You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Workbench’ tag.
A year ago I mused about my future Roubo workbench. A month after that I mused some more. Now that I’m planning my lumber purchase (for real this time!), I want to update my musings with a third post.
- The most significant change to my plans is that I’m planning on using 4/4 for the top, if not for the entire bench. The Schwarz mentioned that this is a good solution for a hand tools-only woodworker since the boards will require less work prior to glue-up. I’m all for less work. It’s also better suited to my F-clamps, which aren’t really powerhouse clamps for serious glue-ups.
- The bench will be 7′ long – a foot longer than previously planned. The space I have for the bench is 8′ 6″, so a 7′ bench should leave enough room for working the wagon vise. Which brings me to modification #3:
- The bench will have a wagon vise! I had originally decided against it, but you all have made a believer out of me. It’s in.
- I count 18 mortises in the bench (8 on top for leg tenons, 8 on legs for stretchers, 1 for wagon vise and 1 for planing stop), and I’m still planning on creating all but four of them (short stretchers) with voids in the glueup. I know it could be problematic, but I really can’t see why it couldn’t work. I could insert the matching tenon into the void during glue-up and remove it once the clamps are all in place. Am I missing something? Or is this doable? It will save so much time if I can get it right.
- Likewise, I will create the slots for the planing stop, for the wagon vise chop and the hole for the wagon vise screw by creating voids. Especially for the screw hole, which typically involves drilling through end grain, this will be a big time saver.
Well, I’ve finally bought The Schwarz’s workbench book – a friend was coming over here from Canada so I had one shipped to him real quick. Arrives tonight! So I’m sure I’ll have more musings, but I am seriously looking forward to finally digging in to that book.
Appreciate any comments y’all might have!
I promised myself that I would not build any new projects until I completed my workbench. I have been making do for so long with substandard setups (even winning a “Most Pathetic Workbench” award from Woodworking Magazine), that it takes me at least twice as long on any project than it would with a proper workbench (and even WITH a proper workbench, I will probably take three times as long as you would). It was time to draw the line in the sawdust and say enough is enough.
I promised myself that I would not build a workbench until I sharpened every blade in my shop. That includes 6 chisels and 5 plane irons. I took a “Hand Tools Basics and Sharpening” class at Woodcraft in 2007, which really gave me confidence in sharpening. But it was hard to maintain the motivation to keep my tools sharp, and all I ended up doing was hitting my chisels harder and pushing my planes more forcefully. I was also aware that none of the backs of my blades and irons were properly flattened. So I told myself that I would do a proper sharpening of all my tools: a good flattening of all the backs (which will be a once-in-a-long-time task) and then a good honing and microbevel for the bevels.
But I dread sharpening. Maybe it’s the fact that I don’t have a grinder. Maybe it’s the fact that I still don’t have the hang of cambering a plane iron. Maybe it’s just because it’s mundane. I dunno. But these promises I made to myself have been severely hampering my woodworking.
No more.
This weekend I finished my last three plane irons. I am now cleared for workbench lumber purchase.
This.
Feels.
Awesome.
So I had my order all lined up: 123 board feet of kapur wood. But I couldn’t pull the trigger. Why? The price. The total cost of the lumber needed for my workbench would have been $212. Maybe that’s not a lot; I don’t know what lumber costs are like where you are. But it’s about $50 more than I expected to have to pay, and in our world, $50 is a lot of money.
While I was there, I did find out that they have four different kinds of wood: nyatoh, selangan batu, kapur and “oti”. This oti was the cheapest by far. In fact, if I selected this wood for my workbench, the total cost would have been $120.
When I inquired about this oti, I learned that it is in fact “O.T.” which stands for “other timber.” I tried to learn what this meant – is it different species of wood all lumped together? All I could learn is that some of the boards are light in color while others are dark or red; some boards are harder while others are softer.
So here’s my question for you experienced woodworkers and armchair wood jockeys. Do you think I’d be okay using this “O.T.” wood for my workbench? I’m thinking that since we’re in Malaysia, most if not all of the wood here is hardwood. And I would be able to choose the individual boards. And they still would plane it down for me so it’s all of a uniform thickness.
I don’t really care if the wood isn’t all the same color. This is a workbench, not a work of art (I just heard some of you workbench lovers gasp). And frankly, I don’t care if it isn’t all the same species. Of course, I might be forgetting to consider something, which is why I pose these questions.
