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Thread: New Moravian Bench build Part 2

  1. #1

    New Moravian Bench build Part 2

    The old thread was getting a little long in tooth.

    Friday night I screwed up one of the long stretcher tenons. After several rounds of "what if" and "yes but" I made the correct decision and went to the woodstore Saturday and picked up a nice hunk of 12/4 Poplar and started over.

    Here are some photos of cutting the new tenons.


    V'ing the knife line:

    benchVKnifeLine.jpg


    Sawing the shoulder:

    benchSawShoulder.jpg


    Finished tenon:

    benchLongStretcherTenon2.jpg


    Next up is fitting the tenons to the base units. Once that is done I'll clean up the base parts and glue 'em up. Then comes the fun part, glueing up the slab. I and my back keep hoping to find a 12/4 slab of something that is wide enough for the slab but so far no joy.


    ken

  2. #2
    I've finished fitting the long stretchers to the legs.

    benchFittingLongStretchers.jpg


    That's all for today, it is starting to get hot in the shop. Pool time with MsBubba, Sweet Maggie Dog and a ball. Then short nap followed by monkey suit on and then off to sit in a black box for a couple of hours. If it has cooled off once I'm back home I'll start prepping the base unit parts for glue up.

    ken

  3. #3
    I'm cleaning up the base legs and stretchers in prep for glue up. There are a couple of boo-boos, mostly cosmetic with no effect on the structure, that I decided to live with but other than that I'm happy with the progress but the real tell is how the base units come out of glue up.

    benchCleaningShortStretchers.jpg

    The legs are finished, four more short stretchers to go.


    ken

  4. #4
    With two days off over the weekend I only managed to get one base unit glued up. There was too much running the streets, honeydoes to be done, and entertaining MsBubba in the pool to get to the second unit.

    The first base unit out of the clamps:

    benchBaseUnit1.jpg

    Second base unit awaiting glue up:

    benchBaseUnitPreGlueUp.jpg

    Saturday evening was our first Monsoon rain of the season. Most of the day MsBubba was complaining about Monsoon being a bust and we were not getting any rain. Wrong pool breath, the thunder soon ran us out of the pool followed very shortly by rain.

    View out the back garden:

    monsoonBackGarden.jpg

    In 30 or so minutes it rained enough to fill the pool, turn the back gully into a raging river as it did the street in front, and flood my shop, which never happens.

    shopFlood.jpg

    We got a second Monsoon rain Sunday night, not as much but still pretty good.


    ken

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    2,151
    Bench coming along well. It may only be in the southwest where a 30 minute storm can substantially change your entire landscape view. Good thing your shop will dry quickly in hours instead of days.
    Jim

  6. #6
    Coming along great Ken!
    Stay dry.
    Fred
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by James Pallas View Post
    Bench coming along well. It may only be in the southwest where a 30 minute storm can substantially change your entire landscape view. Good thing your shop will dry quickly in hours instead of days.
    Jim
    Jim,

    Thanks, the bench is getting there. There are a couple of places where I could have done better but nothing that affects the structure. I expect it will end up as a small but usable bench. I'm still back and forth on the vise, either a traditional wood screw with parallel guide or a BC metal screw with a crisscross, right now it's a coin flip which it will be.

    The shop dried almost as quickly as it happened with no real damage.

    ken

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Frederick Skelly View Post
    Coming along great Ken!
    Stay dry.
    Fred
    Fred,

    Thanks, It will get there if I can get a couple days off in a row and stay out of MsBubba's line of sight .

    ken

  9. #9
    Work combined with WX has kept me out of the shop for most of last week. I've today and tomorrow off but shop temps may still slow the work product down. This time of the year in the desert you just have to give in.

    I did glue up the second base unit this AM before it got too hot. It went together a little out of square but I was able to pull it close enough for bench work.

    benchBase2GlueUp.jpg

    Slab is next, I'm still looking for a one piece slab but may end up with a glue up.

    ken

  10. #10
    For the last couple of days in between work, sleeping, and breaks for water and cooling off I've been cleaning up the new bench base units. It can be heavy going in the heat of July in Tucson.

    One of the joys has been using Steve Voigt's Jack Plane for most of the heavy lifting.

    benchBevelTopRail.jpg

    Here it is after doing the bevel on the top rail.


    Most of my stock is prepped with machines so I have little need for anything longer than a Jack so my basic set of planes are a Jack and a smoother. I have and use both pre-War Stanley planes with thin irons and woodstock planes by Steve and PhillyPlanes. My fav Jack plane is the one made by Steve.


    BTW, there are modern metal planes in my tool cabinet by Woodriver, LN and LV that gather a lot of dust.

    ken

  11. #11
    I normally fit all four long stretcher tenons to their mortise prior to glue up, this time I some way missed one tenon/mortise. Yesterday when I went to assemble the base so I could mark the mortise for the keys it would not go together. Damn I hate when that happens. Anyway after some butt scratching I got a caliper out and the #2 mortise was a solid 3mm small. I'm glad it is just a single brain fart and not a problem with all the M/T's.

    Base unit on the bench to open up the mortise:

    benchWork.jpg


    This part of the build is taking forever, mostly because of the heat and the day job. Whatever I'll keep beavering away until it looks like a bench.

    ken

  12. #12
    The base went together so I could mark the long stretcher key mortises. Once those are chopped the base is finished.

    benchBaseTogetherMarkingKeys.jpg


    Next up is installing the slab followed by the vise install. I'm still undecided on BenchCrafted with crisscross vs. Lake Erie wood screw and parallel guide. Still a little time to make up my mind.


    That is it for the day, the shop is getting hot and the day job calls.

    ken

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lincoln, NE
    Posts
    168
    Thanks for posting your progress, Ken. What are the thickness of those mortise and tenons? I like their proportions.

    Kurt

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Kurtis Johnson View Post
    Thanks for posting your progress, Ken. What are the thickness of those mortise and tenons? I like their proportions.

    Kurt
    Thanks Kurt,

    The legs are 70mm (~2 3/4") wide. The tenons are 25mm (~1") wide. The mortises are couple of silly mm's wider than the tenons as these joints need to be loose fitting. The important parts of the joint are the fit of the key and the shoulders of the tenon. If those fit correctly the joint is good and the bench base will be stable.

    ken

  15. #15
    The first key is fitted, only three more to go. Someday I will figure an easy way to chop/make the key mortise but for now they are a PITA because they are short, narrow, with both ends angled, and deep. It doesn't get much worse. The only good news: The only critical surface is the front end where the key mates and I guess the fact there are only four of "em.

    benchFirstTenon&Key.jpg

    BTW, the loose fit is on purpose, it is needed to allow the base to fit together and come apart. In fact as I look at this one I'm thinking it may be a little tight.


    That is likely it for today, shop is hot and it is the first day off in a few so street running and other duties call.


    ken
    Last edited by ken hatch; 07-30-2019 at 3:07 PM.

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