# Another Sellers MkII bench build & new workshop! Project #2



## DBT85 (5 Feb 2018)

Finally I have gotten around to settling in to my workshop at home. A room indoors in the warm where I can close the door and not make a mess in the dining room or kitchen trying to do odd jobs like making a dining table!

Coming in at about 3m x 4m with built in cupboards at one end not digging in to that space, it should be more than enough to get me going. If in time I feel it's a worthwhile expense I'll move out into the cold and build a workshop in the garden.

Anyway. I learned a lot while making my dining table using mostly using a circular saw and a table saw outside. Incidentally, it still isn't finished and by the end of the year could well be almost completely rebuilt to fix some issues (racking, bowed top) (hammer).

Since then, I like many have taken a liking to Mr Sellers presence on Youtube and with a list of projects I want to do already lined up, I figured the best place to start was with a bench from which to work. He recently started a new MkII workbench build series so that's the plan I'll be following with some minor adjustments. A range of additional tools to my collection were eBayed late last year to give me the router, filletster and plough plane suggested to help out in this and later projects, along with a bunch of other bits.

Sellers plan was made with both imperial and metric measurements for his acolytes across the globe and I'll be going metric, though due to the available sizes of some boards I've done a model of what I'll be doing to help me out as I've adjusted dimensions slightly.







Legs will be cut about 50mm longer than spec as I all too often find that worktops and such are too low for me to stand at comfortably. I'd rather go long and cut it down than go short.






The worktop will have 1 extra lamination in (because I have it, so why not?) and in total ends up about 55mm wider than spec, while also being about 50mm longer again just because it's there so why not use it.

Wood for this project has come from Davies Timber in Birmingham. All ordered online because a) it'd cost me a tenner in fuel and at least 90 mins to get there, buy it and get back b) I got a new car a week ago and don't want it getting manked up yet c)I wanted a sheet of ply too and have no way of getting it home. Website is easy to use and clear for your prices. Previously I've used Avon Timber in Coventry who were ok too. Davies do charge me £36 for delivery while Avon do it for free if your order is over £100. As it happens, the material from Davies came to £161.36 + £36 delivery, Avon wanted £175.84, delivery included.

Final order list is all PAR redwood so these sizes are nominal, not finished. Cost of timber alone is £161.36.

4x 50mm x 75mm x 3.6m for the top
1x 25mm x 150mm x 3.6m for the wellboard
2x 50mm x 150mm x 3.6m for the aprons
1x 50mm x 150mm x 3.6m for the rails
1x 75mm x 100mm x 4.2m for the legs
1x 50mm x 100mm x 2.4m for the bearers

Will try to take lots of pics to post along with my experiences while doing it.


Before I can get to that, I need to make a couple of saw horses as the plastic ones I have probably aren't going to last too long if I start pounding on them. Some 50mm x 100mm and 50mm x 75mm CLS timber was ordered to solve the issue of sawhorses using Mattias Wandle's simple yet robust design.






With those complete I can get a quick sharpening plate made up within which to put my plates and a strop.







With all this, my workshop needs a bit of a wipe down from dust and grime and then a quick lick of paint to remove the "bare room that's been full of rubbish" feel. Pics and updates to follow!


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## MattRoberts (5 Feb 2018)

Exciting! Looking forward to following along


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## NickN (5 Feb 2018)

Good luck! Funnily enough I forgot to mention that in my thread but I also increased the leg length slightly, not quite as much as you're going for, around 25mm, but I also like a higher surface as my back all too easily gives me problems. Hence my bandsaw choice too.

One thought: my initial trial sharpening plate holder had the strop at the end like yours, but I found two small flaws:
1) that it was handier to be able to access the long edge of both the coarse and the finest plates for quick touching up to things like router plane blades, and with a strop in the way this couldn't be done.
2) the water/glass cleaner fluid used to wet the plates made the double sided tape holding the leather to the strop board lose its adhesive qualities.

All depends what you're planning to do with it. In the end I went for the three plate holder and a separate strop.


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## DBT85 (5 Feb 2018)

NickN":3kn9wnqj said:


> Good luck! Funnily enough I forgot to mention that in my thread but I also increased the leg length slightly, not quite as much as you're going for, around 25mm, but I also like a higher surface as my back all too easily gives me problems. Hence my bandsaw choice too.
> 
> One thought: my initial trial sharpening plate holder had the strop at the end like yours, but I found two small flaws:
> 1) that it was handier to be able to access the long edge of both the coarse and the finest plates for quick touching up to things like router plane blades, and with a strop in the way this couldn't be done.
> ...



Ahh ok I hadn't thought about point 1 Nick. My plan was to copy another youtuber and basically put a screw or two through the leather near the top since I'll only use it on the pull stroke anyway and that way it wouldn't come unstuck like the tape. Might have a rethink though. I suppose I can make it as planned and just lop the side with the stop off if I feel it's not working properly.

Just returned home from 4 shifts down in London, finished at 7 this morning so now tjhe plan is to stay awake, help with the baby and try and attack the workshop before my timber arrives!


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## DBT85 (5 Feb 2018)

Progress on day 1. 

At the time of writing I've been awake for 26.5 hours, done a shift at work, driven 120 miles home and then attacked my workshop with as much gusto as I can while also trying to help out with the little one.

First up, here's my workshop in its current state. 














A bit of time later and the windows are sorted and all the skirting has been sanded and cleaned. Now my shop doesn't look grimy at least. I'm only doing the whole room white to clean it up a bit, in time it'll be decorated as a room once I've been banished.







Also good news is that my timber from Davies Timber arrived safe and sound with a little more than I expected.

For one reason or another I've ended up with 2.7m of 50x150mm PAR redwood, and 0.6m of 75x100mm PAR redwood extra. I'm not complaining though it did mean I had to cut some timbers down today just to get them into the house! That extra wood has made up for the delivery charge when compared to buying it all from Avon Timber and getting it delivered free.

Also what was nice to see was that this lot doesn't have any crush on some corners where it had been strapped down, something I did have from Avon.

I will say having never had any Elliotis Pine Plywood I didn't know quite what to expect. Full and even layers it is not. No bother for the purposes I intended though.

So now I have wood.





Tomorrow a care package arrives from Amazon with some essentials and in the meantime I'll be getting a few coats on the woodwork while I make up my sawhorses and possibly my sharpening plate if time allows.


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## DBT85 (6 Feb 2018)

No chance to get at the timber today, though I got a solid 2 coats on the woodwork in the workshop, apart from the windowsill in which I did the usual "oh poop I forgot the windowsill" the first time round  .

Also got 2 coats on the ceiling so that's largely finished now, thank christ. I hate painting a 99% white ceiling with its second coat if I've not got plenty of light to show me whats wet! A bit of filling and touching up to do but that's it. Already looking so much better in there.

With luck tomorrow might see some fettling of wood which is what we're all really waiting for, however I'll be satisfied if all I get done is painting of the 3 walls and another coat on the woodwork. Will set me up nicely for Thursday!

Might need to look at a nice bright LED strip or two to put up. Currently an off centre ceiling rose and some wires hanging out of the wall are all I have.


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## thetyreman (9 Feb 2018)

best of luck with it, you will be surprised at how easy it is, I'll be looking forward to seeing the bench complete!

another thing is you may want to have the strop seperate from your sharpening stones.


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## DBT85 (9 Feb 2018)

Day 5.

Success I have finally done some woodwork. 6 saw cuts, 6 screws driven and 6 holes drilled!

It's been a busy few days so I lost a few hours here and there, however, the painting is done, 2x 36w LED Aurolite 4ft lights arrived and installed (Amazon, £30 each, 2800 lumen, 6000 kelvin). Light shall not problem.

A nice clean workshop ready to see some action. So much nicer than just this Monday.









I've changed the type of sawhorse I'm making to one that just keeps it simple, an I beam on legs.






New arrivals are a Bosch GSB 12v-15 drill/driver to go with its bigger 18v brother I already had (tired of changing bits), and a cheapo Silverline 350w drill press which I was quite surprised had alloy pulleys as I'm sure I read they were plastic. Anyway, it'll do for my purposes.


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## NickN (9 Feb 2018)

Already looks much more like a workshop, you've been busy there! Nice bright daylight LEDs are one of the best things I decided to put in my workshop, as I don't have windows it makes it much more bearable too.


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## DBT85 (9 Feb 2018)

It feels it too! So much more inviting that before. Bloody glad to see the back of the painting. Finally the very last room of the house has been decorated!


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## DBT85 (11 Feb 2018)

Some minor progress. It's quite incredible how much life can get in the way!

Horses are done and stable. 





My plastic horses are now a makeshift drinks station and useful tool bench while working.





A sheet of 18mm cheap ply, used for my sharpening plate and then as a makeshift worktop while I actually make the damned thing. Everything seemed stable as at one point all 116KG of me was kneeling on the top cutting the board!





Plate marked up and knifewall started for routing. Left it long at the saw marks to trim once planes are sharp.


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## DBT85 (14 Feb 2018)

So my days off work have come to an end and I'd not got as much done as I'd liked. Such is life with a 6 month old.

I did, however, just about finish my sharpening plate before I packed up last night.










Strop just secured with a couple of screws since its pull strokes only. If I find it a pain I can always separate the strop part from the main part at a later date.









Had to plane some sawn wood to make the bar to go in that groove. It ended up with square sides, but one end was narrower than the other. Not the end of the world. It fit the hole I'd made which is the important bit.