So I’ll either go back to the lumber yard this week to select the O.T. boards for the bench, or I’ll save up my money a bit longer and then go back for the kapur.
There was (and still is) a book called The Inner Game of Tennis, and while I never read it, I remember one of the claims the book made. The claim was that the more one thought about playing tennis (and playing it well), the better one played tennis in real life. The parallels have been drawn in many other sports and indeed, in many other facets of life. So why not woodworking? I am convinced that my workbench will be far better, and the construction far smoother, because of my ruminations. With that, here are my latest thoughts, with questions in bold face:
- I think I need to build a bowsaw or frame saw before starting my bench. I think that will be a much better way of cutting the legs (and later, the benchtop) to size. My ryoba is great, but is so thin it could easily wander while cutting a 6″ square leg, or a 2′-wide benchtop.
- I’m not sure in what order people build benches, but I get the idea that it’s better to build the base and then the top. For me, I’ll have to do a little of each. The center of my bench will be made up of the the thickest stock I can find (probably only 3″ or 4″ laminated to about 12″ total). I’ll have to see what that total thickness is before figuring out how long my short stretchers will be. So here’s what I’ll do: First I’ll build the legs, then I’ll laminate the thick stock for the middle, then I’ll build the stretchers, and lastly I’ll laminate the three outer boards (8/4) on each side of the top (with mortises for the leg tenons).
- Where should I position the legs on a 6′ bench? Should I allow 6 inches of free space on each end? Or 1 foot? Or other?
- Do I need to add anything to my F-style clamps? They only have smallish pads unlike parallel clamps. Will they be sufficient for laminating my 8/4 stock for the top, or for the 12/4 stock for the legs? Or do I need to use cross pieces to better distribute the clamping pressure?
I hope to buy all the lumber this week!
I’m out of town for a few days and have a little evening free time, so I thought I’d jot down my thoughts as to what kind of Roubo I’d like to build (yes, there are many styles of Roubo!):
- I plan to have the legs tenoned straight through the top, including the dovetailed outer tenons. It looks cool, but more importantly, fewer mortises to chop!
- I’m considering ironwood for the top. It’s very heavy, very strong and very durable.
- Most people do laminations of 8/4 boards for the top. I’m considering using a few thicker (12/4? 16/4?) boards in the middle, and then on the outside where my mortises will be I’ll use 8/4. Fewer laminations in the middle, and fewer mortises on the outside. It’s all about saving time.
- I’m not concerned with the legs being square (in shape). I think I’ll laminate 4 boards together for the legs. Outermost is dovetailed tenon, then shoulder, then regular tenon, and then another shoulder. This is shown in one of Roubo’s illustrations. Whatever the thickness of that is, is what it’ll be.
- I plan to use a typical leg vise, but I’m still considering angling it (without angling the leg). I have metal and wooden vise hardware but don’t know which one I’ll use (the wooden one is a $10 eBay find that needs some rehab).
- Not sure yet about holdfasts. I got an offer to try out a couple made from crowbars that someone would ship to me (free I think except for shipping?), and I also may try to find a local blacksmith who can make some.
- The bench will be about 6′ long. That’ll fit in a spot that’s about 8 1/2′ wide. Enough leftover room for planing and crosscutting.
- I like the planing stop and plan to have one, but am not a fan of the chamfered top. I’ll either find a metal solution or just leave it unchamfered.
- No tail or wagon vise.
- Almost all the mortises will not be cut, but will exist via gaps in the glueup. The only mortises that I’ll need to cut will be in the short stretchers, and perhaps for the parallel guide on the leg vise.
There. Shouldn’t be that hard to do, right? This bench won’t be much more than just gluing a bunch of boards together!
P.S. How many of you are going to quote that last paragraph back to me in about a month or two? :^)
Today is a national holiday (it’s Eid ul-Adha, the big Muslim holiday celebrating Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son) and I was able to get in a little shop time today! But first, define shop. I needed to work on my dovetails for the aprons on my Lego Table, but had no place to do any vertical clamping. So out to the balcony I went. And voila!
