Back To Building a New Shop Bench

[David Eisenhauer]

Who needs a mortiser? Just call in Ken. Good looking operation Ken.

[ken hatch]

Who needs a mortiser? Just call in Ken. Good looking operation Ken.

David.

LOLs. Thanks, but a mortiser is cheaper.

ken

[ken hatch]

Seems I have an obsession with mortise chopping. Could be because that's about the sum of my shop time lately. As I posted before there are several ways to end up with a hole in or through a piece of wood.


The main ones are: A hollow chisel mortiser, a chain mortiser, drill most of the waste and then pare the "Vs" and sides to size, and using chisels to waste the wood. Sometimes finding or having a chisel of the correct size can be a problem but if you have a chisel of the correct size and you are only doing a few mortises I think beavering away with a chisel is the fastest and best way to make a mortise.


The mortises of the last couple of days are an example. I needed a large mortise to hold the tusk tenon that makes the base of the Moravian workbench. I had a 32mm bench chisel that fit the bill for width so now it was just a matter of chopping half way down on one side, flipping the board over and chopping through on the other side. Once through the board all that remains is cleaning up the ends and fuzzies on the sides. Reasonably quick and easy.


Here is a photo of the mortise after one pass down the length with a return to the starting end to level the approximately 30mm it took to get to the 30mm depth of the first pass. Each following pass will be slightly less deep because of restricted lever room but with a total thickness of the stretcher of 130mm it doesn't take too long to get to the 60 or 70mm depth needed on each side.


benchChoppingMortiseOnePass.jpg






I probably will not get "break through" on the next pass but I expect it will happen on the third. Then it will just be a matter of cleaning up and getting the correct angle on the ends. The floor and top of the mortise needs to be 15* to match the angle of the legs.


ken

[ken hatch]

I hope all had a good T-Day with plenty of food, family, and friends. We did the full T-Day thing for just the two of us this year, there was not enough time to travel to Houston. I'll be pretty sick of Turkey by the time we finish the leftovers but I expect Sam the Wonder Dog and Sweet Maggie Dog will love it.

I'm making progress on the new workbench. I've cut the tenons on the long stretchers and just need to make sure the tenons fit each mortise before glueing up the base units. Once the base units are glued up it is pretty much downhill from there. A bit of fiddly work but other than moving the slab from its spot leaning against the wall to the base the heavy lifting and whacking huge mortises is done.


The bench should be finished before we leave for the Winter Solstice celebration in Houston. Of course there is a big difference between should and will.


Checking the fit of the long stretcher and the leg mortise:

benchFittingLongStretcherToLegs.jpg


The top two short base stretchers have been fitted. I need to cut and fit the dovetails for the lower stretcher before I can glue up the base. The fat lady isn't warming up just yet but she's in the building.


ken

[Frederick Skelly]

Coming along beautifully Ken! Look forward to seeing more.

You are a mortising machine in the flesh Sir! (I gave in and bought a machine a year or so back. )
Fred

[ken hatch]

Coming along beautifully Ken! Look forward to seeing more.

You are a mortising machine in the flesh Sir! (I gave in and bought a machine a year or so back. )
Fred

Fred,

LOL. BTW, about the time I finished the last stretcher mortise I was looking for the Powermatic catalog and my AmEx card. If I had found either I'd be trying to find space for a new machine.

Thanks, It will not be long before it will look like a bench. A ways to go but soon I can squint and kinda see a bench.

ken

[ken hatch]

I'm back at it this AM with sawing out the tenons on the back long stretcher and fitting the base legs. So far it is going well, I made a small mistake chopping the stretcher tenons in I didn't make them long enough. Unlike most M/T joints these need to be pretty loose and I chopped 'em a little tight in length. It is an easy fix, just take 3mm or so off the bottom of the mortise. Of the first two fitted, one needed the fix. I'll soon know about the last two.


Sawing the shoulder:

benchSawingShouldersLongStretcher.jpg


Sawing the tenon:


benchSawingTenonLongStretcher.jpg


On to cleaning up the tenons and shoulders before testing the fit.


BTW, this is the first time I've used the Bad Axe crosscut panel saw. Nice saw. Worth the money? Good question, whatever it sure is pretty.


ken

[Kurt Cady]

Checking the fit of the long stretcher and the leg mortise:

benchFittingLongStretcherToLegs.jpg


The top two short base stretchers have been fitted. I need to cut and fit the dovetails for the lower stretcher before I can glue up the base. The fat lady isn't warming up just yet but she's in the building.


ken

Looking good, Ken. Random question: what’s that mallet above the leg vise?

