Schwarz/Nicholson/Byron Workbench Build

[ByronBlack]

Ok, so i've be extolling the virtues of The Schwarz lately after being thoroughly impressed with his excellent workbench book.

I thought I should put some money where my mouth is, and build one of these suckers so I can show all the naysayers (theres only a few) what a great bench this is.

£205 later (should have have been £275, but the delivery guy got the price wrong, result!) I had 3 16ft 2x12 boards of PAR Southen Yellow Pine.

The bloke at the wood yard was supposed to have crosscut these to 8ft lengths, but seeing as he got the price wrong, I'm not complaining too much.

I've spent the last 5 hours hauling these stuff about and cutting all the components to rough size before putting into stick. My back is now officially f***ed and i'll be on the meds for probably the rest of the week - but I don't mind as the hard-work is done for now, and I'll let the wood cook in the workshop to reach equilibrium before I start the build proper.

The SYP is surprisingly dry. My workshop MC for seasoned wood is between 8-10% these came in betweenn 10 & 12% (edging towards 14% in the newly cut centres), so it shouldn't take too long for these bad boys to reach equilibrium, and hopefully shouldn't see too much warpage - the boards are surprisingly flat - and very very straight grained with just a few small knots.

They weigh a crap load. I weighed the boards (Yes, I am sad), all together this bench will weigh 504lbs !! Thats a quarter of a ton - over 36 stone, 228KG, and this is without the vice or the hardware! This puppy aint moving for no one!

So, enough with all the blabbering, here's the photos of the work so far:

The boards:

Cutting in half:

The CS wasn't deep enough to cut all the way through, so I finish of with my trusty (rusty) ryoba

Mmmm, nice clear straight grain boards:

I tried to sell this mitre saw three times, no one wanted it, its ugly, it smells, its noisy, but I'm glad I kept it, its a real workhorse

The Foreman telling me to move my arse and get on with the work

Homemade rail - ripping the boards (so that I have pieces for legs, rails etc).

I handsawed 32ft of this stuff as the CS wasn't deep enough and I didn't want to saw from the otherside, I have arms like popeye!

I should have bought a proper ripping saw, this is hardwork

Once all the ripping was done, I start to crosscut the legs, rails and supports to a tad oversize

The puny bandsaw (I shall call it Margaret) ripping the legs

504lbs of timber in stick.

Thats it for now, i'm off for a bath and painkillers, and an early night.

 

[Matt_S]

You've made more progress than me - in laws are down this weekend so no wood for me!

Good price for PAR SYP. I paid more but problem is that there really local and anyone else would have had delivery!

Hope the back's ok!

 

[ByronBlack]

You've made more progress than me - in laws are down this weekend so no wood for me!

Good price for PAR SYP. I paid more but problem is that there really local and anyone else would have had delivery!

Hope the back's ok!

The SYP should have been £75 + VAT per board, but for some reason they only charged me £205, not that I'm complaining. I doubt i'll get the same price next time though. I still need another 1.5 boards to make the lower shelf.

 

[Chems]

Looks great Bryon. Really looking forward to this one.

 

[Crooked Tree]

Is Southern Yellow Pine hard enough for the top ok or are you planning a sacrificial top surface?

I hope to get around to building a modest bench at some stage and envision beech worktop (no heavy machinery) on a pine base (cheaper).

 

[ByronBlack]

Is Southern Yellow Pine hard enough for the top ok or are you planning a sacrificial top surface?

I hope to get around to building a modest bench at some stage and envision beech worktop (no heavy machinery) on a pine base (cheaper).

Its not that high on the Janka scale with a rating between 690 & 870 (although regular white pine is just 380) and beech is rated at 1300, but I see it as a boon, because if you drop your work or crash your work into it, I'd rather the dent be on the bench than the workpiece - also dents can be steamed out, planed off etc.. it's a bench, it's intended to be used, I have no worries about the SYP, also its a lot cheaper and easier to work than Beech (although, Id still prefer a beech top if I could afford it).

 

[RussianRouter]

I handsawed 32ft of this stuff as the CS wasn't deep enough and I didn't want to saw from the otherside, I have arms like popeye!

Hmmm! would you have been able to cut it with the CS if you took the ripping board away and used a straight edge clamped to the stock you were cutting in the pic?

That CS has a max depth cut of 65mm hasn't it ? and your boards are 50mm

 

[ByronBlack]

Hmmm! would you have been able to cut it with the CS if you took the ripping board away and used a straight edge clamped to the stock you were cutting in the pic?

Yes, the CS would have had enough depth without my ripping guide, however, I do not own a straightedge that would be suitable for the CS as annoyingly the motor overhangs the base by quite a lot, and it's not very high off the workpiece which means the straightedge would have to be about 10mm thick otherwise it would foul the motor - all I had that was suitable was my guide, even some of the longer lengths of timber I had were either too bendy or too thick.

