..Kev Posted May 28, 2016 Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 Nice job on the top! In hindsight, using the domino you could have trimmed the ends and gotten them pretty close! As for the vise, I've never had a twin screw but, would also guess the 24. Go big or go home I guess Maybe take a look at youtube and see what guys like Schwarz recommends.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaziri Posted May 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 9 hours ago, TIODS said: Maybe take a look at youtube and see what guys like Schwarz recommends.. Schwarz recommends using a vise made in 1236 AD, made of European Beech, using rocks for tools. LOL. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwk5017 Posted May 28, 2016 Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 Yeah, even at this point a track saw wouldn't help you. I think the ts75 has a cut depth a smidge over 3". How about a router with a straight edge and then flip the bench top over with a flush trim bit? Agreed, crosscut the smaller pieces before gluing next time. No way around it, cross cutting 4" thick material that weighs 150lbs isn't easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted May 28, 2016 Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 1 hour ago, wnaziri said: Schwarz recommends using a vise made in 1236 AD, made of European Beech, using rocks for tools. LOL. Seems to me he has a twin screw on his personal shop bench.. I could be mistaken.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaziri Posted June 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 More progress today. I actually made the vise twice. Here is the successful end product: The slot will house the chain for the twin screw vise. As you can see, I went with the 24" vise. I decided to make the vise from from some pieces of sapele that happened to be just the right size. I did the first version using a router but it was awful. I did a lousy job on the routing. Off it went into the scrap file. For version 2.0 that I did today, I glued the pieces to yield the slot. Much more elegant solution. Next, drill holes for the vise. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted June 2, 2016 Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 Looking awesome! Sapele is super nice to work with! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted June 2, 2016 Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 Looks great! So with your set up you will ditch the cover that I have seen on twin screw vises? If so very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaziri Posted June 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 I spent the last week getting my workbench closer to usable state. Lie-Nielsen goodies were delivered on Monday. By the way, I did go with the 24" version of the LN twin-screw vise. In gluing up the bench top, I used dominos to keep the pieces aligned and level. I glued the top into 3 sub-assemblies. The reason I did it this way was to make the vise construction easier. The smallest of the sub-assemblies had the apron along with 3 pieces of maple. This sub-assembly was light enough for me to pick it up and move it around. Had I assemble the whole top, I could not turn it upside down to attach the vise. Before glue up of the apron sub-assembly, I drilled the holes for the vise. I swear I measured about 12 times before drilling. Then, drilling of the vise itself. Despite my efforts and care, the holes in the apron and the vise were off by about 1/32. A bit of sanding fixed that. Then, time to attach the vise. It proved a little harder than I had thought but it was not too bad. Once I secured all the components to bottom of the bench top, the difficult part to have the whole 2-foot piece of wood close parallel to the apron. After about 30 minutes and lots choice words, I got the vise to close perfectly parallel to the apron. The vise closed, nice and straight, no gap top to bottom. When opened, the vise maintained the perfectly parallel gap. I do not believe I will have any racking issues. Voila; here is the almost-end product. To Do: - Glue the 3 sub-assemblies that make up the bench top, hopefully next time I am in my workshop. - Cut the ends of the bench straight and plane the top flat. - Then, the ten drawers but I will not be in a hurry. I now have an awesome bench that can be used! This is my very first proper workbench ever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted June 13, 2016 Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 Looking awesome! Always nice to have a good useable bench! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted June 13, 2016 Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 Very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted June 13, 2016 Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 It is really looking nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted June 13, 2016 Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 Looks great! If it were me, that's probably as far as the bench would ever go, I'd be too excited about moving in to the next project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick S Posted June 13, 2016 Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 10 hours ago, wnaziri said: When opened, the vise maintained the perfectly parallel gap. I do not believe I will have any racking issues. I have the same vise. Doesn't rack at all. Very nice job on the bench! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted June 13, 2016 Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 Looking good. I love the twin screw vise (mine is a LV). The ability to hold something at one extreme end or the other without some sort of spacer doo-jobber to prevent raking is a blessing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaziri Posted June 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2016 More progress. The bench top is fully assembled and in place. The design of the bench calls for 24 inch wide top but I added one extra maple plank so mine is 25.5 inches wide. The final length is 84 inches. I began the process of trimming the ends. I am using a router to establish a straight, square edge and then will be using my cross cut panel saw to trim the rest. If you look the pic below, you will see that I made a mistake and took a divot off the top edge with my router. I will fix it at the end. I began the process of flattening the top today. I worked on the left half today until I got tired of planing. I was using my No. 4 LN smoother for the job but I am wondering if a No. 62 low angle smoother might not be the better choice. (I have been looking for an excuse to order one of those. ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted June 16, 2016 Report Share Posted June 16, 2016 I'm sorry, the twine is for ... what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted June 16, 2016 Report Share Posted June 16, 2016 On 6/15/2016 at 7:32 PM, wnaziri said: . I was using my No. 4 LN smoother for the job but I am wondering if a No. 62 low angle smoother might not be the better choice. (I have been looking for an excuse to order one of those. ) The number 62 is a la jack. I guess you could smooth with it but that's not quite it's best use. The best use would be doing a lot of things decently well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjk Posted June 16, 2016 Report Share Posted June 16, 2016 Looking really good! To flatten, you probably want something that takes a bigger bite than a plane set up as a smoother. Think coarse-medium-fine. A smoothing plane is set for the fine work, eliminating the need for sandpaper. (shavings like 0.001"). If you're trying to flatten something, you want to be at coarse or medium first, then move into fine. You'll also want something longer to help keep it straighter/flatter. Given the choice between a #4 and a LAJ, I'd go with the LAJ for the length. I'd set it for a thicker shaving until close. Then switch to a smoothing plane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan G Posted June 27, 2016 Report Share Posted June 27, 2016 I'm late to the party but I really like that blue paint. Bench is looking great so far! I'm enjoying the build! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post wnaziri Posted July 11, 2016 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted July 11, 2016 I think I am finally finished with the bulk of my workbench. Over the past couple of weeks, I have tackled other projects that I had on my to-do list. Thanks to the advice here, I flattened the top of the workbench with No. 62 Lie-Nielsen LAJ. It was a good workout but boy, the LAJ plane is a joy to use. I did the planing over two days. After the top was pretty smooth, I used my LN No. 4 to smooth it, which made sanding much easier. Finally did the straight edges on the two ends with TS 75 + panel saw. The ends were not as clean as I had hoped. I finished with a block plane. For finish, I used two coats of Danish Oil. Question: I have not attached the top to the base....yet. I keep thinking I would like to have a tail vise. I think I can retrofit the LN tail vise. I would just have to chop off 15 inch block off the top at one end. I do intend to do significant amount of hand tool work. I would like to get some opinions on this idea. Matt Kenny and Mike Kekovich from FWW noted that they did not find the tail vise that useful, despite the fact that both do a lot of hand tool work. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 11, 2016 Report Share Posted July 11, 2016 Beautiful bench and darn nice shop! What are the deminisions of your shop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan G Posted July 11, 2016 Report Share Posted July 11, 2016 Bench turned out great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaziri Posted July 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2016 6 minutes ago, K Cooper said: Beautiful bench and darn nice shop! What are the deminisions of your shop? My shop is about 27' X 50'. In the front of the shop is a small office, a closet, and a bathroom that take space away from workshop use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 11, 2016 Report Share Posted July 11, 2016 You make good use of such a small space. 27' x 50', to die for! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted July 11, 2016 Report Share Posted July 11, 2016 56 minutes ago, wnaziri said: Question: I have not attached the top to the base....yet. I keep thinking I would like to have a tail vise. The bench looks great. Looks like you still have the drawers to go. I think if it were me, I would work with the bench the way it is, see how often you wish you had the tail vice and let that help you decide if you need to add it. Kind of like don't buy a tool until you need it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.