Bench finished up and running

[Anonymous]

I finished off my bench today. Heres a pic

I was originolly going to use a beech wood screw for the vice but decided to get a metal jobbie from axerminster tool company instead. The holdfast's work like a dram, I was aprehensive I thought I might have wasted £40 if the shape is wrong or theres a design fault :shock: :roll: However, ONE tap with mallet, it did just what it says on the tin and stuck like a limpet. Oh no I thought that might be wedged too tight and be impossible to remove, no worries ONE tap at the back and up it pops just like it syas on the tin. It grips solid as a rock. I am well pleased. I added 4x2's under the bench top to increase the thickness to 4 inch's where the holdfast's go through. Yes theres a nasty chaeck opened up along the front dge, I may well add an oak lip at some point, I'll see how it goes. I also might inset the horizontal vice jaw into the bench apron to make it flush. Again see how it goes. I am going to build one of those german style stands to hold up one end of the board for planing. Seat carvings going to be a lot easier and less fiddly :lol:

Also I built up a new shaving horse, almost complete apart from levelling the legs. I also gotta make some special slot in jiggies to hold various diameters also one for pegs (large ones) They will drop into holes on the wedge with 2 peg locaters. I got fed up using the post vice to do spindles as Mr Dunbar does, this is faster and more traditionall as well :lol:

Heres a pic

Cheers Jonathan

 

[Anonymous]

Looks lovely and strong Jonathan and i love the vice

Have fun making things on it :wink:

 

[Paul Chapman]

They both look really good, Jonathan 8) I'd be interested to know why you decided on that style of vice.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Anonymous]

Good evening chaps
Thanks for your kind comments. 8)
The reason I chose that style of leg vice Paul was because its cheap and few mechanical parts; it will take punishment, is easy to modify/adapt/repair plus it has fantastic clamping power which is useful when your doing chair seat's. (I did mine with the screw 8 inch's from the top of the jaws) You can get a quite a wide board in the jaws before it touches the thread.
That thing is heavy in fact I almost couldnt lift it back upright tis afternoon as I had to work on it on its side. Nearly did myself a mischeif :lol:

I am so impressed with those holdfast's I'm going to get some smaller ones to use for clamping and so on. Harry Strasil jr showed a simple effective design somewhere, he knows what hes taliking about.
cheers Jonathan

 

[Philly]

Very nice, Jonathan!!!
Also love the "Wall 'O Tools"-perfect :wink:
Philly

 

[DaveL]

Jonathan,

Very useful looking bench, you should see hours of pleasure working at it.

That vice is quite something, the depth is impressive. 8)

Looking forward to seeing some more chairs.

 

[Paul Chapman]

The reason I chose that style of leg vice Paul was because its cheap and few mechanical parts; it will take punishment, is easy to modify/adapt/repair plus it has fantastic clamping power which is useful when your doing chair seat's. (I did mine with the screw 8 inch's from the top of the jaws) You can get a quite a wide board in the jaws before it touches the thread.
That thing is heavy in fact I almost couldnt lift it back upright tis afternoon as I had to work on it on its side. Nearly did myself a mischeif :lol:

I am so impressed with those holdfast's I'm going to get some smaller ones to use for clamping and so on.

Thanks for that, Jonathan :wink: I'd seen examples of it in Scott Landis' Workbench Book and often wondered how good they were - yours certainly looks well made. Glad to hear that the holdfasts work well - they seem to be a lot faster and easier to use than the modern-day equivalents :wink:

Cheers,

Paul

 

[RogerM]

That's a really good looking bench Jonathan - lots of ideas there for my next project.

Those holdfasts look too simple to be true. I note that you don't use any blocks between the metal and the workpiece. Any bruising to the wood?

 

[Anonymous]

Evening Dave

I just been looking on ebay for some cork tile to line the jaws, £7.50 postage for 1 tile???? :shock: :shock: I'll look at Godfreys tomorrow !!
I been doing a lot fo drawing of chairs working on designs. The basic ones that influence me are the Irish, african (frame sort not carved) and welsh. But I been studying the grek klismos shapes as weell, and the chinease make some good slab and stick forms too.....I like hybrids, even this bench is hybrid, part english part french :lol: :lol:
cheers Jonathan

 

[Anonymous]

Evening Paul and Roger :lol:

I used a leg vice on my first bench (1990/91??) I still like them, they "give" a bit on awkward shapes or non paralell stock like when your doing cleft legs, or wedge shaped seats. The modern holdfasts break too easy (cast iron-why on earth use cast iron :roll: :lol: )
For most of what I do Roger bruising isnt an issue, but for fine quality were I did not want a mark I'd use a protecting batton; and yes they do look simple but believe me they work, will cetainly assist me to further increase towards a professional speed, no fannying about with screw holdfasts/g clamps etc :wink: :lol: Mind one slip with the adze, hit the holdfast, and it'll be out with the file to repair the edge....I'll sort soemthing out, improvise, think like a joiner was what I was taught :lol: If you want to build a bench Roger, I'd say go for it mate, a decent bench is like having a helper

 

[Paul Chapman]

I just been looking on ebay for some cork tile to line the jaws, £7.50 postage for 1 tile???? :shock: :shock:

How about trying a cork table mat - I think you can pick them up quite cheaply in supermarkets and elsewhere :wink:

Cheers

Paul

 

[houtslager]

looking good there, any chance of sending a sketch of your shave, I need one and the net doesn't have many good ones and I'm too poor to pay for one just now. Buying straw bales does hammer the wallet

cheers HS - snug as a bug in a rug with the shavings now in the stove

 

[Colin C]

HI Mr S,

For cork you could also use a sanding block so you can have them as thick as you like

 

[Lord Nibbo]

Looks nice and heavy, did/have you put a finish on it?

 

[NickWelford]

Jonathan,
I'm interested in the seat on the bench - is it lengths of oak butted together? Also, what kind of adze do you use for hollowing the seat, and what do you use for refining the cut?

Nice bench by the way. My shavehorse looks like a nag against yours!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Nick
The seat blank is a section of recycled ikae worktop (oak) they use a finger jointer to join end to end then laninate them into widths. Quality as supplied is poor but can be done a good job with plane scrapers and plenty of oil :lol:

The adzes are a henry taylor with the handle replaced with one about 20 inch's in stead of the one handed one supplied; also an antique one I got out of a coal shed, I made the edge curved it does very shaloow concave parts. I also have 2 curved drawknive's (and a straight drawknife). I am a lucky lad, they were made by Brian Russell THE best blacksmith about 15 year ago when I lived in Durham. I move here to Suffolk and the first smith I look up happens to be... one of Brian's pupils, and he made the holdfast's in the picture. I do pretty much all the shaping by adze with the seat held in the post vice (more likely now held down with the holdfast's 8) ) then finish with the curved drawknives. I dont use travishers, I dont want or need an smooth "injection moulded" look, I like the tool mark facet's. Sometimes on a awkward grain I use the antique adze like a plane holding the metal part in my hands and pushing and slicing to get a decent finish. I had a shve horse years ago but got rid (not enough space, terrace house in Darlington!!) it was built too heavy anyway. Its too slow using a post vice to do spindles and legs as Mike Dunbar does so I thought lets try again.
Do you make any chairs? What techniques do you use? Got any good pics of vernaculer chairs I love the welsh and Irish best
Cheers Jonathan :lol:

 

[Alf]

I dont use travishers, I dont want or need an smooth "injection moulded" look, I like the tool mark facet's.

Like the princess and the pea, I fear I'd feel every facet... I went for "injection moulded", 'cos while I might appreciate tool marks, the recipient is a child of the modern age and would merely have asked if I hadn't had time to finsh it. :roll:

Cheers, Alf

 

[woodbloke]

Jonathan - if its of any interest, there has recently been a run of very good articles in F&C on making chairs in this way, might be worth a look if you can get hold of some back copies - Rob

 

[Anonymous]

Nice form Alf 8)
How did you make the comb did you do any steam bending?
How did you make the spindle's splitting or sawing out?
Had you studued John Brown's book before you did this one?
Would you be willing to do a diagram of how you set out the joints on the 3 part arm??
Cheers Jonathan

 

[Alf]

Nice form Alf 8)

Ta muchly

How did you make the comb did you do any steam bending?

No steam bending - cowardice intervened. The comb was cut from the solid.

How did you make the spindle's splitting or sawing out?

Sawing, a la John Brown.

Had you studued John Brown's book before you did this one?

Oh yeah. And all his Good Woodworking articles. And Drew Langsner's The Chairmaker's Workshop.

Would you be willing to do a diagram of how you set out the joints on the 3 part arm??

Well it's not a diagram, but this might help.

I've yet to get it all sorted out and on the website yet, but if you're needing an insomnia cure the whole thing is viewable step-by-painful-step in my Blog. The seeds of the disease put forth leaves around January 9th, and are dotted about from thence onwards.

Cheers, Alf