To do the work thus far I've only been using a very quickly (and only on the 1200) sharpened Lidl chisel to remove the burr that was there. That alone made a noticeable difference. The blade in my router was sharpened on all 3 stones, though it was my first time doing it. It again certainly made a difference.

My Record 071 also has no wooden sole so it was rocking around a little from time to time. Not a major issue for this project but certainly something to add to my to do list.

My biggest takeaway so far is that Elliotis Pine Plywood is not the stuff to buy to do something like this. It's stable enough but the 7 layers are quite thick, not at all complete as you can see in the photos and the glue layer is quite thick. But that's what comes with the price, it's not designed for this. The rest of the sheet will get used without too much trouble. Were I to do this part again I'd buy an offcut of birch ply from ebay or something.

Might be able to sharpen up and actually glue my top at the weekend. Keep 'em crossed.

Oh, and I asked my dad if he had a spare TV knocking around for me to put in my workshop for Plex/Netflix/Youtube while I'm in there. So he bought himself a new one and is giving me the 47" I gave him a year ago back. Possibly overkill, but free.


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## MikeG. (14 Feb 2018)

DBT85":t97ds6oe said:


> Some minor progress. It's quite incredible how much life can get in the way!
> 
> Horses are done and stable.
> 
> ...



I'll be interested to know how you get on with these. I use wooden horses all the time, and those low level braces would get in my way. They'd be a real nuisance. Conversely, you might develop the habit of putting your foot on them for extra stability, and feel this benefit outweighs the inconvenience of preventing you putting your foot where it would otherwise naturally go.


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## DBT85 (14 Feb 2018)

MikeG.":1wmbtb1a said:


> DBT85":1wmbtb1a said:
> 
> 
> > I'll be interested to know how you get on with these. I use wooden horses all the time, and those low level braces would get in my way. They'd be a real nuisance. Conversely, you might develop the habit of putting your foot on them for extra stability, and feel this benefit outweighs the inconvenience of preventing you putting your foot where it would otherwise naturally go.



So far I've not been hampered by the braces. In fact just as you said, I've had my foot on the end ones to give it some stability when planing. However, I've not used them for anything more than what I've done so far. By the end of the workbench build I might well be cursing the braces. 

For me, these are mostly just to help make the bench in the first place. After that they'll be used mostly to put a top on of some kind to put my pillar drill on and some other bits until such time as I need them for something else.

The only others I have are my 2 plastic ones. Just having these 2 wooden ones has made life easier by virtue of being able to clamp to them and them having a bit more heft to resist my actions.


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## Just4Fun (14 Feb 2018)

DBT85":knk7xvss said:


> Strop just secured with a couple of screws since its pull strokes only.


You must have better hand control than I do. I tend to move quite fast when stropping and I just know that I would regularly hit those screws with my tools, putting a nice nick in a freshly-honed cutting edge. Anyway I will be interested to hear how you get on with the strop oriented that way. I sharpen with a fore & aft motion but prefer to strop from left to right.


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## DBT85 (14 Feb 2018)

Just4Fun":246ehino said:


> DBT85":246ehino said:
> 
> 
> > Strop just secured with a couple of screws since its pull strokes only.
> ...



Ahh another good point. I might put a small strip of wood across the top to sink the screws in if I think it's a problem. I'll likely end up doing the same as Nick and removing the strop and having it on a separate block from the stones but secured with contact adhesive.

I've never done any of this so I'm learning all the way. Tips like the ones you guys are throwing at me are all welcome and very useful!


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## Tasky (14 Feb 2018)

DBT85":35dmlxe6 said:


> My biggest takeaway so far is that Elliotis Pine Plywood is not the stuff to buy to do something like this. It's stable enough but the 7 layers are quite thick, not at all complete as you can see in the photos and the glue layer is quite thick.


I used a sheet of 18mm hardwood ply from B&Q for mine. Pretty nice to work on and hardly any gaps. That one sheet also yielded me some battens to reinforce all 12 of my 1500mm sash clamps and some pads to face the jaws with. 
I still have a large piece left for several other projects, too!


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## DBT85 (14 Feb 2018)

Tasky":3130m13g said:


> DBT85":3130m13g said:
> 
> 
> > My biggest takeaway so far is that Elliotis Pine Plywood is not the stuff to buy to do something like this. It's stable enough but the 7 layers are quite thick, not at all complete as you can see in the photos and the glue layer is quite thick.
> ...


An excellent use of the material in your clamps. Not sure this stuff would do for mine, but it might. Can't hurt to try. Only got 4x 900mm ones (also 4 1200mm but solid steel ones). Might be getting 4 more (maybe 1200) in toolstations valentine offer tho.

Did you use the full 18mm for pads or did you cut it down? I think I have some 9mm hardwood stuff here that I'll probably use for that job. That stuff came from Travis and was fine to work with for what I used it for which so far was only a bit of boxing in for pipework. 

Interesting to see your B&Q sheet wasn't too bad, I think they are BB/CC graded. This one is a mere CC/CC but it was also only £23 and I can easily find uses for it befitting its less than ideal character.


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## Tasky (14 Feb 2018)

DBT85":2tx9rpt4 said:


> Did you use the full 18mm for pads or did you cut it down?


No no no noooooooo, dear boy, no!!!! :lol: 
I cut them down. 
Basically I cut 12 blocks to size for the jaws, then split them with a chisel to make paired halves, cleaned the faces up and then glued in place. Clamp to hold and leave for 24hrs... Then go clean the glue off your fingers before you stick your hand shut! :lol: 
I know Sellers advocates double-sided tape these days, but I already had some Gorilla glue to hand. 



DBT85":2tx9rpt4 said:


> I think I have some 9mm hardwood stuff here that I'll probably use for that job.


You'll only need a few mm (as in 4-5) for the jaw faces, to stop the metal from marking whatever you're clamping, so 9mm is plenty for trimming and cleaning the faces up. 



DBT85":2tx9rpt4 said:


> Interesting to see your B&Q sheet wasn't too bad, I think they are BB/CC graded.


I actually haven't a clue about that side of things, yet. I only went with hardwood because of the other projects that would use it... which only use it at the insistence of the _knows-better-than-me_ recipient. 

One Newbie tip for anyone else using the Ultex stones, like me and DBT - Clamp the bastid things in place when you mark out your knifewalls, as the smooth underside means they *love* to slide around!! #-o


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## DBT85 (14 Feb 2018)

Tasky":3bj0tbim said:


> No no no noooooooo, dear boy, no!!!! :lol:
> I cut them down.
> Basically I cut 12 blocks to size for the jaws, then split them with a chisel to make paired halves, cleaned the faces up and then glued in place. Clamp to hold and leave for 24hrs... Then go clean the glue off your fingers before you stick your hand shut! :lol:
> I know Sellers advocates double-sided tape these days, but I already had some Gorilla glue to hand.



Ha I figured as much but I know some like to go a little OTT :lol: :lol: 

I have neither gorilla glue or double sided tape. I do however have about 9.95m of sticky backed velco or "hoop and loop" as they are desperately trying to get people to call it. More than enough to hold some light bits of wood in place. 

I only needed 5cm worth before but I begrudge paying £1 for 50cm worth on ebay when I can buy 10m for a fiver lol.



Tasky":3bj0tbim said:


> One Newbie tip for anyone else using the Ultex stones, like me and DBT - Clamp the bastid things in place when you mark out your knifewalls, as the smooth underside means they *love* to slide around!! #-o



My dear fellow, you turn the plate upside down and the grippy bit holds in place on the wood!  But yeah, they slip all over the shop otherwise.

Mine fit nicely and need a blow on the underside to release them, but they could still be neater than they are. As I said, first time doing anything like this and it's a sharpening plate. I'm more than happy with "It'll do" when required.


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## Tasky (14 Feb 2018)

DBT85":u9xow9tk said:


> sticky backed velco or "hoop and loop" as they are desperately trying to get people to call it.


Well, yeah.... because Velcro™ is technically a trademarked brand name, like Hoover™. 



DBT85":u9xow9tk said:


> My dear fellow, you turn the plate upside down and the grippy bit holds in place on the wood!


That's what I thought, old bean, but my wood itself was too smooth!



DBT85":u9xow9tk said:


> Mine fit nicely and need a blow on the underside to release them, but they could still be neater than they are.


Mine are dead tight, which is awkward as I have a 300/600 double-sided plate. 
Have you sealed yours with anything, to stop the wood from absorbing the lapping fluid/glass cleaner?


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## DBT85 (14 Feb 2018)

Tasky":1qevjhb4 said:


> sticky backed velco or "hoop and loop" as they are desperately trying to get people to call it.


Well, yeah.... because Velcro™ is technically a trademarked brand name, like Hoover™. [/quote]
Might as well give up. Its Velco, as my not Hoover is a hoover, your not Biro is a biro, and budget cola from the happy shopper was still called coke!



Tasky":1qevjhb4 said:


> That's what I thought, old bean, but my wood itself was too smooth!


Ohh, Mine was not, lol.



Tasky":1qevjhb4 said:


> Mine are dead tight, which is awkward as I have a 300/600 double-sided plate.
> Have you sealed yours with anything, to stop the wood from absorbing the lapping fluid/glass cleaner?



I've not sealed it yet. I have a wee bottle of shellac so will probably use that as per St Pauls suggestion at the end of his video. Just didn't have time yesterday and won't want to buttocks about on Saturday until after I've sharpened a few bits and got going on this bleedin' workbench.

