Morticed Planing Stop -- How close to the end would you go?

[Luke Dupont]

I'm currently making a bench inspired by the old "Sloyd" style school benches, as below:
sloyd-workbench.jpg

Mine, however, is only 3 feet long, as opposed to the more standard 4 foot versions. This means that my front vise, rather than being to the left of the leg assembly, is on the right of it, because I chose to make the base as long as possible.

I left only about 6cm -- about 2 & 3/8" -- on the left side of the leg supports, which are permanently attached to the underside of the bench.

This space is all that I have to place a planing stop, if I decide to do that. If I go with something like a 1" x 1" planing stop, or maybe a little wider... 1" x 1.25" or something... That would lead me with just 35cm, or 1 3/8" of material before the end of the bench, which is just exposed endgrain.

Would this be too fragile and likely to blow out or crack? Or, should I even care, given that I could presumably just glue any blown out piece back into place?

[Jim Koepke]

I could presumably just glue any blown out piece back into place?

Just to have it blow out again?

My bench has an minimal apron all around. When a stop is needed a board can be clamped to it to plane against:

Apron Stop.jpg

One of my planing stops is a board with dowels to install across two dog holes:

Planing Stop.jpg

Some folks will run bolts into the end of a bench to hold a piece of wood with slots in it. There are bolts with wood thread on one end and regular threads on the other. These a couple of washers with wing nuts and you have an end stop that can go up and down as needed.

jtk

[Scott Winners]

I was thinking of an endmounted stop as well. I don't know the correct name for the hardware that has a lag screw thread at one end and a machine thread for wingnuts at the other end. I do know they are usually in the same aisle as the regular screws and regular bolts - and they are often mislabled by size in the small plastic bags.

Works good.

20211205_161045[1].jpg

[Rob Luter]

I went the apron route like Jim. It was for aesthetic reasons originally but it opens up a number of options for planing stops like Scott illustrates above.

[James Pallas]

Not a good situation but can be strengthened. Drill perpendicular through the top and glue a dowel in as long as you can. A good straight grained hardwood dowel. It’s a bit like draw boring but no offset.
Jim

[chris carter]

The wing nuts and board on the end is a good idea, but it won’t have teeth. That may or may not be an issue for you. The most common way I hold boards is against my planing stop and sometimes with a doe’s foot, so teeth are pretty much mandatory for me.

Another option is one of those $8 aluminum pop-up planing stops. I had one on my previous bench and they do work quite well. The teeth are square, but if that’s not enough bite I don’t see why you couldn’t file points on them. Since they don’t go through the bench you can stick it anywhere. The only downside is that, being a pop-up style, they do often clog up with chips and you have to dig them out with a screwdriver or marking knife. If you are only an occasional user of a planing stop it won’t matter much. But if you use it all the time – up down up down up down up down – like I do, then it can get annoying.

If you really want a traditional stop, I would put it ahead of your top stretcher. It doesn’t need to go behind. Then you’d have plenty of wood behind it and you’d only loose a few inches of planing distance. If you must go behind the legs I would bore a ¼” hole through the bench from front to back after the planing stop as far as you can go. Then I’d drive a long lag screw in there and countersink it. That would probably hold the bench together and keep it from blowing out. Not ideal though….

[Tom Trees]

Since the bench will be very short, I'd opt for a sliding cleat on the end instead of a dog/stop there.
So it would be effectively be the same method of construction like on traditional Scandi benches and everything else with an end cap.
Two hefty threads going into barrel/furniture/bed/knockdown nuts or even just regular nuts if thickness allows.
The cleat could be re-enforced with some steel plate if the bench ended up too light.
Could completely encase it in timber, paint your fave colour, thinned linseed for a bare look, or even do an Uri Tuchmann job.
lots of choices you have.
If you are a stickler for details, that's likely out the window as far as accurate reproductions are concerned when you designed it shorter in the first place...
say down the road, should you want to say it's an absolutely original Sloyd design, if by chance someone takes a shine to it for their home.
Remember it's your bench, and must be usable.

You could always dismantle the cleat afterwards if didn't meet your aesthetic vision anyways.

Only removed my dowelled on cleat yesterday, as I'm working on 90"+ timbers, longer than the bench,
and the planing stop I had before from an section of door where the mortise for the lock is, made it easy to stick an f clamp in there.

Being making do with a clamp I had with a lump of melted HDPE on the end.
I must find some nice colours to do this again, grind a bit off the head for lower profile, and make a wider surface area while I'm at it.
Be handy enough for other jobs.

