Benchtop holding methods

[Jules Martin]

I do all my initial jointing by hand, before using a thickness planer to do the other two sides. This seems to be a good compromise for me. I have a small face vise used as a tail vise to hold work pieces, but I'd be very interested to see how people hold pieces for flattening and jointing by hand without a tail vise. Planing in one direction is easy against a stop, but what about the crossways and diagonal planing? I'd like to use the tail vise elsewhere.

[Rick Erickson]

Jules, my suggestion is to buy Christopher Schwarz's Workbench book. It has a superb section in there about all the different ways to secure boards to the workbench. It is very well thought out and documented in the book.

[Mike Siemsen]

A couple of holdfasts with a board clamped beneath them makes a good transverse planing stop.

[Bill Rusnak]

Have you considered a split top? I first saw this on a bench made by Jameel who makes the Benchrafted vises. I'll be including one of these when I eventually get around to building a bench.

He made a Roubo style bench with a split down the middle and then made an insert that can be mounted flush or raised above the worksurface to act as a stop for planing across the width of the bench. You can also remove it altogether and use the gap to clamp between panels, or make it to act as a tool holder for chisels, screwdrivers, etc.

Bill

http://benchcrafted.com/plans.htm

http://benchcrafted.com/Graphics/Plans/DSC_6298.jpg

http://benchcrafted.com/Graphics/Plans/DSC_6281.jpg

[Rick Erickson]

Aaaahhhh! You had to post that bench didn't you!!! It took me weeks to get that out of my mind and there you go. Must...stay...off...the...Bench Crafted...website. My bench works for me. I love my bench. No, bench - you're not old and ugly - you're experienced. No, you don't look fat in that. There's no place like home, There's no place like home! Aaaahhhh!

[michael osadchuk]

I do all my initial jointing by hand, before using a thickness planer to do the other two sides. This seems to be a good compromise for me. I have a small face vise used as a tail vise to hold work pieces, but I'd be very interested to see how people hold pieces for flattening and jointing by hand without a tail vise. Planing in one direction is easy against a stop, but what about the crossways and diagonal planing? I'd like to use the tail vise elsewhere.


...a bench dog at one end of the work to act as bench stop; to take up the slack at the other end of the work, you could use a Lee Valley Wonder Dog......
...a simpler, quicker and no cost alternative to the Wonder Dog is to make a pair of wedges (out of wood thinner than the typical workpieces being planed) with matching slopes; as the slopes of the wedges slide against each other, they maintain a parallelogram shape that will close the distance and grip the workpiece: to provide a stable two point stop for base of the sliding wedges you need a double row of dogholes along the front of the bench.....

...and if you are thinking of adding a second row of dog holes, make a template to accurately drill that second row of dog holes so they are are UNIFORMLY spaced from the first row; this would allow you to put 3/4" dowel stubs on the bottom of one of the wedges, spaced to mate with the a pair of bench dog holes, thereby eliminating the need for a couple of Bench Dogs.....


good luck

michael

[Jim Koepke]

My method is to clamp a piece of wood to the far end of my bench to act as a planing stop. It is clamped vertically to the apron.

There are also pieces clamped to back apron on my bench to work as planing stops when working cross grain on panels. I also have some wooden "sacrificial" dogs that can go in the front row of dog holes and are lower than what is being planed to minimize movement from dragging the plane across the board.

The same could be done with dogs in holes placed in strategic places.

jim

[harry strasil]

That's why I have 39 dog holes in the Top and 36 in the Apron of my NuBench, and 7 plus different vises on it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/nu%20bench/coatedbench050809.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/nu%20bench/nubenchatwork001.jpg

And with several holddowns and this box of different types of dogs and wedges, I can hold most anything you can imagine and some that are not possible on other benches.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/nu%20bench/salvagedfirewood002.jpg

[Rob Fisher]

Aaaahhhh! You had to post that bench didn't you!!! It took me weeks to get that out of my mind and there you go. Must...stay...off...the...Bench Crafted...website. My bench works for me. I love my bench. No, bench - you're not old and ugly - you're experienced. No, you don't look fat in that. There's no place like home, There's no place like home! Aaaahhhh!

Yeah, I'm right there with you Rick. Except I do not have a good bench yet and I am currently working on the design my bench. Ugh. Luckily for me I am cheap. I can build a bench for less than the price of one of those vises!!! They still look real attractive though!!! The bench in general looks good.

Rob