How long have you had your plates btw? How they holding up, not being the more expensive ezelap?


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## Tasky (14 Feb 2018)

DBT85":2ark8vyh said:


> How long have you had your plates btw? How they holding up, not being the more expensive ezelap?


Few months, and they're doing great. I've done the whole range of kitchen knives and some other peoples' stuff on them without issue.


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## DBT85 (14 Feb 2018)

Tasky":k36ee51s said:


> Few months, and they're doing great. I've done the whole range of kitchen knives and some other peoples' stuff on them without issue.


Ahh good to hear. I need to do ours too as they've become dangerously blunt.


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## DBT85 (16 Feb 2018)

Got the rest of my hardware arriving on Monday, just the carriage bolts really. Also took advantage of Toolstations Valentine offer (still running, £14 off £100 spend) to get myself 4x 1500mm clamps and a selection of screws as right now the only things I have are 4x40mm or 4x50mm.

So, clamping sorted (now 4x 900mm ally, 4x 1200mm steel and 4x 1500mm ally), I'm trying to have a think about my vices. bI was fortunate/greedy enough to get 2 Pre 1965 ish Record 52 1/2s with QR on ebay for under £80 for the pair. Both work fine, but one would need some love before I used it at all.

Trying decided if I a) fit both, one at the end and one at the leg as normal, or fit the better one at the leg, fettle the other and then swap over and do the same. I've probably little need for both, but they are here now and such a pain to ship anywhere lol.

Also took a moment to order 2x 25x6x600 bits of aluminium bar from ebay for just over a tenner posted. My winding sticks. Saves me trying to make some until I feel like it as a project and these were hardly expensive.

Heading off to my first ever car boot at Stratford race course on Saturday, weather permitting, to see what I see. Also have my eye on something on ebay that would be a nice addition to my collection and a bit of a project to get all items back to life.


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## DBT85 (17 Feb 2018)

So today I headed off to my first car boot to see what I could see. Little on offer of interest apart from some wooden spokeshaves for £4 a go. Not in need yet and I know they aren't going away any time soon so I passed.

Managed to get my TV and Chromecast hooked up, so I can Plex/Netflix/Spotify my way through my work which will be cool. Maybe if Sky do a deal on another Mini box I'll get one in there too. Tomorrow I might get the TV on the wall and out of my way on the floor.

Also, at last, I managed to snag 20 odd minutes for my first go at sharpening on my new sharpening plate. I only attempted to do my 18mm Lidl chisel in this go. I tried to use a honing guide I got but I wasn't happy with it rocking left and right so abandoned it.

Used Isopropyl Alcohol for fluid as it wipes clean, smells nice and seems to do the job. I'm sure someone will inform me that I'm at risk of immediate death.

I have awarded myself a 7/10 for this first effort. By the time I'd finished I was able to shave my wrist, the edge is shiny shiny and with a fingernail angled almost vertical, the edge doesn't slip off and just digs in every time. Takes a nice clean even curly shaving on wood if I attempt it.

My reason for only getting 7 out of 10 is that I didn't get my bevel right and I need to work on the face more as there are still too many marks there. Since I was doing it freehand (and it felt like it was going fine) I've managed to increase the bevel to about 30deg while the chisels come at 25. I can see that I've barely touched the back 2/3 of the bevel. Something for next time.

As you can see, the before photos are at the top, and the afters are at the bottom.






Perchance tomorrow there might be glue and planing in my sights.


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## NickN (17 Feb 2018)

Good effort there on the chisel - I do use an Eclipse honing guide for mine but it takes a fair bit of practice to prevent see-sawing side to side - the advantage is maintaining the 25 degree angle more easily - like yourself I tried freehand and was going too steep as well as not being consistent.

I need to pick up another set of those chisels, hoping Lidl stock them again soon. Not sure if my last set were a bad batch but the edges are breaking too easily even with fairly gentle use. Could be my error but, well, another set would be a way to find out.


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## DBT85 (17 Feb 2018)

NickN":1cym11nb said:


> Good effort there on the chisel - I do use an Eclipse honing guide for mine but it takes a fair bit of practice to prevent see-sawing side to side - the advantage is maintaining the 25 degree angle more easily - like yourself I tried freehand and was going too steep as well as not being consistent.
> 
> I need to pick up another set of those chisels, hoping Lidl stock them again soon. Not sure if my last set were a bad batch but the edges are breaking too easily even with fairly gentle use. Could be my error but, well, another set would be a way to find out.


Thanks Nick. Mine just came with a set of like 8 chisels with rubber grips and metal caps which I got for about £19 lol. It's an eclipse type, but yeah, not stable.

I think another go knowing that it needs to be a lower angle and I might be able to nail it freehand. If I feel I really can't get it then I might get Veritas mk2 with the wide roller.

If you pm me your address I'd gladly send a set to you (lidl, not Aldi), for some reason I bought 4 or 5.


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## NickN (17 Feb 2018)

The Veritas guide does look good - might be on my Christmas list I reckon 

And that's a very kind offer - seeing as you're not that far away you'd also be welcome to pop over and see the end result of what you're building, or I can nip over and sample your tea.. lol. Will PM you. ccasion5:


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## DBT85 (18 Feb 2018)

Another day at it and I was *this close* to using some glue!

Started out the day with more sharpening. First off, my other 3 Lidl chisels. All done freehand and all a better result than my first attempt yesterday. Remebered to keep my hand a bit lower to maintain the bevel and so stayed between 23 and 26 degrees and also too the machining off the whole bevel. The backs were also done of course and while not mirror like, are certainly very close. Perhaps another go will improve them further. I'm not too worried, like yesterdays efforts, these 3 all shave me and want to dig in to my nail at an acute angle rather than slip off. They glide through the wood. Job done!






Next up were 2 plane irons. One was a Stanley was as it came from the factory and 25 degrees. This one had 2 dings in where I'd caught a screw previously. The other, a Record, had been done before I bought it it looks like, at around 30 degrees.






For the Stanley I used the honing guide and took it up to 30. Took quite some time on my 300 plate and were I doing it again I'd be using some coarser sand paper to get me through most of the work. But I got there and the dings were removed too. Went through all 3 stones, then my strop, only to realise that I'd neglected to camber the edges a little. Oh testicles, I thought. Went back and got it done. The honing guide felt fine with the plane iron in with the wider blade giving it the balance it was missing with the narrower chisels.






The Record blade I did freehand and that came out quite well too. Both are taking nice shavings for my first attempt. Result.






Next up, time to deforest my living room and get my parts cut to length/rough length. Some will need to be trimmed later so were cut a fraction long. No knifewalls on these but I was very pleasantly surprised at how clean the results were now that I actually learned how to use a saw. They're square too!






And so at last, I could plane and prepare my benchtop pieces. Not too much work as they were already PAR. Just a little here and there really.

And so there it was left. All 8 pieces arranged to make a nice top and a solitary clamp used to check that I can remove the bow in a couple. With my daughter moments away from being declared safe to move (bedtime for 6 months olds is fun!) I didn't want to start gluing up and persuading the pieces to line up only to be interrupted or worse, wake the monster.

So tomorrow then. Tomorrow glue shall be used. And my TV will get mounted. Since she slept I managed to mark up ready to hang it tomorrow morning. Finally my workbench is starting!


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## NickN (18 Feb 2018)

You must be happy, you got loads done today by the look of it. All looking really good too - will be a nice moment when that bench top gets glued, the first piece of the project complete (ish). 

I think the worst pieces I had were the apron boards for needing planing - everything else was not at all bad.


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## DBT85 (19 Feb 2018)

NickN":2rs7usz5 said:


> You must be happy, you got loads done today by the look of it. All looking really good too - will be a nice moment when that bench top gets glued, the first piece of the project complete (ish).
> 
> I think the worst pieces I had were the apron boards for needing planing - everything else was not at all bad.


Certainly nice to actually make some progress, as little as it was. 

Really nice to finally get the sharpening done though. With initialisation done the next time round should be much faster. Still have my router blades to do but they are teeny so won't take long. I also have a VonHaus 10 piece set going from 2" down to 1/4" that I'll probably do too. Day-glow orange handles and steel caps, but they should do a job. Dad wants his done too for what very little use they get. I'm getting a large wooden plane for my trouble though so not all bad.

I've also got saws to do once I've got the bench up, and a fair few tools that need love including my grandads "warranted" saw that's all rusted up. Really hoping to bring that back to life. My childhood was spent whacking screws in to old cupboard doors with a hammer in his back garden lol.

Anyway. Hands up all who are shocked that I didn't get to gluing today? Shocking news I know. Doing nights tonight so only had a few hours this morning. An emergency dentist visit and a bit of time with the baby left me just enough time to mount the TV and sort the pads out for my clamps. The 1500mm ones arrived today from Toolstation and were branded *gasp* Silverline. They look identical to the others I have and actually run freer. All will need proper fettling and bracing at a later date.

47" probably a bit big for the shop, but it's cost me the £18 bracket. A bracket that laughably claims to be able to take twice the weight of this TV. The wall plate could take it, the arm, less so.





