In this situation...should I just get a Veritas jack plane?

[Sam Shankar]

So here's my report back. I had never tried to really flatten anything with hand planes before. I've knocked off high spots before using the jointer and planer, but that doesn't really count. So I started out feeling both "yikes, I'm gonna hack up my brand new workbench top," and "well, where better to start than a 3" thick workbench top."

The top was crowned in the middle by 1/16 or 1/32 so there was a fair bit to remove. I did all the work with the Veritas jointer plane. I started off with the toothed iron and then switched to the 38 degree iron. The toothed plane did a great job of taking deep cuts without tearout, but I can also see why one person suggested to skip it and just go with the regular iron. That darn A2 was hard to sharpen but seemed to hold up pretty well; I probably did a total of 8 relatively light diagonal passes, which seemed like a lot but I felt like I learned something with each pass. I think I took 1/16 to maybe 1/8 off in total. Probably a lot more than one of you with skills would have needed to do.

This was work, but I really learned a lot over a few hours. Lots of repetitive planing means lots of time to figure out how to tune a plane. All in all I did a decent job, I think. Here's the finished product - the Chris Schwarz bloodlines are obvious. Benchcrafted leg vise ($300) and a 7" Wilton from craigslist ($30) plus some veritas toys. I'm sort of chicken to put a bunch of bench dog holes in, but that's the next step.
new workbench.jpg

[Rob Luter]

It looks great. When you add the dog holes, don't make the mistake I did and line them up with the center of your end vise. (see below) It places the work too far inboard to plane comfortably. Mine is made worse by a big twin screw vise that tales up a fair bit of space. Set them about 2" in from the edge of the slab and offset a dog in the vice chop.

4103275307_f30a5080da_b.jpg

[Sam Shankar]

Set them about 2" in from the edge of the slab and offset a dog in the vice chop.

Yes, I've seen that advice a lot. I'm going to put them about that far in, and space them ~5" apart, which is the movement range of the wilton vise I put on the end. I put a 2" thick chop on that vise and plan to drill a dog hole in line with the ones on the bench.

[Graham Haydon]

The bench looks great, Sam. Good to hear you put some time in a really used them. You'll learn so much by doing! Great work!

[Matthew Hills]

I'm sort of chicken to put a bunch of bench dog holes in, but that's the next step.

Were you having any problem with the dog holes in your bench leg?

I started my first set of holes with a plunge router, finished to depth with an auger bit.
Now I just use the brace and auger bit. That works *really* well if I'm not trying to make an MFT table.
I do put a *very* light chamfer afterwards with a router. (I'm surprised to see how much chamfer Chris Schwarz was using in his recent blog posts on his benches)

Your bench is looking great.

The gramercy hold fasts have worked well with my bench.
And I also like the veritas planing stops. I often set a pair up in an L that I can plane diagonally in to. I don't really like planing with only a single stop -- it can be done, but the workpiece tends to shift around more.


Matt

[Sam Shankar]

Were you having any problem with the dog holes in your bench leg?Matt

I drilled the holes in the leg with a drill press before I assembled the bench. I plan on doing the ones in the benchtop with one of those cheap portable drill guides that is sort of like a makeshift drill press.

Why doesn't the brace-and-bit approach work for making an MFT table?

[steven c newman]

Brace & bit worked just fine for my bench...YMMV....
12" Samson Brace...powering a #13 bit....( 13/16") to use round pegs as dogs....

[David Dalzell]

Bevel up planes can be given camber. See Derek Cohen's article " The Secret to Cambering Bevel Up Plane Blades" on his website. http://www.inthewoodshop.com/index.html