First dovetails for 47 years.

[Phil Pascoe]

A small silversmith's bench. I haven't room for a larger one, fortunately I sold my old larger one to a friend when we moved house for the material costs - which if you see the cost of one you will know why she was delighted. https://www.kernowcraft.com/products/si ... bench-c302
I have some silver work coming so finished it. The upstand will have loops for gas cylinders etc. fixed to it.

The top was a dyeing experiment that didn't work very well, but it's a work bench. Twin or double tenons. Little Marples vice on the side, which isn't customary, but I already had it and know how useful vices are. No legs on the front because of the wheelchair. The moulding on the rail wasn't done for aesthetic reasons,it was to get rid of the wet rot - the whole thing was made from firewood thrown over the wall by my neighbour. Could be better, but it's only a bench and it was made from a wheelchair.

 

[nabs]

excellent - I am looking forward to hearing about what you make. I used to work in Farringdon and our office overlooked the back rooms of several jewelers - I always wondered what was behind the bench design (they were all very similar, at least to my untrained eye!)

 

[Phil Pascoe]

There are different designs, but much of a muchness. Much of the sawing and filing is done on the pin (the bit of mahogany on the front) which is basically sacrificial. Traditionally your apron would be attached under the semicircular cut out on the front to catch the lemel (unusual word, good for Scrabble). This is a bit heavier than it probably needs to be, but I don't like benches that bounce - and besides, the worktop came free.

 

[custard]

very good - I have just had a look at my hapless attempt at dovetails (in my saw bench) and needless to say I won't be posting a picture for comparative purposes!

Nabs, like many you might be ranking dovetails a bit too high on the scale of woodworking difficulty (not to detract from Phil's excellent achievement!). I see elsewhere you're well advanced on a project with bridle joints, IMO bridle joints are far harder than dovetails.

Dovetails are generally executed in fairly thin timbers, thin equals easy; plus for half blind dovetails most of the joint is hidden so you can cut all sorts of corners, and with dovetails as long as at least one of the components is in a soft to moderate timber you can cut for a "compression" fit. Most importantly of all, a dovetail is unique amongst joinery in that it doesn't actually have to be impeccable in order to still be strong and reliable.

None of those factors apply with bridle joints.

To get onto the training programme at the Barnsley Workshops you have to pass a practical test, you cut a wide range of joinery by hand and execute a selection of common cabinet making challenges. But it's generally acknowledged that the killer of the day is the one that most think will be easy, namely laying out and cutting a bridle joint by hand and against the clock. There's absolutely no where to hide with a bridle joint, it's either bang on or it's a rubbish, gappy mess.

So when you've successfully completed your project (as I'm sure you will) you can justifiably conclude that, having got bridle joints under your belt, you're able to tackle any joinery out there.

 

[nabs]

funnily enough earlier today I did my first couple of test bridle joints - one was a bit of a cheat as I used a jig, but the first one I did from scratch. I can tell you with the upmost confidence that I would not have passed the Barnsley Workshop speed test for the second one (although after much faffing around it is a reasonably good fit).

By comparison, the jig based one was a revelation - you just mark out the depth of the cut on each part and then saw against the 4 guides and the joint fits snuggly without any tweaking. A brilliant idea from Mr Maquire!

 

[custard]

By comparison, the jig based one was a revelation

I'm intrigued, I've never seen a bridle joint jig.

 

[nabs]

I wouldn't want to deter anyone from buying the video where they are explained in detail (well worth the money!) but you can get the gist of it from the introduction here:

http://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/new ... le-guides/

 

[thetyreman]

nice job phil

 

[n0legs]

So we're showing off now ?
Fine!!! :lol:
Looking good Phil =D>