Advice please; Work-bench and Vice

[memzey]

It's all a matter of opinion I suppose but to my mind a good set of clamps is likely to be more important for woodworking than a domino. I should caveat that by saying I have a good set of clamps and no domino and can still be fairly clueless

 

[novocaine]

looking good.
cramps, you see those 2 bits of scrap on the floor in the last image? cut the end off, turn it 90 and screw it to the long bit. do the same at the other end but screw it about an inch from where the boards you are gluing up would sit. grab an offcut and cut a wedge. less than 5 minutes work and you've got 2 serviceable if temporary cramps. move the bit of wood between each glue up to give more reach. if you've got a few more bits like that then make a few more. once your done, take the screws back (because I'm tight) and put the scrap in the offcuts pile for something else.

 

[Copes]

Looking good Cordy.

I also "technically" started my bench, and by that i mean i attempted to plane one edge of a 9x2 while resting it on the tablesaw to much frustration, i then moved it to the floor and attempted it again with even worse results. Cue much cursing and stomping around.

Do you guys think it would be sensible to rip my 9x2's in half first? then i can plane them when they have a better centre of gravity? I'm struggling to keep them up on end at the moment as they're bloody heavy.

I ripped one that actually looked pretty spot on straight anyway and checking it against my tablesaw top, i can only see about 1/2mm slither of light at most moving it along the length, which i can just plane out once it's glued up?

My only concern is clearly some of them have some kind of minor cupping, when all stacked on top of each other there is a definite wobble to the pile.

I'm going to crack on again this weekend

 

[Cordy]

Decided to forget the pocket-hole idea; just ordered 4 sash clamps 900 mm
So will Domino and clamp the 3 enlarged sections -- might be next week before I can continue


Copes, have you got a folding work-bench ?
Bolting to wall is OK for temporary......

 

[John15]

Cordy,

900mm long clamps have a maximum opening of about 750mm. you mentioned in one of your posts above that your bench is a little over 3ft.

John

 

[Copes]

Sadly, i have very little in the way of work surfaces. Last year my previous workspace/shed burnt down with pretty much everything inside so it's all starting from scratch, which at least means i get to start over from fresh, but in times like this can be a pain in the bum.

 

[Cordy]

900mm long clamps have a maximum opening of about 750mm. you mentioned in one of your posts above that your bench is a little over 3ft.

John

John; I typed it wrong

6ft x 23 inches; 3 x 2 inches pieces

 

[novocaine]

Copes, use some scraps to make something like this, then you should be able to plane on the floor to get a decent edge. usually made for doing door edges and with a bit more support but should see you right. if they are still moving, add weight to the base with whatever you've got that is heavy.
note, not to scale, wedges can be shorter, so can the sides.

 

[John15]

900mm long clamps have a maximum opening of about 750mm. you mentioned in one of your posts above that your bench is a little over 3ft.

John

John; I typed it wrong

6ft x 23 inches; 3 x 2 inches pieces

And I read it wrongly!!

John

 

[Copes]

Thanks Novo, that's a decent idea... which has sparked another, I can probably knock up something to mount my Record 53 vice on the floor, some kind of little bracket thing that i can weight down.

I'll take some photos of my progress too.

 

[Cordy]

While waiting for the 900 mm clamps to arrive I'm looking at Record 52 1/2 vices on the Bay
Car boot sales are not my thing :roll:

Some made in England vices have strengthening gussets but not all
Is there a difference in quality ?

 

[ED65]

The buttresses make a vice stronger, but it's probably an unneeded strengthening measure which is why everyone stopped doing it. Not having them makes the vice a little easier to install as you might imagine.

 

[MarkDennehy]

Besides, that lower one looks like one of the early 52½E series because it's got the E series shape and the sawdust cover over the screw, which I thought myself was about the best of the 52½ series (I tried buying one off ebay twice only for the sale to go sideways for various reasons and in the end got a 53A that also had the screw cover).

 

[MattRoberts]

Actually, I think the top one is the earlier model - it's just missing the dust cover for the screw. Just restored one myself

 

[Copes]

I need some advice on my top guys, my process so far;

1 - Plane the top edge of the 9x2
2 - Rip said peice on the tablesaw in half (roughly)
3 - Nudge the fence in maybe 5mm-10mm and cut the non-cut side giving me parallel-ish sides(?)
4 - Face plane where needed? or should i face plane them all over? There's some minor cupping/bending going on
5 - glue them up in batches of 4 or 5, would alternating the end cupping help to minimise it overall? (making sure all of my grain is running the length the same way for planing the top.)
6 - hopefully not give up hope

I did a trial run with clamping 4 peices from step 2 togther, and they definitely didn't go together as easy as i would have liked although i was only using 4 parallel clamps, i've got another 6 and 10 f clamps i can draft into battle if needed... I guess my question is, should i expect them to sit beautifully together to start with, or should i clamp the buggery out of them until they do go together?

Saying that all goes well, and i've got i guess 4 glued up 4s. Should i true up the tops of each, or should i glue those guys all together and do it all in one go?

Maybe i should give you guys some images of the woods current state? I think they were originally roofing beams maybe.

 

[MarkDennehy]

Hm. Maybe I misread Matt - I thought only the original 52½ series (the ones before the E series) had the buttresses, and the E series had those open slots instead of through-holes for the fastening screws at the back, and the early E-series vices kept the screw cover from the original design for a few years before dropping it?

(Nice job on the vice btw, I like that gray more than I would have thought I would have)

 

[Copes]

Oh i assumed the grey was a primer of some sort? I used the hammerite smooth dark blue on my 53, seems like a good colour.

 

[ED65]

4 - Face plane where needed? or should i face plane them all over? There's some minor cupping/bending going on

I don't think you need to worry about minor warping, anything that you can close up with moderate clamp pressure shouldn't pose a problem.

5 - glue them up in batches of 4 or 5, would alternating the end cupping help to minimise it overall?

You do want to alternate where possible.

(making sure all of my grain is running the length the same way for planing the top.)

Best of luck with that! You usually won't be able to do that 100% of the time because you're also trying to alternate bows in the wood etc. which has to take priority.

If you're worried about tearout planing the wrong way no need to be, just adjust your cap iron very close to your cutting edges and it can prevent it nearly entirely.

I guess my question is, should i expect them to sit beautifully together to start with, or should i clamp the buggery out of them until they do go together?

Well you do want to clamp hard to get the best glue joint so don't be afraid to do that. When this sort of thing is done in a factory setting the clamping force is tremendous, well over what any amount of clamps a home woodworker can bring to bear are capable of exerting. Just protect the edges with scrap blocks so you don't get localised crushing and tighten away.

Saying that all goes well, and i've got i guess 4 glued up 4s. Should i true up the tops of each, or should i glue those guys all together and do it all in one go?

I think you can do a bit of both, but I believe it's normal to do it all in one go at the end.

Are you using cauls to help keep the glue-ups as flat as possible? If not top tip!

 

[Copes]

Well my first section is done, it was interesting!

First time i've broken out my 1500cm clamps, in short... my workshop isn't really big enough for them! turns it into somewhat of an obstacle course. After getting out every clamp i have, i hope i managed to close up all the gaps. On my dry run i couldn't quite close them all 100% but again i didn't really expect to as i know my wood isn't perfectly square and straight.

I think i'll leave everything until the morning and see what i've got. (aka, a lot of cleaning up clamps! went a bit over the top on the glue.)

Fingers crossed :wink:

 

[Cordy]

Shaping up nicely there Copes