It only left approx 10mm so it really wasn't that bad finishing it by hand, just a bit tedious.

 

[RussianRouter]

It only left approx 10mm so it really wasn't that bad finishing it by hand, just a bit tedious.

Floor laminate is the best alternative for a ripping board as it takes less depth off the CS.

 

[ByronBlack]

It only left approx 10mm so it really wasn't that bad finishing it by hand, just a bit tedious.

Floor laminate is the best alternative for a ripping board as it takes less depth off the CS.

Aye, I chucked two rooms worth away a few weeks back before I realised this! DOH!

 

[RussianRouter]

Aye, I chucked two rooms worth away a few weeks back before I realised this! DOH!

Well your intentions on dumping it was a sound piece of thinking...but you failed to realise to keep a few pieces in storage for router jigs and straight edge ripping boards.

 

[Crooked Tree]

Ah. Sounds like SYP is rather tougher than I had imagined then. The word pine brought to mind being able to push dents with a finger nail, but I think that must be the pine which you quote with a figure of 300 odd.

Thanks.

 

[OPJ]

Some circular saws not have a 'channel' running the length of the base (usually near the left-hand edge) which allows them to run over a guide on certain jigs, which prevents the saw from wondering. This as opposed to having a raised edge against which the edge of the base must reference. You've still got to resolve the clamping issue but, it does mean the motor shouldn't foul the guide, even on full depth of cut.

Just like on the Festool saws:

I think they're held in place by some kind of rubber material? I've tried anti-slip tape (abrasive-type stuff), in the past, but it's not as good. I'd think you'd still need clamps if you're looking to cut a large, wide board that's all cupped and distorted, though.

If that isn't possible on your model then, it looks as though the channel is attached to this Bosch saw as an accessory (you could probably do something similar):

 

[ByronBlack]

Olly - You make some good pints, my CS base is flat with no channel, its quite a basic model, I had considered screwing on a piece of aluminium bar and having that run in a channel in some thinner material.


However, with the plans I have, I may end up going back to the Festool or maybe an aftermarket eureka zone rail.

 

[RussianRouter]

[/quote]

I see that guy has a problem of wondering where he should cut...judging by the marks on the edge and side of the door.

Why do some blokes do that when its the pencil line we're concerned about?

Sorry Byron,back tothe topic in hand.

 

[ByronBlack]

I see that guy has a problem of wondering where he should cut...judging by the marks on the edge and side of the door.

Why do some blokes do that when its the pencil line we're concerned about?

Sorry Byron,back tothe topic in hand.

[/quote]

More to the point, Id hate to see the decor of the house that door is going in - blue and green? Shocking

 

[frugal]

More to the point, Id hate to see the decor of the house that door is going in - blue and green? Shocking

My wife bought her house cheap because the previous occupiers had terrible taste: Turquoise and black bathroom; pillar box red bedroom with navy blue ceiling; orange an yellow dining room; mauve and pink bedroom... No one else was able to look past the colour scheme to see the original 1920s doors and original mouldings. We spent the first couple of months with large quantities of white emulsion paint

 

[ByronBlack]

More to the point, Id hate to see the decor of the house that door is going in - blue and green? Shocking

My wife bought her house cheap because the previous occupiers had terrible taste: Turquoise and black bathroom; pillar box red bedroom with navy blue ceiling; orange an yellow dining room; mauve and pink bedroom... No one else was able to look past the colour scheme to see the original 1920s doors and original mouldings. We spent the first couple of months with large quantities of white emulsion paint

Ditto - our previous owners had a fetish for pink and purple squares, it was everywhere, 4 years in we are just finishing.

 

[ByronBlack]

Another really long day - I finished up at 11.45pm tonight after a much longer fit and glue-up than anticipated. My tenons were a little 'fat' and needed a fair bit of fettling to fit - that will teach me to be over-cautious when routing the tenons.

So the job today was to square up all the leg and rail pieces, cut the tenons and the mortices and glue-up. Here's the pics:

Using my new toy + rail to cut the tenons (worked really well)

The top of the leg has a through mortice, the bottom is blind mortice. I need to trim this flush

Leg assemblies glued-up and will stay in clamps overnight. Tomorrow morning I'll pierce the M&T's with some dowels - they were too tight a fit to drawbore.

Tomorrow will see the aprons going on and the tops planed, but they will remain in stick until next weekend at the earliest. They are almost at equilibrium, but are just a couple of percentage points away for now.

 

[Chems]

Looking really good, your making quick progress.

Beware those sash clamps, mine just fell apart, very light pressure is all they are good for.