How was the top of this leg vise made?

[Nick Shattuck]

I'm relatively new to woodworking so maybe this is obvious, but it's not to me so I have to ask: how was the curved top of this leg vise made? Is it laminate? It's like a curved waterfall edge, I don't think the endgrain is exposed. I'm trying to figure out how to replicate it.

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[Jim Becker]

If you look closely, it's end grain that follows the pattern from the face. End grain that's finished well can and will be just as smooth as the face grain. It takes a bit of work to get there, but as you can see, the result is stellar looking.

[Nick Shattuck]

If you look closely, it's end grain that follows the pattern from the face. End grain that's finished well can and will be just as smooth as the face grain. It takes a bit of work to get there, but as you can see, the result is stellar looking.

That's a relief... that seems much easier to accomplish then what I was thinking I had to do. I was thinking I would cut out the curve but leave a thin veneer on the face intact and bend it over the curve I cut. I'm not sure how well that would work out.

So how can you tell it is end-grain and not face-grain?

[johnny means]

You can see towards the top that the grain starts to wander sideways as you go deeper into the board.

[Jim Becker]

You can see towards the top that the grain starts to wander sideways as you go deeper into the board.

Exactly......

[Marc Burt]

That’s a heckuva nice bench regardless.

[Robert Hayward]

That’s a heckuva nice bench regardless.

My thoughts exactly !

[Jim Becker]

That’s a heckuva nice bench regardless.

Yea, it's a real work of art for sure!

[lowell holmes]

My wife and I went to Gallery Furniture today. That bench is equal to much of what we saw.

[Dave Zellers]

I would go out on a limb and say the quality of the wood and joinery of that bench far exceeds anything you saw at Gallery Furniture.

[Nick Shattuck]

I have mixed feelings about building this bench, I'm sure mine won't turn out quite as nice but I also know that if it's half as nice I'll be real careful using it. Like, I wouldn't want to mess it up by using it for its intended purpose. My bench now is a 130 lb slab of soapstone countertop laying on top of a hard plastic Harbor Freight moving cart. I can treat it like hell and it still looks the same. But it's wobbly, so I want something more sturdy and I like the idea of taking a few months worth of weekends to build a nice heirloom quality bench. I'm in zero rush to get it done and I just enjoy improving my woodworking skills by trying to replicate something beautiful.

By the way, I rounded my walnut slab's top and sanded it down just to see if I could get the endgrain looking decent, and yeah I see that it's not difficult. I did notice, and maybe someone can explain this, that it changed to a darker tone on me after I wet-sanded with 800 or so grit (I don't normally sand to that grit, I was just messing around). I thought it was just wet, but I came back the next morning (see pic) and it's still dark. That's fine, I like it, I just didn't expect it.

[Cary Falk]

Polish the rest of the piece to 800 grit and there won't be much of a difference from front to edge. Water raises the grain so I would hit it with 800 again once dry to make it smooth. With 800 grit the term "smooth again" is relative.

[Jim Becker]

My bench now is a 130 lb slab of soapstone countertop laying on top of a hard plastic Harbor Freight moving cart. I can treat it like hell and it still looks the same. But it's wobbly

So build a nice, study base and keep that wonderful soapstone in service! (My kitchen is soapstone) Glue doesn't stick and most likely it's pretty darn flat. The only risk is chipping, particularly at the edges. You could do a wood surround to provide for more durable dog holes for holdfasts, etc. Be creative...or at least keep that slab as an auxiliary bench if you build a new one.