First project with hand tool only

[Igor Petrenko]

Soft maple, knee height, no finish. Super sturdy.
Tools used: LV Scrub and Jack, #3 as smoother, 2x old Disstons, LV carcass saws, router plane, cheap 1" chisel, square, screwdriver. Also a bench and a shooting jig.
Surfacing/edging took about 90% of project time - I hope with experience it will get faster and not so painfull.
Realized that I need more hand tools for future projects: Hand drill (got lucky that nothing cracked without pilot holes), some kind of saw with scroll blade so I could make curved sawing without heavy use of a chisel .

213370

[Chris Griggs]

Cool Igor. Thanks for sharing. Full hand tool builds are, if nothing else, a great way to build skills. Even if I had a full machine shop, I'd still be glad to have done a few just for how much you learn when you do it all by hand. Looks like a nice saw bench. I still need to make myself a proper saw bench, but I don't really have space for one in my tiny corner of the house (e.g. workshop), so I use an old dinning chair or saw at my workbench - neither of which is ideal for getting plumb cuts.

Congrats on a great build!

[Ed Looney]

Good job Igor.
Making your own shop tools like the one you just completed will make future projects easier. Keep up the good work.

Ed

[bob blakeborough]

That's awesome man! I need to build a couple saw horses too one of these days...

[Jim Koepke]

Nice saw table Igor. Now you need to make it a companion to support the cutoffs.

I enjoy making saw benches and saw horses.


Cool Igor. Thanks for sharing. Full hand tool builds are, if nothing else, a great way to build skills. Even if I had a full machine shop, I'd still be glad to have done a few just for how much you learn when you do it all by hand. Looks like a nice saw bench. I still need to make myself a proper saw bench, but I don't really have space for one in my tiny corner of the house (e.g. workshop), so I use an old dinning chair or saw at my workbench - neither of which is ideal for getting plumb cuts.

Congrats on a great build!

Chris,

A pair of saw tables made to stack could take up about the same amount of room as a dining chair and would be much more versatile.

I often use mine for supporting work in progress or even just to have something to sit on at the work bench.

Here is my build thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?146777-Saw-Table-Project

One thing I have found with a horse built for chain sawing fire wood is to make it so parts can be replaced. I have dropped logs on a rail and had to replace it twice so far.

jtk

[Igor Petrenko]

Full hand tool builds are, if nothing else, a great way to build skills. Even if I had a full machine shop, I'd still be glad to have done a few just for how much you learn when you do it all by hand.
Yes the goal was mostly education. I am not against power tools but lately I have time for woodworking only when everyone else in the house is asleep so it's more about "low noice" and not "hand tools".
Also nice to know then if I'll ever need to downsize my shop I still can do woodworking with just handfull(toolchestfull?) of tools.

[Chris Griggs]

A pair of saw tables made to stack could take up about the same amount of room as a dining chair and would be much more versatile.

jtk

But then where would I keep my workbench dining chair????:D

Actually I have a couple of SYP boards left over from my workbench build just leaned up against the wall. I was going to make a saw bench out of them and even got them flattened and dimensioned a few months ago but haven't gotten around to building it yet. I really am seriously out of space - if I put anymore stuff back there I will be blocking the path to one of our bathrooms which will not make my fiancee very happy. I suppose I could probably find a new home for the chair though if I build some saw horses or a saw bench.

[Federico Mena Quintero]

Great job, Igor! You'll find that you need another saw horse to support long boards.

I built one, pretty much exactly like yours, and lived for it for about a month. Then I built a Krenov-type saw horse just to experiment; they are a great combination even though you can't stack them together.

You can even use yours as a seat! I use mine all the time while sawing joinery; pretty comfortable.

(Tip for an improptu gardening table: use both saw horses and lay a wide board across them - seems to be the perfect height for children to work on potting plants...)

[David Keller NC]

Soft maple, knee height, no finish. Super sturdy.
Tools used: LV Scrub and Jack, #3 as smoother, 2x old Disstons, LV carcass saws, router plane, cheap 1" chisel, square, screwdriver. Also a bench and a shooting jig.
Surfacing/edging took about 90% of project time - I hope with experience it will get faster and not so painfull.
Realized that I need more hand tools for future projects: Hand drill (got lucky that nothing cracked without pilot holes), some kind of saw with scroll blade so I could make curved sawing without heavy use of a chisel .

213370

Very nice effort - and excellent practice for future projects. Suggestion - one of these benches is rarely enough, since you will sometimes want to cut the end off of a 10' long board, and you need something to support the other end. So - you might want to place the cross-stretchers on the outside of the legs, because you can then build an auxillary sawbench at the same height, except narrower and less-long so that they can be stacked together as a nested pair. I think Chris Schwarz published a plan in his blog for exactly this situation.

[Chuck Nickerson]

Soft maple, knee height, no finish. Super sturdy.
some kind of saw with scroll blade so I could make curved sawing without heavy use of a chisel .


I highly recommend the bow saw at Tools For Working Wood, either kit or complete.
I ended up making three so I wouldn't have to change blades.