Mini Bench

[Paul Incognito]

After shoveling a path through the 2' of snow between the back door and garage this morning I was able to get to work.
The overall size is 17x42x33" high. Everything but the stretchers came out of the porch posts from my last post.
I mortised the left front leg for a parallel guide so I can add a leg vise and drilled the front right leg for pegs. During assembly I found that I drilled the wrong way thru the leg. Doh!
I don't know if it comes thru in the pics, but parts of the top are pretty rotten. I used polyurethane glue thinking that it might fill in the rotten parts around the joints and stabilize the wood. It doesn't.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. There's some screw-ups and the wood's not the best, but I learned a lot, had lots of fun and all the materials were free.
I'm really glad I found SMC, especially Neanderthal Haven. Lots of talented folks here sharing ideas and tecnique. The more I read, the more I realize how much I have to learn.
Thanks for looking,
PI

[Chen-Tin Tsai]

Very nice. I like the size. What would you estimate the weight to be? Is it heavy enough to stand up to hand planing? :)

[Paul Incognito]

Thanks Chen-Tin.
You got me curious, so I dragged the bathroom scale out to the garage. Not sure how accurate it reads with me holding it off the floor in front of me, but it's only 85 lbs. Feels heavier to me, but maybe I'm just getting old.
I smoothed out the top with a plane after it was glued up and it's stable end to end but pretty tippy front to back.
PI

[Jeff Wittrock]

Nice looking bench. I hope you post some more pictures once you have the leg vise on it too.

-Jeff

[harry strasil]

Its got lots of character, I'd put my name on it. Just don't let the wife get near it with a saw or you gonna end up with a short coffee table. LOL
Be wary if she wants you to get a piece of glass or plastic that measures 17 by 42!

[Maurice Metzger]

Hi Paul, that's a nice looking bench, like Junior (Harry) said, lots of character. One option for repairing the rotten parts is a liquid epoxy kit:

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/abatronliquidwoodwoodepoxwoodrestorationkit.aspx

or

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=20075&cat=1,190,42997


But, I've never actually used one, so... test on scrap first?

Maurice

[Paul Incognito]

Thanks Junior, I'll keep the wife away from it. :)
Maurice, thanks for the suggestion. I'm going to use the liquid hardener, but the epoxy doesn't look enough like wood for my taste. It's for paint grade stuff. The Abatron is good stuff for rotten exterior woodwork, but lately I've just gone to the Minwax epoxy. It's more readily available and works just like Bondo.
Jeff, thanks and I sure will.
PI

[Paul Incognito]

Chen-tin, I can better answer your questions now. First, there's no way this bench weighs 85 lbs. It wighs 200 if it weighs an ounce. It wears me out to move it from one end of my shop to the other, and it's only 17 feet. I'll try and find a more accurate way to weigh it.
As far as standing up to heavy planing, I was flattening a piece of oak for the leg vise on it this afternoon. It's very stable the long way, I could lay on the plane and it was solid. Accross the bench is another story, if it were a bit wider and heavier that would probably help. As it is, I put my foot on the stretcher to weigh it down and that helps steady things up considerably.
Overall, I'm pleased with it. I have a small shop and it's mostly dedicated to the production work I do for a living, so this is a good size for me at the moment.
Now I need to get the vices done.
PI

[Chen-Tin Tsai]

Cool. I'm thinking about building one about that size. I was going to build a bigger one, but I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to get it into the room I'm using as my workshop (spare bedroom). A smaller one would get me a bit more flexibility in my tiny room :p

[David Gendron]

Paul, for the rotting wood, you could also cut it out and replace it with sound wood. just a tought! If you need a small bench that will also be heavy, put a sand bag on each stretcher and it would be heavy anough!

[Paul Incognito]

Cool. I'm thinking about building one about that size. I was going to build a bigger one, but I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to get it into the room I'm using as my workshop (spare bedroom). A smaller one would get me a bit more flexibility in my tiny room :p
I hope it works out for you. Be sure and post some pictures, I would like to see what you come up with.


Paul, for the rotting wood, you could also cut it out and replace it with sound wood. just a tought! If you need a small bench that will also be heavy, put a sand bag on each stretcher and it would be heavy anough!
Thanks David. I think the wood is a bit too far gone, if I start cutting away the rotted sections, there won't be anything left :) I think I'll just leave it as is. As Junior said, it has character.

[David Gendron]

And if it fall all apart in a few years, it is just a reason to make an other one!