[Editor's Note - This was originally posted on a different host in August 2007]
The Saga Continues…
In part one I talked about what was wrong with my current bench, and the confusing array of options for benches that has been paralyzing my efforts at building a replacement that works well for my hybrid style of work.
A confluence of personal revelations and magazine articles by Chris Schwarz, editor of Woodworking magazine, get me the insight I needed to find what would work for me in a bench.
The old bench top was 32″ x 72″ x 1 1/2. I already felt it was too short, but I was less bothered by the width. The height was 34″ which seems about right for me at 6′3″ tall. With this in mind I drew up a list of questions:
- Would a more classically proportioned bench work for me?
- What advantages does a leg vise have over a classic face vise?
- Is a face vise mounted in the tail-vise position all it’s cracked up to be?
- Are flush legs really all that great?
- Is a crotchet going to work for me?
- How does a twin screw vise work for me?
Quite a list of questions I would like to answer. Chris Schwarz has built something like 10 benches over the years to come up with his answers. I’m going to try to answer mine over about 12 months.
So what do I need to answer these questions?
Wanting to experiment means that it is highly likely the bench top and legs are going to cut into, drilled out, hacked at and generally slashed up as changes are made. So clearly I’m not going to want to invest in a fine bench just yet. Low cost and low investment in time is therefore a key issue at this point.
Since the top of the old bench is lag bolted to the base I have decided to reuse the base. For the top I will be using MDF. It is a dark material and dark is not ideal for a bench top. It is a horrible to work material due to dust but it comes very flat and it is dense. And it is relatively cheap. So I won’t feel bad about it when I retire the bench.
The new bench top would be of classic proportions – 24″ x 96″ x 4″. This would answer the first question. I’ll add a leg vise to answer the second question. I will move the face vise to the tail vise position to answer the third question. The new bench top will be flush mounted with the front legs to answer the fourth question and a crotchet will be added to answer the fifth question.
As to twin screw vises, I’m going to have to think about how to do that on the cheap later. I have a Beall threading tool so I can make 1″ screws. That should work for light duty. But I have time to think about that.
Fast forward a few days. Action has begun.
So a pile of MDF followed me home from the lumberyard along with some 8/4 hard maple off cuts from the shorts bin. One offcut is destined for a leg vise, he other will form the new chops for the vise, with probably enough left over for a crochet.
By the time I’m adding the fourth sheet the base is sturdy enough that I forgo the screws. The previous laminations have developed a slight cup. The remaining sheets have also developed a slight cup. I add the remaining laminations so that the cups tend to cancel out.
The result is very flat and very heavy.
The pictures get a little thin on the ground here. I keep forgetting to stop and take them. I put the slab on my sturdy little helpers and mount the vise.
My Sturdy Helper
I add cleats to position the slab using the upper stretchers of the base as a reference and use gravity to hold everything together. I also lop 2 inches off the bottom of the legs. After drilling dog holes and adding the chops to the tail vise I get this:
OK, it’s a beast. The top is sealed with a turpentine, beeswax and boiled linseed oil concoction that smells a little evil when drying.
My first impressions are this thing is huge. 96″ is a big bench. And at 24″ it seems easier to get at both sides of the work easily. I can reach over the bench and clamp the far side of the work without having to go round the back. It is also very flat – this is good. I put a couple of dogs in as a planing stop and attack a board with a jack plane.
Wow! The mass of the bench and its flatness is giving me a huge amount of feedback I wasn’t getting before. I can really feel the cut instead of just seeing shavings. This is good. And when I hit a knot the bench doesn’t try to jump. This is great! Instead it wracks the base. This isn’t so good. Still, this is a vast improvement and I did expect some racking since this is very much a compromise arrangement as I am reusing the old base.
Now to try a holdfast.
A few whacks with a mallet and it’s bouncing up and down. It is a loosefast instead. This is something I hadn’t expected but it is understandable given that MDF has no elastic give to grab the holdfast unlike a real wood bench.
In a subsequent test with 4″ of wood the holdfast worked fine so I’m pretty sure it’s the material, not the holdfast. I want an excuse to get the Veritas Surface Clamps and the holdfasts tend to get used most on my sturdy helper anyway.
Now on to the tail vise.
Despite the alarmingly tall looks of the chops it actually racks very little top to bottom. The leather makes a huge difference in the holding power of the vise. Side to side racking is dealt with using this handy shop made tool.
The dog hole works fine. Right now I’m not totally sold on this arrangement over the wagon vise I used to have. Lacking a leg vise right now it does get used a lot, but I think this will change once I get the leg vise on.
Overall I’m happy with the result so far. It is vastly better than what I was using with $60 in it so far. The only really annoying thing is I keep kicking the lower front stretcher. I half expected this to happen anyway and it’s another of those compromise things.
In the next installment I will add the leg vise and the crochet and bore more holes In the legs for supporting long boards.
good site rscapw