A selection of clamps done up to make sure my sticky backed velcro is stuck down. I have to say that I cut 24 of the pads out of that sheep of hardwood ply from Travis and all of them are solid all round and have nice faces. Way better than the ply I used for my plate. I should have stuck to my original idea to glue 2 pieces together to make the plate. Never mind. Out of interest, that sheet was £22 structural hardwood ply from Travis. An 18mm sheet would have been £47 from them, so a fair bit more than the £23 Elliotis Pine I got from Davies. An 18mm sheet of hardwood ply from them would have been £32.







Ahh. Never mind. Efforts resume come Thursday once I'm home again.

This thread will be all about my workbench build. Eventually. I promise.


Really.


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## MattRoberts (19 Feb 2018)

Haha - I keep checking back to see something actually happening to do with a workbench, only to find you've been busy sorting out your TV!


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## DBT85 (19 Feb 2018)

MattRoberts":13ow753o said:


> Haha - I keep checking back to see something actually happening to do with a workbench, only to find you've been busy sorting out your TV!


I know I know!! I must look like a right tit haha.

Fortunately it's a thread about the workshop too so I won't get booted for being offtopic in my own thread.

Just didn't want to rush it and so managed to remain calm and take a moment to delay till Thursday (Probably Sunday, lol).


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## DBT85 (22 Feb 2018)

So it's Thursday. I've been awake for 20 hours as I've just finished nights and the top is glued up. There was much swearing.

I did a dry run with 8 clamps, all set to the right length so I could just go. Got the glue on, rubbed faces together to spread and then on with the clamps. The silverline ones are soooo much better than the others I bought from screw fix 2 months ago. They don't bind or anything. One problem though is that at 1500mm and them clamping the laminations, they are too long to just roll the top over with the beams wanting to interact with my ceiling. Were my horses 2in shorter it would have been fine. So I had to pick it up to spin it.

Never mind. One end all nice and flush, even aligned so there's minimal cutting waste afterwards. Other end looked like a hillbillies set of teeth and by now the glue is starting to make life exceedingly difficult. No amount of persuading with my chisel hammer will budge them. So clamps were added to bring them in to line. 

I've a couple of ridges in the middle but nothing drastic. At least all the other glue ups are only 2 boards. 

Next time: shorter clamps, be faster with the glue, open a window so I don't sweat like an Olympic sprinters love spuds in the final.

Pics to follow.


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## Phil Pascoe (22 Feb 2018)

If you are not using biscuits when glueing pieces together a cheat is to knock a few veneer or panel pins into one side somewhere that won't be sawn or machined then nip them off leaving a few mil proud - when you cramp it up once the pins engage the other side the pieces won't then slip.


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## DBT85 (22 Feb 2018)

phil.p":1vfv9axr said:


> If you are not using biscuits when glueing pieces together a cheat is to knock a few veneer or panel pins into one side somewhere that won't be sawn or machined then nip them off leaving a few mil proud - when you cramp it up once the pins engage the other side the pieces won't then slip.



Ahh yeah I've seen similar. The issue with these is that with the bows and so on in each bit of lamination, my odds of clamping it flat off the bat were slim and it was always going to need persuading. I actually had less of an issue gluing up my 8ft long 50mm thick dining table top than these!


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## NickN (22 Feb 2018)

Excellent news to hear you've got Glueing Stage 1 (of many) complete.

Cutting both ends of the newly laminated top by hand and square was... ... interesting. You may even need TWO windows open for that job.


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## DBT85 (22 Feb 2018)

NickN":19f9xhff said:


> Excellent news to hear you've got Glueing Stage 1 (of many) complete.
> 
> Cutting both ends of the newly laminated top by hand and square was... ... interesting. You may even need TWO windows open for that job.



Yeah. I've got plenty of planing to do before I get that far!

Benchtop clamped up





Not sure my blue clamps are big enough.





Started on the aprons this afternoon. The first two took me a while to be happy that I was square but I got there. Had to remove a bit of a hump that didn't look like it wanted to clamp out. Now I have two nice mating surfaces ready for glue once I have some clamps free.

The other apron however. I cut 2 pieces for it. Both a smidgen twisted. This photo is of the less twisted one. Fortunately I have a spare length that I've now cut so I only have to unwind one board. Might take a while.


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## Phil Pascoe (22 Feb 2018)

............. but are the winding strips the same width? :?


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## DBT85 (22 Feb 2018)

phil.p":204k67t1 said:


> ............. but are the winding strips the same width? :?


They are! but I'm not standing the requisite 15 feet away from the nearest one to get an accurate reading. You think maybe I'm worrying about nothing and its actually fine? :lol: :lol:


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## DBT85 (23 Feb 2018)

Not huge progress today. 

I did manage to get that board out of twist though probably took too much off one corner so its a teensy bit thinner than it was. Just having trouble getting a nice square mating edge with the other board. To think I thought about doing this with sawn timber. In time, maybe.

Need more work on it tomorrow and hopefully I'll get it sorted out and I'll glue the aprons and get the wellboard sorted too.


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## DBT85 (24 Feb 2018)

While tending the baby at 5 this morning it occured to me that, for my immediate needs, just buying a new length of 150x50mm might be best for the moment. I'll be keeping the twisted bits obviously and will work on them for the sake of learning, but they are so out that they'll be nearly 10+mm thinner by the time I'm done, if I ever get there.

Just got some from Travis and checked it was good before walking off. Saves me a bit of time.

Also just taken delivery of a Chapman brace and 32 auger bits that are in nice nick. Just need to see if the seller of the 99p Stanley hand drill I ordered goes through with the sale and I'll be able to complete the whole bench using only hand tools, because why not.


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## MattRoberts (24 Feb 2018)

Ah, the golden hour. I've contemplated many a woodworking project problem whilst absentmindedly cleaning sick off my shoulder...


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## Phil Pascoe (24 Feb 2018)

DBT85":m03oo44s said:


> I'll be keeping the twisted bits obviously and will work on them for the sake of learning, but they are so out that they'll be nearly 10+mm thinner by the time I'm done, if I ever get there.



Just put it away until you come across something that needs short lengths. 
If you've loads of pieces for any job sort the roughest out and get the shortest bits sorted out first. Quite often with construction timber there'll be a kick somewhere in the middle rather than a slow bow or wind, and thus less work to do. If you wish to find the easiest way to do a job, ask a lazy man.


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## thetyreman (24 Feb 2018)

that looks pretty badly twisted, you'll have to whey up if it's even worth removing the twist, you might have to remove too much wood, sometimes it's easier to just start again, on my second attempt at making the apron, I had better wood, same species same place even looked the same, and it didn't move at all, it can happen. As phil.p says you can always use the spare wood you have left over so not all is lost.


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## DBT85 (24 Feb 2018)

With my twisted timber cast aside for the moment I set about making final adjustments to my new piece. After a little while (it's still rocket science to me dammit, in fact worse, as I play Kerbal), I got it sorted and got my aprons both glued up.







Next up it was time to tackle my benchtop. I set my Record #5 to give me some thick shavings by backing the cap iron off to about 3mm. It quite rapidly then took down my wonky top down to flat ish. Sadly my glueup wasn't great and I had some stairstepping at one end and some big joins to fix. That part at least was easy enough to correct. Both top and bottom were roughly flattened and then I started trying to remove the wind from the underside as per Sellers video. 

Had to stop before I got it all the way done but I'm close. It's now not so much getting the edge down, but the hump in the middle. I'll get there.






Still need lots of practice with my planes as getting the surface flat has been a bit frustrating at times. I think I'm getting there though. More diagonal across the top than straight up and down seems to be helping. 

Amazing how these YouTube gits make it look like your paraplegic aunt could do it blindfold.


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## Phil Pascoe (24 Feb 2018)

The underside doesn't need to be flat as long as it's flat where it meets the frame. Flattening the whole of it is masochism.


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## thetyreman (25 Feb 2018)

when you're finished you'll feel and look like this:


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## DBT85 (25 Feb 2018)

phil.p":3913we66 said:


> The underside doesn't need to be flat as long as it's flat where it meets the frame. Flattening the whole of it is masochism.



It does at least need to be out of twist where it meets the frame though which is all I've been worrying about thus far. 

If it's twisted where it is secured to the top of the legs then it's just going to try and lift one corner. 

I suppose the weight of it all might pull it out of twist a bit, bit I've no idea how much I can rely on that yet. 

I'm close. 

Yes it's 6:25 and yes the baby has me awake. :shock: :shock: :shock:


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## DBT85 (25 Feb 2018)

Lots going on today so I managed to spend a wholesome 37 minutes in the shop.

Aprons have glued up nicely and require minimal planing which is great.

Also, I checked my Record #5 sole against my Starrett Combi square and, in shocking news, the #5 isn't flat. Probably should have checked that before as its been making me think I'm not planing flat when I actually have. Anyway, I've 1mm of twist over a 5ft distance so a tiny more work and that'll be sorted.

Also had a quick look at my new old auger bits and they look to be in good nick all told. Should be a little work to get them sharp and I'll be off.

Just having the aprons glued and the top nearly sorted is making me feel like progress is being made. Still so much to do though.


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## NickN (25 Feb 2018)

37 minutes eh? You beat me by 6 minutes, I only managed 31 minutes before a 10 hour shift, but having had an awfully miserable day yesterday with a bad cold, it's now clearing up nicely, at last.


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## DBT85 (25 Feb 2018)

NickN":1f4zkxmj said:


> 37 minutes eh? You beat me by 6 minutes, I only managed 31 minutes before a 10 hour shift, but having had an awfully miserable day yesterday with a bad cold, it's now clearing up nicely, at last.



