Popular Post Al Capwn Posted January 9, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Introduction: So I have been hemming and hawing over what style workbench to build for a while now. I've watched Jord's Roubo, Paul Sellers English workbench build, the Naked Woodworker's Nicholson build, flipped through all the various lovely Benchcrafted Roubo builds ala Marc, and read through the entirety of a Chris Schwarz book. What have I learned? Well, workbenches are like sharpening. The concept is simple, there are many ways to do it correctly and a few ways to do it wrong. However, at the end of the day, you just need to sharpen edges however you see fit. A workbench is a workbench - be it sawhorses and a door, or some freakishly heavy monstrosity made out of Purpleheart and Bloodwood. It is a work holding/supporting tool. The accessories (dog holes, planing stops, vices, etc.) are mostly a manner of personal preference and what the emphasis of work performed. Design Choice: All of that being said, I wasn't much closer to deciding between a Roubo or Nicholson-style workbench. Then I got to thinking, "What is a good example of both English and French style?" Why, Canada of course! Who can forget our friendly neighbors to the north who gave us such wonderful things as Justin Beiber, Ted Cruz and Nickelback!* So I decided to take the kilt-wearing, bearer stretching, no-nonsense construction of the Nicholson with the rugged thickness top of the Roubo. Heck, I may even throw in a little French flair and put a contrasting endcap on. Like Nickelback, it too will be a general light rock of a build - a Canadian AC/DC, if you will. Material Selection: I am constructing it out of "not real wood" i.e. Southern Yellow Pine (SYP) construction lumber. Why? Well, because my options are limited. There are two hardwood distributors where I am at. I can get reasonable prices from Dakota Hardwoods, but they are a 9-5/M-F operation. I work a full time 9-5 job, so that makes things difficult unless I skip out of work, and ain't nobody got time for that - especially for a workbench. The other distributor is open limited on Saturday, but their prices per board foot are insane. $3.20/bf for 8/4 White Ash at Dakota is $8.50/bf for it at the other place. Nope. So SYP it is. It's cheap, it planes easily, and I won't feel bad scratching or dinging it up. If I built a furniture-grade workbench, I would be more hesitant to use it for fear of making it look ugly. With pine, I know what I am getting out of the box. So, l like a Facebook relationship status, I am making it "official" and posting in the project journal. I will take some snaps of the progress along the way. It is ~11:00 local. I am leaving to pick up the supplies in the next half hour. Target goal is to have this done within one week, with the majority of the rough work done today and tomorrow. So, without further ado, let's get to building the Chad Kroger of workbenches... *To be fair, you also gave us Alanis Morissette and Rick Moranis, so I think we are even. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Looking forward ti this, Al. Your thinking on workbench design and construction mirrors my own. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 13 minutes ago, Al Capwn said: I will take some snaps of the progress along the way. This is something that I found to be a challenge. Wanting to photograph a project as you go was a new element to the work flow. And then trying to remember to do it at worthwhile turning points in the project. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Looking forward to seeing this. Oh, and apologies from Canada... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 I'll be interested to see what you end up with. I'm going through the same debate right now and am currently leaning towards a small 5 foot roubo-ish bench (as Eric put it, I may build a Glue-bo), mainly because I didn't want to lose storage underneath to the skirts. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 You screwed your journal by putting Chad Kroger in it. This journal will self destruct. Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Capwn Posted January 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Behold...our journey starts here... ..and two hours and one grocery-getter with Home Cheapo yellow boardnanas... Time for a quick lunch, then off to the milling and sizing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Boardnanas. Yeah, if they're not now, they will be tomorrow...you better glue those slabs up about ten minutes after milling them...or else... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisG-Canada Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 For the record, you can keep Justin Bieber... ? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortan D Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Securing a seat here. I have a history with pine workbenches. And a future too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaziri Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 I am looking forward to your build. However, do I really have to look at Kroger's mug every time I want to see your posts? There is a leeetle button that says (EDIT). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Al Capwn Posted January 10, 2016 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 First, lets take those 2x12s and cut them down a bit. After running 4 boards through the table saw, we have 16 strips at roughly 2 5/8". Now, I know this won't be as thick as if I just bought a whole bunch of 2x4s, and to be honest, I probably could have done that - but 2x4s tend to be the worst yellow boardnanas of the bunch. So I opted to just bust down slightly less C-shaped 2x12s knowing I will sacrifice quite a bit of material. It should still be over 2" when I am done though. There we go...all rough cut. Now off to the jointer to flatten a face of the board...first I start by scribbling some pencil lines on the face like so... ...and run them over the jointer. After a couple passes we look more like this: ...and we keep going until all the pencil is gone, thus acquiring a flat face. You can also more or less hear when the jointer is running over the entire board as there will be the constant sound of material being removed, rather than little skips. Once the board is complete, mark it. I mark my with with an "F" for "face" or "finish" or...well...whatever you like. No fancy cursive here, we straight redneckin' this. Next stop is over to the thickness planer. Where all those flat-on-one-side boards will be milled down until they look good and all the rough crud on the opposite side is gone. I run the final pass over the "F" side, just to clear any remaining jointer marks. Now it is off to the glue up. I am making a "split top" where I can insert a planing stop or whatever I feel like in the middle of the workbench. So I am going to glue up two tops separately. Note: This glue up is very, very messy. There will be lots of squeeze out just because you are splattering glue horizontally on 3 inches on multiple surfaces. Now we clamp this bad boy up and enjoy a cold one...oh, but don't worry. I have to do this all over for the other side. Thankfully, this will be the longest process of the entire build. The legs, bearers, and stretchers should be straight-forward. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 Looks like you got some good clear material, Al! That's pretty challengung from HD lumber! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 Yea Al, there would be no chance of getting one stick at the local HD that looked like the stuff you got there in your lumber toting van Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Capwn Posted January 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 9 hours ago, wtnhighlander said: Looks like you got some good clear material, Al! That's pretty challengung from HD lumber! 8 hours ago, Chet K. said: Yea Al, there would be no chance of getting one stick at the local HD that looked like the stuff you got there in your lumber toting van For what it is worth, there are some knots but I have strategically placed them on the bottom side, but I went through the entire stack (did you know moving ~40 2x12x12' boards is good exercise?) to pick out the best of the bunch. Then I tried to pick the clearest boards for the top. The 2x12x20' selection looked even better, but I didn't really need the extra length. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Capwn Posted January 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 9:00AM - Time to get to work! Here is the glue up (sorry, these pictures came out a little blurry). and after about 5 minutes of planing with the jack: At this point it is just lather, rinse, repeat until that glue-up is nice and flat. Then we need to check for twist and make sure we aren't turning the top into some weird and warped surface. Really, we just need to get it "flat enough" that we can shove this bad boy through the planer. Wifey brought me some coffee and a breakfast sammich, so I guess I shall take a break and om-nom-nom before going back at it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 You keep saying "we." Do you have an imaginary friend? If so, why are you doing all the grunt work? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheperd80 Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 Lookin good so far. Ill probably build a similar bench at some point. Interested to see what youll do for vises and such. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 57 minutes ago, Al Capwn said: The 2x12x20' selection looked even better, C Schwarz mentioned some where that he gets 16 footers when he buy the SYP because, like you said, they are usually in better shape then the shorter stuff. Looks like you have it going Al. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortan D Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 1 hour ago, Eric. said: You keep saying "we." Do you have an imaginary friend? If so, why are you doing all the grunt work? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Al Capwn Posted January 10, 2016 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 10:45AM - Ok, remember what I was saying about the jack plane. Forget that. Let me explain... When there is a lot of material to remove, oh say, 1/8" or more, you need something aggressive to just get close. Now, of all the things from Harbor Freight that I thought I was trash (and as smoother, it probably is) is this. So you might be surprised why I would use it... Two words: Scrub Plane. For the uninitiated, a scrub plane is a hand plane designed to just hog material away with reckless abandon. It isn't about glassy smooth ooh-ahh surfaces. Forget that. It is about leveling material when you redneck glue up a panel and you have planks of all kinds of heights going on that resembles something like Austin Power's teeth. Well, it