Wow. Four months. I have been kinda stewing on reviewing this thing, got my first commission this morning, so it is time.
1. Overall I am happy with the build based on reading a ton of (free, online) stuff written by Christopher Schwarz while waiting for his book to come in off Amazon. In general, following Chris' 10 or 12 or 18 rules (guidelines) in numerical order for bench building served me well, but the book, second edition, was worth the money.
If I was stuck with a small bench like this, I mean truly stuck for years and years with a 24 x 48" workbench top I would do whatever I had to do to get the weight up to 300+ pounds, greater than 136 kilos. Maple top eight inches thick and 8x8 spruce legs, Ok fine. Crucible makes holdfasts that will work, according to an email exchange I had with somebody over there, up to 9 inches thick. Or should anyway. I think it was John somebody. He seemed kinda non plussed but he answered my question without asking for more background info.
I do like having plenty of room at the left end of the bench (right hander) so I can work on stuff from the end, and I like having room to get to the backside of the bench at get at stuff from back there without having to release and re-clamp. Now that I have used this thing a while I am glad I left room for that, when I look at pictures of benches up against walls I just kind of cringe inside, but whatever works for you, you should do.
Should have built even heavier. My other beef is the $20 BORG vise. I bet i could trying closing that thing down on my pinkie finger and the vise would wrack before I felt pain. i would try it right now except it is Friday night and I have had a couple glasses of wine. Maybe I'll try it Monday morning. I am pretty much going for the $500 double threaded 3 inch diameter maple screw (Vermont retired syrup maker tree that used to be owned by the Ethan Allen) with the $18 unobtanium garter and the 6 million dollar chain tensioner instead of the old fashioned peg, so now that I have been using the $20 vise for four months I am ready to spend $6,000,518 on a leg vise for my next bench.The $20 vise is OK for saw sharpening, and straight grained hardwoods, but when I get into figured hardwoods the combination of inexpensive vise with light weight bench is quite painful.
Another drawback to this short bench is it is pretty crowded on the shelf under there already; I made a drilling guide, a shooting board, a saw vise, a holder for auger bits, I have 6 planes under there, three strops, a mallet for the holdfasts, and it is crowded.
I do have a planing stop on the end of the bench that is worth it's weight in gold, but beware the hardware labels at the BORG. I bought three screw-bolt hanger thingies labeled 3/8s, but two of them were actually 1/4 inch when I got them home. I should remake the vise jaws to clear the ends of the bolt hangers, I have about 3/4" unsupported stock when sawing in the vise that could go away with a little planning.
Besides building the bench and ancillaries, I have made a bunch of 6s6 pieces and done soap finish on them. My personal favorite is palm oil soap on hickory. I honestly don't love any of the olive oil soap pieces. Haven't fooled with any of the palm/olive oil blends. Working on a white oak hanger for my framing chisel. The poplar one is OK, but aesthetically lacking. Hoping the wee boxes I have made for my various planes will make my first drawers less painful.
And a pair of boot jacks. That is the commission. One of my co workers picked up the walnut one this morning, spanned to opening width with her hand and cussed. She asked if I could make a boot jack with a wider opening so she could use it help take off her insulated winter boots. I said yes.
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