All the best
Tom

[Derek Cohen]

I have two planning stops. 5he first is simply a end stop which runs across the bench and may be raised and lowered …



This has non-slip across the inside. Use either 240 grip sandpaper or cork-rubber (as I did) …



The second stop is serrated steel. I filed unhardened O1 steel and bolted it to a dog. The dog may be moved to any dog hole.







Regards from Perth

Derek

[David Bassett]

TFWW sells a planing stop, or the metal toothed head for a stop, and their instructions discusses mounting and the various tradeoffs involved. As I understand your bench design, I'd go for something bolted to the end. (Their instructions have different methods of reinforcing the end mount.)

https://toolsforworkingwood.com/prod...df/BT-PS_U.pdf

[Scott Winners]

I agree with Chirs Carter that trying to use a doe's foot with no crubber or teeth on my planing stop is an exercise in futility.

Derek has crubber. Derek, can you use your end stop with the crubber on it with a doe's foot on relative narrow stock, or is your end stop pretty much for panels?

Another thing to think of with end stops, is can you reach around your leg vise or face vise to get to the end of the board you are working without hurting your back? I can't, but my vise is overbuilt and my back is not overbuilt. I am looking at adding a toothed, mortised planing stop to my system about where Derek has his pictured in post #8 above. I think I can reach that far over my vise without having to reach around my vise.

Chris Carter may very well be my brother from a different mother, I have also looked at putting a toothed, mortised planing stop inboard from the leg vise, but I have elected to not do that. My bench is also "short" at 48 inch length, the bench top real estate between the legs, the center of the bench, is used for "everything" and having to run the mortised planing stop down into a little recess everytime I want to do a little layout or pretty much anything else, I just can't see it. When I mortise my benchtop for a planing stop it will be outboard of the legs, but no so far out I have to reach 'around' my leg vise to get to the end of the board I am working on. Just barely outboard, so I can reach over.

If you are putting in square dogholes anyway, Derek's idea solves a lot of problems and sidesteps some more. Flexibility in function is a fabulous thing on a bench that should be structurally inflexible.

[Luke Dupont]

Thanks everyone! I like the end mounted battons -- those seem to be the simplest, sturdiest solution, and allow me to make the most of my rather small bench.

[Jim Koepke]

An advantage with the end mounted battons is being able to have a cutout in it so a piece longer than the bench can pass through and be jammed by wedges. This allows working pieces a bit longer than the bench.

Can also use other methods and clamping attached to the apron on the end.

Jorge Clampet.jpg

This piece is about 2' longer than the bench.

jtk

[Derek Cohen]

I agree with Chirs Carter that trying to use a doe's foot with no crubber or teeth on my planing stop is an exercise in futility.

Derek has crubber. Derek, can you use your end stop with the crubber on it with a doe's foot on relative narrow stock, or is your end stop pretty much for panels?

Another thing to think of with end stops, is can you reach around your leg vise or face vise to get to the end of the board you are working without hurting your back? I can't, but my vise is overbuilt and my back is not overbuilt. I am looking at adding a toothed, mortised planing stop to my system about where Derek has his pictured in post #8 above. I think I can reach that far over my vise without having to reach around my vise.

Chris Carter may very well be my brother from a different mother, I have also looked at putting a toothed, mortised planing stop inboard from the leg vise, but I have elected to not do that. My bench is also "short" at 48 inch length, the bench top real estate between the legs, the center of the bench, is used for "everything" and having to run the mortised planing stop down into a little recess everytime I want to do a little layout or pretty much anything else, I just can't see it. When I mortise my benchtop for a planing stop it will be outboard of the legs, but no so far out I have to reach 'around' my leg vise to get to the end of the board I am working on. Just barely outboard, so I can reach over.

If you are putting in square dogholes anyway, Derek's idea solves a lot of problems and sidesteps some more. Flexibility in function is a fabulous thing on a bench that should be structurally inflexible.

Scott, I made those Doe's Feet several years ago, before crubber became known. They do have non-slip underneath. It is glued on 600 grit W&D.

The toothed dogs can get moved anywhere on the bench. I have a few.

They can lock in a sticking board ...



... which also used a toothed stop ...





Another in the wagon vise ...



One on each side really locks down a board (here for dados) ..




The leg vise also has a "pup". These are from LV and spring-loaded, so they pop up ...



There are dog holes in line with the pup.

I have used a variation of this ...



... to carve stool and chair seats ...



Lots of small items create a great deal of versatile work-holding.

Regards from Perth

Derek