jmaichel Posted May 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2016 1 hour ago, TIODS said: Glad to see you working on the bench again! Thanks Kev! I am glad to be back at it too. Spare time is hard to come by and usually happens late at night after everyone is asleep. The problem is that I can't run power tools at 10 PM, so I need to find time during the day to break out the planer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjk Posted May 6, 2016 Report Share Posted May 6, 2016 5 hours ago, jmaichel said: 14 hours ago, JosephThomas said: Nice, welcome back. Is glue more expensive on the island too? About $1 more but then again everything is more expensive! You could always just use poi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmaichel Posted May 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 Not a ton of progress so far this week but I did manage to get the last section of boards glued up. What I have now is 4 sections of 3 boards and one section of 2 boards. Since I did not use biscuits or dominos to help with alignment the boards moved more than I wanted them too. Since I don't have a jointer, flattening one face is going to be slightly more challenging that I would like it to be. I did try traversing one of the sections with my jack plane last night but it was too unstable. All I have a centipede saw horse, I may have to go out and buy a pair of really good metal saw horses. Right now I am leaning toward just making a simple planer sled to flatten each section. I have used planer sleds in the past and have had pretty good success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 Some times it is slow but sure progress, but still progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 I'm guessing you'll want those horses to set the slab on once you get it together anyway so, might be a good idea. Something that may have helped with the slippage would have been some cut pins.. I'm sure you've seen this before? Of course hindsight is always perfect right! Nice job James and thanks for the update! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 Here's an option. Instead of trying to traverse the grain on only one section, clamp two or more together. That should give you more weight and stability. Having stable saw horses will be very nice though once your slabs areare done. I just bought aluminum saw horse brackets, 2x4 legs and a jointed 2x8 top stretcher. They worked well for my roubo build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmaichel Posted May 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 2 hours ago, TIODS said: I'm guessing you'll want those horses to set the slab on once you get it together anyway so, might be a good idea. Something that may have helped with the slippage would have been some cut pins.. I'm sure you've seen this before? Of course hindsight is always perfect right! Nice job James and thanks for the update! I think you might be right Kev! I knew I would get some slippage and actually have most of my boards 1 1/2 -2" wider than the finished width of 4". I think my neighbor has a biscuit joiner that I can use, if not one of the base woodshops has a domino that I can use. If only they had a jointer. 1 hour ago, Brendon_t said: Here's an option. Instead of trying to traverse the grain on only one section, clamp two or more together. That should give you more weight and stability. Having stable saw horses will be very nice though once your slabs areare done. I just bought aluminum saw horse brackets, 2x4 legs and a jointed 2x8 top stretcher. They worked well for my roubo build. Thats not a bad idea and I will probably go this route during my next stage of glue ups. The problem with this idea at this stage is that I only jointed once edge of each of the 14 boards. I saw know point in dimension each board when I knew I was going to have to run it through the planer. There is a significant variance in width in each of the 5 sections. During this next round of planing I am going to bring each section to a thickness of around 4 1/2". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 The good thing is you only need one Side and let the planer do the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephThomas Posted May 14, 2016 Report Share Posted May 14, 2016 I am thinking about making a planer sled for some wide boards right now as well. If you go that route be sure to post what style you choose to make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted May 14, 2016 Report Share Posted May 14, 2016 2 minutes ago, JosephThomas said: I am thinking about making a planer sled for some wide boards right now as well. If you go that route be sure to post what style you choose to make. Nothing too difficult about it JT.. Just a piece of flat ply (or other known flat material) - Set your piece on it and shim the 2 corners that don't touch - Use some small scrap and screw it to the base so as to "clamp" the piece in place (the scrap needs to be thinner than your piece - Screw heads and planer knives don't mix) - Plane until you get a flat side - Remove from the sled and plane the other side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephThomas Posted May 14, 2016 Report Share Posted May 14, 2016 14 minutes ago, TIODS said: Nothing too difficult about it JT.. Just a piece of flat ply (or other known flat material) - Set your piece on it and shim the 2 corners that don't touch - Use some small scrap and screw it to the base so as to "clamp" the piece in place (the scrap needs to be thinner than your piece - Screw heads and planer knives don't mix) - Plane until you get a flat side - Remove from the sled and plane the other side. Ah...I saw someone post about the fine woodworking sled earlier this week and saw a few others online that were also a bit more complex so I figured it couldn't be that simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted May 14, 2016 Report Share Posted May 14, 2016 Just now, JosephThomas said: Ah...I saw someone post about the fine woodworking sled earlier this week and saw a few others online that were also a bit more complex so I figured it couldn't be that simple. Don't over complicate it. Your goal is 1 flat side that is all! You could make a complicated sled to accommodate whatever you toss on it but, reality is that it only takes a minute to toss one together so, why store a sled that you use occasionally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmaichel Posted May 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2016 2 hours ago, JosephThomas said: Ah...I saw someone post about the fine