just so happens that you can convert this humble $10 plane into a workable scrub. Which, sans the worksharp, I did. It is just a roughing plane. Now, if you are smart and want to save yourself a good workout, you will take your time to pass the edges over your powered jointer and then take some time to get a really close level on at least one side of your glue up. That will save you time flattening boards that get out of whack, and also will potentially save you material to keep from planing away to the lowest set board. Also, having my benchtop on some crappy half-broken plastic saw horses, I would highly encourage purchasing some heavy duty saw horses that won't want to walk on you when you are planing. Anyways, after huffing and puffing with the scrub, I went back with the No. 5 jack plane and began leveling it out and taking out the chew marks from the scrub plane. I checked for twist using winding sticks - these I made out of a piece of aluminum angle iron (suggestion courtesy of @Barron). I slapped some painters tape for some contrast, and marked the center and ends with black sharpie so I know there to line my eyeballs. ...annnnnd, good 'nuff: At this point, I am fairly confident it is flat enough for the planer. I am going to run the scrub plane on the other side just to clean up some of the glue - I would rather sharpen a $10 scrub than pass it through my $50 planer knives. So after ~10 minutes with the scrub plane, I knock off most of the glue nubs. Then it is off to the planer. Same deal, "F" side down, run through until all the boards are uniform, then flip the board and pass along the "F" side to clean up any remaining marks. ...and we are left with one 2 1/8" x 10 1/2" x ~ 6' plank, and one nearly completely full dust collector bag. Time to do it all over again for the other top, but before we get to that, I need to make one final run to Home Depot to pick up another 1x8x8, and possibly some saw horses that aren't broken plastic. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 Al, I have one of those planes too. Possibly the best tool I have ever purchased for under $10. Takes a bit of fiddling, but can do a resoectable job of smoothing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Capwn Posted January 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 6:30PM Ok, one trip to Home Depot and lots of milling later, and we have the other half of the benchtop glued up. Now, here is some advice and a little trick that I completely and utterly failed to use when I was gluing up the first panel. For the trick, use a speedball roller (called a brayer) to spread the glue evenly along the face of a board. This ensures that the entire surface is coated without excessive squeeze out. I should have done that the first go around. Also, I don't know why I didn't do this the first time, but just clamp parallel clamps on the top and let the other end rest on the saw horses. This ended up in a much truer surface, which means a lot less planing work to do. So with that out of the way, here is the second glue-up in the works. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjk Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 8 hours ago, Al Capwn said: Two words: Scrub Plane. For the uninitiated, a scrub plane is a hand plane designed to just hog material away with reckless abandon. It isn't about glassy smooth ooh-ahh surfaces. Forget that. It is about leveling material when you redneck glue up a panel and you have planks of all kinds of heights going on that resembles something like Austin Power's teeth. Well, it just so happens that you can convert this humble $10 plane into a workable scrub. Which, sans the worksharp, I did. It is just a roughing plane. Now, if you are smart and want to save yourself a good workout, you will take your time to pass the edges over your powered jointer and then take some time to get a really close level on at least one side of your glue up. That will save you time flattening boards that get out of whack, and also will potentially save you material to keep from planing away to the lowest set board. Good call on making that scrub plane. Mine is converted from a sloppy #5. Saves that $100 to spend on other things at LN/LV 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Capwn Posted January 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 Monday Recap After all the work milling up the top, I was left with 2 1/8" of a laminated top. Now, that isn't a whole lot more than the ~ 1 1/2" I would have obtained if I just tossed a raw board on the top. I'd like more mass. In hindsight, I should have ripping a board into three sections instead of four. Now, you can add blocking underneath for hold fasts for dog holes, which helps, and I think I am fine in terms of required depth. However, because I cannot do math well, I actually have extra pieces of 2x12x6' that I can use. Hows that for an error in my favor?! So, the question is: Can I just flatten that joker and glue the face of it to the bottom of my lamination? Would that break any "wood movement" rules or cause any problems? I don't think it is really that much more different than adding blocking material underneath. Could I have saved a boat-load of time just in milling 2x 2x12s and gluing them on top of each other - face to face, or is there a reason that people make lamination the way they do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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