I've been benched!

[Richard Dooling]

I just finished flattening my bench with hand planes. The first time I did it with a belt sander and was not happy with the outcome. This was hard work but it taught me a lot about using and adjusting my planes.

I started out with a #6 (Hock blade and breaker) and a 26” Sargent transitional. The #8 Anant showed up in the middle of the process and ended up being the go to plane. I’ve read a lot of negatives about the Anants but I got this off eBay for $45 and the previous owner had already lapped the sole. It’s actually a pretty good plane. BTW the #6 has a high knob in the picture because the original low knob is in the hospital.

Finished up with scrapers and a nice old #4. Apply some shellac and I’m done.

I can’t afford to do the whole top in maple so I just used it where the dog holes go. I wanted tool trays but experience has taught me that they catch shavings and I wanted the open area to allow for some clamping options. The trays slide on rails and are removable. I am also making flat plates that fit on the rails to give me a continuous top - primarily for bar clamps to sit on.

I am thinking about replacing the tail vise. Now that I’ve used it for a while I think I would prefer a wagon vise. The tail vise seems a bit delicate – I would never use that area of the bench for heavy pounding. While it works well enough for clamping and for giving the bench dogs a ride it’s just not as sturdy as I thought it would be. The wagon vise leaves the top largely intact.

I’m also thinking about a leg vise but the side vise is working pretty well. I added the extra wide maple jaws and they work fine – if I have something in it that causes racking I just slip a piece slightly less thick on the other side to control it.

I would definitely do this a little differently if I had it to do over, but overall I’m pretty happy with this design.



116818

116819

[Joe Feistritzer]

Richard, Good looking bench. Enjoyed the interesting comments on the plane work. I'm very new to this hobby, so I don't have an opinion that'll help much. I'm thinking I'll build a bench myself in the next year or two. I like the idea of the wagon vise, though I've never worked with one. I'd be very interested in how this turns out for you and/or the opinions of others on the pros and cons of a wagon vise.

[Jim Koepke]

Nice looking bench.

I like the idea of having a cover for the tool tray to make a bigger surface area.

To control racking, there are a few things you may like to try. Wedges made from scrap are often helpful in the task of securing items in a vice which has a tendency to rack.

A "book" of thin pieces of wood with a dowel through one end will let you make stacks of shims to any thickness needed. Make the dowel long enough so the stack does not fall when the vice is opened and closed. Use different size shims with most of them 1/4 inch. With a 1/16 and 1/8 at one end for fine adjustment.

Finally, I usually make a piece from a scrap of any new stock being worked with a U cut into one end to slip over the screw and long enough to fall on the guide bar at the unused end of the vice. This comes in handy when a lot of pieces need to be cycled through the vice for various operations.

The shelf under my bench holds a lot of different sizes of material used for this and clamping.

My preference is for at least one dog hole across the bench from the main row of dog holes. This allows a long board to be "stopped" on the bench with a couple of dogs for planing. My dog holes are spread too wide for most boards, so a thin piece of wood is strung between the dogs to stop the board.

jim

[Richard Dooling]

Hey Jim,

Thanks for the comments, you always contribute a lot to this site. I had decided just this weekend to add some additional dog holes across the end of the bench. I’m thinking I’ll also take a piece of ½” ply and imbed dowels into it so I can have a long stop across most of the end of the bench.

I also need to add a dead-man but have not decided how I want to do it. Right now I just clamp a board with a dowel into the tail vise.

I hadn't thought about wedges to control the racking but I really like the suggestion of a book o’ shims. That’s a great idea!

[Brian Kent]

I like the bench, Richard. I don't even know what a wagon vice is so I have no opinion on that.

I'm glad you had a good experience with the Anant. I have a 4-1/2 that is a good user now, after many hours of work refining the plane. There were no fatal flaws in mine, but I have heard of some, so I am glad yours works well.

Great job.

Brian

[Karelian Tonttu]

Such a nice bench. I wish I were dedicated enough to make a nice bench like that. I'm not patient enough to make a proper bench even though when I see pictures of other people's benches, it motivates me for a moment, but go "nah!".

I sometimes have this urge to show off my bench for the amusement of others. It's nothing but a bunch of 2X4 SPRUCE (yeh!) slapped together with bolts. No vice, no drawers, no dog holes, nothing. Just a top with legs. I live in rather humid part of the world so top gets bumpy quite a bit. The good thing is if I need a super flat surface, I just take a jack, flat the part of the top I need it to be flat and then off I go. Spruce is soft, so it takes a couple of minutes to flatten it. I consider it a 'disposable top". It normally stays flat enough for the duration of work. Maybe one day I will make a proper bench...if that one day ever comes that is.

"edit" typo fix

[Jim Koepke]

I don't even know what a wagon vice is so I have no opinion on that.

Brian

After looking at all the vise options seen here, I am convinced when that round tuit of bench building comes my way, my new bench will have at least a half a dozen vises. Whereas my favored vices will likely still be coffee and beer.

jim

[Edward Miller]

I like the bench, Richard. I don't even know what a wagon vice is so I have no opinion on that.


You can see a wagon vise at the start of the video Jameel posted in this thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=95995 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=95995&highlight=bench)

[Richard Dooling]

Thanks for the link! Thats what I'm talking about, a tail vise action but strong enough to still act like a structural part of the bench. In my VERY limited experience, a tratitional tail vise does not like vertical stress as in chisel or hammering work. This has me convinced that, when time allows, a wagon vise is the way to go.

I'll come up with something that costs less than the Benchcrafted vise. I'm sure the same concept can be adapted out of more cost effective materials. Of course if they want to send me one for review . . .



.