The Bespoke Woodworker

Sorry for the long absence, and welcome to my new blog!  I am in the process of importing my old blog entries from Lumberjocks, at least for this project, so that I can maintain some continuity.

I took a little time away from my aggressive Roubo build schedule, to rest my feet from an attack of plantar fasciitis, and I decided instead of repeat-posting to Lumbjocks, woodnet, and elsewhere, I’d finally bite the bullet and build a personal blog.   If I recall correctly, I left off with a working bench, both vise functioning.  I had just completed the vise and sliding deadman, and crafted a few simple bench dogs.

Now that I’ve rested up, gotten some orthotics, and re-installed the gym mat I use in my shop to ease wear and tear on my feet, I’ve been back at work!    I finished up the 3/4″ bench dog holes in the top.  Let me tell you, boring through 4″ of ash is… no, I can’t bring myself to make the obvious joke here.  During my downtime, I read Chris Schwarz’s article on boring, and finally bit the bullet.  I started the first hole freehand, but quickly realized I don’t have the manual coordination necessary to keep that hole from drifting horribly.  I grabbed a thick 10/4 cutoff, and used a freshly sharpened forstner bit in the drill press to make myself a nice guide block for my drill.   With the assistance of  a nice Colt 3/4″ extra long brad point bit from Woodcraft, I clamped my block in place, and began the process.  Once I got the hole a good 1″+ deep, I unclamped the block and was able to finish the holes with no problems.    I spread the boring process out over a couple of days, so that I didn’t overheat and wreck the bit.

Holdfast tuning was  slightly confusing.  In 4″ ash, they were definitely having some trouble getting and keeping a grip.  I had already lightly abraded the holdfast shanks with 80 grit sandpaper, and that was simply not sufficient.  I’ve heard of people going to far as to file the holdfast, but that seems a silly solution to the wrong problem.  You simply can’t get enough of a cant on the holdfast in material that thick.  I learned this lesson when I built the legs in an earlier post when I was preparing the holdfast holes in the legs.  I slid backwards under the bench and awkwardly counterbored the holes with a 1 1/4″ forstner bit.  I’m sure there are more effective methods, but this did the job, if not perfectly.

While the holes were being drilled, I mortised the second end cap (the non-vise end), which was pretty straightforward.  Copious Drill press activity followed by moderate chisel clean up.  I must be getting better at these large mortises, because it actually fit on the first try.  I was stunned myself, let me tell you.   A few passes with the number 4 and it was touch-smooth to the benchtop.

[end cap photo]

Although the bench will be ‘complete’ as is, I still intend to take on the St Peter’s Cross mechanism, or St. Croix, depending on which author you’re listening to.   When I realized that I would likely need some 12/4 or so stock to complete the leg vise with the cross mechanism I had in mind, I went ahead and completed this leg vise the traditional way, so I had something to work on to create the newer vise.

I will also be putting a final sanding and an easily renewable danish oil finish on the bench just to keep the glue from sticking.

I also decided, since I had significant lumber and offcuts left over, to make the lower shiplapped shelf.  I installed some support brackets with glue, backed up by screws.  I pulled all of the appropriate length spares and crosscut to size.

Once crosscut, I put an approximate .5″ shiplap on both sides.  As luck would have it, and luck almost never does in my shop, I pulled exactly enough lumber, and the shelf fit wonderfully.

Here is the bench, completed sans finishing.

And with the first coat of Danish Oil on the top.

Phew!

I think before I tackle any more bench upgrades, like the Leg Vise cross, I will be doing some shop cleanup and re-arranging, and finishing up a drill press table so that I can complete a few metalworking tasks.  Perhaps I’ll blog those so people can see that portion of my projects as well!