The Fat Lady Has Sung, Fini

Done, time to sweep up and put tools away. I'll leave the portable up and in the way for a bit. As I clean up the build the slab may, will, need to come off a few times and the portable bench makes it easier.

Over the next few days I'll add some dog holes, clean up the slab end grain and the tool tray. A couple of stops need to be made and fitted. And somewhere in there I'll need to take it apart to clean up the stretchers and bases.

Future bench appliances will be ledgers and a lower shelf and maybe a deadman. The deadman I've used before were more in the way than helpful, I think I may have figured out how to make one work, we will see.

Some photos of the bench:

And last the Glamour shot:

What a great bench, all the advantages of a Roubo with none of the drawbacks.

ken

Trouble With Unplugged Shop

For some reason Unplugged Shop is not refreshing. The last new post was Will Myers on 12/1. I've tried rebooting, Clearing my cache and history. Anyone else having a problem? Is it my computer or is the site just not working?

The new bench is all but finished. The vise is installed, all that is left is making a tool tray and cleaning up all the marks on the base plus I need to install the brass garder and trim the wedges on the chop as well as trim the top of the chop.

Still a bit of fiddling but it is functional. I'll leave the portable bench up for a few more days because I expect the slab will need removing several more times during the clean up

Later I may add ledgers and a bottom shelf and there is some though of a deadman, not likely but the English style apron is really handy and a dead man could almost do the same job.

During the clean up I'll trim the end grain on the slab and make bigger wedges for the tusk tenons and put some dog holes and a stop near the left end

.

I'm looking forward to putting this sucker to work.

ken

The Fat Lady Is In The Building

No singing yet but damn close.

The vise backer is installed. All that is left is making and fitting the chop and making a tool tray.

I figure the chop is a couple or three hours (which means at least 6) and the tool tray a couple more.  After those jobs the bench will be functional, just needing a little clean up. You may see joinery markings for months, clean up is usually pretty low on my list. I'd lot rather be making things.

The vise backer with the vise hole and the parallel guide hole:

My back is telling me it is whisky time in Tucson.

ken

Fitting The Vise Backer Board

I've spend most of the day fitting the vise backer board. Next up one last M/T to chop in the slab and the vise backer. Then drilling the hole for the vise screw, and cutting the channel for the parallel guide. If things go faster than expected and my back isn't kvetching too much I may start on the chop before whisky time.

Whoops Bubba you are getting too far over your skis. I forgot about the M/T in the chop to hold the parallel guide. Whatever they are both small and quick M/Ts.

I'm not counting on it but I may finish this sucker before the weekend is over.

ken

No Work On Bench Today

Yesterday was one of those days that kick this OF's butt. I walked in the door of the office at 1400 and didn't walk out until 0200 this AM. All twelve hours were at a high stress level with the Feds looking over my shoulder. I will not go into details but let's just say because of client performance I was on a high wire without a net most of the day. My ass is still dragging. The good news is that scenario will not be repeated for at least a year.

I did have to run a rescue mission for MsBubba this morning and while out of the house I stopped by the woodstore. There I found a nice 8/4 hunk of Red Oak that is perfect for the vise chop. The vise backer is ready to work and I now have the wood for the chop. Tomorrow AM I'll start the vise install. By the end of the day my back will be whimpering no mas no mas. I'm not sure how many slab remove and replace there will be before the install is finished but it is a good number.

Time to go to the RV and watch Rachel, Friday's are almost always kick ass,

ken

Wood Joy tools

Wood Joy sent me a 24" bow/turning saw. It is a thing of beauty. I already have a TFWW 12" bowsaw and use it all the time. It is much better than a coping or fret saw for cleaning out the waste between pins or tails. The 24"er will be used for sawing out chair/stool seat blanks.

One of the joys of woodworking is when you go down a different path there are always must have tools to buy :-).

ken

Bench Peg Mortise And Fitting Slab

Drilling the peg mortises:

Cleaning up long (back) peg mortise:

Slab installed:

I've found for the first time fitting of the slab it is best to back the tusk tenons off a bit. Get the slab settled on the pegs then reset the tusk tenons to draw everything up tight. After fitting I tested the bench both lengthwise and across to see if I can move it. This sucker is solid there ain't no way no how it will move, short of a Mack truck running over it.

