Woodwork bench build
Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 1:24 pm
Last fall I came across a series on YouTube by Paul Sellers How to build aworkbench, and was inspired to make a proper workbench for my shop. The need for workbench has become more pressing since I have been hand planing reclaimed pallet wood for my wife to carve into Welsh love spoons, planing on a Workmate is an exercise in frustration.
The bench in the video is 8'x3', is to large for my shop but I have since bought his book (Working Wood 1 and 2: The Artisan Course with Paul Sellers)which has plans for a smaller version of the bench, 5'x2' which I will base my bench on.
The weather here has warmed enough for gluing in my unheated shop so last week I got some 2x4's (SPF studs, mostly pine I think) from the Borg (Home Depot) and made a start on the top. Cut eight 2x4's to rough length and planed the faces for gluing.
Sunday, glued top.
[ATTACH]20901[/ATTACH]
Monday morning, planed bottom face flat.
[ATTACH]20900[/ATTACH]
Top face before
[ATTACH]20902[/ATTACH]
and after planing and cutting to final length.
[ATTACH]20903[/ATTACH]
Tools used.
[ATTACH]20899[/ATTACH]
Left to right
- no. 4 plane I got last week and and sharpened with and aggressive curve on the blade, used as a scrub plane. This worked very well for rapid removal of stock on the uneven faces after gluing.
- no. 4 Stanley smoothing plane that I inherited from my father in law.
- no. 6 Stanley try plane. I bought this one at a flea market about thirty years ago.
- Disston handsaw. I got this one at the ReStore last month ($3.00), not restored yet but I did sharpen it, my first try at saw sharpening, and it works well.
Lessons learned so far:
- I need better clamps
- My gluing skills need improvement, some of the joints did not close tightly.
- Saws and planes are not that difficult to sharpen.
- Sharp tools are a pleasure to work with.
Will post more as progress is made, now back to the shop.
The bench in the video is 8'x3', is to large for my shop but I have since bought his book (Working Wood 1 and 2: The Artisan Course with Paul Sellers)which has plans for a smaller version of the bench, 5'x2' which I will base my bench on.
The weather here has warmed enough for gluing in my unheated shop so last week I got some 2x4's (SPF studs, mostly pine I think) from the Borg (Home Depot) and made a start on the top. Cut eight 2x4's to rough length and planed the faces for gluing.
Sunday, glued top.
[ATTACH]20901[/ATTACH]
Monday morning, planed bottom face flat.
[ATTACH]20900[/ATTACH]
Top face before
[ATTACH]20902[/ATTACH]
and after planing and cutting to final length.
[ATTACH]20903[/ATTACH]
Tools used.
[ATTACH]20899[/ATTACH]
Left to right
- no. 4 plane I got last week and and sharpened with and aggressive curve on the blade, used as a scrub plane. This worked very well for rapid removal of stock on the uneven faces after gluing.
- no. 4 Stanley smoothing plane that I inherited from my father in law.
- no. 6 Stanley try plane. I bought this one at a flea market about thirty years ago.
- Disston handsaw. I got this one at the ReStore last month ($3.00), not restored yet but I did sharpen it, my first try at saw sharpening, and it works well.
Lessons learned so far:
- I need better clamps
- My gluing skills need improvement, some of the joints did not close tightly.
- Saws and planes are not that difficult to sharpen.
- Sharp tools are a pleasure to work with.
Will post more as progress is made, now back to the shop.