My First Workbench Build - A Journal

[Eric Schubert]

I didn't have time to do much today. But I marked out the thickness for my second slab. I'll get it close and then set it aside to start working on the rest of the base components. Mostly stringers and such.

[Robert Engel]

Looking good Eric. You're building muscle memory and you'll see how this helps in your first project.

Have you thought about workbench height yet? The pic got me wondering how high the slab is you're planing? Its going to be a pretty critical thing a lot of guys don't pay much attention to but can translate into pain going forward. Too low = back pain. Too high = shoulder/elbow pain. It also plays into planing technique somewhat. Too high and you will have more problems with uniform planing (IMO).

I used a modified "Frank Klausz" formula: standing erect, flex the wrist to 90 degrees and the palm of the hand is roughly wb height. Actually I like mine about an inch higher because of my back.

[Eric Schubert]

Thanks for the tip, Robert.

I've briefly thought about bench height, but I've just been focused on getting everything prepped.

I know that my current setup (a section of office desk) has been a little too low for my liking, except when I've been working on the edge surfaces of my slabs. Then it's a bit high. So I know I want something in between. I'll test out the Klausz formula and see if I like it.

I figure I'll start on the higher side and see how it goes. Worst case, I can always cut the legs down a little bit. But I can't put material back once it's gone.

[Eric Schubert]

I missed my last check-in because I was out of town, so I felt like I needed to make progress tonight. And I think I did just that.

Last time I worked on my bench, I only laid out markings for the thickness that I'm looking for on my second slab to get it close to the first slab. Tonight, I managed to push myself to get my slab to the proper thickness. I still need to put both slabs together and take them to their final thickness, but that I will save for somewhere toward the end of my build.

As always, the picture doesn't look much different than previous ones. But, you may be able to see that I got some nice, long, curly shavings off of my #7. It's definitely due for a sharpening again, but that plane has been my workhorse.

Next up: Start smoothing out pieces of my support structure. My horizontal stretchers (I think I kept calling them stringers... they're stretchers.) that connect my legs together, provide a space for a small shelf (maybe), and join the top with the base.

[Eric Schubert]

Well, just didn't feel terribly energetic today... but I did at least start on my next board.

Before that, I noticed a shiny spot on my second top slab. Turns out there was half of a nail still in the board that I'd been planing down! So, now I'll really have to sharpen up my blade again. I can see it's starting to leave little tracks because there's a nick in the edge. *sigh*

I pulled out the first of my 4x4's and smoothed out the rough surfaces. It has some bow and twist to it. It may have more twist than is worth correcting, unless I really plane it down. We'll see how it goes. The bow I may not be able to remove, either. So, I'll need to find out how to cope with that flaw.

I have to say... While this is quite a challenge for me, being so new to neander woodworking, it's teaching me how to deal with all sorts of situations that are far from ideal. I'm sure many woodworkers deal with these flaw and problems on a daily basis. Now it's my turn to see how I handle what the wood throws my way.

[Robert Engel]

Plane it to fit, that's how I roll.......

Hitting that nail was a big oops. Plan on spending quite a bit of time fixing that plane iron.

[Eric Schubert]

Yeah, can't say I'm thrilled to have to remove that much metal on the blade, but it is what it is. No way to go but forward.

[Eric Schubert]

Firstly, I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Joy and happiness to you and your families this holiday season.

Secondly, there's nothing like doing a little woodworking on Christmas! (Today was also my day to do it in my habit-tracking app, so... it was more that than anything. )

Step 1: Sharpening my blade. It definitely got a few nicks in it from hitting that nail, plus it had gotten fairly dull. I started on my extra-coarse DMT, then moved to my honing films from there. It took a little work, but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Honestly, the picture almost looks worse than it was. At least as far as time and effort to remove those flaws.



Step 2: Have at it! I worked some more on my first 4x4, managing to get one side flat and smooth.

I ran into something interesting on this board on which I'm hoping someone can educate me. I ended up with these weird shavings while planing. They're rough, as is the surface of the board. And they tend to crumble apart almost like it's end grain. But a look at the side of the board doesn't reveal anything like this type of grain coming up in this area. Any ideas what would cause this?

[Jim Koepke]

Have you tried planing in both directions?

I find some piece that look like the grain is running one way, but for some unknown reason seems to plane better "against the grain."

jtk

[Robert Engel]

The grain can be tricky. I've planed many a board with grain obviously oriented away from me, but still got tear out due to some unruly or twisting grain.

I don't know what that is but I know you're planing radial plane wood (is that right?). What I mean is you're planing the vertical grain face.

I would look at the side of the board (the face side) I'll be you'll see some rising grain there.

Sure that blade is really sharp?

[Eric Schubert]

I've been using a Veritas mk2 honing guide, taking my blade through around 5k or better. It takes easy shavings. It should be sharp. Though, I haven't tried shaving hair with it, and I admit my sharpening skills could probably still improve.

I looked at the side of the board and it looks like I'm going the right direction. I can try flipping it around, though I thought I had already done that after removing the general roughness of the wood because of tear-out on the opposite side. I'll give it a try and see what happens.

[Stewie Simpson]

Eric; if your having trouble determining the grain direction on some of your boards, give the surface a light spray of water. The spray of water will cause the grain fibres to lift allowing you to better determine with your fingers tips the direction of grain. Every time I read a comment suggesting there is no need to check the grain direction with a closely set cap iron, it rather concerns me, as it can be a precursor to adopting the mentality that grain direction is of little importance when working with natural timbers. That's far from reality.

[Eric Schubert]

Thanks, Stewie. I've definitely noticed tear-out when planing against the grain at various points in this project. And I know it can be extremely important with specific types of wood. I had some serious tear-out in the past when trying to work walnut. That was ugly...

[Eric Schubert]

I tried reversing my planing direction on that 4x4, and it did help smooth out the surface. So, I guess the grain was going the other direction. Thanks for that suggestion.

I also smoothed out all sides on another 4x4, so the are now 3 done. They all have significant twist in them, so I'm going to leave them until I need to cut them down to avoid removing more material than I need to. The shorter pieces should need less work.

[Eric Schubert]

Not much to report lately. Been busy with all the holiday stuff happening. Did get one more 4x4 smoothed out. Just gotta keep pushing forward.