# Bench Project



## mahking51 (13 Feb 2005)

Here are a couple of pics of my new bench in progress. This is my first effort at reducing my greenheart mountain!













My Axminster jointer and T/planer cope with it quite well as long as I don't take too thick a cut.
The stretchers are made out of a couple of bits of oak I had lying around and a friend ran up some large barrel nuts to take the M12 bolts. I don't think it is going anywhere!
The top will be 3" greenheart and will have a tail vice and a Veritas chain vice and round dog holes.
Because it will be so heavy I am going to fit 4" Jacking castors so I can roll the bench outside the shop in the summertime.
Finish is Danish Oil.
As it comes along I will post more pics.
Regards
martin[/img]


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## DaveL (13 Feb 2005)

Martin,

Looking good.  

I am making a new bench and weight is one thing I am looking for, the Clarke bench I have is just too light, moves about when you start planing with anything bigger than a block plane. :shock: :? I think your greenheart is going to be the winner, I am only using ash. :roll:

I best take some pictures when it starts going together. 8)


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## Alf (13 Feb 2005)

Martin,

Ooo, that's going to be one solid bench. Lovely-jubbly.  And helping to reduce the European Greenheart mountain* too - excellent. :wink:

Cheers, Alf

* For the benefit of newer members


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## Chris Knight (13 Feb 2005)

Martin,

Looks like a good start, should be as solid as a rock.

Are you putting drawers or cupboards under? What kind of casters have you got in mind - any links? Someone here posted a link to these folk http://www.abacus-furniture.co.uk/20.htm who seem to have some really tough heavy duty things.


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## mahking51 (13 Feb 2005)

Chris
I like the castors on your link, very high tech!
Iwas thinking more along the lines of the ones hhere:
www.rosshandling.co.uk
I would use a socket in my cordless for winding them up and down.
Martin


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## Philly (13 Feb 2005)

Looking good Martin!
Keep us up to date,
Philly  
P.s. any news on the Xcaliber? :wink:


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## mahking51 (12 Mar 2005)

Hi all,
Latest progress on the bench project:
Finally finished laminating the front and top skirt sections; changed the front skirt thickness from 3" to 4 1/2"; top core is about 1 7/8" and ready to be biscuited to front after I have drilled the dog holes (Thanks Waka for a decent jointer!)
I decided to completely enclose the twin screw vice nuts within the front skirt and keep as much meat as possible in the screw thread areas, quite tricky as there is not much to play with with such a large vice.
Bought a Dieter Schmit tail vice assembly (Thanks Ian D!) which arrived quickly and is a solid and well made unit and very reasonablely priced at around £95 delivered.
Here are skirt sections:





Encapsulated Vice nut:





Also have made the front jaw for the vice with some oak trim:





I have decided not to go for the jacking castors as they are way to expensive so instead will make an old fashioned 'skate to lift each end on the odd times it needs moving.

Next big step after the dog holes will be to join the two skirt sections. I will get some help there as I don't have enough cramps and space to do the job properly.

Will up date as it goes along.
Best regards to all.
Martin[/url]


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## Alf (12 Mar 2005)

Very cool. 8) Obviously it's going to waltz across the floor in the lightest of breezes, being such a lightweight, but you can't have everything... :wink:

Cheers, Alf


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## Chris Knight (12 Mar 2005)

It is looking very good Martin. Keep the pics coming!


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## tim (12 Mar 2005)

That looks fabulous - really love all the contrasting laminations.

Have you worked out what the final weight will be?

Cheers

Tim


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## devonwoody (12 Mar 2005)

Bench is looking good. Also nice to see you are a Triton man.


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## Waka (12 Mar 2005)

Martin

Really looking good. Glad I could be of help.


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## DaveL (13 Mar 2005)

Now I thought that my ash bench was going to be heavy but I think yours is going to put mine in the light weight class. :x 
Nice looking work, I will post some pictures of mine when I get the tuit for doing more that just planing the timber. :roll:


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## mahking51 (19 Mar 2005)

Managed to drill the dog holes in the vice front jaw and front skirt section; not easy as its all very heavy and the 3/4" Clico bit I bought just for this is about 1" too short and also the stroke of my drill press is 3/4" too short.
I had to drill each hole and then raise the whole lot with the bit in the hole to finish. Very hard work!

Thanks to Waka lending me his PC biscuit joiner I managed to do the skirt/top glue up on my own with no problems:






Next step was to start assembling the front vice; nice clear instructions with the Veritas unit and no real problems:






It is very important not to forget as I did to plane the front jaw 2 degrees off to allow a good tight closure.

