Project 1: Bench Hook

[billw]

So here I am at the very start of my current woodworking adventure with the need to make some basic bench and shop items to help make bigger and better things later on. I hope this series may encourage some people to give woodworking a try!

Aim of this particular project was to practice sawing, planing, and hand tool preparation. The finished result is this: -

The body is made from European walnut, the sacrificial strip from Mexican cocobola, and the stop from purpleheart. It's finished in Osmo Polyx Satin. Apart from basic saws and planes, I used a Stanley 78 rebate plane to prepare the rebate for the sacrificial strip.

Lessons learned from this project: -
1. Getting things square is not as easy as it looks
2. Planing takes a lot of patience, but is oddly satisfying when it's going right
3. Whilst the Stanley 78 looks relatively easy to use, I failed to make the rebate level both from left to right and front to back. I have no idea how I managed to make such an utter mess of things, nor why I seemingly couldn't correct the problem
4. I really should have cleaned the excess glue off before it had dried
5. Cocobola is horrific to work - it's so waxy. Maybe this was because the offcut I had was very close to the sapwood. I had to leave the tear out in the end because I was just making things worse
6. I put WAY too much finish on, it went sticky and uneven so I just sanded it back and tried again. Obviously some had already soaked into the wood so the finish is now somewhat uneven and a bit patchy
7. I can't saw in a straight line. Crosscutting is particularly awful, which is a nightmare because I found using a block plane to be frustratingly hard as well

At least it's flat and (mostly) square but I suspect it'll end up being somewhat ornamental.

Currently Underway:
Project 2: Saw Vice
Project 3: Winding Sticks

 

[Sgian Dubh]

That might be the poshest bench hook I've ever seen, ha, ha. The ones I make tend to be very utilitarian and disposable, i.e., a pieces of man-made board such as 18 mm ply, plus two bits of hardwood offcuts screwed and maybe glued in place at either end: use for a while until manky, chuck it away, make another taking maybe five or ten minutes.

Anyway, here are a couple of observations. It's obvious you're left handed, but I do wonder why you seem to have set up your bench hook with just one stop inset from the long edge of the base board. I'm guessing there's a reason for the bevelled end of the stop on top, but I can't imagine why? One tip to pass on: if you work a very small rebate (or perhaps a chamfer) on one long corner of your stop, and then fix this rebated corner down towards the base and facing the user, this helps prevent sawdust building up in that corner, sawdust that can cause the piece you're holding against the stop to wobble a bit, which can be a bit of a pain.

I think it's best to avoid adding a finish - it can make the thing too slick, and a bit of friction whilst you're working (sawing) stuff is good. Evidently, you've learnt quite a bit, and that's all to the good. Slainte.

 

[billw]

Thanks Richard - as you can see I've progressed a long way from my Leeds Art evening classes

You're right in that it is probably OTT for a hook, but it was pretty much the simplest thing I could think of to make where gaps wouldn't really matter that much but would still be useful or functional, and so at least instilled some feeling of purpose to make me take care. Cheers for the chamfer tip too, I'll build that into my next one.

 

[MikeG.]

Excellent Bill. Well done. Everyone's first project should be a bench hook.

Having said that, a bench hook doesn't last very long. Every time you use it you damage it. Therefore making it so posh is only going to make you reluctant to use it. On the design side........I have come to the firm conclusion that a shorter (ie less deep) bench hook is best, because when you are sawing you want to be able to drop the heel of the saw and work your way down the front vertical mark on your workpiece, and you can't do that if the work is way back on your bench. A shorter higher hook, like the old fashioned solid (cut from one piece) ones, has a lot going for it.