Time to fit the vise. First up chop or vise backer makes no never mind. I may start with fitting the vise backer because it is ready to work on. I still have not settled on wood for the chop.

ken

Blind Peg Marking

I marked the location of the pegs for securing/fitting the slab to the base yesterday. I have not drilled the mortises for the pegs yet. Because drill bits can vary slightly in size I need to test bit to peg to make sure of the fit. That is first thing this AM.

The blind pegging first step is to decide on peg location and drive a nail in far enough to be secure but easy to remove.

Next snip off the nail so it is lower than the slats used to support the slab while positioning but high enough to make a good mark and is also high enough to be easily removed.

Then position the slab. Once satisfied with position carefully remove the support slats and press, use a lumpy or whatever means needed to press the slab down on the cut nails, marking the position of the pegs and mortises.

The mark closest to the front edge of the slab will be drilled to peg size, single arrow. The back mark, with a circle, will be drilled elongated to allow movement of the slab. The marks on the base will be drilled to peg size and will have the pegs glued with around 25mm or so exposed.

An easy but ingenious process.

ken

Moravian Workbench

I'm in the short rows of my full sized copy of the portable Moravian workbench based on the Will Myers video . There is more information on Will's blog Eclectic Mechanicals. After building a number of Roubo and Moravian benches and working on each style bench I'm convinced for either first time builders or even experienced bench builders the Moravian style bench is the better bench.

I've built a number of workbenches the first was very loosely based on photos of benches in early issues of Fine Woodworking. I didn't have a clue but that bench was in my shop full time until being replaced by my first Moravian bench build a couple of years ago. Most of the other builds were based on variations of the French style or Roubo bench and for the last two years Moravian benches. There is nothing wrong with a French bench but I think the Moravian bench is a better bench for most woodworkers for several reasons, First is cost, then ease of build and finally the fact that the Moravian can be easily broken down and moved.

Wood is getting very expensive. For the same stability the Moravian bench will use less wood than a Roubo style bench. My French/English bench when built using European Beech ~three years ago cost just over $1200 USD for the wood. The current Moravian build that is approximately the same size using the same European Beech (literally out of the same stock of Beech at the wood store, I've been working the stack down for the last three years) cost less than $700 USD.

The joints used on a Roubo are not difficult for the most part but they are bigger than most woodworkers are use to making and they need to be well done to maintain stability. Other than the long stretcher mortise the joints on the Moravian bench are large but close to normal sized and the long stretcher M/T joint needs to be very loose, no precision needed. Bottom line on the build differences of the two benches, triangles are stronger than squares.

The most important difference is once a full sized Roubo is built, it is in place. Moving it to a new location is very difficult. The Moravian can be broken down to move. Even the full sized bench I'm currently building can be moved with ease. Each component, base, stretchers, and vise separates and can easily be moved by one person. The slab depending on size may need two people to move to a different location.

There is little difference in utility between the two styles of benches, it mostly depends on devices installed and how you like to work. Either bench will do the job and do it well.

Slab on Base

The base is finished except for clean-up. The tusk tenons are fitted and it is solid, I put the slab on to get a look-see. I'm happy with it.

Next up is blind pegging the base and slab. Once the slab is fitted I'll need to make the vise backer board, cut its tenons, drill the vise screw hole and cut a mortise for the parallel guide. Then make a vise chop and parallel guide. Chop the two mortises for the backer board in the slab and bottom long stretcher. And last make and install a tool tray.

Basically all that is left to do is fiddly work, time consuming with lots of install the slab, take the slab off, reinstall the slab and so on.

It is a heavy sucker and pretty big (see portable bench in background). Everything but the short stretchers are bigger and heavier.

I'm going to walk away from it now. Tomorrow I'll blind peg the sab and figure out what I will use for the vise backer board and maybe make it if it doesn't need a glue up. If it does, do the glue up.

ken

First Fitting of Long Stretchers to Base Units

As I promised Ralph yesterday here is a photo of the base put together:

This fitting will allow marking of the tusk tenon mortises. Then it all has to come apart to chop the mortises. While apart, I will also trim/plane the upper stretcher to match the angle of the legs and clean up the base units.