Me not popping over sounds like a wise choice in the end!


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## DBT85 (1 Mar 2018)

Last update for a few days.

Aprons are now both planed flat, square and the benchtop is also done. 

Also got the wellboard glued up. Since the boards I bought are only 21mm I was able to plane the edge of both mating surfaces at the same time, so got a nice joint.

Then I took half an hour to do a minor tune up on my Stanley #4. The blade was sharp from my earlier sharpening session, but the depth adjust thread was a bit sticky and was undoing the thread from the frog making it unusable. A strip down, brief clean, oil and a tiny drop of threadlock on the thread had prevented it moving since.

Next up it was time to start planing the rails and making sure they were out of twist. Substantially easier on shorter boards!

Got another week off work coming up next week so should finally finish the rails and then the legs, and then start chopping bits of wood out. (hammer)


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## MikeG. (1 Mar 2018)

DBT85":30ftqlez said:


> .........Just having trouble getting a nice square mating edge with the other board.......



Put the two boards together, edge to edge, and lightly clamp them at the ends (with the clamps under the boards). If the gap is really bad, run a circular saw along the join, re-clamp (lightly) and repeat. Once the gap has gone, plane them up. If the gap isn't too bad, run a hand-saw along the join. These techniques essentially just knock the high points off. You aren't concerned with getting a pair of straight edges, so much as a pair of meeting edges.


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## DBT85 (2 Mar 2018)

MikeG.":314o0dap said:


> DBT85":314o0dap said:
> 
> 
> > .........Just having trouble getting a nice square mating edge with the other board.......
> ...



More great advice. Thanks Mike.

My issues were in part due to not getting my boards actually flat even if they had no twist. So if I used the rule of my square on the face and the stock agsainst the edge, I was out (with the rule being longer), but if I used the rule on the edge and the stock on the face, I was in. 

Just lots of little learning to do here and there.

I'm really pleased with how its coming so far. I had to remove more from the top than I'd have liked, but needs must when the devil vomits into your kettle. I think it's still going to come in at at least the 60mm spec from PS cut list.

Really can't wait to get the rails and legs sorted so that I can start on my joinery. My only other attempt at such before was on my dining table and the results were.... well it worked. Lets leave it there. There's a reason my dining table is one of my "to do" projects once the bench and workshop are set up to my satisfaction.

It's also been great doing this little log and following along with Nick's, as the tips and advice from you guys have been invaluable.


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## MattRoberts (2 Mar 2018)

Where are the photos?! Looking forward to seeing your progress


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## DBT85 (2 Mar 2018)

MattRoberts":3pvosage said:


> Where are the photos?! Looking forward to seeing your progress


Ahh I didn't bother as bits of wood out of clamps and planed don't look too dissimilar to bits of wood in clamps lol. 

Lots more pics as I start chopping holes in things!


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## NickN (2 Mar 2018)

DBT85":1gz3wxm2 said:


> Ahh I didn't bother as bits of wood out of clamps and planed don't look too dissimilar to bits of wood in clamps lol.








:mrgreen: :mrgreen: 

Looking forward to your next update *with photos*


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## DBT85 (10 Mar 2018)

Despite appearances I have actually been quite active in trying to progress with this!

Pretty much every length I had cut for this had twist/bow/cup in it and so I've been beavering away at them to try and fix it all. It's taken time and its been mildly frustrating at times, but I'm there. The only thing left to plane is the wellboard which, as you can see, still lives inside its protective clamps.






My pile of shavings is really quite something now and will be put to good use once winter rolls around again and I need to get the fire going.

Today in the 55 whole minutes I got in there I realised that my legs were still only rough cut to length and also that I'd not left quite as much meat on them as I thought. My cuts were all mostly quite good but I've now got to get them to length and get my ends square. This one seemed one of the worst offenders. My knife wall showing a nice line all around.






So I set about sorting that out. Not that easy especially when one doesnt have a nice sturdy workbench in/on which to clamp it. I got there in the end, I think. Tomorrow I'll hopefully be getting some more done. 

Soon(TM) I'll actually start doing some joinery.


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## DBT85 (17 Mar 2018)

Stop the drill press!!!

I have, at long last, started joinery! 

I finally got around to getting one end of each leg square, then got my legs cut to length at 900mm and took the corners off the ends that'll be on the floor.

From there I started marking up my first leg, making notes for myself to help when I do the other 3. This first leg is going to be for the face vice end, so the top rail will sit flush with the top of the leg.

The legs for the other end will have the rail dropped 50mm to allow the bars for an end vice to pass through.

Like NickN, I went with a 24mm mortise rather than the speced 18mm. Just looked weedy by comparison.

First pass down the mortise complete. Not too shabby for a first attempt. Probably took too large a bite from time to time.










Got all the way through quite readily, then cleaned up and cut the haunch.









And last but not least, some nice waste.





My Lidl chisel is holding its edge nicely so I'm wondering if the one Nick had issue with was just a bad batch?

Have to say it went quicker than I expected for my first go. I was being very careful not to wander from my lines. Very pleased with the result though!

Anyway, I got 1/4 of the way through the other mortise before baby bedtime put paid to my efforts as i'm in the room next door! As of Wednesday I've got a lot of time to get going so hopefully I can make more progress. It was so satisfying finally doing something other than planing!


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## NickN (17 Mar 2018)

That looks great - and absolutely agree about the feeling progressing from planing and sizing to actual joint making, it's the point when I really felt I was actually woodworking. And having that feeling makes it more motivating to get back out in the workshop and do more, which is partly why I reconciled myself to getting a planer-thicknesser in the end, as I'd have more time to spend on getting the joints right rather than spend a whole day hand-planing. I do enjoy the planing too and still do quite a bit by hand anyway but it's nice having the choice.

I have tried one of the newer batch of Lidl chisels you kindly supplied me with and it does seem to be behaving itself much better, so I do believe I may just have had a defective set.


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## Tasky (19 Mar 2018)

NickN":88n9e80n said:


> so I do believe I may just have had a defective set.


What issues did you have, Nick?
I'm about to start this same mortising work with my own Lidl chisels, but the 24mm one has come very loose and almost falls out of the handle...


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## NickN (19 Mar 2018)

The handles on mine have been fine, and held up to a lot of amateurish blows from my (admittedly fairly lightweight) panel beating mallet.

The problems I had were the edge - they come ground at 25 degrees and even increasing that a little to nearer 30 degrees when honing, I was finding little chips occurring along the edge, in both oak and pine, even taking strenuous care not to use it to lever. Have not had the same problem with the newer Lidl set, so can only put it down to a bad batch, somehow.


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## DBT85 (19 Mar 2018)

Tasky":204nlmhv said:


> NickN":204nlmhv said:
> 
> 
> > so I do believe I may just have had a defective set.
> ...



Ohh that sounds odd for it to be coming out of the handle. My 4 have been fine, but in honestly the onyl one to actually be used at all so far has been the 24mm for this job. The others have only been even held to sharpen them.

Tasky, PM me your address, I have yet another set of these sitting in their packaging under my desk. And another. lol. I'll post some to you as I've already got a 10 piece set with glow in the dark handles on top of the Lidl set I'm using.


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## Phil Pascoe (19 Mar 2018)

A drop of PU in the hole, damp the tang and put the chisel in a vice to stop the PU pushing the handle off - that'll do your chisel.


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## Tasky (20 Mar 2018)

DBT85":2dpu2cx4 said:


> Tasky, PM me your address, I have yet another set of these sitting in their packaging under my desk. And another. lol. I'll post some to you as I've already got a 10 piece set with glow in the dark handles on top of the Lidl set I'm using.


Cor, that'd be very kind, thanks - PM incoming!



phil.p":2dpu2cx4 said:


> A drop of PU in the hole, damp the tang and put the chisel in a vice to stop the PU pushing the handle off - that'll do your chisel.


What vice?
I haven't bought that bit yet... though not from lack of bidding on eBay, heh heh!! :lol: 
TBH, I think there's been some twisting involved and/or it was defective in the first place. The handle hole seems a bit over-bored... I'll give that a go, though, just 'because'!

So is there any reason Sellers has thin 18mm tenons on the crossbeams?
I'm also of the opinion that they look a bit weedy - I'll have 4x2 beams going into 4x4 legs, so surely it'd be best to have about 1"?


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## NickN (20 Mar 2018)

Tasky":3nn1tz2f said:


> The handle hole seems a bit over-bored



Try and stop it reading sharpening threads then... :lol: 




Tasky":3nn1tz2f said:


> So is there any reason Sellers has thin 18mm tenons on the crossbeams?
> I'm also of the opinion that they look a bit weedy - I'll have 4x2 beams going into 4x4 legs, so surely it'd be best to have about 1"?



No idea for the reason behind the thin tenons, all I can think of as a theory is that a) they work and b) it cuts down (a little) on the labour needed.

But when it's a one-off and a bit more work isn't any problem at all, I think it's a no-brainer to beef it up a little, even if only for the looks. There is a 'rule' that calls for a tenon to be 1/3 the thickness of the stock being mortised - for my bench that would have meant approximately a 1 and 1/4 inch thickness (30mm), but as my 24mm chisel was handy I reduced it a bit. One of those rules that can be easily broken without affecting joint integrity much or at all, especially in such large bits of wood.


