Saturday, November 03, 2018

Bench Build

The leg blanks are glued up and sized. The stretcher blanks are in the clamps. Tomorrow I'll size the stretcher blanks and maybe even start on the joinery. I'm working the backside of the clock next week so it may be slow going. There is no real hurry but I'd like to get that sucker off my plate, it has been hanging around the shop much too long.

Stretcher in glue up:


I had to enlist MsBubba to run the stretcher halfs through the jointer. Tomorrow after they come out of glue up I'll really need her help with sizing the stretchers. That's a good part of the reason I spent so much time trying to find suitable 12/4 stock.

I enjoy building benches but the parts sure get big and hard to handle in a one man shop. If anyone wants to learn to build workbenches have I got a deal for you :-).

ken

4 comments:

  1. Darn, too bad Im so far away...

    Bob, looking at his maple slabs and thinking...hummm

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  2. Bob,

    Join your neighbors, there are a bunch of 'em here right now :-), and bring the Maple.

    ken

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  3. Steve D6:19 PM

    Not to be an armchair quarterback, but given that your bench will not stand on one leg 8 or so feet tall, I would suggest that breaking down the pieces near your final length would make lifting and truing much easier.

    Before owning a jointer, I would clean up the width of a glued leg like that on the table saw, then hand planed. After owning a jointer I cleaned up the width of glued legs like that on the table saw. 3 foot lengths would be a piece of cake to handle.

    Made me wonder why I bought a jointer!

    As always, I enjoy your posts with envy.

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    Replies
    1. Steve,

      Thanks.

      The jointer after the table saw will be the next machine to go. Of course I talk big, I used the jointer gladly yesterday. Although I not sure it saved much energy it did save some time.

      The photo is of the 7' stretchers :-). The four leg blanks were done the day before and yes they were a lot easier to handle. As this bench is not meant to be "portable" everything is just a little bigger and heavier. Enough so it is a PITA to work without help.

      ken

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