Workbench…beginnings.
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Firstly, Happy New Year to all.
I have finally made some progress on my bench. It’s odd how making some holes in wood can fill one with contentment. So far so good. The legs were planed a while ago, but had sat in the closet awaiting the mortices.
I’m adhering to Paul’s plans, albeit with different dimensions. It has to be fairly small, so I’m looking at maybe just under 5′ in length and around 20-24″ wide. I had toyed with the idea of no aprons, and then thought about a roubo-style bench. I’ve seen benches where the leg-tops are dovetailed (kind of) and fit into the top. My better judgement says stick with what I originally planned rather than improvising and entering unknown territory…we’ll see.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.6 January 2014 at 6:54 pm #25385Looks very good so far Franko. Very crisp and clean mortise holes. Keep us posted.
An eventful afternoon. I wasn’t being clever with the photography; that’s as far as the tenon would go!
I did manage to get it almost flush, but was chopping probably too little away with each pass so as to not make a hash of it and it become too loose. I was hoping for the top rail finished but progress is slow until I get a bit more speed (and less time thinking and pondering).
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You must be logged in to view attached files.9 January 2014 at 6:30 pm #25596The work you are doing looks very neat and clean, keep it up! The speed will come later with confidence, the confidence comes from experience. Stay on track with what you are doing and don’t get discouraged. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished bench.
9 January 2014 at 7:57 pm #25609Franco, your work is really very nice. Fitting tenons is part of the game. Speed will come through repetition. Keep up the good work.
So that’s one set of legs complete. Took an age to get these joints to fit snugly, and I was almost defeated at the critical glue-up stage when one of them wouldn’t go; a hefty whack saved the day.
What I have learnt is that fitting tenons is not as easy as I first thought. I had shaved as much as I thought I could get away with, and they still wouldn’t fit. I was looking at the problem from the wrong angle. It was the inner walls of the mortise that needed attention, not the tenons. A lesson that might help prospective bench-builders.
The last picture shows the next set of legs being laminated. You can never have enough clamps; I realise why people say that now. Note to self: next purchase is for some more (decent quality) clamps.
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