Love the English Apron

[ken hatch]

The addition of an "English Style" apron to my bench has worked out very well. Today I used it to joint the two half slabs of the bath vanity top prior to final glue up. I could have done it with out the apron but...sure was easy with.http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh222/VTXAZ/bathVanityUsingEnglishApron20150509_zpsrppxaejy.jp g

ken

[Graham Haydon]

Great stuff Ken. I also think an apron in very useful.

[ian maybury]

It's definitely an alternative to a dead man with what look likely to be some advantages. (and disadvantages) There's a lot to be said for a fixed item that doesn't require fiddling about with to use...

[ken hatch]

Thanks guys,

It has been a joy to use, because I seldom use dogs (no tail vise), instead of dogs I use stops, holdfasts and battens, I haven't run into any disadvantages. I'm sure one will rear up and bite my butt because there is no free lunch but for now I haven't been tempted to build a new bench.

ken

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks for posting this Ken. I'm going to bookmark it for my future bench upgrades" list.
Fred

[ken hatch]

Thanks for posting this Ken. I'm going to bookmark it for my future bench upgrades" list.
Fred


Fred,

The hardest part is finding a board wide enough if you want to use a single board for the apron. I'd wanted to put an apron on for sometime but couldn't find the right board. Wide, thick and long is hard, lots of lumber will hit two of the three but not many all three. Then add in that I wanted it to be Beech like the rest of the bench....All I can say is I got lucky.

ken

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Love it. Most of what I do involves very long planks of mahogany. I love the idea of an apron for clamping long, wide boards.

[Frederick Skelly]

Fred,

The hardest part is finding a board wide enough if you want to use a single board for the apron. I'd wanted to put an apron on for sometime but couldn't find the right board. Wide, thick and long is hard, lots of lumber will hit two of the three but not many all three. Then add in that I wanted it to be Beech like the rest of the bench....All I can say is I got lucky.

ken

Yes, I can see that would be a problem. And with Beech? Sounds like you did get lucky - but man that looks handy! How thick IS that apron Ken? You're using holddowns in it and those usually need at least a 2+ inches - at least my grammercy's do.

[Stew Denton]

Ken,

Looks great, and it obviously works very well for you. That piece of beech is spectacular to say the least, a very nice piece of wood. Thanks for posting the photo.

Stew

[Mike Holbrook]

Ken,

I am wondering if you considered using a wide stretcher on the side of your bench instead of a full apron, aka Bob Lang's 21st Century Workbench? It seems to me that a stretcher could provide the low, full bench length, stationary clamping/holdfast staging area that an apron does but still provide access to the under side of the bench. I just wonder if holes in the side of the top and a wide stretcher might provide most of the holdfast staging area typically useful without limiting access to the area under the top? I also find the full apron an attractive option and thought you might provide your thoughts on the advantages on the full apron? Another option that occurred to me was to make an "apron" but make it flush with the legs and top edge of the table so the legs, top edge and apron would all be one big clamping surface.

I'm not convinced that I need access to the underside of the bench for clamping as I would probably use a holdfast, batten, dog(s) like I think Ken does, none of which require access to the bottom of the top. I am interested in storing items under the bench top though. I hate the idea of losing the potential, easy access storage area. One could include storage under the top, but use the other side of the bench as the access point, of course.

[ken hatch]

Yes, I can see that would be a problem. And with Beech? Sounds like you did get lucky - but man that looks handy! How thick IS that apron Ken? You're using holddowns in it and those usually need at least a 2+ inches - at least my grammercy's do.

Fred,

It's an 8/4 board, the TFWW holdfasts work well. I used the Vertias holdfasts for this application because I needed to make some small adjustments to aline the two boards for jointing....The Vertias work better for that.

ken

[ken hatch]

Mike,

I didn't consider using a wide stretcher because I wanted the full width but I expect a wide stretcher would also work well. If I had the apron board on hand before starting the build I might have built it flush, could still do it by adding a scab patch to the legs if I found a need. Access to the underside is a non-issue for me because of the way I work, much as I expect you do, but if you used a tail vise it would be. I store little used planes on the right side of the lower shelf in a set order so there is no need to "see" them, I can just pull the wanted plane out by position. Mallets and hammers are stored on the left side where I can see their handles, also no problem. Jigs and other stuff are stored on the back side and requires a walk around for access.

ken

[John Sanford]

Ken, have you encountered any problems banging into the holdfasts sticking out from the apron?

[ken hatch]

Ken, have you encountered any problems banging into the holdfasts sticking out from the apron?

John,

No....But now that you have mentioned it banged knees to come :).

I usually store the holdfasts down on the right end and if I'm working something on that end I will likely be using the holdfasts. That could be the reason they do not get in the way because if something can be bumped or stumbled over I will usually find a way to do it.

As I've said before: If I'm not bleeding I'm not working.

ken

[Mike Holbrook]

Thanks for the input Ken.

I plan to mount a Veritas Quick Release Sliding Tail Vise. I will use Veritas Planing Stops (like battens?) to clamp against on the top of the bench and Surface Clamps and holdfasts for the side. I may not need access below the top either.

[Greg Berlin]

That's awesome! I might add that to bench! Time to head to the lumber yard!

[Mike Holbrook]

I have also been wondering about adding a small "stretcher/apron" between and flush with the front legs and bench top. Were this apron just large enough to provide a reasonable surface just bellow the top for: holdfasts, dogs, surface clamps, one might still be able to reach under the top & stretcher/apron but not have to make bottomless holes in the side of the top. Another stretcher or two lower could provide clamping ability further down the side of the bench. Bob Lang places a centrally located stretcher on his 21st Century Workbench with dog holes and then puts more dog holes in the frame he makes for the base of his bench. In this manner one might be able to reach any place between the bench top and base on the side of their bench with holdfasts...but still retain access to the underside of the bench and items stored on a shelf in the base, maybe another shelf attached to the centrally located stretcher. The only issue I see being that the spaces between the top, central stretcher and base might not be large enough to move large items through. Then larger items could be accessed from the other side of the bench.