Well, It Works

It's just about finished, I just have to install a face vise, add chops and dogs, and nail a tool rack on the back. I've got the rack made up I just need some big honkin' wrought nails to make it look right.


Boring the waste out for the top/leg joints. There are five 1" diameter holes drilled 2" deep for each of four tenons. My 1" bit takes 40 turns to get to a little over 2". For those of you who aren't so handy with the math, that's 800 turns of the brace for the 4 morti. Don't get me started on the dog holes.

I also did a bit of rearranging, there is loads more space in the work room now. Even more space will show itself when I build a lumber rack next weekend. The wood under the bench needs to go.


And another one cleaned of tools.

Momentum

Due to the Tool Chest, Pembroke Table, odds and ends and jigs I've been working wood almost every waking hour that I've not been at work for the last three weeks. Today I made major headway on the workbench, it's now something to look at.

The bench is made completely of reclaimed Radiata Pine and measures 21" wide by 60" long. The top is 3" thick and will sit about 34" off the floor. I quickly decided to add 2" to the legs this morning so that I could be sure that I didn't go to small on the height. I may have to cut the legs down at a later date to make planing easier, or I may add a carpet to the floor in front of the bench for comfort. I don't know how that will effect the fit.


The plane in the photos is a #7, next week's project is going to be a wall mounted lumber rack, maybe I'll also get to some tool storage that way I can clean up the shop and get ready for the real projects.

It Starts: The Roubo Build, Legs

Alternate titles for this post included: Four-Square a Tree; Paul Bunion was a pansy, he only cut the tree down; This must be what shaping a keelson is like etc.

Anyways, here is the first of the pair of salvaged 6x8s I'm going to make the legs out of. Because they were salvage my saw-guy won't touch them, I was going to have 6x6's cut. Then I figure, why not use 6x8s? Why not make a triple tenon (maybe)?  It will only harm someone when it a) falls on you b) drag a (few) unsuspecting friends over to move it to my future house or c) when I die and someone else inherits it. I'm hoping to teach and bequeath my tools/shop to a grandson someday.
 

A shot attempting to show how good I am :), then again they are legs, they don't have to be perfect, I'll throw it on it's side when built and square the leg faces to eachother and the top when I'm done.
 

I was so excited I just kept working after dark, I only worked about 2-3 hours off an on to square and cross cut each beam. Very happy so far. I was using a black crayon to mark and label the beams, I really like the crayon, planes off, marks well, doesn't leave a trace.

I love the scrub plane, so happy I bought it. It's one of my favorite tools.

To give you an idea of what it will be like. The legs are spaced at their approximate positions, and the 6' rule shows the size of the top. I'm making the top out of laminated New Zealand Pine, which I can get new from a lumber reclaimer nearby. Now I'm not sure whether to laminate 4x6's or 1 1/4x6s for the top. I think the thinner boards and more laminations will give a more stable top. We'll see what the grain is like. Cost on the 4x6 is insane, $1.50 a running foot. That means a 6ish by 20" by 6' top, read MASSIVE will cost $45 plus glue. Awesome.