It isn't critical that your bench hook is at right angles. Especially as a beginner all your cuts are going to be marked, rather than done by eye, so you bench hook won't in any way act as a guide. However, if you want to be sure of getting any fence at a right angle to an edge, then try this: drill one end only for a single screw. Glue the underside, then screw the screw up tight. You now have a pivot, and about 15 or 20 minutes to get the other end clamped in the right position. Offer up a square and clamp, tap with a hammer to do minor adjustments. When happy, walk away and leave it to dry. Come back the following day and add a couple more screws.

 

[Ttrees]

It looks great Bill
I would suggest making another identical one so you can rest longer timber on both of them.
Make the sacrificial piece from something you won't mind cutting into, as that stuff is way too pretty to destroy.
[edit] Will be also handy for the shooting board for this purpose if your thinking of making one.
All the best

Tom

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Very nice .......... but I can't help think you over thought it by a mile - they are disposable. I didn't time the last two I made but I'd put money on it they were finished in less than ten minutes. The stops on mine are angled so that only the top of the workpiece makes contact so it holds tight against them.
As Mike said, there's no real point in making one so long.

 

[billw]

It might be the angle of the photo - it's 14"x6.5"

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Thanks Richard - as you can see I've progressed a long way from my Leeds Art evening classes

Oh, were you one of my night class students? I hadn't made the connection, what with your handle - Bill is a fairly common name I suppose, and Sutton Coldfield isn't exactly near Leeds to travel both ways for a two hour class. Slainte.

 

[Orraloon]

Thats much to pretty to saw on.
Regards
John

 

[MikeG.]

Bill, this is in no way meant to be any sort of criticism of your lovely bench hook, but I knocked these up yesterday to illustrate my point about length, and because I needed some new ones anyway:

Take a close look at that last photo. That's what I mean about dropping the heel of the saw to saw down the front face of your work. For my money, that's a critical element of sawing accurately (you don't just start at the top and saw downwards with the teeth parallel to the benchtop). I've had some crappy bench-hooks over the years, and all of them too deep. These short ones mean I don't have to slide the work off the end of the bench to be able to saw properly.

That, BTW, is the typical standard of my workshop kit, such as storage, saw horses, saw clamps, bench hooks, winding sticks, and so on. It's utilitarian stuff that I don't want to feel precious about. If it takes a knock or too, well that's no big deal and I can make another in short order.

 

[thetyreman]

I must admit I prefer using a mitre box, (from pine usually) with a 90 degree slot cut into it, that gives me more accurate results, but I also use bench hook as well usually for rougher cuts, what annoys me though is that it always needs more work on the shooting board to get it perfect to 90 where as the mitrebox is almost perfect straight off the saw, saves a lot of time when you're trying to work fast. Roy Underhill has done a video that's very good where he uses two bench hooks similar to yours mike, I think he uses maple....

 

[billw]

Take a close look at that last photo. That's what I mean about dropping the heel of the saw to saw down the front face of your work. For my money, that's a critical element of sawing accurately (you don't just start at the top and saw downwards with the teeth parallel to the benchtop). I've had some crappy bench-hooks over the years, and all of them too deep. These short ones mean I don't have to slide the work off the end of the bench to be able to saw properly.

Ah, I have never seen hooks quite THAT short before, but I see the logic of it. I'll make a couple to your design.

BTW the one I made is more for instagram "look at me sawing" photos than actually sawing on

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

I would make simple bench hooks, like the one below, for years. Beat on them, saw on them, chop on them. Actually, they last a decent amount of time.

The fence is more forward on others so that it is possible to use both Western and Eastern saws.

Earlier this year I built another, and added a side fence to add to its versatility. It is just Pine and required about 10 minutes to make. Although it now looks a little fancy, it still gets chopped on and I do not care if it is eaten up. It cost nothing to make ...

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[GarF]

Mine is (ahem) long enough to reach about halfway across my bench. I recently discovered that means I can flip it round to hook onto the back of the bench, and lo it works with a Japanese saw as well.

 

[billw]

@Derek Cohen (Perth Oz) I like that last photo with the extension board and the guide for straight cuts. Might have to make one of those!