It will need putting back together to blind peg the slab and mark the slab and lower stretcher for the vise backer mortises. Back apart to chop the mortises and then back together to fit the vise backer. Anyway you get the drill, a lot of fiddling and apart/together to finish up.

I don't know if you can see the size difference between the portable bench and the shop sized one but I can tell you it's there. Taking the portable bench apart and putting together is an easy one person job. I'll bet MsBubba could do it with no help. I couldn't put this base together without MsBubba's help and you can forget about the two of us moving the slab to the base. I'll need the help of another OF or maybe young and strong the set the slab.

The legs and long stretchers are basically 16/4 European Beech, the top stretcher is 8/4 European Beech. The middle stretcher is 8/4 Sapple and the lower one is 8/4 Honey Locust. The slab is ~2180mmX460mmX90mm (~7'1"X 18"X 3 1/2") Beech. The height will be 875mm (34 1/2") and the width ~660mm (26"). I've not a clue how much it will weigh but I expect closer to 300 lbs. than 200.

If the portable bench is predictive, this sucker should be every bit as stable and solid as my hybrid Roubo/English bench and that one could hold my truck and not move. Think triangles vs. squares.

ken 

Some Things Are Too Simple

Here I am 3/4 of a Century old and I'm still getting "damn that's simple, why didn't I think of it" moments. One yesterday from C.S. at the LAP blog was just in time. I have four stretchers that need trimming flush. I have a LV flush cut saw that works but is slow and short and these four stretchers are large. It wouldn't be like trimming a few dowels flush.

C.S, to the rescue, he faced a similar problem and solved it by taking a diamond stone to the backside of a Japanese saw, making the impulse hardened saw a flush cut saw. With nothing to lose I did the same to a junk HD pull saw.

Head slap, why didn't I think of it?

Works great, fast and a clean cut. Whatever I have a new tool in my toolbox.

ken

Second Base Is In The Clamps

The second base unit is in clamps, no photo because it looks just like the first base unit. I'll let it cure till tomorrow AM. Once the second base is out of the clamps I'll assemble the bases with the long stretchers and mark out the mortises for the tusk tenons.

Like the first base this one is a couple mm out of square but with zero wind and a small gap or two in the joints. The gaps will be easy enough to hide, my question is why. Whatever it is a workbench.

BTW, this sucker is in the short rows.

ken

First Glue Up

The forward, #1 and #2 legs, base unit is glued up and in clamps. Tomorrow I'll fit the stretchers to the aft base unit and hopefully get it in glue up and clamps. If that happens, Monday morning I'll put that sucker together and mark off the tusk tenon mortises and start chopping 'em.

Fun stuff to go. Blind pegging the top rails and slab. Making the vise backer and installing it. Making the vise chop, parallel guide, and mounting the vise.

The base is a couple /three mm out of squire but most important is in perfect wind. The left dovetail didn't pull up completely on glue up. I'm not sure why, it fit perfectly on the dry fit and there is a small gap at the bottom of the right upper brindle joint. All of which I can live with.

Not only can I smell the barn, I have it in sight just on the horizon.

ken

That Lucky Old Sun

I've an ear bug this morning while drinking my morning coffee before heading to the shop. While that lucky old sun has nothing to do, I've a full plate.

The biggest problem at this stage is getting a whiff of the barn. It is too easy to rush and make mistakes. For myself the best answer is to forget goals and just concentrate on the job at hand. Easier said than done when a build has taken as long as this one. Even though I know the reasons for the length of time; not being able to source the base wood, a month long vacation, other projects to finish and life. It is still too long in the making and it is time to finish and move on.

I've a couple of chairs and a desk/table waiting. I even have the seat blanks for the chairs cut. It is time to move on and put the new workbench to use. Just one problem, I've got to finish it first.

ken 

Last Post Of The Day

It has been a productive shop day.  All the long stretcher tendons are fitted to their leg mortises. The two top stretchers are fitted to legs I and II and I've cut the dovetails on leg I and II's lower stretcher. Tomorrow I'll cut the dovetail socketts in legs I and II and fit the lower stretcher.

Legs III and IV will follow. It would be great if I can glue up the base units Sunday.