Here is vice installed with dogs and finished:











Next step is to fit the left end cap using two barrel nuts and bolts; not too much room here as I have the bigger vice so will drill from top instead of bottom and use plugs.

Had a very pleasant afternoon in the sun doing this, spring is on the way...    
Cheers all!


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## Ian Dalziel (19 Mar 2005)

Looking good Martin,

How are you getting on with the tail-vise design

Ian


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## Philly (19 Mar 2005)

That is going to be one darn good bench, Martin!
Keep up the good work
Philly


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## mahking51 (19 Mar 2005)

Ian

There are only a couple of bits of this project that give me a bit of worry, foremost is the tail vice as it is completely different to the one on the plan. I think that I may build a mock up in softwood using your pics as a guide and see how I get on. Perhaps that will make it seem a bit less daunting!

The other thing I am not looking forward to is acheiving a truly flat bench top. So far I have put each section through the thicknesser before gluing up and although not at all bad there is always a slight misregietration of the surfaces, from just about feelable to perhaps just under a mm.
Then again I have left the top of the vice slightly proud and will do same with endcaps.

I only have a very old No6 plane that I bought second hand and a not very good condition 4-1/2 smoothing plane. Both need a lot of work before thety will do. hand planing has never been a strong point of mine, I suspect I'm in for some long overdue practise!

Regards
Martin


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## Chris Knight (19 Mar 2005)

It looks very smooth Martin!


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## Ian Dalziel (19 Mar 2005)

Martin,
If your struggling with the design of the tailvise i'll re draw in sketch-up if that would be of any help. but it wont be until tomorrow this is 'millar time'
I used a no 7 to flatten. youre no 6 should be fine for this purpose, but make sure you have a good flat sole and sharp blade 

Ian


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## mahking51 (19 Mar 2005)

Ian
That would be a huge help if you really don't mind. I've read all I can find but there is no substitute for realworld experience.
Thanks a lot
Martin


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## Anonymous (20 Mar 2005)

Martin

This is the first time I have seen your threead as it didn't appear in my 'view posts since last visit' list for some reason until today.

Now that is one hell of a bench sir. looking superb and err, _adequately_ sturdy :wink:


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## tim (20 Mar 2005)

Martin,

How on earth did you get the glued up top and skirt into position - must have weighed a ton.

Can't wait to see the finished result.


All these posts just keep reminding me of all the things I need to do!! :shock: 


Cheers

T


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## mahking51 (20 Mar 2005)

Tim

Answer: two unsuspecting neighbours!

Q: Do you want to see a nice piece of wood?
Neigbours answer: Yes please!

Good then get a hold of this! May not work next time!
Cheers
Martin


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## Ian Dalziel (20 Mar 2005)

Martin,
I hope this helps a bit, I haven’t put in any sizes as I don’t know your bench dimensions but it should hopefully shed a bit more light. If you need more pm me 














Ian


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## tim (20 Mar 2005)

> Answer: two unsuspecting neighbours!
> 
> Q: Do you want to see a nice piece of wood?
> Neigbours answer: Yes please!
> ...



Smart work - agree with your last point! 

Cheers


Tim


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## mahking51 (20 Mar 2005)

Ian
That is a great help, many thanks.
Out of interest how long did that take in SketchUp?
regards
Martin


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## Ian Dalziel (20 Mar 2005)

not long maybe 15-20min tops. 

Ian


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## mahking51 (5 Apr 2005)

Well its nearly there!
Added the rear toolwell support and tool tray. Did not want a ramp so am going to cut a hole with removable cover and bin underneath. Why didn't I cut hole first? Good question! Will add a sliding removable tool rack along rear support later.









Cut a single large dovetail rather than two small ones as they are not my stong point and greenheart tears out easily. Sawed to lines and routed out waste carefully. Still a fair bit of fine chiselling needed to fit.





There is a tiny bit of fine tuning to do on the chain vice and then the only task left is the tail vice. Thanks to Ian Dalziel this is starting to make a bit of sense but will have to go slowly so as not to screw up. That IS my strong point!

The holes in the top will be filled with Non glued plugs in case the end caps need adjustment and I have used a single large lag bolt from the top side to secure the whole top.

I am really looking forward to using this in anger as TLOML keeps saying sarcastically that its the best bit of furniture we have!


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## Chris Knight (5 Apr 2005)

Martin it looks super. You really have set a high standard to keep up - with all the furniture that will now flow from it!


