My Workbench Project Blog
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- This topic has 81 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 6 months ago by Hugo Notti.
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21 March 2017 at 10:55 pm #310375
I got a bit closer to flat, but it still is a mi(y)stery to me, that these two surfaces are so hard, while another four were almost easy going. And this was pretty hard on my plane irons too, I have to resharpen, perhaps even reshape them tomorrow. I still have to get the ends of both surfaces down a bit, and neither plane cuts there. Who knows, perhaps these boards are cursed… I even start do doubt my planes again, even though I do know, that they worked pretty well a few days ago. Perhaps I’ll try a scraper on some odd areas, but finishing these boards with a scraper would take ages.
Dieter
PS: Sorry, no pictures. But there is virtually nothing to see, except for two thick pieces of wood and a lot of short shavings.
- This reply was modified 7 years ago by Hugo Notti.
22 March 2017 at 10:25 pm #310406Today, I sharpened both planes. The old iron is still a bit out of shape, the new one got really sharp. I will see tomorrow, what I can do with that.
Dieter
28 March 2017 at 7:46 pm #310675Five days without any news, why? Because I still fail to get these leg laminations together. This is very frustrating! The third pair is near to acceptable now, the last surface on the fourth one seems impossible. If there is any progress on my planing skills, it is better stamina. I’d rather plane another 20 bench tops than doing legs from this wood again!
The new plane is a bit annoying, because the blade is too long for the cap iron. I wonder, if suppliers find it funny to imagine, how their customers struggle to get the blade shorter, or start planing with a minimum of clearance and clean up the area between edge and cap iron after every five strokes.
Don’t expect more posts soon. I am avoiding this project for the moment, because it really (unprintable expression).
Dieter
Hi Dieter,
Maybe you are right to take a break to do something else and come back to it.
With the determination you have shown so far I’m sure you will complete the bench at a good time!
If you were contrary like me, the best course could be to start another large or convoluted project that makes it difficult or impractical to work on your bench project at the same time. Ideally also the new project could be something that would be a lot easier if you already had finished the bench!
Hopefully being prevented will make you desperate to get back to the bench project and that is a good attitude.
30 March 2017 at 8:29 pm #310767I am a practical guy, so I won’t start any project, that I need a work-bench for 😉
But I have a lot of projects in the pipeline, so I won’t get bored or even stay away from woodworking. Most of these projects don’t really need a vise, and I do have the small workbench, that you have seen on my images quite a few times.
Dieter
22 April 2017 at 1:37 pm #311363It is a while ago, that I posted here, and for a good reason. The legs are really difficult for me, progress is slow, and I have lost confidence in my planing skills. But I am avoiding pressure, which helps. Fortunately, I am not in a hurry.
Dieter
25 April 2017 at 6:58 pm #311414One would think so, but actually, bevelling the staves of the mug is much easier. It requires more precision, but only on a very small surface, and it is possible to use a rig.
The trouble with the legs is, that I screwed up the original surface and have to find back to something acceptable.
Anyway, thanks for your support. I will be back here with good results sooner or later, probably even sooner. And I touch wood every day, seems to help 😀
Dieter
26 April 2017 at 10:17 pm #311445Actually, there are quite a few things I could to on the workbench now…
I can get the bolts, nuts, screws and washers and make sure that I have the needed drill bits
Square and flatten the second top and the aprons
Square and flatten the boards to be used as rails
Rescale the parts to what I can measure now
Check ebay for a viseThis should get my focus back a little.
Dieter
30 April 2017 at 4:05 am #311552Dieter,
That’s the spirit!
Keep it up and you’ll get there.
Cheers
Rick G.
10 May 2017 at 7:21 pm #311914I am also from Germany and thinking about building a workbench as my first project. The sheer number of clambs that Paul Sellers was using in his Videos scares me off a bit though. Having to buy them, they would probably be more expensive than the table itself, well without a vise. I probably would not need that many clamps this size in the forseeable future for any other project.
Could you tell me, how many clambs you used for glueing all the wood together and maybe what clamps you used?[quote=311914]I am also from Germany and thinking about building a workbench as my first project. The sheer number of clambs that Paul Sellers was using in his Videos scares me off a bit though. Having to buy them, they would probably be more expensive than the table itself, well without a vise. I probably would not need that many clamps this size in the forseeable future for any other project.
Could you tell me, how many clambs you used for glueing all the wood together and maybe what clamps you used?[/quote]
I can’t speak for Dieter, but Paul uses very inexpensive aluminum bar clamps for all his beginner-oriented projects, including his workbench series. He discusses how many here: https://paulsellers.com/2012/01/clamps-good-ones-for-newstart-woodworkers/ and how to improve them here: https://paulsellers.com/2011/11/4473/
You can also watch Paul’s workbench-building videos and see them during the build process.
17 May 2017 at 8:46 pm #312054I used eight clamps, quite similar to the ones Paul uses, found on Amazon, I bought the cheapest ones(!), length 80 cm. The quality “as it is” is not impressive, but with the recommended tuning, they are pretty good. I added a wooden spline to one, it is really strong now. I only used some oil and softened the edges on the other ones. Oh, I also added plywood paddings. All clamps easily withstood the stress during the workbench top laminations. The moving parts sometimes stick to the aluminium profile, but you can wiggle or tap them lose, when necessary.
While I am here, quick notice on my progess: None! I am still alive, but I got many other things to do, more important than the workbench. I have build a makeshift target stand for archery, now I am making a real one for a heavy (30 kg/67 pound) straw target, I also carved a longbow and split some logs for another bow and arrows (not exactly successful, but there is a learning curve, that I am taking now). I also made a small chisel box with dovetail corners and a tiller stock (device to check the curvature of the arms of a bow for fine-tuning). So I am touching wood a lot, just not the work-bench. Apparently, I don’t need it that badly.
Dieter
- This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by Hugo Notti.
17 May 2017 at 8:55 pm #312057Hmm, I suppose, my latest post will appear again sooner or later.
One more word about the clamps: I think, it is good to use many clamps. I fully agree with Paul Sellers, that you cannot have too many clamps. I paid around 13 Euro for each clamp, that is 104 Euro for the eight ones I got, close to what I paid for the wood to make the work_bench. I actually would have liked to have one or two more clamps while laminating the work-bench top. You definitely need to apply clamps from both sides, and then it seems, that the clamps are quite far apart from each other.
Dieter
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