Great progress and looking very good. Looks like you are approaching third base, about to round it for home plate soon. For the underside top mortises, how about turning the frame upside down and placing it in the desired position on the underside of the top, trace a pencil around the base leg tenons where they sit on the underside of the top and then drill out the bulk of the mortises like you did with the stretcher mortises? I have one of those inexpensive hand-drill (electric) drill press gizmos that lives on one of my old 3/8" drills that makes it drill flat (90 deg) to the surface and also has a sliding depth stop that adjusts to where you need it that would be my choice for this task. Sneak up to the line with your chisels (save the line) and then test fit as you go. Agreed, heavy base to slide over and back to/from the mortises for the test fits, but chamfer the ends of the leg tenons (after tracing the tenon on the underside of the top) for entry start when assembling.
Thanks David. That's actually exactly what my plan has been in my head since I started thinking about it before I began the project. At work (where I'm currently building the bench) we have a nice Mafell portable "drill press guides" that is pretty good quality and has depth stops built in that you can trust. I will definitely chamfer the ends on the tenons.
I've made some great progress over the last month and thought I'd update the thread with some photos and details. I moved the bench to my basement shop yesterday.
I've worked consistently on the bench over the last month or two in little chunks. I've also cleaned up and designated a corner in my basement for the bench to live. Due to an uneven, rough, and uncomfortable old concrete slab in my basement, I decided to lay down a 12'x12' section of wooden subfloor for my workbench area. I also continued some stud wall framing across behind the bench wall so that I can easily mount tool cabinets, shelves, etc for more tool, books, and shop storage. I finally got things in this phase to the point where I felt good about moving the bench home and not having it be an obstacle to my overall goal.
Due to weight and awkwardness, I had to keep the top separate from the base to move it, and thankfully I had a friend help me move it and lift the top onto the legs. The top is every bit of 4" and solid white oak; it's quite heavy! It was a very tight fit down on to the leg tenons, and I have not drilled and pegged these tenons yet. I am waiting until I order a longer, quality 3/8" auger bit to do that job. There is no racking in the bench at all, which I'm very happy about!
Just some details of my process. I drilled the leg to top mortises with a forstner bit to start the holes and finished with an auger bit in a Mafell drill guide with a depth stop. Then I squared everything off and snuck up to my layout lines with chisels. From layout to finished process (including all 4 mortises and the through mortise for the planing stop) it took me every bit of an 8 hr day. I used my 1", 1 3/4" and 2" timber framing chisels and they required re-honing at least a couple times with this white oak. At the same time, I wasn't always treating them as kindly as I could and didn't hold back from wailing on them as needed, which contributed to the reduced edge life.
I made a 2x2x14" planing stop from white oak to fit the through mortise. It's a snug friction fit, and I'm really happy with how it turned out and how it has performed so far.
I drilled my initial holdfast holes and based them roughly off of Chris Schwarz's recommendation from his Workbenches book. I wanted to order an 18" long 3/4" auger from Wood Owl to do job, but had tapped out my bench funds and didn't feel like waiting for shipping, so I ended up using a cheap Irwin bit from Lowe's which was adequate with the Mafell drill guide and electric 1/2" drill. I bought 4 Gramercy holdfasts, which arrived earlier this week (just in time.) They required an aggressive sanding with 80 grit paper to hold, but I think that treatment should hopefully do the trick for them. Tonight I glued some leather to the bottom of a 2 of the pads to try out and see if I like it better that way.
I have also nearly finished my leg vise. I used white oak for the chop (2" thick.) It's 8" wide at the top and gently tapers in from both sides to 6" at the bottom. I have the hardware installed, the chop cut to size except the length at the top, and the parallel guide fitted to both the mortise in the leg that it slides through and the mortise in the chop. I still need to cut the chop flush with the top of the bench and add a heavy chamfer of sorts along that edge. I also need to drill and peg the parallel guide into its mortise in the chop.
Where would be a good place to find a cheap 3/8" steel rod of an appropriate length for my parallel guide?
I am going to start soon on the sliding deadman. I have a couple of nice 1.5" thick x 8" wide pieces of VG Doug Fir roughed out to choose from for the deadman. I plowed out a groove 1" deep and 1/2" wide into the underside of the top between the legs on the front side of the bench for the top of the deadman rabbet/tenon to slide into. I need to determine my detail along the stretcher at the bottom of the deadman for smooth, sliding action that won't get clogged with chips and shavings. My original plan has been to glue/screw on a little triangle cut at 45* and make a corresponding 45* groove along bottom of deadman, which would allow it to sit in place and slide along. This is roughly what Schwarz describes in his book. Thoughts?
I also plan to make a simple shelf down low in between the stretchers, but I'm in no hurry for that.
