Novice Newbie Woodworker Workbench Build
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- This topic has 24 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 11 months ago by David Cartenuto.
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19 March 2018 at 3:33 pm #500709
I discovered and subscribed to Paul’s YouTube channel and watched the version 2 workbench video series. I was really inspired to try and build the bench, it especially helped when I heard him say “you can do this”, several times. The current bench is my daughters changing table from when she was a “wee Bern”, and it’s not big enough for home improvement projects. So after several trips to the Home Depot in Yorktown NY and buying up stock from the cull cart, I have begun. I also found some ok to use stock in the crawlspace under the house. Financials necessitate working with what I can get for next to free or free entirely. This also requires a bit more effort preparing the stock for use. The pictures in the album below show the initial layout of the bench top lamination, and then the glue up/clamping. This weekend I began planing, and I also now have saw horses, so the bench top is at a more comfortable working height.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mbtTfj7BykTNgX5N2
19 March 2018 at 4:42 pm #501032David,
Great work so far. When planing this lamination it pays to ensure you are using a very sharp plane. Do not be discouraged with slow progress. Re-sharpening your plane regularly will be your way of taking a much needed break between efforts. Also if you haven’t converted one of your planes to a “scrub plane” then you should view Paul’s video on how to do that. Your body will be happy you did.
- This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by Michael Shulist.
19 March 2018 at 5:16 pm #501173Michael,
Thank you for your encouragement. I have a Stanley Defiant and a Sargent Hercules, both barn finds. I will watch Paul’s video and convert one of those into a scrub.
23 March 2018 at 8:30 pm #506815Nearly finished with the lamination bench top section.
I have not converted one of my smoothing planes to a scrub plane yet, and I may not. I use a hand power planer set to nearly minimal depth and it takes off a lot of material very quickly (cheating maybe, but I’m also using whatever tools I have at my disposal). After that “scrubbing”, I use a restored Stanley Defiant smoothing plane to even out the surface (thank you Paul and crew for the informative restoration video), and a block of MDF wrapped with 120 grit sand paper to smooth the surface out even more. I’m happy with the results.
I’m a total novice, so anything that looks remotely great, I’m satisfied with. The stock I’ve used could be considered garbage, but I believe for this project it is serving me very well. Taking on this project has been an education, and I have learned a great deal about planing, sharpening, restoring, gluing, clamping, squaring/surface prep, and staying patient. I have a great deal of respect for anyone who has done this for a lifetime. Namaste.
Challenges I’ve encountered so far have been: Keeping surfaces square (but I’m getting better at it every day I work on this), keeping the saw horses from toppling (but I’m planning on making new ones, Paul’s way, the plastic ones break too easily and in my opinion do not have a wide enough stance), cleaning up after working on this project and staying organized.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mbtTfj7BykTNgX5N2
30 March 2018 at 12:03 am #513869Cut the legs to rough length today, planed them, not too much was needed the 4×4’s I used were actually pretty straight. I pulled about 20 staples out of them first. My little assistant was eager to mark the lines, and I was able to teach her a little about why it’s important to be square and for our lines to be straight. Any suggestions on how to make sure the top and bottom surfaces are perfectly flat would be appreciated.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mbtTfj7BykTNgX5N2
- This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by David Cartenuto.
13 April 2018 at 11:48 pm #524979Beginning to chop the mortise into the legs. I have one and a half done so far, 6 more to go! The first one was rough going. That was the first mortise I’ve ever cut in my lifetime, so I couldn’t have expected it to go any other way. It looks awful. The second one is easier, because I’ve figured out a few things around technique, and Paul’s videos on this topic are instrumental in being able to get the technique. Slowly, everyday I get to work on this, the chisel get’s sharper as well. I sharpen it a little each day I’m working on the bench, eventually it will be super sharp, I just don’t want to waste a lot of time sharpening, and not actually working with the wood and building. I’m using two chisels, a big one and a small one, and I’ve found that working with the small one helps the process move along more quickly. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mbtTfj7BykTNgX5N2
17 April 2018 at 1:32 pm #527764I’m at a similar stage to you – I’ve got the bench top glued up and planed,and am chopping the leg mortises now. So far, 3 out of 8 done. Each one has taken me in excess of an hour! I find that the chisel is constantly twisting, meaning I have a stop hitting, and correct. This leaves a very very ragged edge and mortise face, as well as slowing me up a lot. They were so rough that I reset my marking gauge to a wider setting, ran a new set of lines, then pared the mortise to these. So I’ve got clean mortises now, but 20mm wide rather than 18mm.
Hopefully I will improve as I progress through the next 5! In the first workbench series on youtube, Paul cuts a 4″ deep mortise in about 10 minutes!
Good luck with the rest of your build!
17 April 2018 at 11:01 pm #528068Hi Tom! Thank you for reaching out. I friend of mine who does carpentry for a living (with power tools, of course…), suggested I use a drill and gut the “meat” from the mortise first. Then square up with a chisel. Inspiring and satisfying as working with hand tools can be, I think I may try this suggestion for the remaining ones. Paul is impressive though! 50+ years of experience!
18 April 2018 at 1:14 am #528132I picked up a load of 2×4 at HD today and a vise from Lee Valley. Looking forward to starting mine as well. Hogging out the mortice with a powered drill then cleaning up with a chisel should work fine I think. My favourite part of watching Paul work is watching him saw. He saws dead straight every time and his saws are so sharp they cut about 5 times faster than mine does. Very impressive. Keep at it, as he says, we can do it. We’ll get there.
Cheers,
Daniel18 April 2018 at 4:38 pm #528565Awesome Daniel. Yeah my saw technique is lacking, watching Paul do it impresses me as well. I haven’t gotten around to sharpening my saws yet, and when I do it will probably make a huge difference. The less you have to move the saw, the straighter the cut maybe? I wish you all the best as you get started on the bench!
David
19 April 2018 at 9:22 am #529259Drilling out would be pretty normal practice for mortises this wide I think. In fact, I’ve rarely (if ever) seen a mortise chisel 3/4″ wide – 7/16ths is the widest I’ve ever seen. That tells me that chopping out a 3/4″ mortise was not typically done with a chisel in this way.
I’m going to keep going with the chisel method though 🙂
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