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Thread: Gave the jointer/planer a serious workout today. Bench Project

  1. #31
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,688
    The only thing I don't enjoy about milling up lumber with my J/P is the never-ending need to empty the 55 gallon drum under my cyclone. Otherwise, I enjoy seeing "what's inside" of every stick. I always at least skim things first so I can select what will get used in a project and move to full flattening and thicknessing once I've decided what gets used for what. I never mill completely just to go in the rack.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  2. #32
    I have been emptying my dust collector on average three times a day a coupel days a week as of late. I agree its very annoying.

    I always let it fill just a little to much and its freaking project everytime.



    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    The only thing I don't enjoy about milling up lumber with my J/P is the never-ending need to empty the 55 gallon drum under my cyclone. Otherwise, I enjoy seeing "what's inside" of every stick. I always at least skim things first so I can select what will get used in a project and move to full flattening and thicknessing once I've decided what gets used for what. I never mill completely just to go in the rack.

  3. #33
    Jeff good thoughts on the pegs and ebony. I would not say i use ebony alot but i do use it from time to time for bungs and decorative accents. I actually really really have come to like working with it. It is however as you pointed out splintery.

    The bench material is ash, as for black ash im not sure. It does have plenty more of sap wood though. I am actually pleasantly surprised by the lumber. To be honest i was less than enthusiastic about using ash for the build. I would had much prefered french or QS white oak, cherry or even maple. However building such a large bench it would had cost me a fortune. I think I payed $5 - bf for this 12/4 ash. I purchased like just under or exactly 300bf. Now with this unique sap wood i think this is exactly the material i would had chosen had been given the choice. I purchased it via pictures mail order kinda sight unseen.

    Hmm what to make the pegs of. The ash is also pretty splintery. The dogs are going to be ebony as is the rail the deadman rides on. The deadman and maybe even chop will also be accented with ebony. Nothing over the top just suble little touches. Well if i could find and afford a 30"x5.75"x3.5" solid piece of ebony that would be the breadboard end in a minute practical or not!



    ca
    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff Bartley View Post
    Nice and very exciting work Patrick! I love building benches, especially big ones.

    Now, material selection is of course personal but you mentioned ebony for pegs and dogs. I would encourage you to look at a couple domestics, especially for draw bored pegs. White oak makes great pegs and the end grain is beautiful!

    I've started making my own pegs by bandsawing along the grain then making the blank into an octagon. I wax then put them in the oven on low for an hour to super dry, then put them in a ziplock if not using right away.

    I don't have much experience with ebony but it's my understanding that it's a little brittle which doesn't seem like the best quality in a peg. Of course I don't think I'd get past the expense of using that much ebony!

    Are you using white or black ash?

  4. #34
    Not much progress today. Slow day in the shop. It seems i always get less done on the weekend. Must have something to do with the rest of the world not being busy at work.

    Got the last two leg laminations glued. Tomorrow i will joint and plane them to final dimension then at least layout the joinery.

    If things go well ill cut the mortise ans tenons.

    I really gotta get ontop of my dowel situation as i could be piecing the base together this week or next weekend. Plans for the kitchen build are ready though so it could be a hellish week ahead. Beaded face frame and door hell!
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  5. #35
    Not much progress on the bench this weekend. Life got in the way of playtime i suppose. I ended up working most of the day Sunday so i took today off. Although i did not get much done on the bench i did do some work on my tool chest. Go check that thread out if it interest you.

    I got the last two leg laminations that i glued up a day or two ago all jointed and planed to matching dimensions. Now all four of my legs are exact dimensions and just proud of where i would like them to finish. Same for my stretchers.

    I just hope I can find time to get back to this soon. I finally got the CAD drawing for a kitchen build for work puposes, needless to say i a, gonna be a busy guy for like the next 4-6 weeks. Still i hope to find the time amcouple dyas a week tomget this bench build in about the same time.
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  6. #36
    Well its been a while but i finally forced myself to stop doing what i needed to do for what i wanted to do.