I have a nice 2.5" thick chunk of white oak with proper grain orientation that I could saw a chunk out of for a crochet/hook along the front left of the bench, but I wonder if it will be in the way or if I'll really use it enough to want it there. Anybody use a crochet similar to the one that's on the cover of the Workbenches book?
Also, I'm open to recommendations of finishes. All I want is a natural look (no yellowing finish) and something that will be a barrier for glue that may find its way on to the bench.
Here are some photos. Not done yet, but I can actually work on the bench now and it's in my own shop, which is a tremendous feeling! The funny part is that in my original post I said something along the lines of "I can't take 6 months to build this thing, I need to knock it out fast" when, in fact, that's how long it actually took me to get to where I am now. Funny how life gets in the way of your best laid plans.
Last edited by Phillip Mitchell; 02-08-2017 at 11:52 PM.
Phillip, congrats...very nice bench.
Regarding the crochet, I do use it quite a bit, but not as often as I think it is actually intended. I find when jointing small stock, it helps to use it as a bottom support. I find when planning, the leg vise does a great job holding it from sliding forward, but unless I crank it hard, the stock has a tendancy to slide down at the far end (even when the stock is centered in the vise). I do think my chop is slightly skewed to the edge of the top which is likely the cause, but using the crochet in this way eliminates all movement. Given my situation, I might have actually installed the crochet another 1/4-1/2" down from the top.
If you do install one, pay some attention to the clearance of the leg vise handle when the chop is closed in. I didn't, but it turned out fine. I have about 1/2" clearance when the chop is tight to the bench.
These benches are indeed big projects- I'm kind of proud of finishing mine in about a month, but I was up against a hard deadline (moving halfway across the country) so I had no choice really. It's a relief to get to the point you're at now for sure.
The usual finish is some combination of oil, varnish, and wax. I used linseed oil mixed with a bit of varnish. My bench is douglas fir with white oak vise chops and end caps...the mix I used darkens up the white oak nicely but it does yellow the doug fir a bit. Substituting tung oil for linseed oil would help a bit I think. Waterbased varnish, or super blonde shellac, darken the least.
I have no experience with a crochet, but my face vise with leather lined chops holds just fine. It seems like it would get in the way more than anything- for example, I have taken to clamping boards in the vise with the end hanging out past the end of the bench, for crosscutting, which a crochet would interfere with. But as long as you make it easily removable I see no reason not to give it a try if you're interested.
Congratulations on the new bench and thanks for sharing.
Seems to me that having a crochet located next to a leg vise like Phil shows would cause the leg vise to be in the way of being able to use the crochet as one typically sees photos of it being used. I have always envisioned a crochet being located at the end of a long side of a clean-sided bench for use to grip the end of boards for edge work. It works for Phil, so I am missing something as usual.
Here is typically how I use it for jointing long boards. You could argue that the vise is strong enough to keep it from slipping forward...and I suspect it would be. But it does keep me from having to crank down on the vise. After having this for a year now, I think I could live without it. But it does come in handy from time to time, and is rarely in the way.
Thanks for the comments. I appreciate the discussion!
I think I will make the crochet, but instead of being 3" tall, I will make it between 2 1/4 -2 1/2" and not quite as long as the Schwarz dimensions (my bench is shorter.) That thought is based both on the stock that I have and the inkling that I can install a shorter one centered along the edge of the top and still provide 3/4" of clearance for planes with fences hanging down and if I want to clamp something narrow in the leg vise and shoot it out past the front of the bench. It could rest on top of the crochet and still be clamped in the vise. I do believe I will find use for the crochet for edge jointing longer stock as evidenced in Phil's pic above. Phil, you must be left-handed with your vise set up like that?
I finished my leg vise yesterday and made a pin for the parallel guide from dowel stock and part of a oak railing baluster that was leftover from a house project. I thought it was a pretty good way to get a solid grip on the pin.
Next up is the sliding deadman. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you can't use a Gramercy holdfast in the 3/4" deadman holes due to the thickness only being 1 1/4 - 1 1/2" total, correct? Seems like it wouldn't be thick enough for the holdfast to hold...I see that Phil has a Veritas version, but I won't be buying anything else at the moment. What do you guys use to support stock from the holes in your deadman? One thought I had would be to use some 3/4" dowel stock that is sanded to fit snugly but easy enough to pull out and slide in different holes.
The bench is looking amazing. I'm enjoying this thread. This weekend is the first weekend in ages that I am going to have time to work on my bench.
As as for the sliding deadman question- I am using the Veritas holdfast with the brass adjusting knob. They sell a short rod for it, making it perfect for just such an application. They also have free shipping going on right now- excuse found!
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