The front base unit:

BTW, the top stretcher is Beech, the middle Sapelle, and the bottom is Honey Locust. No reason for the different woods other than they are what was in my wood pile and are strong and heavy. This sucker will come apart to move but it ain't going to be portable.

My body is letting me know no mas, no mas. It's whisky and Ibuprofen time.

ken

More Moravian Bench

I'm back at it this AM with sawing out the tenons on the back long stretcher and fitting the base legs. So far it is going well, I made a small mistake chopping the stretcher tenons in I didn't make them long enough. Unlike most M/T joints these need to be loose and I chopped 'em a little tight in length. It is an easy fix, just take 3mm or so off the bottom of the mortise. Of the first two fitted, one needed the fix. I'll soon know about the last two.

Sawing the tenon:

Sawing the shoulder:

On to cleaning up the tenons and shoulders before testing the fit.

BTW, this is the first time I've used the Bad Axe crosscut panel saw. Nice saw. Worth the money? Good question, whatever it sure is pretty.

I want to add, the photos are out of order. I sawed the shoulders first. That way when you hit the line the waste will fall off.

ken

Hope Everyone Had A Good T-Day

We did the full T-Day thing for just the two of us. I'll be pretty sick of Turkey by the time we finish the leftovers. I expect Sam the Wonder Dog and Sweet Maggie Dog will love it.

Making progress on the new workbench. I've cut the tenons on the long stretchers and just need to make sure the tenons fit each mortise before glueing the base units. Once the base units are glued up it is pretty much downhill from there. A bit of fiddly work but other than moving the slab from its spot leaning against the wall to the base the heavy lifting and whacking huge mortises is done.

The bench should be finished before we leave for the Winter Solstice celebration in Houston. Of course there is a big difference between should and will.

Checking the fit of the long stretcher and the leg mortise:

The top two base stretchers have been fitted. I need to cut and fit the dovetails for the lower stretcher before I can glue up the base. The fat lady isn't warming up just yet but she's in the building.

ken

More Mortise Chopping

Seems I have an obsession with mortise chopping. Could be because that's about the sum of my shop time lately. As I posted before there are several ways to end up with a hole in or through a piece of wood.

The main ones are: A hollow chisel mortiser, a chain mortiser, drill most of the waste and then pare the "Vs" and sides to size, and using chisels to waste the wood. Sometimes finding or having a chisel of the correct size can be a problem but if you have a chisel of the correct size and you are only doing a few mortises I think beavering away with a chisel is the fastest and best way to make a mortise.

The mortises of the last couple of days are an example. I needed a large mortise to hold the tusk tenon that makes the base of the Moravian workbench. I had a 32mm bench chisel that fit the bill for width so now it was just a matter of chopping half way down on one side, flipping the board over and chopping through on the other side. Once through the board all that remains is cleaning up the ends and fuzzies on the sides. Reasonably quick and easy.

Here is a photo of the mortise after one pass down the length with a return to the starting end to level the approximately 30mm it took to get to the 30mm depth of the first pass. Each following pass will be slightly less deep because of restricted lever room but with a total thickness of the stretcher of 130mm it doesn't take too long to get to the 60 or 70mm depth needed on each side.

I probably will not get "break through" on the next pass but I expect it will happen on the third. Then it will just be a matter of cleaning up and getting the correct angle on the ends. The floor and top of the mortise needs to be 15* to match the angle of the legs.

ken

Beavering Away

Why do I save the hardest for last? I guess just because I'm drawn that way.

The middle short stretchers are ready to fit. The bottom short stretchers will have a dovetail so no mortise to chop. The mortises for the long stretchers are next, these are the largest mortises of the build, 32mm wide X 130mm deep X 145mm long. Come on Ibuprofen do your thing. Here is a photo of the first one after a couple or three passes.

Maybe three more passes to be deep enough to turn the leg over and come from the back side.

Each mortise takes a little over an hour with sharpening breaks, doggie butt scratching, and resting my noodle arm so I expect with adding the day job in, the Woodcraft Boot Sale Saturday, and only one day off this week, it may be next week before the base is glued up and ready to stand on its own.

ken

Chopping Mortises

I've four through mortises to chop. The tenon is a one shoulder tenon that is close to splitting the stretcher in half giving a 20mm wide tenon and mortise. That presents a small problem. My largest pigsticker is 1/2", I could use the 5/16" pigsticker and do two rows inside the mortise and then clean out the middle. Or drill out most of the wood and clean up the "Vs" and sides with a paring chisel. I do not like either of those options, the double mortise is too slow and too much work, The drill and pare is also slower than just going at it with a correct sized chisel.