    With all the leg and stretcher material previously dimensioned i re checked it all for flateness, twist, wind so forth and so on. Being the stock had all been storred on perfectly flat surfaces post dimesioning it was 100% flat still. Kinda amazing to be honest but my straight edges and winding sticks dont lie. Maybe its not so supprising being this stock had been in my shop for nearly two year waiting for me to use it. I also took my sweet time bringing the stock to dimension for the stretchers and legs laminations. Im sure all of the above is why the work i di well over a month ago now stayed flat.

    Anyway Sunday i got to cutting the eight mortise for the the stretchers. I started by laying everything out. While i was at it i also did the layout for the BenchCrafted Criss Cross leg brace ill be using i also layed out the BenchCrafted classic leg vise.

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    My plan as to use the slot mortiser to cut all the mortise then just sqaure up the corners. I did the first four this way then ran into a little snag. My leg stock is between 9 and 9.75" and i could not fit the legs up on side under my air clamps. I could have used regualr clamps to hold the pieces to the table but that never works very well hence the time and money spent on the air clamps i made. As a result i resorted to the drill press to finish the other four mortise. It was fine maybe a bit more easy to be honest. The cut not as clean and of course the cleaning work. With a edge guid clamped to my workpiece i tend to be able to hand cut mortise fairly fast. Still i seem to avoid it at all cost as if its going to be missery. It always ends uf fun. I dont know why i always forget i love chopping mortise. Its kinda like millijg stock. The repetitive nature feel very zenn like or something to that affect.

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    I proceaded to clean six of the eight mortise leaving one leg for another day. All in all it was exactly the kinda day in the shop my head so badly needed.

  7. #37
    Well it was monday i really should have got busy building cabinets to generate some actual income. In the end i could not resist the pull to finishing the last two mortise in the last leg. I knew if i gave in to the idea of finishing just the one leg i would then be tempted to start cutting tennons and building this thing and actual work would be for another day. Being i have been working 8-16 hours on the weekends for the last 6-8 weeks i figured i deserved two days off in a row.

    With that sorted over my morning coffee i headed down to the shop and got the last leg sorted. I ahad that done in maybe 45 minutes. The. Came the decison as how to cut the tennons. All along i had planned to purchase some giant tennon cutters for my shaper. I really just wanted the perfect clean repeatable easy peasy cuts only a shaper can produce. Well i suppose some could produce them with the same accuracy and much more quickly than myself. I can get them that clean myself but the speed is the issue for me.

    I considered the band saw to cut them but that still left me cutting the cheeks by hand. I tried to use the depth stop on my miter saw but the stock was to thick. I dont have a shoulder plane so the hand saw was out of the question as i knew these tenon have to be perfect and match exactly on all four sides. I settled on the ts and a dado stack. I left all 1/16 proud on all four sides so they could be pared to exact size.

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    I suppose i should have been able to just cut my tennon to exact size as i cut all my mortise to a consistant exact size but i have a really bad habbit of sneaking up on everything. It drives my comworkers nuts on doing the site based work i often do.

    i stead imused a side rabet plane and super sharp paring slick to fit the stretcher tennons to the leg mortise.

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    One down eight to go. By days end i had the two legs and one stretcher fit. Im still not so sure what took me so long. I guess i did finish that last leg and i did rough out all the mortise for the stretchers. Anyway i guess im slow, really slow!

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    I couldnt believe it but that was my day and not a short one either. I guess i did walk the dogs and run a couple errands. It was also a late night so i dont know what happened?

  8. #38
    Well tuesday came and with a shop full of kitchen cabinets in desperate need of attention and finishing i somehow decided i desreved just one more day to get the base of this bench finished. I just got the second round of renederings for the other half of the project somi know the ned is still far from in sight. I figured i should come up for some air and enjoy this bench thing for a couole days. I still cant believe that on a day off i still crave shop time. On average i work 50-65 hours a week doing carpentry. As of late it has been building a custom kitchen. I must be sick?

