Using American Construction Grade Lumber
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Well… I finally got started on this. I planed the 8 boards I have for the top only to pull them together for a test fit and find gaps EVERYWHERE that even eight sturdy pipe clamps couldn’t close up. I blame this on too much bow in the boards and my crappy hand planing skills. I think I might be in over my head…
Sorry. I just needed a place to vent/complain out loud. Thanks for listening! Back to the drawing board!
Slightly depressed but not beaten,
Tom6 February 2018 at 5:23 am #462916If my use of HD lumber has resulted in the apron being approximately 1/4″ thinner than the 1 5/8″ in Paul’s plans should I compensate in any way? If the housing for the legs is 5/8″ deep should there be a give and take to allow for a full inch of remaining depth left in the apron?
Working with this lumber has definitely been challenging, but I feel like I am learning a lot more than I would have buying perfect wood from a hardwood dealer.
Cheers!11 February 2018 at 2:53 am #468945I just finished mine from the Home Depot douglas fir, and I’m very happy with the result. It’s from the older videos with two full tops. I used the 5/8″ recesses in the aprons to make sure the wedge has enough surface to push against, although I’m certainly no expert. So far I haven’t had any issues with the apron being thinner, and mine is even a bit less than 1½” due to planing it flat – about 1 and 3/8″.
I hand planed the bench tops down to 3″ thick. That was a lot of work, but got rid of the rounding, so it looks quite good now.
I laminated the legs from two pieces for a final size of 3″ by 2 and 3/4″, they’re plenty sturdy as far as I can tell.
My two biggest problems with the material were: 1) The mortise holes look terrible, like Ed mentioned, it’s weirdly spongy. 2) Tear out when planing would go very, very deep. When I hit reverse grain with the scrub plane, it would take out 1/8″ deep gouges. Probably for similar reasons as the spongy end-grain in mortise holes.
13 February 2018 at 3:36 pm #470848Thanks for the info Mikael, I will proceed with the housings as directed.
I have not yet started on the legs, but it was definitely something I was wondering about. I am glad to hear that two 2×4 laminated together works fine, as that was the best I could figure would work and still have the mortises running through the glue lines.
I have also had some epic tear out around knots using this lumber, even with a perfectly sharp iron. If the bigger chunks that are missing bother me or seem like they will catch and cause splinters I will just fill them in.13 February 2018 at 7:05 pm #470972Indeed, the few tear outs that were left on the bench top after smoothing I just filled with 2-part epoxy to make sure they don’t catch, and used a card scraper to smooth them out.
This brings up a good question. It seems like those of us using construction grade lumber are inevitably going to face tear out and other deformities. (In my case: blemishes as result of poor workmanship!) What is the generally preferred method of filling these voids? 2-part epoxy as Mikael has mentioned? Generic wood filler? Personal preference?
Tom
I built mine out of construction grade yellow pine. It was what was available. I build a lot of things out of pine and have not had issues with voids or breakouts. If it’s a really bad place I try to cut my parts in such a way that the bad spots get cut out or turned where you can’t see them. And, I don’t feel near as bad when I cut or scrape it up. BTW, I’ve been using my bench for about 3-4 months and I really like the design. I have another bench that has a 24 inch wide working surface and I have never used the back half. I love the new bench.
[quote quote=462916]If my use of HD lumber has resulted in the apron being approximately 1/4″ thinner than the 1 5/8″ in Paul’s plans should I compensate in any way? If the housing for the legs is 5/8″ deep should there be a give and take to allow for a full inch of remaining depth left in the apron?
Working with this lumber has definitely been challenging, but I feel like I am learning a lot more than I would have buying perfect wood from a hardwood dealer.
Cheers![/quote]Hi!
Maybe late to the party but this is my 2 cents on this question.
I’m no expert in woodworking but have some experience in construction and have been looking at/reading about workbenches quite a bit. My analysis of the primary function of the apron is stabilizing the bench through giving rigidity to the legs and the secondary function is supporting the laminated slab so it doesn’t bend under load (impact or static).As the height of the apron is far more important than the thickness for creating the load bearing strength/bending under load (when calculating the strength you use the thickness times the height to the power of 2, giving that double the thickness will give double the strength whereas double the height will give four times the strength). This gives that the apron probably could be very thin, maybe even ½ inch, and still do it’s intended job to support the slab and give rigidity to the legs. It would require a different fastening method than the current though.
What it would not do is add to the weight and heft of the bench, which is an important part of the impression, and presumably be too thin for attaching the vise.
I read in an FAQ regarding the workbench was that Mr Sellers has experimented with the apron height and concluded that the “breaking point” for height was some 23 cm/9 inches if I remember correctly.My laymans judgment is that having approx. 1 inch of wood in the bottom of the recess is plenty strong and enough for this bench.
Best of luck with your build! I hope to build one myself in the not too near future.
Regards, Jim- This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by Jim Bruno.
25 September 2018 at 12:39 pm #462942My guess is that by the time Paul was done planing his boards they weren’t a full 1 5/8” either. Depending on the species, I’d compensate by keeping the proportions between apron and housing.
But you could laminate a 3/4” backer to the apron and really beef it up instead of cutting the housing.
I’ve seen other people’s designs for Nicholson benches that do this.None of this is etched in stone. Work with the materials you have.
Here’s one example.
Or here: https://blog.lostartpress.com/2014/09/08/download-free-plans-for-the-knockdown-nicholson-workbench/
( look closely at the backs of the aprons)
I’d keep Paul’s wedge system in the housings. It’s what makes his design unique.
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