Awhile ago I bought a set of Narex firmer chisels on a lark, mostly because it is hard to find new firmer chisels and they were cheap. The handle shape and size sucks as with most Narex chisels so after a quick sharpening I stuck them in a chisel rack and forgot about 'em until today.

As mentioned earlier I needed a 20mm chisel and guess what, the Narex set had a 20mm firmer chisel. Well they are cheap enough not to worry about ruining. I thought about using a "chisel" hammer for a couple of seconds to protect the handle but rejected that thought, again because they are cheap. Out comes my normal mortise mallet, "lumpy", and off to the races.

While I use a lump hammer as a mortise mallet I do not go all Conan on the chisel. I find light taps gives better control and is faster than whacking it hard. The lump hammer just takes less energy than other hammers.

Anyway, after a quick mortise chop I'm pretty happy with the Narex chisel and for grins I looked at the Narex web site to see what they said about the firmer chisels:

The firmer chisel is a "Special tool for rough work. Blade tapers in width and lengthwise from tip to shoulder for sidewall clearance. Forged blade is made of traditional Cr-Mn steel and heat treated to 59 HRc. Ergonomic handle from hard and hefty hornbeam wood is strong enough to withstand heavy blows with a mallet."

Hornbeam handle is good but I expect if I use the chisel again I'll take a spokeshave to it and put a couple of flats to help orientation much like a pigsticker has.

The first of four mortises is finished:

The iron held up well, after finishing the first side I looked at and felt the edge. There were no chip outs, just a couple of shiny spots. I took a couple or three strokes on the medium India and a quick strop and it was back to work.

ken

Top Stretchers

The base is coming along, I finished fitting both top stretchers this morning. I've a need to run the streets for a couple of hours, Home Depot, Costco, pick up meds, and maybe some Vietnamese for lunch. I should finish the running around it time to start on the middle mortise and tenons this afternoon. There is a slight chance the bases will be ready for glue up Sunday. I wouldn't bet on it but maybe.

ken

Stretcher Fitted to Front Base

I've started the joinery on the bench base. First is the upper stretcher, then the middle mortise and tenon, and last the bottom dovetail. If MsBibba doesn't spot me and forgets I'm in the shop I may complete the leg joinery this weekend. I doubt it will happen but it could.

When I first started making Moravian benches I thought the three different joints on the base was an affection, maybe even showing off but after living with several benches I've come to appreciate the thought that went into and utility of the joints. I know broken record but the sum of the Moravian bench is greater than the parts.

Upper stretcher fitted to the front base:

Camera angle makes it look cattywampus. Everything is pretty square for just one stretcher fitted.

ken

Tomorrow

Please vote tomorrow if you have not already voted.

When I checked the stretcher blanks this AM one was a little off square. I'm not sure how it happened but whatever, MsBubba to the rescue. We ran it through the joiner one more time. It will be slightly smaller than the other but no big deal as each is individually fitted to its leg assembly and the stretcher mortise needs to be loose with about 6mm-10mm of vertical play.

For the most part the legs are marked out, I just have to look at them for awhile, long enough to "see", as Don Juan put it in "Don Juan a Yagui way of Knowledge", before I make the first cut.

ken

More Bench Build

Slab is finished. Legs and stretchers are trued and dimensioned. The scut work is done. With almost every build, at this point I swear this will be my last bench. Who knows, someday it may be. Whatever, the enjoyable part of the build is next. There is still heavy stuff to move around but for the most part it is a one person job. The joinery is fun, a bench isn't furniture. it is a tool and if a joint isn't perfect as long as it is strong who cares. Same with a dent or two, after a month or so in the shop they will be joined by many others.

I'm taking a break, it is a beautiful Fall day in the desert and the Day of The Dead. I expect MsBubba and I will try to find a Mexican Cafe with a patio. If there are not too many cerveza consumed I'll start marking out tonight.

ken 

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

Shop Changes

Moving the 10 lbs. around the 5 lbs. space.

