skethup
Originally Posted by
Chris Schumann
The bench looks great, Rob. I finally sat down and watched your videos. Nice work.
It's too late now, but I'd recommend you look at the construction drawings. You can get to them from a link in the magazine. It might have helped make things a bit more clear, like the 1/4" shoulder on the upper stretchers. I'm sure it won't make much difference, but I'm no mechanical engineer.
I'm hoping to get through mine without having to buy a planer, or haul the tops somewhere else. Come to think of it, I don't have a drill press either. Challenges are good, right?
Chris, I did actually get the final demensions for all the joinery by using sketchup. Without that, I would have had to guess. Came in really handy. I actually just dry fit the back stretchers to the sides tonight, and am now gluing up the first leg (will do the second tomorrow). Got to see what the whole thing looks like assembed for the first time - pretty gratifying. I'll have that video up probably Monday or Tuesday (more planes, trains, and automobiles for me this week).
This project would be bit tricky without a planer, although if you can get your lumber shop to dress the lumber for you it would reduce a lot of the need. If you have a decent set of planes, you could probably get away with the rest of the work. You could also get away with no drill press, but would need to build some kind of jig to keep your drill at 90 degrees to the face for the mortises, and the bench dog holes at the end. Let us know how you progress!
Building a bench?
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