Part 6 - It's A Bench!
With the frame now complete (rails still to be glued/drawbored but ends complete), I could start thinking about putting it all together. First up was preparing the beam that would become the front half of the bench top - the vice was removed and the beam supported on edge on my old bench, clamped to the second beam that was in turn clamped to the old bench to keep things from moving. On close inspection there was some damage to the edge, plenty of dirt and raised grain, but it was more or less flat and square. The other thing to consider was the chamfered corners - you can see them in the photo below. I've gone back and forward over time on whether to plane them out or ignore them and settled finally on ignoring them - cleaning up the edge, and eventually flattening the bench top, would reduce them down anyway and they were not big enough to cause an issue. Some work with the #5 1/2 got me down to clean fresh wood and took out most of the damaged areas and a follow up with the #7 got it looking pretty good. One thing I found is that some sections have been joined from shorter lengths and not always with grain rising in the same direction so a few passes with the smoother were required to eliminate a small amount of tear out.
I repeated this for the back edge (which will be in the centre of the bench top - next to the gap for the split top) and then roughly identified where the top would rest on the stretchers. At these points I made a few passes to ensure I had a clean and flat surface, with both ends in the same plane (no wind) to avoid problems later on - the rest of the underside was left as it was to save extra work that would have no benefit in the end.
Next up was setting out the mortises to accept the legs. I decided to only fit the front beam in the initial glue up to avoid issues if one or both parts of the top shifted during the assembly and left an uneven gap in the split - by my thinking it would be easier to mark out and fit the rear half later with a consistent packer in the split to maintain the gap (time will tell!!). With the rails held in place temporarily with pegs tapped in gently I clamped the frame coplanar to the edge of the top and knifed around the tenons.
Mortising was a repeat again of the leg mortises but much quicker due to the shallower depth and the previous experience. One fitted perfectly first time - the other leaving the leg 1.5mm proud of the top. A little trim of the tenon and order was restored - the drawboring was repeated for the leg/top tenons but with less offset (these tenons being shorter and not wanting to risk damage). It was looking good and the last step was to drill for some lag bolts to secure the top behind the tenon (perhaps not strictly required but no harm in being sure). The bolt heads were countersunk around 50mm in, a clearance hold drilled through the stretcher to allow for movement (about 2mm wider than the thread) and the top marked with a pilot hole drilled once the frame was disassembled.
Finally it was time to assemble the bench. First step was to remove the old bench (which is currently residing in the garden waiting to be turned into firewood!!) and I took the chance to lay some foam mats down on the floor while I had space to move. With that done the top was placed on the floor, tenons glued and the frame assembled and into the top. Pegs were placed in the four tenons for the rails and the tenons into the top, then driven home - the top/leg joint first to ensure no gaps, followed by the rails moving around each in turn driving them a little further. Finally the lag bolts were dropped in and tightened just enough to ensure the top is held down to the frame but not so much as to prevent any wood movement.
With all the pegs driven home and roughly cut off, I was able to flip the bench onto it's feet (no small effort!!). Finally it was standing and I had a new bench!
Next up - refitting the vice and completing the top. Before that though I spotted one mistake the next day - in my excitement and working upside down/back to front at assembly, I had fitted the rear rail the wrong way round. The result being that it is almost coplanar with the inside face of the legs rather than the outside (you can see on the second to last picture - the rail nearest the camera should be almost flush with the outside)! No harm done - at least it was the back of the bench and it all came together square and true. Whether dumb luck or testament to accurate setting out/joinery I'll never know!!
With the frame now complete (rails still to be glued/drawbored but ends complete), I could start thinking about putting it all together. First up was preparing the beam that would become the front half of the bench top - the vice was removed and the beam supported on edge on my old bench, clamped to the second beam that was in turn clamped to the old bench to keep things from moving. On close inspection there was some damage to the edge, plenty of dirt and raised grain, but it was more or less flat and square. The other thing to consider was the chamfered corners - you can see them in the photo below. I've gone back and forward over time on whether to plane them out or ignore them and settled finally on ignoring them - cleaning up the edge, and eventually flattening the bench top, would reduce them down anyway and they were not big enough to cause an issue. Some work with the #5 1/2 got me down to clean fresh wood and took out most of the damaged areas and a follow up with the #7 got it looking pretty good. One thing I found is that some sections have been joined from shorter lengths and not always with grain rising in the same direction so a few passes with the smoother were required to eliminate a small amount of tear out.
I repeated this for the back edge (which will be in the centre of the bench top - next to the gap for the split top) and then roughly identified where the top would rest on the stretchers. At these points I made a few passes to ensure I had a clean and flat surface, with both ends in the same plane (no wind) to avoid problems later on - the rest of the underside was left as it was to save extra work that would have no benefit in the end.
Next up was setting out the mortises to accept the legs. I decided to only fit the front beam in the initial glue up to avoid issues if one or both parts of the top shifted during the assembly and left an uneven gap in the split - by my thinking it would be easier to mark out and fit the rear half later with a consistent packer in the split to maintain the gap (time will tell!!). With the rails held in place temporarily with pegs tapped in gently I clamped the frame coplanar to the edge of the top and knifed around the tenons.
Mortising was a repeat again of the leg mortises but much quicker due to the shallower depth and the previous experience. One fitted perfectly first time - the other leaving the leg 1.5mm proud of the top. A little trim of the tenon and order was restored - the drawboring was repeated for the leg/top tenons but with less offset (these tenons being shorter and not wanting to risk damage). It was looking good and the last step was to drill for some lag bolts to secure the top behind the tenon (perhaps not strictly required but no harm in being sure). The bolt heads were countersunk around 50mm in, a clearance hold drilled through the stretcher to allow for movement (about 2mm wider than the thread) and the top marked with a pilot hole drilled once the frame was disassembled.
Finally it was time to assemble the bench. First step was to remove the old bench (which is currently residing in the garden waiting to be turned into firewood!!) and I took the chance to lay some foam mats down on the floor while I had space to move. With that done the top was placed on the floor, tenons glued and the frame assembled and into the top. Pegs were placed in the four tenons for the rails and the tenons into the top, then driven home - the top/leg joint first to ensure no gaps, followed by the rails moving around each in turn driving them a little further. Finally the lag bolts were dropped in and tightened just enough to ensure the top is held down to the frame but not so much as to prevent any wood movement.
With all the pegs driven home and roughly cut off, I was able to flip the bench onto it's feet (no small effort!!). Finally it was standing and I had a new bench!
Next up - refitting the vice and completing the top. Before that though I spotted one mistake the next day - in my excitement and working upside down/back to front at assembly, I had fitted the rear rail the wrong way round. The result being that it is almost coplanar with the inside face of the legs rather than the outside (you can see on the second to last picture - the rail nearest the camera should be almost flush with the outside)! No harm done - at least it was the back of the bench and it all came together square and true. Whether dumb luck or testament to accurate setting out/joinery I'll never know!!