I've been trying to figure out what to do with the table saw for some time, I hope to never see a full sized sheet good in the shop and I've a track saw to break it down if one ever shows face. That makes the table saw obsolete except for cross cutting and a hand saw can do most of the cross cutting. The problem is my saw is a pretty good 3 HP cabinet saw and if I sold it the return would be pennies on the dollar.

For now I refuse to give it away but it sure has taken up some valuable real estate in the shop. A couple of days ago I was trying to figure out how to run the workbench 7' stretchers through the jointer. The only way was to move the jointer. That lead to moving all the machines to new places in the shop and the table saw with rip fences removed pushed against the west wall where it can still be used to cross cut if needed but very much out of the way and taking up little space. BTW, those are the workbench leg blanks leaning on the table saw and the workbench slab against the north wall.

From left to right at the front of the shop so the outfeeds go out the door are the bandsaw, planer, and jointer.

I'll give it a go this morning as I finish dimensioning the workbench legs.

The local Woodcraft is having a parking lot boot sale on the 17th. I hope to clear more "stuff" out of the shop then. Some really good tools will be on my table. I expect to take the portable workbench and the shave horse along with a lot of good chisels, some joinery planes, a bench plane or three, a dozen or more good hand saws, marking gauges out the kazoo, and so on. It is time to clean out the dust catchers. I don't expect either the shave horse or the bench to sell but the shave horse was a prototype and one of my next projects is to build another but "prettier" one and there is not room for two shave horses in the shop.

ken

Stick Chair Finished

The stick chair has been moved from the shop to one of the sitting areas. I'm not sure where it's home will be, could be the kitchen table or maybe one of the bedrooms. Bottom line it is out of the shop and on to finishing the new workbench.

I've lived with MsBubba too long and have caught some of her ways. This morning after looking at the options for jointing the long stretchers I started moving machines. Just like MsBubba and the furniture I didn't really change much functionally but the machines are all in different places.  The big change is the tablesaw is against the West wall and out of the way. Photos when it is all hooked up.

ken

Saguaro

A week or so ago Jonas over at Mulesaw asked about Saguaros. This is a is a partial answer. Our house is on the edge of the Saguaro National Park so we are surrounded by Saguaros.

Here is a photo of our back garden Saguaro. A few years ago the top developed the "leans" and a year or two later it fell off and took one of the arms with it. I figured it was a goner but has recovered and is adding new arms.

Saguaros are very slow growing a 10 year old plant may be less than two inches tall yet by the time they put on arms around 100 years or so they can be 40 or more feet tall.

Saguaros define the Sonoran desert, it is the only place they grow. Basically if you see a Saguaro you are in the Sonoran Desert and if you do not you are in some other desert like the Mojave. Not totally true but close enough. They feed and shelter many of the desert critters including the two legged kind. Our saguaro has been the home of a nesting pair of Gila Woodpeckers for years.

Saguaros can live a couple of hundred years and after the die they are still useful. From the Desert Museum's web site: "After the saguaro dies its woody ribs can be used to build roofs, fences, and parts of furniture. The holes that birds nested in or "saguaro boots" can be found among the dead saguaros. Native Americans used these as water containers long before the canteen was available."

They flower in the Spring and are pollinated by birds, bees and the lesser long-nosed bat. Native Americans celebrate the start of their growing season with a drink made from Saguaro fruit.

A photo of a Saguaro skeleton MsBubba has covered in lights, I doubt you can make it out but there is also a "boot" in the middle of the shelf to the left of the skeleton.

One more photo. Looking to the West Northwest towards the Tucsons and Saguaro National Park from our back garden.

Click 'em to big 'em,

ken

Shop Sized Moravian Bench

Back in July or August I made a slab for a new shop sized (non-portable) Moravian style workbench. After finishing the slab I ran into a couple of problems that stopped progress. The first was getting my wood for the base, I wanted to use 12/4 Ash. The local wood store said the Phoenix store had it in stock and would deliver with the next shipment. The next shipment no joy but it would for sure be on the next one. Yep you guessed it, the check is in the mail. By this time I was getting ready to spend September in the PNW so everything slid until we were back from Oregon. Once back I'm back in the chase for 12/4 timber for the base after a week or so of back and forth with the wood store I quote "The Ash is too checked and ugly to sale but we do have some 12/4 Hard Maple at $13 USD a BF instead. Ain't no way I'm using $13 USD wood for a workbench base, glue up or not.