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## Phil Pascoe (20 Mar 2018)

There is a 'rule' that calls for a tenon to be 1/3 the thickness of the stock being mortised ...
Not really - it shouldn't be more than a third as it would then weaken one, the other or both sides of the mortice. No reason why it shouldn't be less if it suits.


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## NickN (20 Mar 2018)

phil.p":2bkrmpr1 said:


> No reason why it shouldn't be less if it suits.



:? 

Hence my wording...

"for my bench that would have meant approximately a 1 and 1/4 inch thickness (30mm), but as my 24mm chisel was handy I reduced it a bit"
"One of those rules that can be easily broken without affecting joint integrity much or at all, especially in such large bits of wood."

:lol: :lol:


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## DBT85 (20 Mar 2018)

Yeah, this is why I went for the 24mm like Nick did. No real reason not to and it looked like it fit better.

Just arrived for my last shift for 2 weeks so I can really crack on from tomorrow. In theory. lol


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## DBT85 (22 Mar 2018)

Mortises coming along nicely. Just 3.5 left to go and that part will be complete. Was very pleased to see that the first two when put together do indeed align!

Timed myself while doing one, 30 mins from first chop to last paring action to clean up. Happy with that for a 24x140 mortise 75mm deep. Bang on what Sellers said it might be in the video so quite happy with that. 

Took the liberty to do a very quick resharpen after doing the first 4. While the chisel was still sharp, it wasn't SHARP. Literally only did it on the 1200 and then the strop to bring it back up. 

Uncanny how fulfilling its felt doing these and seeing the end result. Just hope my tenons come out as nicely!


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## DBT85 (30 Mar 2018)

Despite appearances progress has been being made, albeit slower than I'd like. Lots to do around the house and a baby o look after really cuts in to the time available even when not at work!

I also took the possibly extreme step of sharpening the pencil sharpener we keep in the kitchen drawer. It made a huge difference for 5 mins work so it was worth it!

All 4 legs and 8 mortises have been completed. Largely very pleased with the end results. Learned a lot for the next time. One thing I noticed is that I preset my marking gauge a gnats nadger too wide for my chisel and so there is some minor (very minor) variation in there. Also on occasion it looks like my chisel has twisted and dug out the sides a little. Nothing too major and the exit holes both line up. 










With that complete it is time to move on to the tenons.

My rails were all cut long so need to be cut down while doing this, giving me the chance to try some different methods for cutting these. Since I don't have a vice or a workmate, I'm not feeling too happy about trying to saw the faces as I can't hold it steady, so most of this will be done with a chisel and a router. On top of this, I'm trying to do some while the kid is asleep which means router only as its quiet.

Anyway, for one end of my first rail I went with just cutting the shoulder with my tenon saw, then using the chisel to take out the bulk by splitting before going in with the router. This was quite fast, but not having any support on the outer side made life a bit more difficult for my Record 071 which at this time had no extra sole added to widen it.

At the other end, I left the material to be discarded attached and went router plane only, gradually taking it down. This took longer obviously, but it was my only option at the time due to not being able to make too much noise. It came out great though and left a brilliant clean tenon. Having that extra material on the other side really helped.










With both ends of my first rail complete, I could cut the haunch and try it on for size. It fits nicely and its quite satisfying knowing that its a real joint and that I did it all by hand.

More to follow! Photos too, but for some reason my host isn't working right now.


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## custard (30 Mar 2018)

DBT85":1vwzf0np said:


> It fits nicely and its quite satisfying knowing that its a real joint and that I did it all by hand.



Isn't woodworking great? Not only do you get a bench, you also get that warm glow of achievement!

Impressive stuff by the way, really impressive.

=D>


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## thetyreman (30 Mar 2018)

that's looking really good DT85, once you get to this stage, there really isn't that far to go, congrats on the work you've done so far! =D>


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## DBT85 (30 Mar 2018)

custard":1c9l872v said:


> Isn't woodworking great? Not only do you get a bench, you also get that warm glow of achievement!
> 
> Impressive stuff by the way, really impressive.
> 
> =D>



Thanks Custard!

Before continuing on any further I slapped a temporary sole onto my router. Made from a bit of chipboard I had knocking around from some DVD racks. It's stable, flat, parallel and it slides easily, job done.


Got a bit more time in there this arvo so managed to get the second rail done and fitted. So hurrah, 2 more rails to do and I'm a lot closer to a workbench.

One of the tenons was perfectly placed on this delightful knot. Made life much easier :shock: 





A dry run. Still need to chamfer the ends of the bottom rail.





An anomaly.









Things aren't perfect, though I'm putting that down to a) my first time and b) a lack of patience at times as I get so little time to actually do anything and wanted to get this done so I can get some around the house jobs done with the bench and then progress on. My list of projects to do is only growing.

Until next time!


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## NickN (31 Mar 2018)

You've got a lot done now and definitely got the hardest bit out of the way I'd say - the apron housings for the legs took me far less time and were easier to get right than the mortise and tenon joints.

One thing I found with my tenons were that the shoulders weren't quite square or level, and I'm still looking for the best way to address that next time round. I think perhaps a shoulder plane might be a help but not sure.

Anyway well done so far. Is your bottom rail lower than the plans, and if so is it that you are planning to put a shelf there?


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## DBT85 (31 Mar 2018)

NickN":iy0t7lbu said:


> You've got a lot done now and definitely got the hardest bit out of the way I'd say - the apron housings for the legs took me far less time and were easier to get right than the mortise and tenon joints.
> 
> One thing I found with my tenons were that the shoulders weren't quite square or level, and I'm still looking for the best way to address that next time round. I think perhaps a shoulder plane might be a help but not sure.
> 
> Anyway well done so far. Is your bottom rail lower than the plans, and if so is it that you are planning to put a shelf there?



Yeah I definitely feel that with the tenons finished you're practically done as the apron housings are a straightforward cut. Let's just hope it all fits together! 

The bottom rail I believe is indeed lower. That is entirely intentional and not in anyway a minor cock up


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## Tasky (3 Apr 2018)

Doing great, DB!!
I'm at this same stage my own self and let me tell you, those M&T joints are FAR tidier than the shameful results I've ended up with. Mine go together.... and that's about all I can say about them, really!!  

So yeah, you're doing exceptionally well!


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## DBT85 (4 Apr 2018)

Amazng how one can be off work for 2 weeks and still not have this finished lol.

Went to start my last rail last night only to find its all twisted. I'm sure I sorted that out already. Apparently not. 

If I'm very lucky I'll finish it today before I head back to work in the morning.

Then it's cut the aprons to length and cut the fairly simple area for the legs and I'm nearly there! Bet I've not got a vice on it bt the end of April lol. (hammer) (hammer) (hammer)


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## Tasky (4 Apr 2018)

Hmm, do you even have your vice yet?

If it weren't for my frequent tea-making breaks, and interruptions by some woman who lives in the house, claims to be married to me and keeps telling me dinner is ready, I might have progressed further my own self. You don't have one of these women, do you?

Nah, my biggest problem is working late and living in a quiet rural area with neighbours' kids who go to bed at 7. Even the noise of sawing is too much, so chopping out whacking great mortices is definitely verboten. 

But that said, I think the next parts will go quite quickly and you'll be all assembled before you know it!!


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## DBT85 (5 Apr 2018)

Tasky":2ym8almn said:


> Hmm, do you even have your vice yet?
> 
> If it weren't for my frequent tea-making breaks, and interruptions by some woman who lives in the house, claims to be married to me and keeps telling me dinner is ready, I might have progressed further my own self. You don't have one of these women, do you?
> 
> ...



I actually have 2 of the old style Record 52 1/2s sitting on my office floor. One in slightly better condition than the other but both work. I did realise yesterday of course that I had neglected my own mental plan to lower the rail on one set of legs to take the screws so that I could use one of the vie as a tail vice. That's what I get for making it a mental plan and not an actual plan. Never mind.

My other half does indeed reside at my domicile however its usually more our miniature that takes up most of my time. She's only 7.5 months old and started crawling yesterday. Time to panic. Apart from her I'm also trying to keep the jobs around the house done. Inane stuff like cleaning the patio, planning for a new path, fixing everything all the time, adding some flashing to the roof to fix a leak in really hard rain, etc. Life does like to take a dump on things you _want_ to do and force you to do the things you _need_ to do!

Alas, I did not quite manage to get my final rail complete yesterday. By the time I got around to it it was probably half an hour too late, and so I only managed to get it re planed out of twist, re marked up, cut and then 3 of the 4 tenon cheeks sorted. So one more to do, then fettling to make it fit as I do leave them a bit fat on purpose. I have to say I REALLY do prefer having 2 sides to register my router on. Even with a wider sole its just not the same when you've only got one surface.

I can't real make much noise past about 6 as that's baby bedtime and my lovely warm dry in-house workshop is next door to her room for the time being. 

To Do
Finish final rail cheek and fettle to fit.
Roundover ends of 2 tenons
Glue Up legs
Cut aprons to length
Chop 4 rebates for legs
Fit legs
Cut worktop to length
Plane wellboard
Cut wellboard to length
Plough groove in worktop/apron
Cut tongue in wellboard
Fit it all together
Fit vice
Finish.

Not much to do lol


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## Tasky (5 Apr 2018)

DBT85":1k9d1752 said:


> I did realise yesterday of course that I had neglected my own mental plan to lower the rail on one set of legs to take the screws so that I could use one of the vie as a tail vice.