I had to use one of the little metal vertical bars (you can see one on the far right of the above picture) to support the back side of the clamp, and bunches of scrap wood to support everything and keep my piece straight up and down. Here’s a closeup:
I used the balcony wall as a tool rest, which is a little scary being on the fifth floor and all! But I didn’t drop anything. I also tried to get a shot of the mosque in the background of the picture above, you know, cuz of the holiday and all. :^)
Now I had to get ultra super creative when it came time to mark the tails (I did two pins-first joints and two tails-first joints – I think I liked tails-first better). Here I used the clothes drying rack (slash secondary tool rest) with a plastic stool resting on blocks to get the right height for marking the mating piece.
I had to do a little paring on one of my tails, so I resorted to my bone clamp with ratcheting double-femur action. I was too lazy to go get my mallet so I grabbed a scrap of wood to help my dull chisel along.
At the end of the day (only a couple hours of “shop” time), I managed to finish two of the four corners. I’ve done all the marking on the other two, so next time I’ll be able to jump right into it.
We’re moving in about 10 days to a different part of the country. Tomorrow the movers come to haul off some of our belongings. We’re mailing what we can, as it’s much cheaper, but some things (like a TV) are best moved by professionals. Our stuff is traveling by boat and should arrive about a week or so after we get there.
Today I had to dismantle my workshop and pack everything up. It was fun in a way, as this was my first real workshop and I had some good times here. I’ve had workspace before, in our last two apartments, but I never before had a place to call my own. A place where my wife had zero interest in entering. A sanctum, of sorts.
So today, I methodically waxed all my important tools, and then buffed them before wrapping them in bubble wrap. Once everything was wrapped up, I meticulously placed everything just right in the plastic tub that functions (for now) as my tool box. My training as a grocery bagger served me well. Here are all the tools I own:
As I reflect on the past 8 months or so we’ve lived at this house, I feel like I’d be remiss if I didn’t give props to my workbench. I put it down almost every chance I had, since I knew (or at least had an idea) of what it would be like to have a proper workbench with real vises and solidity (Oh, solidity! What I wouldn’t give!). This workbench is basically just a stand-alone cabinet. It had a white melamine (I think?) top, which I foolishly ripped off, revealing a mere 1/8″ (if that!) sheet of plywood underneath. As a result, I had to reinforce the vise mounting with a sheet of thicker plywood, and anytime I needed to do anything workbenchy (like chiseling, sawing, etc.), I had to whip out thicker boards (like my shooting board) on which to work. You can see in the pic below that I had to rip out a door and drawers (even cutting out the drawer supports) to get some clamping room.
But as flimsy and substandard as this workbench was, it did the trick. I have two great projects (my wife’s jewelry box and my kids’ step stool) and a couple smaller projects that were built on that bench. So here’s to you, Cabinet. You’ll be on the scrap pile in a couple weeks, but I’ll never forget ya.
P.S. I had a flurry of woodworking activity the past couple days (my marking knife and the reverse engineering project) – pics to follow once I get past the movers’ visit tomorrow!
It seems that the most common lumber you can get at the local hardware stores is meranti and merbau. These are two different types, if I’m not mistaken, of the same species, Shorea. I thought that this would be what I’d be building my bench out of. Turns out that the stuff most readily available at the particular shop I went to (after checking out a few others) was kempas (scientific name koompassia malaccensis).
It’s a beautiful wood, in my opinion, and maybe this is in part due to the dark orange color and also because of its interlocked grain (which I had to look up to even know what that meant). Apparently, interlocked grain is pretty common for tropical woods. The one thing I didn’t know about was the difference between sapwood and heartwood. Only the heartwood has the nice dark orange color. The sapwood is pale and bland. I do have several boards of sapwood, and thought I had different wood altogether. Now I know. So I may have to go back and get some more heartwood, or just use the sapwood for my stretchers.
Here’s a pic of a board just as I got it from the hardware shop:
And here’s a portion of it after having been planed:
I look forward to seeing how this will look sanded down and with some oil on it!
Hey, I had to do something while figuring out my plane problems! It’s not a bad-looking Roubo, is it?
One of the hardest things about building anything here is finding nice wood. It seems that if you want anything better than standard construction lumber, you’re up the creek. That’s bizarre in a country that does so much logging and has so much nice exotic wood (I guess it’s mostly exported).
At least for a bench top, standard construction lumber is just fine. Since I’ll be using 2x6s for my legs, I needed something that would match it in thickness (I’ll be tenoning the legs up into the bench top). Thus these lovely 2x4s.
The first step is to plane them down. This, of course, led to big snag #1.
Recent Comments