    I convinced myself over coffee yet again that i could get the mortise and tennon fitted and the base of this bench together. I figured if this be the case it would be a great break point for me to return back to actual work.

    So set of where i left off. I still actually had to cut the tennon on the shorter of the two stretchers. Oh and for whatever reason one of my legs was 1/8 thicker tjan the others. I rember leaving it this way weeks ago and saying to myself "bad idea your gonna misss that later" well i almost did as i had cut my mortise in it. Luck was on ky side though today and i sent it through the planer a couple times and i was back in action ready to spend my day paring amd fitting tenon all day.

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    Now lunch time i had to run off to the vet and to the post office. Being im a nut and have to bring my dogs to a holistic vet
    I end up traveling one hour each direction. I kinda figured i was done for the day at this oont and still would need another day to finish getting the base done.

    With my errands behind me again the pull to the shop overwhelmed me and i found myself late afternoon ankle deep in planer shavings. another half day later and i had finally got the legs and stretchers assembled.

    I spend a good hour or getting them in clamps and checking that everything fit perfect. I had a couple heart attacks as as when i measured corner to corner i was off like a half inch. This resulted in having to check everything. The whole thing came out of the clamps then back into the clamps, then back out again tehn back in. I could not for the life of me understand how anything could be wrong as i knew all my pieces were the exact same sizes. I mean exact like not eclven off a 64the exact.

    So what gave. I didnt level the bench fornt to back on my screwy shop floor. I also had oulled my clamps to tight and was theowing stuff all out of wack. I got a pile of shims and leveled the bench front to back and side to side. I put the clamps back on and made sure not to over tighten them. Tahnkfully everything was not back to 100% perfect. Not even off a 64th, thank god as i could sleep tonight and return funLy back to making cabinets in the morning.

    Well maybe now the only thing holding me up on draw boring this all together is the instalation of the leg vise and crisss cross brace, i figure that will be a good project for this weekend. I really need to get some work done in the event my client stops by over the weekend. He was by last weekend so he knows where i was at and will clearly see where i am not and that have clearly been screwing off.

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    So Thats it for now. If im lucky it wont be another six weks before i can return to building this thing. We will see omly time will tell.

  9. #39
    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Hughes View Post
    One of my favorite parts of woodworking is milling lumber.
    Thats going to be a killer bench the Ash looks great!

    Agree completely....and want to see the finished bench!

  10. #40
    I think this is going to have to be more of a picture book than a story book.

    I have been crazy busy with work.

    I needed a break from building cabinets so i took a couole days and go the mortise and tenon joinery done for the bench.

    I really should not have taken the time away from work to do this but my head needed it bad.

    Layout, i took care of the x brace and leg cise layout while i was at it.
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    Hogged out mortise for the stretchers.

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    I cleaned the corners and waste of three of the legs and six mortise total. That was it for the day.
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  11. #41
    So my last post was this past sunday work. I woke monday morning and all i could think about was finishing the one remaining leg i had not cleaned. I figured this would give me a good break point again. I kinda knew i was full of crap as if i dudnt just get right back in the groove of building cabinets i would teick myself into thinking i could cut all the mortise and fit the stretchers in a day.

    Well thats what i did but i did not quite finish. Instead i blew off the whole day monday for some play time in the shop. ALl is fair in love and war as they say being i probably average 10-12 hours working in the shop on any goven weekend.

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    Then one side completed and again it for a day. In all fairness it was not a full day as i had a number of errands to run that took a few hours of my afternoon from me.

  12. #42
    So this is getting bad. I must really be sick of this kitchen i have been building as these pictures are now from tuesday.

    I really enjoy building kitchen cabinets believe it or not. The current project i am doing is not constructed per your usual kitchen cab methods. Its more of a hybrid furniture/kitchen cabinet project. I really am lucky yo have gotten such a project. I mus be kinda complacent though as its really unlike me to blow work off two days ina row when i have so much on my plate.