Aww, son of a...... !!!!!!!!! #-o 
Guess what - You're not the only one!
I was only planning on a small 6" end vice, so I may get away with it if the rods are 12" or less. 

Are you planning to finish it before or after you cut the vice hole?


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## DBT85 (5 Apr 2018)

Tasky":hmf42w4p said:


> DBT85":hmf42w4p said:
> 
> 
> > I did realise yesterday of course that I had neglected my own mental plan to lower the rail on one set of legs to take the screws so that I could use one of the vie as a tail vice.
> ...



Haha nice to know I'm not the only one.

No idea on the finishing yet. I figure I've got a year or so before I get there. #-o #-o 

One option you'd have is to just move that set of legs inboard a bit to take the screws. I can;t relaly do that with the 52 1/2 as it opens to 13". The legs would be in the middle of the bench lol.


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## Tasky (5 Apr 2018)

DBT85":2mj36jnv said:


> One option you'd have is to just move that set of legs inboard a bit to take the screws.


Nope - I've cut the recesses in one apron already. Its destiny is set, now... :lol:


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## DBT85 (5 Apr 2018)

Tasky":2jc8qbbp said:


> DBT85":2jc8qbbp said:
> 
> 
> > One option you'd have is to just move that set of legs inboard a bit to take the screws.
> ...


Oh blimey I'm so slow I've been overtaken on my 2 weeks off work lol.

Other options for that apron, you could cut a much thicker wedge and just make your recess wider to shift the leg back. Or cut a new recess depending on how far back you would need to move it.


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## Tasky (5 Apr 2018)

Nah, I'm pretty settled on leg locations. It's a big bench, so would look weird if I did that. 
I was only gonna chuck something like a No 50 vice on the end and retro-dog it, to give me options.


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## Bm101 (5 Apr 2018)

https://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/wo ... nch-vices/

:-"


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## Tasky (5 Apr 2018)

Bm101":1yaicyz4 said:


> https://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/woodworking-bench-vices/
> :-"


I know.... I still want one, though. More useful than an empty space that I might occasionally use to saw from.


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## DBT85 (5 Apr 2018)

Bm101":3jh8aaes said:


> https://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/woodworking-bench-vices/
> 
> :-"


If we're making a list of things prominent online woodworkers say you do and don't need we'll be here all day lol.

I was going to add it simply as I had it.


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## Bm101 (5 Apr 2018)

Just throwing ideas lads not recommendations. :wink: 
I read his blog because I like his style of writing and it _mysteriously_ gets emailed to me. 
I also have an old 52 to add to the everlasting bench build as an end vice. The face one is a leg type. It's all pretty much cut up and done apart from the leg mortices into the tops underside, fitting and flattening the top. It's heavy enough that I can plane on it no worries on the lidl sawhorses. Only been nearly three years lol.  I keep finding other stuff to do...  
My personal thing is I can't see for the life of me why a right hander is nearly always recommended to put a vice on the left. For the front vice this makes sense but for an end vice I can't see it. 
I cut the rebate for it in the left but it's going on the right side of the end (when I get round to it). I have enough space not to have the bench against a wall. When I saw I like to cut to the right of the vice not the left so the vice will go as far to the right as flush (with the back ) as possible. Maybe I'm just a weirdo. :| 

Enjoying the build btw. :wink:


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## DBT85 (5 Apr 2018)

Bm101":1h1i3isq said:


> Just throwing ideas lads not recommendations. :wink:
> I read his blog because I like his style of writing and it _mysteriously_ gets emailed to me.
> I also have an old 52 to add to the everlasting bench build as an end vice. The face one is a leg type. It's all pretty much cut up and done apart from the leg mortices into the tops underside, fitting and flattening the top. It's heavy enough that I can plane on it no worries on the lidl sawhorses. Only been nearly three years lol.  I keep finding other stuff to do...
> My personal thing is I can't see for the life of me why a right hander is nearly always recommended to put a vice on the left. For the front vice this makes sense but for an end vice I can't see it.
> ...



Haha, so I'm not taking as long as I could it seems!


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## Tasky (6 Apr 2018)

Bm101":1muw5u7o said:


> My personal thing is I can't see for the life of me why a right hander is nearly always recommended to put a vice on the left. For the front vice this makes sense but for an end vice I can't see it.


If it's on the right of the end and you're doing some long work, you're limited by how far along the bench you can reach. With it on the left of the end, you have the full bench length running down your right side... if that makes sense?


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## Brandlin (6 Apr 2018)

Tasky":1vm33fo1 said:


> Bm101":1vm33fo1 said:
> 
> 
> > My personal thing is I can't see for the life of me why a right hander is nearly always recommended to put a vice on the left. For the front vice this makes sense but for an end vice I can't see it.
> ...



If you are cutting long pieces, you want to be able support the waste length in your free hand. For a right hander that means cutting to the left of the vice with the waste in your left hand?


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## Tasky (6 Apr 2018)

Brandlin":cqa39if2 said:


> If you are cutting long pieces, you want to be able support the waste length in your free hand. For a right hander that means cutting to the left of the vice with the waste in your left hand?


Which you can do with the face vice anyway, right? 
I was thinking more about edge planing, perhaps on a long shooting board or something, held in the tail vice.


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## novocaine (6 Apr 2018)

it means you are pushing in to the vice rather than away from it, so the force is against the contact of the lead screw not away from it.


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## Bm101 (6 Apr 2018)

novocaine":240ryoml said:


> it means you are pushing in to the vice rather than away from it, so the force is against the contact of the lead screw not away from it.


Ahhhhhh. Thanks Novocaine. What if you just use Japanese Saws? Does it still count?  
Also thanks for the other replies but I can't think (in my limited way) of a way I can't get round work holding. planing etc using dogholes, holdfasts, a stop or a bit of scrap and a clamp without using an end vice. I also have one of them (slightly rusty) Veritas wonderdogs I bought second hand from A Nice Chap On Here. I have a little notion I might tap two small bits of bar into the top plane of it which will cover pulling as well as pushing. 
I'm asking questions not pretending I know what I'm doing. One advantage of taking so long to build the bench is that I have found ways that suit my way of working in between times. They aren't necessarily what I thought I'd need when I started.
Cheers now.
Chris


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## DBT85 (7 Apr 2018)

My mission today is to at least finish my rail, assemble my other leg and then cut the aprons to length. If I can also chop a couple of the recesses I'll be a happy bunny.

Also have football and F1 to watch, dinner to cook and a child to look after lol


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## thetyreman (7 Apr 2018)

DBT85":20aoc7fd said:


> My mission today is to at least finish my rail, assemble my other leg and then cut the aprons to length. If I can also chop a couple of the recesses I'll be a happy bunny.
> 
> Also have football and F1 to watch, dinner to cook and a child to look after lol



and don't forget golf as well


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## DBT85 (7 Apr 2018)

Success! 

Got my last tenon complete and fettled to size. My legs are more more or less done, at least enough to more on. Still not glued up. 






Then cut my aprons to length. I think my saw has a very wide set on it so it's a bit of a pain. Will look forward to correcting that when I get time. 

Then I got my first wedge cut from an old bed slat and marked up for the recess. A few pencil lines to help me see my knife marks and remind me which way to put the wedge lol! It looks drunk in the photo but one side of the marks are indeed square to the edge. 







thetyreman":3oqo8cgo said:


> and don't forget golf as well


Oh please can I? Lol


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## Tasky (9 Apr 2018)

DBT85":7tnwj0xg said:


> Then I got my first wedge cut from an old bed slat and marked up for the recess. A few pencil lines to help me see my knife marks and remind me which way to put the wedge lol!


Remember to mark up which leg and which wedge goes in each recess!!
I've been using Roman numerals, myself. Technically it shouldn't matter, as '_of course_' your work is good enough that everything is the same size, right...? But since I already had some wedge-shaped offcuts from some previous work, I'm using them. 
Do also have a quick go at test-fitting with the wedges in and wiggling the legs - I'm still enthralled by how something so simple is so effective. Even my wife was suitable impressed!!


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## DBT85 (9 Apr 2018)

Tasky":lkrh5t87 said:


> Technically it shouldn't matter, as '_of course_' your work is good enough that everything is the same size, right...?



Ha. I have to admit that it is not. It shouldn't matter mostly because the wedge would move to take up any slack or even move up if needed if one leg was thicker than the others.

I got impatient with my dimensioning so there are some definite "could do better" marks on my report card. This will still be the best thing I've made (we'll exclude the baby lol) and I can already see where I can do better on later work.

Didn't manage to cut the recess this weekend, might manage it Thursday or Friday but I've family visiting so possibly not. Shouldn't take long though.

Can't wait just to get the aprons on the legs and wedged on.


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## DBT85 (13 Apr 2018)

Got 2 of my recesses cut yesterday in the first apron, fair simple with the toughest bit being the depth. With the sole I had on my router I couldn't go to full depth, so for the first one just about managed without, but for the second one I added a bit of mdf. Far from ideal but thin enough to do the job and I wasn't going to flex too much given the gap I was operating in. 

Starting 






Done





It fits 





Huzzah





I still need to fit the bearer to the top of the legs, don't worry I've not forgotten haha. 

Second apron is marked up ready to go but that won't be till Monday now. 

It's remarkable how quickly rigidity is achieved as soon as that wedge goes in. Even with just 1 apron on there's no racking at all.


