Franz klausz bench

[nick brigg]

I'm going to be making one of these bad boys in a few months and just looking to gt some options on a certain operation...drilling the 30 or so inch hole for the rod that goes through the entire benchtop. any ideas of how do pull this off? i have some ideas but i'd like to get some other opinions.

[Brian Kent]

I made the same bench minus the tail-vise (as a newbie I couldn't wrap my mind around it).

I made a jig of a block of wood with two parallel strips of wood glued on the top - just wide enough apart to set my spade drill bit. That gave me a guide that when set on a table, let me drill a horizontal hole a fixed distance from the table. I drilled each piece upside down, with the bench-top facing the table, so every drill hole would be an identical distance from the top of the bench.

I drilled through each of the pieces after they were dry-fit together but before gluing. I used a spade bit just slightly larger in diameter than the threaded rod.

As I glued the top together, I kept checking with a dowel to make sure my guide holes were lined up. When the top was glued up I used a long 1/2" diameter drill bit from home depot. After each section, I had to start the next section gradually, pulling out frequently to clear the sawdust.

The only problem I encountered was that one of the bolts from the bottom support piece interfered with the hole. I don't know if I was off a bit or if the design has close tolerances.

The gigantic bolt really holds the left end vise together!

[Jim Becker]

The holes get drilled prior to assembly of the top...

[nick brigg]

right, i was thinking of using the drill press to drill into a guide block to start-it-off-sorta-jig thingy. im sure i figure it out..i hope.. *gulp*