    Craziest part is i blow off work "woodworking" for "other more interesting woodworking" well at least to me and at this very moment in time.

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    Well thats how she sits at the moment hogging up precious floor space in my shop. I returned to actual work today so thats progress i suppose?

    I have to start building a large hutch tomorrow. It is two pieces both 6' wide. I really have no idea where i am going to build the thing.

    I hopevto get the criss cross and leg vise mounted this weekend so i can possibly take another three day weekend and get the draw boring done on the legs and stretchers. That would be a nice clean break point!

  13. #43
    I was able to make a little more progress on the bench over the weekend. Not quite as much as i thought i would but 99% of the time thats the way it goes right.

    I had perviously done all the layout for the criss cross and vise. All i had to do was mortise everything out. I figured whats the big deal, hog it out on the dp, clean everything out with a router on a rail and clean the corners.

    Wrong again much like my leg mortise and stretcher tenons. I always think things are easy peasy 1-2-3 and they are except like many around her im a relentless perfectionist and thus something that could be 1-2-3 becomes a long dragged out tedious affair.

    Anyway i ran into a little snag. Not a unexpected one but a snag none the less. I had thoroughly read all the instalation instructions on the vise and criss cross and was well aware that had to drill a very accurate hole clear thorugh from one side of my leg and one side of my chop to recieve metal pins that hold the whole thing together. The instructions stress these holes should be drilled all at once straight through the leg in one pass and that they have to be straight and exact in diameter.

    So problem number one, my leg is 9.75" wide and my DP only has 6" of quill travel. The second problem and a previously known problem was my DP excessive runout. The third problem was that the table and quill are not perpendicular to each other. With the quill fully extended my cobo square indicted i was off about 1/4" over 12".

    The solution was clear, i needed another DP. It took major restraint on my part to not use my DP as i was gung ho to get this crisscross and vise installed. After the combination square revailed i had more than just a runout problem it was clear there was no way this was happening on my machine.

    I made a call and i was off to a uncles house. I packed all the tools needed to check his machine along with the leg and chop into my truck. In the end what should have taken ten minutes took me a half of day. I was pretty aggrivated and it pretty much ruined my day. Yup im a miser. In the end i had to remind myself that i needed to be thankful that in the end the instalation came out perfect. I also had to remind myself had I proceaded with my DP or a hand held drill I would had 100% ruined the leg and this the bench imop.

    Anyway i need to eat dinner so on with the pictures. Nothing great as i stink at taking pictures while im working.
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  14. #44
    Long day today.

    I had to mill up a number of long boards for a work project today. This meant putting the extension tables on the jointer. Its not that bad but you do need to put a long level down and make sure your infeed and outfeed are dead flat. I avoid using them as i feel its a bit of a hassle. dont get me wrong they are a lifesaver if and when you need them.

    About 4:30 after a full eight hour day i figured it was a good idea to start milling the stock for my bench top. I have no idea what i was thinking.

    Wrestling 9.5' x 6 12/4 stock over the jointer was some serious manual labor. As much as it felt like lumber wrestling i also felt like i was roubo cheating as my machine was putting perfect straigth edges on my stock the entire lenght with zero snipe. I could not have been more happy as i really did not expect such good results.

    I spent a good 30 minutes leveling my two MFT tables to do the glue up on. I made sure they are dead level and dead flat with zero twist. I even used a machinist level for calibrating jointers and sliders. My shop is full to the brim at the moment and my assembly table is not free hence the MFT leveling ridiculousness..

    Anywho the pieces are just in clamps. I realised i was out of Titbond 111 and mini roller sleeves. I told myself i would run out tonight amd just get it done but i had one last face frame i had to assemble before i could call it quits.

    Maybe tomorrow i can carve out the time to glue these two laminations up and maybe mill up four more boards.

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  15. #45
    Did your j/p extension tables come from Felder, nor did you make them yourself?

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