Question on hand planing without a bench

[Dennis Petrillo]

Hi All,

Have posted once or twice but mainly a reader. I'm trying to set up a garage shop, nothing elaborate, but that will probably cause me to participate more.

My first project is to build a workbench. I'm following the general guidelines in PW magazine but am using hard maple instead. I've gotten lumber from a yard and had it milled to thickness and squared on three sides (not perfect, but pretty good).

I have to rip what I've gotten to width and I'd like to do some planing. I don't have a jointer.....and I don't have a bench. Any suggestions on how to do some light hand planing without either. The challenge is to get the wood to be stable while planing.

Appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks
Dennis

[Jon Toebbe]

When I built my workbench, I planed the 4x4s I used for the legs with a Workmate and my very first bench plane. Between learning how to adjust the cutter and literally standing on the lower shelf of the Workmate to keep it from skittering across the garage the results were not... ideal. ;)

Now that I've got a decently heavy, sturdy workbench I'll never go back.

[Dennis Petrillo]

Thanks Jon! Well, I have a workmate so I guess I'll be attempting the same.

Thanks Again.
Dennis

[John Miliunas]

Dennis, how about a pair of sawhorses and a slab of ply or mdf or even a plain-faced door? Put a thinner board across one end with some clamps to act as a stop and you're ready to rock 'n roll.:) :cool:

[Bob Smalser]

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/4518261/56705287.jpg

[Alan Turner]

Maybe Pam could weigh in, but the Japanese use a beam, set at an angle to the floor, and pull the plane. Seems smart to me, but I have not done so.
Another idea, written about at least, is to build the base of the bench first, and use the leg and stretcher assembly to make the top. I think Landis mentions this.

[James Mittlefehldt]

I cheated a bit when I built my workbench, I had aquired for a decent price three hundred board feet or so of 12/4 white ash from a farm auction. I cut some to length and had my local purveyor of wood, square it up on his electron burners for a nominal fee, cash only thank you very much, and when done it was only 9/4.

Saved me days of work as I did not have much the knowledge at that point and only one plane, though it was a good one. (Ohio Tool #6). I should add that I did use a workmate for many tasks and it was less than ideal, and I also used an old room partition, venner on 3/4 particle board, atop two saw horses for asembly and fitting.

[Robert Weber]

Here's my answer - no bench so my workmutt my only option. Standing on the step is awkward at best, so I brace it against another table in the shop that is up against the wall. Pretty stable, really.

Here's a link to a photo:

http://www.jlatech.com/rob/Woodworking/Workmutt_Plane.jpg

The 2x6 is bolted to the leg of the work table. I have a second hole in the leg to insert a pin the hold the brace parallel to the floor.

Happy planing, and remember that there is no substitute for a really REALLY sharp blade.

[David Scarborough]

Dennis,
I used a workmate for eons to make my projects until recently, when I decided to build a variation of norms bench. My workmate surface died a long time ago, so I replaced it with 2 X 4's. Using the workmate and the tailgate of my truck, I managed to make a good bench.
To plane the long boards, I placed them between the wm tops and butted them against the tailgate. Kind of like a 3000 lb bench dog.LOL. Improvise, overcome, and adapt.

Heres the result of my efforts:

Dave S

[Doug Shepard]

I've done the Workmate thing too & as others have mentioned, the biggest problem is the lack of weight and the tendency to skip the workmate across the floor.
Butting the end of your piece up against the fence on your tablesaw (assuming you've got one) also makes a pretty fair bench dog. The TS is heavier than the workmate which helps quite a bit. The only problem there is you've got to rest the piece on ply or MDF shims so that the top edge of the board clears the fence.
Another method is to get one of those Back-To-Back clamps (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000224DI/103-0610297-1956648?v=glance&n=228013 ) and clamp it to your TS top. The clamps on the upper surface are only about 1/2" high so unless you're planing something <= 1/2" they wont be in the way of planing. The only drawback to that or the TS fence method is you're limited to how long a piece you can plane that way.

[Dennis Petrillo]

Thanks for all the good suggestions. Now it's time to get out there and try some.

Thanks again
Dennis

[Pam Niedermayer]

Alan, you're right, a Japanese planing beam would come in very handy; but they're normally pretty hefty chunks of wood. I bought a real cheap bench (http://www.woodirect.com/), for a couple of reasons, and added a test planing beam to one side of it. First, I wasn't ready to define my perfect bench, didn't even know what tools I'd be using. Second, my workshop/shed was too small to hold any bench worth building. Right now I'm building a new, improved, larger workshop. After that's done, I'll probably make some combo of planing beam and trestle bench.

So, I think you're right, you need a bench to build a bench.

Pam