woodworking sled earlier this week and saw a few others online that were also a bit more complex so I figured it couldn't be that simple. Like Kev said, don't over complicate it. I have used sleds in the past and kept it really simple. I think the magazines over complicate to help justify their existence. I will make sure I take a couple pictures along the way. I am going to HD this weekend to buy a sheet of BB plywood for the sled. When I am done with it I will use the remaining pieces and the sled to build a cheap bookcase to store a couple Lego builds that my wife won't let me put on the bookcase in the living room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephThomas Posted May 14, 2016 Report Share Posted May 14, 2016 Ok thanks guys. How flat does the sheet good need to be when you start? Most of it is already slightly bowed by the time I get ahold of it Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmaichel Posted May 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2016 1 hour ago, JosephThomas said: Ok thanks guys. How flat does the sheet good need to be when you start? Most of it is already slightly bowed by the time I get ahold of it Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk You want it to be as close to dead flat as possible. You can also laminate two pieces of 3/4" plywood using glue and screws. I would recommend using a flat surface like a workbench or outfeed table if you have either of those. After glue and screwing together, you will want to add as much weight has you can to laminated pieces help get them as flat as possible. Another option is make a torsion box for a sled. I just think this might be overkill but if you have trouble finding flat plywood this might be your best bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephThomas Posted May 14, 2016 Report Share Posted May 14, 2016 My workbench isn't very flat and I haven't built a torsion box yet... Was in my plans for next month though. Thanks! Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmaichel Posted May 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 Not a big update but I did manage to plane one of the five sections on Sunday. This is going to be a long and slow process. Setup took much longer than I thought. I had to use a lot of shims and found myself shimming in between passes. This board is heavy and I had to make sure it was well supported on both the indeed and outfeed. I did get a little bit of snipe but overall I am happy with how it turned out. The picture is the board prior to planing. I hope to get at least one more section planed today if I can find time after work. I did build this bad boy over the weekend. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 Just looking at that sled makes me tired. This is one of the few instances to me that it looks like it would be easier with hand tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmaichel Posted May 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 26 minutes ago, Brendon_t said: Just looking at that sled makes me tired. This is one of the few instances to me that it looks like it would be easier with hand tools. As much as I like using hand tools, it would be a lot of grunt work. The setup took some time but its not as bad as it looks. I did you my Jack plane to hit take off some of the really high spots in order for it to fit through the planer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glennaycock Posted May 19, 2016 Report Share Posted May 19, 2016 The biggest issue I have is rust. It is always humid and I live less than 1/4 mile from the ocean. Even with my hand tools plane socks in a tool chest with DampRid I rust is an issue. Have you tried furniture wax or BLO? I live in coastal Texas, where its also hot and humid. The wax works pretty well. I have to reapply about once a year. I recently learned that Linseed oil has also been used as a metal protectant for centuries. Sent from my SM-T237P using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmaichel Posted May 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2016 5 hours ago, glennaycock said: Have you tried furniture wax or BLO? I live in coastal Texas, where its also hot and humid. The wax works pretty well. I have to reapply about once a year. I recently learned that Linseed oil has also been used as a metal protectant for centuries. Sent from my SM-T237P using Tapatalk No I have not but I will. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmaichel Posted October 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2016 I just remembered that I had an open journal for my workbench build. This has been a very slooooow build for me (trying to beat Mel's record for longest bench build ) I did at least get the top completely laminated and the bottom of the bench flattened. The top was a huge PITA. I tried to use a planer sled at first but that was too much of hassle. Instead I glued up 5 sections and flattened each section by hand and then ran the opposing side through the planer. I also did not use anything to help with alignment. This required a lot of hand planning but I did not mind and actually enjoyed the experience. For the last month I have been working on the legs. I have them laminated and jointed on one edge. I am going to skip plane them with my LAJ and then send them through the planer on a planer sled. I hope to have this done by the end of October. I am hoping to have the bench done before Christmas but that might just be wishful thinking. I just need to have it done before next October (Which is when I plan on having all my household stuff packed up) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted October 6, 2016 Report Share Posted October 6, 2016 Looking awesome! Where you headed next? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheperd80 Posted October 6, 2016 Report Share Posted October 6, 2016 Lookin good! Im planning to build a poplar bench as well. Mainly because i have a pile of 8/4 already. How are those slabs doing after months in your shop? Noticing any dramatic movement? We work with poplar alot and it seems pretty stable for a softer species. Curious how it behaves in large laminations like that. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted October 6, 2016 Report Share Posted October 6, 2016 7 hours ago, jmaichel said: I am going to skip plane them with my LAJ Ooh no you didnt.. Tops looking, like a top. A bench is definately a lot of work. Having a good one is a pleasure to use every time though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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