Cut to the chase. They had some 8/4 Beech on sale for just under $5 USD a BF, so it needs glue up, for $ 7 USD a BF I can handle that. Just under $400 USD I have my base plus some spendles and legs from the cutoffs. I've broken the Beech down and will start glue up of the legs and stretchers this afternoon. If work and honey dos do not interfere too much I should have a new bench in a couple or three weeks.

The chair drying between coats of paint with the bench parts in the background:

The chair will need at least two more coats of red, that's the bad news, the good is milk paint dries almost as fast as it is applied.

The stretcher and leg glue ups will take a couple of days to complete. I do not have room or clamps to do 'em all at one time. BTW, my bench building days may be ending soon. Wrestling bench sized timber kicks my butt anymore, I ain't as strong as I once was. That said, I expect I have at least one or two more benches in me and I want to replace my butt ugly shave horse with a nice one that will break down for easy transport.

ken

Levi's Chair Gets A Big Brother

The title says it all.

I'm going to live with the chair a couple of days before deciding on paint or oil.

ken

Chair Is In Glue UP

The chair is in glue up. I haven't decided on paint or not. Four different woods and a seat that is a little difficult, my guess is it will end up painted. The only real question is is the chair worth the time and effort it takes to paint.

It has been a great learning project but there are some design elements that could be done better. Again I think I will live with the chair for awhile before deciding. Whatever, building stick chairs is a hoot. I love the process and even better I love the results.

If I paint it will be milk paint with a red or black undercoat and either black, gray green, or blue finish coat.

Here is the chair in clamps:

One more:

I found a hunk of 8/4 Poplar the other day that should yield at least five seat blanks. the next one will have thinner back spindles and I expect I'll form them with a drawknife and spokeshave. I like the octagon legs and expect the next chairs will continue with them. Soon I'll add a crest rail and arms, maybe the next chair or the one that follows.

BTW, I sat on it before glue up and it is really comfortable.

ken

Legs Dry Fitted

I have finished the legs and have dry fitted them into the seat. They look good, angles are not perfect but close enough to be no problem.

Chair from the side:

From the front:

The seat still needs some shaping and of course cleaning up. After shaping the seat I need to make four sticks/slats for the back and a crest rail. This sucker is close to being in the short rows.

I'm still waiting on my 12/4 Ash for the new bench base. If the Ash isn't available I think Red Oak is and is close enough in price to the Ash to be a reasonable substitute. The bench's slab standing in the corner covered in dust is bugging me. It's time to fish or cut bait.

Once the bench is finished, unless MsBubba has other plans for my time and as always if she does "yes dear" is the correct response, will be another stick chair made with a Poplar seat and painted with contrasting base/finish milk paint. In the queue as well is a stick table/desk. I'm not sure which will be first.

Plans are being finalize for a trip to Houston over the Winter Solstice to honor the most important day of the year (MIDOTY), MsBubba's birthday, with the kids and so I can meet the newest Grandpeanut. I'll take tools and bench with us so I can repair the changing table that was damaged when shipped.

A busy end of the year.

ken 

Boot Sale

Our local Woodcraft had a parking lot Boot Sale last Spring. It was successful enough they agreed to having another this Fall. I'm hoping they will continue with a twice yearly schedule. This Fall's sale will be November 11th, it's on my calendar and I have the day off.

I expect to offer a few large items as well as the usual small hand tools. I hope to rid the shop of several dozen hand saws, 20 or 30 chisels including a set of LV PMv11 chisels. I've had the LV chisels for several years (early adopter) and have never developed any love. It's a shame because they look good and I'm sure the iron is good but they don't feel right in hand plus they are the only chisel handle I've ever split. LV replaced the chisel with no question but one of the other chisels has a hairline crack. Anyway they may be great chisels but not for me.

