First Bench - A Nicholson

[Gary Howorka]

Finally finished ( well almost ) a Nicholson Bench. This is my first real bench. Learned quite a bit about hand tools. Flattening the top taught me to let the hand plane do the work you just need to move it in the right direction. Its interesting moving more towards hand tools. At first I seemed to want to fight them but after a while I started to get the hang of it.

Couple of deviations. I couldn't stand all that empty space behind the front apron so I made my bench 27.5 inches deep and used the middle part to put in some tool storage. 5 Box containing, marking, measuring, and planes ( 3 block, rabbet skew, small plow, large shoulder, router ). These turned out to be very functional. Tops are made so they can be flipped over and serve as a planing stop for long boards along the whole length. Not sure that is needed as the wagon vise serves similar purpose. Also poor a saw storage area on the back right side for Dovetails saws, and carcass saws, Will probably add a few as I move forward. Large shelf underneath for bench accessories I need to build yet ( i.e. Bench Hooks and Shooting Boards ). The more I move towards hand tools the more I like working with wood. Go figure.

SYP for the bench, except for some Walnut highlights here and there. Threw a couple of coats of Waterlox on it to just protect it a bit from stupid stuff I do constantly.

Used 3 Evans Wood Screws. Two for the face vise and one for the wagon vise. Face vise has 18.5" between the screws and 5 inches on either side. Wagon vise can easily hold a 2 X 12 with room to spare. I made some mistakes along the way but none proved fatal. Actually started out doing Schwarz's design and changed midway ( Schwarz has an tendency to angle everything and I don't think it really adds any functionality. Made me nuts ). Made for a few missing holes on the front apron but oh well. Sturdy, heavy, and very useable.

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[Jim Ritter]

Very nice bench Gary.
Jim

[Chris Griggs]

That's a great bench Gary! I love English benches and yours is certainly one of the best I've seen. Very sweet!

[David Eisenhauer]

Yes, yes, yes. Looks like a solid, stable, clean work surface. Years ago, just starting out with wworking, I scored some beautiful old long-leaf pine that I really did not know what I had lucked into and used it up for somewhat less than overwhelming creations. Your bench reminds me of that long leaf pine that I have always liked the look of. How did you build out the top?

[george wilson]

They use those in the cabinet shop in Williamsburg,except made of maple. Does yours have the sliding top to open up a till underneath? That does not seem very handy to me,but they had that feature.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Congratulations on completing the bench. Looks solid, and your vise configuration will serve you well. The french cleat set up looks nice as well.

[Peter Widders]

Very nice job on the bench Gary. I am close to done on mine and was wondering what you used to drill the dog holes?
Peter

[Gary Howorka]

Well I used a handheld drill with one of those spring loaded drill guides. I hate the thing but it served its purpose. I didn't have a bit brace and auger bit set. Also I used a spade bit and it blew through the SYP with ease.

[Gary Howorka]

No, the top does not slide. i read somewhere that the original Nicholson's had that on the back side of their bench tops. Need to find a picture somewhere. Thing about this design is its fairly easy to build and could easily be changed if one wanted to.

[Gary Howorka]

The top is just 2X12 SYP with some additional strips used under the area for dog holes to ensure they grab. I almost built a thicker top but decided not to over complicate things as this was my first bench. There will be a need for some additional dog holes and probably will have to do rub joints with additional wood underneath each time for use with the Gramercy Holdfasts. Also. I flattened the top using my Veritas Low Angle Jointer. As I mentioned, I learned quite a bit about how planes work by flattening that whole top. At first I was nervous I would mess it up, but once I put the pencil marks on the wood and began systematically going back and forth it became obvious how to accomplish the task. I finally realized you could use the plane itself to see how flat the top was as you went along. So I was able to pull the "stuck on stupid" sticky note off my forehead. Its a challenge planing the edges of those long 2X12's. I must admit I was 1/16" off in the end.

[Paul Saffold]

Good looking solid bench. I'm sure you'll enjoy working on it.
Paul

[Jim Matthews]

Dude, that's an EPIC.

Had I known about the Nicholson design when building my first bench,
things would have been so much easier.

Do you have a link for the Evans wood screws?
I'm planning a modification of the bench I purchased...

[Graham Haydon]

Excellent Gary, a very well made bench. This design really is a great way to make a bench.

[Judson Green]

Nicely done Gary! I'm sure the bench will serve you well for many years to come.

[Steve Voigt]

Looks great! Hope you get many years of use from it!

[Tony Shea]

The bench turned out wonderful. I like the twin screw front vise especially being all wood screws.

I have one critique... The last pictures shows the end grain of one of the boards used on the top. Unfortunately it seems as though you used a board cut through the pith of the tree. This board will certainly crack eventually and has potential cause issues with keeping the top flat. Im not sure what the other board looks like but if this other board doesnt contain the pith you may be ok for a while.