My current workbench has served me well for 3 years. I've found slanted leg vise and deep aprons of English/Nicholson design to be well suited for my 95-99% handtool approach to woodworking, and the recycled old growth pine from which it's largely built has been rock solid. The knockdown design enabled me to keep it with me though 3 different moves in two different states, and the relatively short 5 1/2 foot length allowed me to fit in a very limited workshop space. It has been the perfect bench for me in this time.
IMG_0240.JPG
But there comes a time in every woodworkers life when s/he must admit to his/herself that their beloved workhorse of a bench is too small (even if its really big) and that it is time to move on to something bigger.
My wife and I purchased our first home this past summer, and thus, for the first time since I started woodworking I had a long term space to call my workshop and more space than I'd ever had before. A perfect excuse to build a new 8 ft+ bench.
Enter fellow Creeker and local craftsman Paul Incognito. You may remember him from his recent classified ad for a "Workbench kit in DE"
I became friends with Paul about a year and a half ago when I first returned to Philadelphia. Paul is one heck of a nice guy, who just so happened to have an excess of large slabs of old reclaimed douglas fir. He has already built two benches for himself from this wonderful material, and made most of a 3rd bench that he sold as a "kit" here on SMC. He graciously offered the remainder of the fir to me for my new workbench as well as his skill, and the use of his large milling machines.
At long last yesterday we began the build. What a fun and productive day we had. Paul's jointer and planer are exquisite pieces of vintage machinery, and Paul himself is an absolute machine when using them. I must confess he did the most the work, but I did get the chance to run stuff through these giants and it was quite the experience. In a mere 6 hours (which included a fair bit of goofing off) every major piece for the bench was milled and the majority of the needed lamination's were complete.
Here are some snapshots of the day:
Me jointing pieces for the top. Man, that cutter head is one big spinning piece of steel.
IMG_20140201_130812_922 (1).jpg IMG_20140201_130830_461.jpg
Now to the thickness planer. I like this better...I'm much farther away from those cutters
IMG_20140201_132934_390 (1).jpg
Paul ripping the pieces to width. The width he's cutting here will turn into the thickness of the top..between 4.5 and 5 inches
IMG_20140201_142558_110.jpg
The results of a fun day's work! The parts for my bench stacked up on one of Paul's benches.
IMG_20140201_172648_992.jpg
...and with all the machinery shut down, we each enjoyed a Hop Devil before calling it a day.
IMG_20140201_172743_095.jpg
too be continued in a week or two....