[ken hatch]

Looking good, Ken. Random question: what’s that mallet above the leg vise?

Kirt,

It is a 2 lb. lump hammer, made in China. I found it in a cheap tool store for less than $7 USD. It is a perfect chisel hammer for chopping mortises but is kinda like riding a Goldwing, it does a great job and can dance with the best of 'em but you don't want anyone to know you are using it.

I expect when the Crucible lump hammer arrives the China hammer will go to the back of the shelf but I'll also bet the Crucible hammer will not be any better, just prettier.

ken

[Kurt Cady]

Kirt,

It is a 2 lb. lump hammer, made in China. I found it in a cheap tool store for less than $7

ken

Do you know what store off hand? I like the square faces. Probably can’t swing the Crucible hammer for a while. Pun intended

[ken hatch]

Do you know what store off hand? I like the square faces. Probably can’t swing the Crucible hammer for a while. Pun intended

Kurt,

It is a local store. I would go buy one for you and ship it if you would like. The only problem is it is a really cheap hammer and might fall apart on you and shipping via USPS would run around $13 USD making the hammer total cost over $20USD.

I'll be happy to do it if you would like but I expect HF would have something as good and cheaper.

ken

[ken hatch]

It has been a productive shop day. All the long stretcher tendons are fitted to their leg mortises. The two top stretchers are fitted to legs I and II and I've cut the dovetails on leg I and II's lower stretcher. Tomorrow I'll cut the dovetail socketts in legs I and II and fit the lower stretcher. Legs III and IV will follow. It would be great if I can glue up the base units Sunday.


The front base unit:

benchBaseWithStretchers.jpg


BTW, the top stretcher is Beech, the middle Sapelle, and the bottom is Honey Locust. No reason for the different woods other than they are what was in my wood pile and are strong and heavy. This sucker will come apart to move but it ain't going to be portable.


My body is letting me know no mas, no mas. It's whisky and Ibuprofen time.


ken

[ken hatch]

The forward, #1 and #2 legs, base unit is glued up and in clamps. Tomorrow I'll fit the stretchers to the aft base unit and hopefully get it in glue up and clamps. If that happens, Monday morning I'll put that sucker together and mark off the tusk tenon mortises and start chopping 'em. Fun stuff to go. Blind pegging the top rails and slab. Making the vise backer and installing it. Making the vise chop, parallel guide, and mounting the vise. If MsBubba doesn't get me in her line of sight and work isn't too crazy I might be using the bench in a week or two. I wouldn't bet on it but I might.

benchBaseGlueUp.jpg


The base is a couple/three mm out of squire but most important is in perfect wind. The left dovetail didn't pull up completely on glue up. I'm not sure why, it fit perfectly on the dry fit and there is a small gap at the bottom of the right upper brindle joint. All of which I can live with.


Not only can I smell the barn, I have it in sight just on the horizon.


ken

[ken hatch]

The second base unit is in clamps, no photo because it looks just like the first base unit. I'll let it cure till tomorrow AM. Once the second base is out of the clamps i'll assemble the bases with the long stretchers and mark out the mortises for the tusk tenons. This sucker is in the short rows.

ken

[ken hatch]

Here is a photo of the base put together:

benchFirstFittingOfLongStretchers.jpg


This fitting will allow marking of the tusk tenon mortises. Then it all has to come apart to chop the mortises. While apart, I will also trim/plane the upper stretcher to match the angle of the legs and clean up the base units. It will need putting back together to blind peg the slab and mark the slab and lower stretcher for the vise backer mortises. Back apart to chop the mortises and then back together to fit the vise backer. Anyway you get the drill, a lot of fiddling and apart/together to finish up.


I don't know if you can see the size difference between the portable bench and the shop sized one but I can tell you it's there. Taking the portable bench apart and putting together is an easy one person job. I'll bet MsBubba could do it with no help. I couldn't put this base together without MsBubba's help and you can forget about the two of us moving the slab to the base. I'll need the help of another OF or maybe young and strong the set the slab.


The legs and long stretchers are basically 16/4 European Beech, the top stretcher is 8/4 European Beech. The middle stretcher is 8/4 Sapple and the lower one is 8/4 Honey Locust. The slab is ~2180mmX460mmX90mm (~7'1"X 18"X 3 1/2") Beech. The height will be 875mm (34 1/2") and the width ~660mm (26"). I've not a clue how much it will weigh but I expect closer to 300 lbs. than 200.


If the portable bench is predictive, this sucker should be every bit as stable and solid as my hybrid Roubo/English bench and that one could hold my truck and not move. Think triangles vs. squares.


ken