About 20 days ago I went and purchased construction lumber for a Paul Sellers workbench I have been planning to build. As a teacher I enjoy having time off in the summer (which is why my workbench is "done" after 20 days) but spending a lot of money on hardwood for a bench was out of the question. It has been a fun process and I learned quite a bit about woodworking in the process:
- how to dimension large pieces of lumber
- how to use a scrub plane to really remove material
- how to traverse across the grain to really flatten a board (something I had always avoided in the past)
- how to sharpen more efficiently/quickly
- through mortise and tenons
- large housing joints (really using my router plane)
- long grooves (hard to do with a router plane since I don't have a plow plane)
I also purchased quite a bit to get the job done and have enjoyed using these new tools:
- a 24" spear and jackson hand saw (the new kind - eventually I will refile it rip cut)
- a type 11 stanley no. 6
- a Veritas rip cut carcass saw (does a fine job with cross cuts but is a bit hard to start sometimes - I really want the crosscut now!)
- Veritas dual marking gauge
- more clamps!
- a 9" quick release bench vise (Yost)
- a 38" straight edge (very valuable for dimensioning lumber)
Additionally, I feel like my sawing skills have taken a great leap forward! I've gotten to the point where I can scribe a line around a board (I do still go to the trouble of notching out a little recess on the waste side) and can saw to the line and have very little end grain to clean up to make the cut square.
Here are some (many) photos from the process with descriptions:
Bought all 12ft boards and got them gang cut at the store
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Stacked and ready to be surfaced
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Benchtop glued up from 11 2x4s (about 16oz of glue)
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Both sides flattened and at final dimensions (66" x 15" x 3.25")
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Aprons glued up from two 2x6s
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Legs and cross braces dimensioned and ready for mortise and tenons
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Here is the No 6 I got on eBay - the rear tote was cracked and I purchased a new one in walnut from an online site I found. After cleaning it up and sharpening the blade it was very useful!
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I've hit my photo limit for this post so I'll continue in a reply
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