sorry it took me a bit to answer, I was traveling
"They" is Benchcrafted, they suggest tapping the screws for the leg vise. Caught me off guard, I was wondering what else I should prepare for
thanks
sorry it took me a bit to answer, I was traveling
"They" is Benchcrafted, they suggest tapping the screws for the leg vise. Caught me off guard, I was wondering what else I should prepare for
thanks
thanks for the suggestion, I've never heard of swan neck chisel before, I had to look it up. Honestly, I don't think I will need one; the really deep tenons are going to be through (sliding dovetail). I have a big router plane which I hope I can manage with for the rest.
the split top is built with a removable partition which should lie flush with the top so that when you use it your theoretically not loosing the advantages of a continuous top. when you remove it, you can pull clamps through it to get greater clamping reach from the middle of the top. If you move it, it can rest at a higher step creating a "wall" to use to plane against. Also depending on how you design it, you can use the partition as a tool tray.
I made my own criss cross out of wood, hickory to be exact. I have used it for 4 years now and have not had any trouble with it, In fact it is the criss cross that takes the weight of the chop. The screw can be turned with a couple of fingers. Also pictured is a good reason for a split top. The bottom of the tool tray pulls out for clamping in the middle. Maybe I am wrong but most tops are fit over pins to hold the top in place on the outside edges. The split top allows for wood movement during seasonal changes.
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Probably the most important aspect of the bench is the height. Length and width are controlled by the space allowed for it.
I would make it 4 hands high and about 3 hands wide unless you can work from both sides and your space allows it. And I mean your hands. A hand is the length from the tip of your thumb to the tip of your little finger when your hand is stretched out comfortably. A hand for me is 81/2 inches so the height of the bench is 34 inches. If I really stretch it out it is 35 inches. It has to do with proportions. 3 hands wide is about how far your arm will go to pick something up comfortably. Again it is sizing your bench to fit YOUR body not mine. For me a split top should be no wider than 25 1/2 inches, so 24 works out to be somewhat ideal.
Tom
Benchcrafted wants machine screws into hard maple. Christopher Schwarz used # 14 wood screws into SYP. Softer, weaker woods will most likely do better with coarse thread screws.
I tend to agree with Charles, but I have not used a split bench. I am also biased by having a single-top Roubo.
One of the questions I have, not mentioned here, is whether there is any difficulty maintaining that the separate sides remain coplanar?
I just prefer the idea of keeping it simple and having a continuous surface upon which to work. This has served me well for 30 years.
With regard the notion that the split bench can be set up for planing drawers, can it be set for different widths, which I consider important? This is the fixture I made, and which attaches to my bench very easily ...
Regards from Perth
Derek
That’s a pretty nifty set up Derek. I may have to try something like that if I don’t go with a split, and possibly even if I do go with a split.
Tom,
your criss cross design is amazing, as is your tip with hand height. I will look into it.
many thanks
Just a note, you may have already addressed this... Split top benches are typically supported by adding skirts on the ends of the bench so the two tops don't collapse. Single tops (in Roubo style at least) don't have skirts under the top - just the legs hold up the top. The impact is in the installation of end vises that need to be able to clear the skirt.
Dave,
Sorry to be dense but I haven't a clue what you are talking about. "Split top benches are typically supported by adding skirts on the ends of the bench so the two tops don't collapse". If you mean split slabs need a upper stretcher between the legs then you are correct but I use an upper stretcher when building a single slab as well, completing the box dontchknow, stronger than not.
ken
Ken, I haven't seen Roubo style benches that use a normal non-split top using upper stretchers. The top itself is monolithic and "completes the box". I'm not suggesting that nobody's using them, obviously you are, but that is not the normal design I'm seeing built or documented.
My tip about hands is nothing new. I first I heard about it, it was a way of measuring a horse's height. In the movie Pretty woman, Julia Roberts comments when they were in the car, that a person foot is the same length as the persons arm is from the elbow to, I believe, the wrist. It deals with the make up of that persons anatomy. A kitchen cabinate is 24 wide and the countertop has an overhang and is the distance an arm can reach comfortably is 24 inches( 3 hands).
If you stand 2 adults side by side of different heights. A big variation is more noticeable, and yet if the arms hang loosely at the side the finger tips of both will be within 1 inch of each other. That is why countertops today are 36 inches from the floor. Again proportions.
And thirdly, I believe his name is Tom Choplin, a well respected woodworker, did a You Tube video on heights and that is where I got the 4 hands.
Tom
Andrew, please give me a couple of days and I will give a short response. There are a lot of people out there who because they have a Criss Cross form Bench Crafted or what ever will chime in and say their is the only way to go, their way is better, this is how I did it, or it is foolish to make it out of wood. In other wards I am going against the established way and therefor must be made to appear like a fool and I do not want to waist my time.
If a few more want to hear about it let me know otherwise I it is not worth my time to be made to appear stupid. There are whole chapters written in text books that apply to clamping principals and they are hidden in the criss Cross.
And as for the others, other than wood which is the same investment I have less than one dollar in my criss cross. and no tap to buy.
Last edited by Tom Bussey; 03-02-2021 at 8:55 AM.
Tom