I will also try to reduce my stock of dust collecting joinery planes and maybe even a bench plane or two. Marking gauges, what do you want pin or cutting? I haven't decided if any of my surplus sharpening stones are in danger. I expect not but it could happen. The large items will be mostly photos and I do not expect to sell 'em but showing a photo never hurts. Whatever, someday, hopefully soon, I wish to rid the shop of the table saw and the jointer.  The two large items I will take to the boot sale are my prototype shave horse and the portable workbench.. The shave horse works great but is as ugly as granny panties and the portable workbench because I need a surface to show and maybe demonstrate some of the tools for sale. I'll put a price on the bench in case someone is interested.

The shave horse will be priced to go because I want to make another (prettier) one and there's no room in the shop for two. The workbench I would sell if offered enough to make building another worthwhile but this one is close to perfect and I doubt it could be improved on in any significant way.

BTW, I'm sure I've told you how much I enjoy working on the portable bench :-). The folks that originally designed the bench knew what they were doing. It is pared down to the essence of "workbench". There is nothing extra but nothing missing and it is incredibly stable for its mass because of the design of the base. When I first built the bench I did not understand or appreciate the subtlety of the design I just wanted a small portable workbench and the Moravian bench is that. Only after working on it did I began to understand the art and knowledge of the original builders.

A gratuitous photo of the bench in use just because I can:

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Shaping Legs and Seat Blank

I've been supervising a new instructor for the last few days. Before that, for the last two weeks I was on the late PM to early AM shift. I actually like the shift for about a week. No suits in the building, just do your thing and go home, but after a week the lack of good sleep starts to affect me and by the end of the second week I'm just bone weary. To jump from two weeks of the night shift to a week of supervising is cruel and unusual punishment. Woe is me, enough kvetching for now but if you read about an old fart Tucsonian eating a pistol next week there could be a good stash of tools for sale.

I've been in and out of the shop today between taking care of Casa Chaos and MsBubba.

The new chair's seat blank is mostly ready for the legs.

And I'm shaping the leg blanks before cutting the tenons.

The jig does a good job of holding the legs for shaping and with a sharp iron in the #5 it is pretty quick work. I've thought about making a similar jig to hold the leg blanks for running through the planer and may yet. Of course I'm always in the middle of shaping the legs when I think about making the jig and by that time it is easier to just continue doing it by hand.

The seat blank is Honey Locust and it was a pretty gnarly board but it was close to the right size and had been hanging around the shop for a few years. I haven't a clue what will happen when I knock the legs home. There is a good chance it will split, oh well shit happens. If it does I'll go find a nice hunk of Poplar or maybe Red Oak, clean the hide glue off the leg tenons, and start over.

Making Crossgrain "v"

Ralph over at Accidentalwoodworker posted about making a "v" for sawing cross grain. I've found the best way to make the v-cut is to use a long paring chisel and cut cross grain vs. with the grain, Here are some photos of the process:

Next:

Finish:

It makes a much cleaner "v" than doing it with the grain.

ken

Seat Blank

The Honey Locust seat blank is out of the clamps and I marked it off using the seat template I made Saturday. After marking I trimmed the blank close to the line with the bandsaw. Now it is drawknife, spokeshave, and #5 to smooth the edge. I expect I will put a heavy chamfer on the front and side edges, undecided on the back edge, before moving on to drilling and reaming the leg mortises.

The seat edges being trued and smoothed:

I need to go through the wood pile to decide on the leg blanks. Right now I'm thinking either Beech, Red Oak or even White Oak. The Honey Locust in the wood pile's grain is too swirly to make good legs. Once the leg wood is picked then the next decisions are the shape, round, octagon, or tapered and which way, and done with the lathe, plane, drawknife, spokeshave, or some combination of one or more.

All the options are half the fun because there really isn't a correct one. 

BTW, have I ever told you how much I love the portable Moravian bench with the Lake Erie wood screw vise? For as light as it is and portable, it is almost as stable as the main bench. The only time the main bench is better is when sawing crosswise across the bench. Then you can feel the weight difference.

I sure will be glad when the woodstore comes through with my 12/4 Ash so I can make the base for a shop sized Moravian bench. The wood screw is here, the Beech slab is finished. All I need is 30 or so board feet of Ash to finish that sucker off. A couple of weeks max if I can get my hands on the wood.

ken