Replies

1. 
   BigFrank | Oct 12, 2006 05:47am | #1

   Nice work! It looks great!

2. 
   pzgren | Oct 12, 2006 06:55pm | #2

   Rog,

     Nice bench. The multi-layer dovetails give it a little pizzaz with a custom look!

     Great job; hope it serves you well.

   Tschüß!

   Mit freundlichen holzbearbeitungischen Grüßen aus dem Land der Rio Grande!!

   James

3. 
   9619 | Oct 12, 2006 07:12pm | #3

   Rog,
   Great bench! I agree on keeping chisels away. If that were my workbench, I would put it in the dining room and set some nice Chippendale chairs alongside it, and only use it when company comes, and I would only use it with the good China.

   Enjoy,
   Mel

   Measure your output in smiles per board foot. 

4. 
   chuckh | Oct 12, 2006 08:24pm | #4

   Darn you Roger, you built the Tage Frid bench, my dream bench!  http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/FWNPDF/011004040.pdf

   This has been on my "Someday I'm going to build that" list for a long time.

   Great job.

   -Chuck

    

    

1. 
   rog | Oct 12, 2006 09:24pm | #5

   Chuck

   Actually itis the Frank Klausz bench in the Scott Landis workbench book. If ever you get around to building one...make sure you have 3 inch materiel before you start. With the right materiel, I would start one all over again.

   Roger

5. 
   Rich14 | Oct 12, 2006 10:41pm | #6

   Roger,

   Bench: Good.

   "Now if anyone goes near it with a chisel I will scream": Bad

   Yes, the bench should be built to furniture quality standards. No, it should not be treated like furniture. It's a work bench. it needs to get nicked and "stressed" a bit so you will stop worrying and actually be able to do work on it! Don't abuse it, but don't baby it! Use it to make something.!

   Nice bench.

   Rich

6. 
   mbholden | Oct 12, 2006 11:30pm | #7

   Well done, Rog, well done!

   Now make something nice on it and send us pics.

   Make sure you have a will and leave it someone deserving.

   I assume you have signed and dated the work?

   Mike

7. 
   CStanford | Oct 13, 2006 04:45pm | #8

   Excellent.  You're going to love it.  Tool well, the whole works.

   If you can build that, you can build anything.

    

8. 
   SCMedLion | Oct 13, 2006 11:05pm | #9

   Wow!  That is tremendous.  I've been hoping to make the same bench in the next year or so if I can get the time and the wood.  Don't know how many times I have poured over that book.  You've inspired me that it can be done!  How long do you think it took you to complete?

   Out of curiosity, where did you get your wood, how much per board foot, and how much did it cost you total in materials?

   Matthew

1. 
   rog | Oct 13, 2006 11:37pm | #10

   Hi

   I spent about 300 Canadian dollars on wood and about $100 on hardware. I made the base out of beech and the top out of maple. I could't get 3 inch materiel so I went with 1 inch unfinished and I think I paid about $1.50 per board foot.

   Now... because I am frugal I bought bargain ends and some of it was a bit crooked. That being said all I have left is about 5 feet of 1 by 6 that I will make bench hooks out of.

   I think I spent about 300 hours on it but the planing and laminating was very tedious. And everytime I glued up 1 thickness, I would stop and let it dry so it went on forever.

   I could build another one in about 60 hours given the proper materiel.

   I got the vise screws at Lee Valley as well #### the bench dogs.

   I showed my son the bench last night and I was really impressed with the way those vises grab a piece of wood. It is the cats meow for working with hand tools.

   Now I need to develop some hand tool skills.

   Roger

1. 
   SCMedLion | Oct 14, 2006 12:47am | #11

   Thanks for the info.

    

   -Matthew

9. 
   Napie | Oct 14, 2006 03:11pm | #12

   Very well done, you will not believe how much it will improve your work, at least mine did.  Now, take a great big framing chisel and put a gouge in it, it is just easier to get it out of the way!

1. 
   ctsjr | Oct 14, 2006 05:03pm | #13

   Good point about the gouge in the top.  When I was a kid, my parents spent a fortune on a maple formal dining set.  The top was gorgeous--very subtle flame grain; it looked like you were staring into a pool of water or fire.  Then Mom bought a set of dining table pads, and we never saw the top again!  I asked her why the pads and she replied to protect the top.  Never understood that.  It's a workbench--let it work!  Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"

10. 
    SARGEgrinder47 | Oct 14, 2006 05:13pm | #14

    Looks like you caught a keeper, Roger. Did I mention that laminating stock would increase your labor time about four-fold. Opps.. I may have forgotten, but the labor force was working at minimum wage anyway so the over-all pay-roll budget won't suffer drastically once the job was done! And you just got a life-time's experience with glue-up along with all the new clamps that can be used in the future!  

    Be careful of friends and neighbors that might ask if you could build one for them or assist them in building one. Word travels fast through the grape-vine. And remember that if you have un-ruly teen-agers, those vises are pretty handy not only for wood-work but used as medieval torture devices in  keeping that problem at bay! ha.. ha... ha..ha..ha..

    Well done... put it on the pay-roll and put er' to work!

    SARGE..

1. 
   JeffHeath | Oct 14, 2006 05:27pm | #15

   And remember that if you have un-ruly teen-agers, those vises are pretty handy not only for wood-work but used as medieval torture devices in  keeping that problem at bay! ha.. ha... ha..ha..ha..

   LOL.  Excellent.  My son's head is in my tail vise right now for coming home 15 minutes past curfew last night.  :-)

   Jeff

1. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Oct 14, 2006 05:52pm | #16

   Well done, Jeff! Teens despise going to school and their peers staring at their flat nose saturated with Watco oil. Whatever it takes... :>)

   We better hush and get something done around the house and yard as there might be "moms" reading this that disaprove of our macho "time tested tactics" and organize a march to protest testerone. ha.. ha...

   Regards...

   SARGE..

2. 
   rog | Oct 14, 2006 07:02pm | #17

   Hi Sarge

   Thanks for you help with this project. I don't know if you remember a late Sunday night in February about 2 years ago when I was struggling with the bench dog holes... you were of great assistance.

   The only thing I didn't put on this bench is the little things that go on the side behind the tail vise. I think they are called flip up cutting supports (or something like that)

   It doesn't seem like a very comfortable place to cut something. You sort of have to reach over the tail vise... Did you put them on your bench?

   I am making some bench hooks and chopping blocks out of red oak that I have lying around...

   Thinking about making a shelf between the stretchers to store all the planes that I have been buying on e-bay. Don't feel like putting a piece of plywood on it though. Considering using all the little pieces of maple I have left over and doing something decorative down there.

   Any ideas.

   Thanks

   Roger

   PS

   in my case the baby is 23 years old. The grand-daughter is 2 so I should be ok for a while

1. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Oct 14, 2006 07:31pm | #18

   If you don't think you need em, don't put em Roger. If you feel a need later, add em.. The shelf between long stretchers is what I have on my current bench to store planes. If you rabbet the inside of the two long stretchers and attach the stock, not only will you gain plane space but highly bolster the over-all strength by virtually eliminating side-to-side and longitudinal shift even in heavy planing from all directions.

   Regards...

   SARGE..