on the face are dowels.

Recently I made a new and heavier planing stop. The first stop was 1/4″ oak, which allows works well on narrow stock. The new one is half an inch thick, and better able to handle heavy work. I anticipate using the heavy stop most of the time. To store the light stop, there’s now a 3/4″ hole in the head end of the rear apron, up high. The hole, and the bottom of one leg of the stop,have magnets to hold the stop in place.

The new light does a great job with the benchtop but leaves the front apron in the shadow. So,I’m pondering what I’ll do to correct that. Wondering about some LED under counter lights below to make it easier to check out stock stored below the bench.

I’ve also picked up some nice looking one-by to build a cupboard on the wall behind the tail of the bench. This will mostly be for finishing supplies. There should be enough left over to hang a clamp rack below.

The big questions for now are where to locate the remaining saws and planes. I may have to make a free-standing cupboard behind where I stand. But I’d like to come up with a less time consuming solution.

That’s it for now. Hope everyone has a great week.

Rick G

I started with a prototype for my cabinet. This included trying bottles and cans on the shelves for fit (1st pic). The 2nd pic shows the carcass and the wall where it will hang.

From here it was time to study Paul’s methods for fitting housing dados from the wall clock series. This weekend most do the carcass is complete. The 3rd pic show one of the doors in a rough state.

It still needs:
1) cut a rebate and (latter) mount the plywood back;
2) vertical rails on each side of the cabinet front plus a similar skirt across the top;
3) doors planed, squared and fitted;
4) make a sand paper shelf for the top;
5) wiring and a door operated switch for a light inside;
6) cut an arc on the front of the lower shelf to allow light to shine through to the bottom;
7)!mount a French cleat on the back;
8) oil and wax;
9) mount and start using.

Whew, hope I can complete this by the end of next weekend, I need to work on a clamp rack, my sharpening board, a shooting board, and further enhancements to the bench itself.

Fortunately my wife is relaxed about how soon I actually start working projects for outside of the shop.

• This reply was modified 6 years ago by Richard Guggemos.
• This reply was modified 6 years ago by Richard Guggemos.