Brendon_t Posted June 6, 2017 Report Share Posted June 6, 2017 I don't believe I have much if any gap at the bottom of the chop when the top makes contact. I believe it is supposed to move in and out in the same plane as the bench leg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted June 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2017 I don't believe I have much if any gap at the bottom of the chop when the top makes contact. I believe it is supposed to move in and out in the same plane as the bench leg. Interesting... They reference it in the instructions, and a little bit of an angle is helpful in making the vise work. I'm just trying to figure out if I have too much. The operation seems smooth, but I haven't really been trying to clamp anything in it yet. I had a few minutes at the end of the day, so I cut my shelf boards and cut the rabbets. I mixed up my order a little so the heart wood didn't transition the way I'd hoped, but it really doesn't matter. I'll have my air compressor sitting there soon enough. Also, I couldn't stand the thought of having the visible part of the boards be different, so I cut the one for the left end narrower and spaced the others accordingly. I've got about 1/16" of extra space per board. I may end up fastening each with one screw in the middle to keep them even, but it seems a bit overkill. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted June 6, 2017 Report Share Posted June 6, 2017 Yes, there should be a gap at the bottom and yours looks about right. The bench is coming along awesome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted June 6, 2017 Report Share Posted June 6, 2017 Yes Benchcrafted recommends 1/8 to 3/8 gap 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted June 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2017 Great, thanks guys. I just have to decide now whether to make the dead man from maple (I have enough 8/4 left) or go to the lumber yard for more sapele. I stopped in the other day and all the boards were 10-12 feet and 9 inches wide. I'd rather not drop another $120-$150 on a single board at this point. The other option is to do the dead man as maple with some small sapele accents, since I'm almost down to scraps there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted June 7, 2017 Report Share Posted June 7, 2017 Do you have enough sapele to just make stripes of sapele in Maple? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted June 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2017 Do you have enough sapele to just make stripes of sapele in Maple? I only have one piece long enough for the full length, about 1" wide. The rest is all 16" or shorter, mostly just strips. Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted June 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2017 Well, I decided to make the dead man from maple with the sapele accents. I didn't have much more than that, but it should be enough. The plan is to cut a smaller version of the curves that are on the leg vise for the top and bottom. We'll see how that goes. For now, I've got my lamination gluing up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted June 8, 2017 Report Share Posted June 8, 2017 Are you going for an hourglass shape? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted June 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2017 Are you going for an hourglass shape? Yes, pretty much. I had used a French curve to work out the curve in the leg vise, and I have a scaled down version of it drawn here. Once I've got my template I'm planning to use the router to shape the curves. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted June 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 And just like that, we have a dead man. It's a bit of a tight fit, so I had to plane down a couple parts of it. It seems there was a bit of twist in that board. Anyway, it works well enough now. I template routed the curves so it's consistent. I like the shape, although I have to admit I'm not 100% sold on the two tone design. It might have looked better as all maple or as all sapele, like I originally planned. However, I'm not remaking it at this point; may as well see how it all looks with finish. And with that, construction is essentially complete. I need to make another trip around with a chamfer bit in the trim router, then it's mostly finish prep. I have a little more to do on the flattening front, but it's with about 1/32" now. I haven't bolted the slabs down since I'm waiting on the thread taps, so I might hold off on the last flattening until then. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 SawDust B I have to be honest I love your bench but I would loose the sapele accents on the deadman I think they take away from the overall look of what is an amazing bench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted June 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 SawDust B I have to be honest I love your bench but I would loose the sapele accents on the deadman I think they take away from the overall look of what is an amazing bench. Yeah... Like I said, I don't disagree. It didn't turn out quite as I expected. I'm just not sure I can face remaking it right now. I'll look at it again in the light, but the most I could see doing is ripping them off on the table saw. I wouldn't really mind that, except I don't want to lose the shape. It's probably a moot point this weekend anyway, since my schedule is full with my daughters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 5 minutes ago, SawDustB said: Yeah... Like I said, I don't disagree. It didn't turn out quite as I expected. I'm just not sure I can face remaking it right now. I'll look at it again in the light, but the most I could see doing is ripping them off on the table saw. I wouldn't really mind that, except I don't want to lose the shape. It's probably a moot point this weekend anyway, since my schedule is full with my daughters. LOL I understand I know this for sure finishing one of these benches is an amazing achievement in craftsmanship and you sir have done an awesome job! Enjoy it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 I think you should keep the deadman the way it is. It's a good reminder of a valuable lesson learned: contrasting species is risky business. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted June 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 So I've looked at it again and I'm still not really liking it. I see a couple of options: 1. Live with it and move on (which I probably should do, but won't) 2. Rip off the sapele and use the maple part of the dead man. This leaves it narrower and a bit plain - I'm a little worried it would be tippy when sliding it. Otherwise it might be a good thing, since it would take up less space. 3. After ripping off the sapele, glue on some blocks of maple and redo the template routing. There's some hand tool work I'd have to do top and bottom to make the new pieces work in the track, but no big deal. 4. Make a new one from maple 5. Make a new one from sapele Right now I'm leaning toward option 3, although I'd look at option 2 before gluing on the maple. I think that would end up being the best result for the least effort. Is it worth keeping the shape? Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 12 minutes ago, SawDustB said: 2. Rip off the sapele and use the maple part of the dead man. This leaves it narrower and a bit plain - I'm a little worried it would be tippy when sliding it. It's tippy, regardless, even at full width...if you try to slide it with your hand from the top. I've developed the muscle memory to use my foot to slide it from the bottom, which makes the problem moot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted June 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 It's tippy, regardless, even at full width...if you try to slide it with your hand from the top. I've developed the muscle memory to use my foot to slide it from the bottom, which makes the problem moot. Mine is very tippy, but I wasn't sure if it would improve much with finish and waxing it. Making it 2 1/4" narrower probably isn't a great plan then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estesbubba Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 It turned out great! I have 3/8" at the bottom of my vise with the suede on and it grips like crazy with just light cranking. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted June 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 It turned out great! I have 3/8" at the bottom of my vise with the suede on and it grips like crazy with just light cranking. Thanks Mike! I'm glad to hear that on the leg vise - I should be good then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted June 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 Ok, so I found the off cut from the maple piece I started with. There's enough there to replace the sapele with maple after I rip it off, and it's from the same original board. I don't think I'll do much better short of starting over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted June 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 I first double stick taped on another straight piece of wood to ride on the fence, then ripped off the sapele. Next, I had a look at it on the bench. I considered leaving it, but I decided to keep going with putting the curve back on it. Currently it's in the clamps, with the new pieces glued on. I kept them about 1/16" oversize in thickness, and they're a little long. I'll plane and trim them to thickness after the glue is dry. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmotjr Posted June 12, 2017 Report Share Posted June 12, 2017 But seriously, impressive work sir. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted June 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2017 There! It's not perfect, but it's all maple and the right shape. It also fits a little better than it did originally. The grain match could be a little better, but I'm happy. It does figure though that the back side has perfect glue joints, but the visible side didn't turn out quite as well. Had I realized how much of a pain this was going to be, I think I might have started with a new piece of maple. There was a large piece that got knocked off during flush trimming and then was subsequently repaired. My wife looked at it and said that it was nice, but it was nice before and shrugged. I need some validation to tell me how much better it is (and how it was worth it) . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted June 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2017 Not a lot of progress, but I'm just starting to apply some finish. I'm going with the tried and true varnish oil. That's two coats on the dead man, looks pretty good. It's slow to dry, so I'm just doing a few pieces at a time. I may tackle the base today if I can manage to get a good sanding session in. 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.