When building a bench a lot of thought and planning should go into it. I was planning on making my bench 8" long. Why? because my area sill support an 8 foot bench, And nobody builds them 8 foot long except me. I am going to make the top out of hickory. Why? because I bought a pile of it at an auction a few years back and I haven't had anything else to use it for I checked the length on each board and they are all over 8 feet closer to 9 feet. Not looking forward to making it flat though. And who in their right mind would build a top out of Hickory?
I figure since it measures right at one inch wide using a tape measure I am hoping they will finish out at 7/8 inch for gluing. I am not sure what the final width will be when it is all said and done.
I know a lot of plans call for 1 1/2 wide or even 2 inches wide, a lot less gluing. 6/4s or 8/4 are is a lot harder to work. One inch thick boards, even if they are a little bowed can be pulled in with clamps. The one thing never mentioned in the plans is that 6/4s board command a much higher price per board foot and that the cost of the board can be charged as 2 board feet because the board feet can double because of the thickness. If a person is on a budget they could get a big surprise when buying thicker boards.
Anyway I had it all figured out and then I said to my wife that I planned on entering it at the county fair and quite possibly the state fair. And she asked how how I was going to get it there. I said in my pickup truck, it has an eight foot bed. And she asked will it fit since the handle will stick out. You can't close the tail gate. To which I said, back to the drawing board.
If one looks at one of the pictures up top, you will see that the end of the vise, along with the shoulder support sticks out and I would not be able to shut the tail gate. So I decided I would go 7 feet long and not 8, So I laid out my top at 7 foot. And I was fine with that until just for fun I places a
2 1/4 inch wide board at the end of the plywood top which represents the wood tail vise support for a lack of any thing else to call it. and also placed the end of the vise screw where it should go only to find out I needed less that 6 inches of to make it fit in the pickup and not 12. Now I had to tape over some of my layout and lengthen the layout 6 inches.
As this bench unfolds you will come to see why I wish to close the tail gate during transport.. And why I am making a inexpensive , research and development, actual size model? It will just make less problems when in the actual build. As you can see even when I though of it all my wife fouled up my plans for the better.
When building a bench a lot of thought and planning should go into it. I was planning on making my bench 8" long. Why? because my area sill support an 8 foot bench, And nobody builds them 8 foot long except me. I am going to make the top out of hickory. Why? because I bought a pile of it at an auction a few years back and I haven't had anything else to use it for I checked the length on each board and they are all over 8 feet closer to 9 feet. Not looking forward to making it flat though. And who in their right mind would build a top out of Hickory?
I figure since it measures right at one inch wide using a tape measure I am hoping they will finish out at 7/8 inch for gluing. I am not sure what the final width will be when it is all said and done.
I know a lot of plans call for 1 1/2 wide or even 2 inches wide, a lot less gluing. 6/4s or 8/4 are is a lot harder to work. One inch thick boards, even if they are a little bowed can be pulled in with clamps. The one thing never mentioned in the plans is that 6/4s board command a much higher price per board foot and that the cost of the board can be charged as 2 board feet because the board feet can double because of the thickness. If a person is on a budget they could get a big surprise when buying thicker boards.
Anyway I had it all figured out and then I said to my wife that I planned on entering it at the county fair and quite possibly the state fair. And she asked how how I was going to get it there. I said in my pickup truck, it has an eight foot bed. And she asked will it fit since the handle will stick out. You can't close the tail gate. To which I said, back to the drawing board.
If one looks at one of the pictures up top, you will see that the end of the vise, along with the shoulder support sticks out and I would not be able to shut the tail gate. So I decided I would go 7 feet long and not 8, So I laid out my top at 7 foot. And I was fine with that until just for fun I places a 2 1/4 inch wide board at the end of the plywood top which represents the wood tail vise support for a lack of any thing else to call it. and also placed the end of the vise screw where it should go only to find out I needed less that 6 inches of to make it fit in the pickup and not 12. Now I had to tape over some of my layout and lengthen the layout 6 inches.
As this bench unfolds you will come to see why I wish to close the tail gate during transport.. And why, am I making a inexpensive, research and development actual size model. It will just make less problems when in the actual build. I though I had it all figured out and then my wife asked a question I hadn't considered and it changed dimensions.
Reply With Quote