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## Alf (5 Apr 2005)

Martin, 'tis a thing of beauty. =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> 

Cheers, Alf


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## Mcluma (5 Apr 2005)

Martin,

That is a beautiful bench, and will be so helpful in creating nice pieces of furniture

McLuma


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## DaveL (5 Apr 2005)

Martin,

What Alf said  a very nice bench.

Slopes of to shop to look at pile of ash, no the fairies still haven't cut the joints and put it together, bum. [-o<


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## mahking51 (30 May 2005)

Hi all,
The bench is now just about finished. The tail vice was a tricky thing to get right but got there in the end. Many thanks to all who gave advise and help.
Here it is:




Just got the handle to do now, not entirley happy with the ones that came with the Chain vise either so will make three better ones in something nice.














The finish is Danish Oil with extra coats on end grain. This has been a real testing project for me but a great confidence builder!


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## Gill (30 May 2005)

:shock: 

I'd be afraid to use a bench that looks as good as that. What a beautiful job.

Gill


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## Les Mahon (30 May 2005)

:shock: :shock: :shock: 

That is really some piece of work! Lovely job. Did you ever get round to the moving it around solution, 'cause it sure looks heavy!

Les


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## Philly (30 May 2005)

Martin
It looks truly fabulous!!
Might have to take up your offer on the Greenheart now, looking at this!
Cheers
Philly


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## mahking51 (30 May 2005)

Les
re moving it around, I can just lift one end at a time and sort of shuffle it
to where I want it.
I would really like to be able to get it outside to work in the sun so despite the expense (£35 a corner!!) I may have to get the jacking castors I looked at at the start of the project.

Also I am slightly embarrased to say that I took a leaf from Andy Boyd's Tool case and got a brass plate made to 'sign' the bench:








A bit vain but, what the hell! 8) 
Regards
Martin


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## Newbie_Neil (30 May 2005)

Martin

Well done, there's nothing wrong with being proud of you workmanship.

An absolutely wonderful bench.

Cheers
Neil


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## Chris Knight (30 May 2005)

Martin,
That is a stunning bench, it looks absolutely terrific. You can be rightly proud of it and that brass plate is the icing on the cake.


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## Alf (30 May 2005)

Get those nasty yellow things off it *right now*. They're not worthy. [-X :wink: Proper Job. =D> 

Cheers, Alf


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## MikeW (30 May 2005)

My goodness, Martin, what a beautiful bench. Something to be proud of both in its construction and where the wood came from. Nice way to commemorate that.


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## Midnight (30 May 2005)

real nice job Martin...


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## Waka (31 May 2005)

Martin

Can't wait to see it in the flesh, really nice job.

I thought you'd have put some new goodies on there for a little gloat?


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## Scott (31 May 2005)

Superb Martin! Very impressive!


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## devonwoody (31 May 2005)

To Martin

Looks super and I would certainly like to have it in my workshop, built with greenheart means it should last many lifetimes, our local pier had greenheart and that stood in water for over 100 years.


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## Aragorn (31 May 2005)

Fantastic. Too good to use! :lol:


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## Neil (31 May 2005)

Absolutely superb, Martin! A real inspiration. I bet your planer knives needed resharpening after dealing with that lot!

Cheers,
Neil


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## mahking51 (31 May 2005)

Thanks very much everyone for your kind remarks.
Having seen what you guys are capable of it is high praise indeed.
Best Regards
Martin


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## Shadowfax (31 May 2005)

Martin
Strewth!! That is gorgeous. Well done indeed.

SF


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## ydb1md (1 Jun 2005)

Wow! Nice bench. Definitely makes mine look homely.


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## Adam (1 Jun 2005)

Superb. Problem is, I'd be scared of using it! :? 

Adam


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## Alf (1 Jun 2005)

Adam":rqzip5fa said:


> Superb. Problem is, I'd be scared of using it! :?


Yeah, can you imagine what'd happen if you accidentaly let your chisel slip and hit the bench? Probably need a re-grind... :wink: :lol: 

Cheers, Alf


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## Ian Dalziel (17 Jun 2005)

Superb Martin,
You made a cracking job of the tailvise.

dont worry about about using it now......because you know how you finished it..... a good flatten once a year will get rid of the user maks.....i was
hesitent at first but now it gets full abuse and i've reflattened and refinshed it 3 times.

you realise now you have to keep up that standard of work in all your jobs.

great learning curve 

well done 

lovely job

Ian


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