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## custard (13 Apr 2018)

DBT85":1r3qz9yd said:


> Huzzah



Gap free joinery, tight glue lines, all square and true.

You're doing great!


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## Tasky (13 Apr 2018)

custard":tsvanxij said:


> Gap free joinery, tight glue lines, all square and true.
> You're doing great!


I agree - FAR better than my efforts!! 
I'm rather jelly... :mrgreen: 



DBT85":tsvanxij said:


> I still need to fit the bearer to the top of the legs, don't worry I've not forgotten haha.


_Before _you drill the bolt holes, yeh!!!
I must remember to cut and fit mine this weekend, as I've every intention of getting my aprons on this time - I bet you I forget in the excitement of test-fitting!
Last weekend got completely stolen from me and I still have one recess left... 



DBT85":tsvanxij said:


> Even with just 1 apron on there's no racking at all.


To me, this is the genius part of woodworking!

How long is your bench, again?
Looks to be about 6½'...?


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## NickN (13 Apr 2018)

Been a bit busy recently on things other than woodworking, but stopped by and see that you're making really excellent progress!

And completely agree that the moment the first apron gets fitted, with wedges, is a real eye-opener as to just how stable the whole setup becomes. The bolt through the apron and leg is almost a luxury, but it does help straighten it all up.

I've been using my workbench for... er... painting tractor parts... :lol:


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## DBT85 (14 Apr 2018)

Tasky":16uby2dr said:


> DBT85":16uby2dr said:
> 
> 
> > I still need to fit the bearer to the top of the legs, don't worry I've not forgotten haha.
> ...



It's very easy to forget when you get a bit excited about a bit. I have the same issue when I'm building Lego lol.

My bench is precisely about _some_ long   

I simply checked that my aprons/wellboard/top were all the same length, then arbitrarily marked of the ends square and cut them. 

The 3.6m lengths were all cut in the middle for glueup, so should be 1800mm, minus maybe 20mm once I trim the ends. Ish. Give or take. 



NickN":16uby2dr said:


> Been a bit busy recently on things other than woodworking, but stopped by and see that you're making really excellent progress!
> 
> And completely agree that the moment the first apron gets fitted, with wedges, is a real eye-opener as to just how stable the whole setup becomes. The bolt through the apron and leg is almost a luxury, but it does help straighten it all up.
> 
> I've been using my workbench for... er... painting tractor parts... :lol:



Ha, what you use it for is part of it. Mines going to get stuff painted on it, stuff made on it, some repaired on it, dismantled on it. Everything!


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## DBT85 (17 Apr 2018)

Workbench done.











Sort of. lol.

Plenty to do, but the big work is done.


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## nabs (17 Apr 2018)

your on the home straight! I think you have done a really nice job and I am looking forward to seeing the final result - I am sure you will be delighted with it


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## Tasky (18 Apr 2018)

DBT85":2oht8655 said:


> Workbench done.
> Sort of. lol. Plenty to do, but the big work is done.


Feels good to get to this point, dunnit!!!
I'm exactly level with you, but the rest is on hold until I can sort my vice out. 

Did you glue the aprons on, or are they bolted? I can't _see _any bolts in that pic...


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## LancsRick (18 Apr 2018)

Kids, don't go in the back room, and if you do, don't sneeze!


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## DBT85 (18 Apr 2018)

Tasky":2iz4evs8 said:


> DBT85":2iz4evs8 said:
> 
> 
> > Workbench done.
> ...



Ahh congrats! 

It does feel good. As of right now it's only the joinery holding it all together. No glue anywhere yet. Wanted to make sure it all lined up OK first haha. It's plenty sturdy as its the is though. 

Sorted the bearers out today and got it reassembled. Next job is some light planing on the wellboard and then a bunch of work on the worktop. 

Once I'm happy I'll dismantle and glue/bolt everything. Might drill the bolt holes while I have it together at the moment.


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## Tasky (25 Apr 2018)

How's it going, DB? Any progress?

Mine's all together and being planed flat. SOOOOOOO much easier planing stuff up at this level!!
Even 'using the cap iron' seems to be working quite well - Ya gotta try it!!


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## DBT85 (25 Apr 2018)

Tasky":13ntht58 said:


> How's it going, DB? Any progress?
> 
> Mine's all together and being planed flat. SOOOOOOO much easier planing stuff up at this level!!
> Even 'using the cap iron' seems to be working quite well - Ya gotta try it!!



None yet mate. Had no time since the last update as I've been at work.

Off now till May so hopefully I can get it done!


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## DBT85 (27 Apr 2018)

Managed a few hours in there today.

Got my bolt holes drilled using my brace and bit. Not used it before so happy to find a bit in the bag the right size and sharp! 

Then I set about getting the top out of twist, I'd obviously not finished it last time, though it had quite a bit in it as I recall!

Then popped onto the bench to check and clamp it up to check measurements once it's all secure. So nice to see it sitting there, and flat on the frame! 






Then it was time to set up my #78 and #44 planes and sharpen up. 






Finally get some shavings! 





The wellboard is now all done as is the the top. I was halfway through ploughing the apron when daddy duties intervened.

I have to say zusing the #78 was a joy. Worked easily and had no problems at all.

The #44 on the other hand kept wanting to pull to the left,toward the fence, and in so doing pull the fence away from the piece and so also mangle my groove.

I think maybe the shoe wasn't quite lined up with the blade correctly maybe. With much more effort I seemed to be able to control it.


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## memzey (28 Apr 2018)

Another big fan of the #78 here! I think it’s an awesome tool in that it just does what it sets out to with the minimum of fuss and complication. I used mine in my recent table build -> coffee-table-with-breadboard-ends-and-wedged-through-tenons-t111674.html and wondered why certain tools like router and shoulder planes seem to be considered sexy-retro-cool by journos and gurus while other, equally useful, tools like the #78 are not. Who cares I suppose? I wouldn’t want to be without mine.


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## DBT85 (28 Apr 2018)

Got the half hour I needed to finish off my apron groove and then complete the assembly for the first time.

Well board and top need to be cut to length still, legs need gluing together, then top to front apron then screws to hold both the top and board to the bearers. Will get some of that done tomorrow. 

Then its vice fitting and planing the top down! 

Feels really solid even with nothing hut joinery and weight holding it together. Looking forward to getting cracking on it!


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## MikeG. (28 Apr 2018)

I'm only following superficially, so apologies if this is a silly question. Is that a dry fit, or have you glued it up? Because that will be a bit of a pain to clean up to length_ in situ_ unless you're OK with a bit of breakout on the underside.


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## DBT85 (28 Apr 2018)

MikeG.":3n5fkud8 said:


> I'm only following superficially, so apologies if this is a silly question. Is that a dry fit, or have you glued it up? Because that will be a bit of a pain to clean up to length_ in situ_ unless you're OK with a bit of breakout on the underside.



No problem Mike. 

It's only held together at the moment with 4 bolts and joinery. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be dismantling the whole thing to start glue up and cutting to length.


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## thetyreman (28 Apr 2018)

what if you wanted to take it apart again?


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## DBT85 (28 Apr 2018)

thetyreman":6fte0v76 said:


> what if you wanted to take it apart again?



It's able be taken apart, part of the design in the first place.

The legs are glued together, the bearers screw and glue to the top of those. The aprons are then secured to the legs with the wedge which will only get tighter if there is movement and its hammered home in the first place. 

The top is glued to the front apron, then the top and we'll board are screwed to the bearers. 

Finally 4 bolts just ass as extra insurance to hold the aprons to the legs. 4 mag bolts can also be used a but higher up to add a bit more.


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## Tasky (30 Apr 2018)

Soon be time to fit the vice, eh!!


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## DBT85 (30 Apr 2018)

Tasky":1tqpkqfu said:


> Soon be time to fit the vice, eh!!


Yep, maybe this weekend with a little luck!

Yesterday was a clustercluck. I had hoped to get the legs glued up, watch the F1 and then the footy. In the end I got the bench disassembled and the leg parts clean (free of pencil parks etc), then the internet died, then someone came over, then someone else came over. In the end I saw 25 mins of the F1 and 20 mins of the football. ha.

Got the legs glued up today so tomorrow I'll reassemble and see about getting the top glued to the front apron, then its cut the wellboard, plane the whole thing a bit closer to flat and then I can get the vice in. It's taken so long. Curses!

Also today I bagged up all the shavings so I can at least walk around in there now.


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## DBT85 (18 Jun 2019)

Some said he was dead, others that he had lost his interest.

No, just life got in the bloody way.

It's under that lot somewhere, honest.







I've been beavering away with odd jobs as and when needed, yet have I to find the time to do things I _want_ to do in there, like add some shelves at the end of the bench, a drawer, a rear tool shelf, hell, even finishing the damned thing!

I have to say though, a year after it was finally built and in useable state, it's made my life so much easier doing all sorts of jobs. Pipework boxing in, making shelves, adjusting some oak double glazing units, all made far easier just by having the bench/vice there and the tools to do what I need to do.

Sadly in the next 12-18 months I'm going to lose the indoor workshop, and the wife and I have both agreed my plans for an outside workshop are best shelved (as I also want a garage :mrgreen: ) and instead well head in the direction of a double of triple timber garage from somewhere like Warwick Buildings. 

In the meantime the shop will have to be moved down the other end of the driveway to my inlaws place so still accessible but not nearly as handy.

With a fair bit of time off coming up I'll try and actually update the thread a bit more as (if) I actually do anything to it.


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