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178K views 184 replies 65 participants last post by  drlamb 
#1 ·
Some Features and Operational Videos.

While this is the beginning of my construction blog for the V8 Degree bench, I'm not actually going to get into the build just yet. There are a few more features that I didn't want to clutter the project post with and I've added a couple of demo videos on the vices. I thought it would be best to start with a full view of the bench and its operational features first and get into the construction process in the next segment.

This photo shows the dog hole inserts that hide and protect the end grain of the plywood top. It also shows the bolting arrangement for fastening the top to the legs.

Table Wood Tool Hand tool Floor


This one shows one of the the "dog houses" at each end of the bench. This is about the only place you can see the plywood construction. I had to leave it as proof.

Wooden block Wood Rectangle Hardwood Wood stain


Finally here is the deadman and its corresponding shim (in the leg vice).

Wood Table Wood stain Workbench Hardwood


OK, here's just one more… just for fun. This one shows the "solid walnut" stretchers before installation.

Wood Machine tool Hardwood Wood stain Machine


On to the videos.

Disclaimer: These are not professionally done. They are meant only to show the features of the bench and the operation of the wedge powered vices. This is the most difficulty I will ever have operating these vices because I'm not very familiar with them yet and I was trying to operate them and describe them on video at the same time. Even at that I think these videos will show that the wedge vices are efficient and straightforward to operate. Please don't look at the bench in the background.

The first one is about the Leg Vice.

Joint Table Shoulder Leg Wood




.....and the wagon vices.

Hand Wood Table Tool Flooring




Come on ! I asked you not to look at the bench in the background…......

Anyway I hope that made the bench a little more real to you and I look forward to getting into the construction next time.

Thanks for looking in and see you next time.

Questions Comments and critiques are always welcome.

Cheers!

Paul
 

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#27 ·
Building the Wagon Vices.

OK, lets get started. I will go through the build process in the same order that I built the bench and as a non-working concept of wedge power would have been a deal breaker, the first job was to build a wagon vice or two to make sure they would work. I was fortunate enough to find a small local mill that would sell me some really nice local arbutus (madrone in USA). This is about 50 fbm and I have about ten left over.

Car Vehicle Motor vehicle Hood Automotive lighting


After milling up some nice 1 7/8" stock and a bit of 3" I made up the main pieces. For the sake of getting it done quickly and easily ,the slide tracks for the wagon are just strips added on to the side rails with hot hide glue. The attached sketchup shows it as milled out of a single piece. For what it's worth, I never changed it because it works just fine.

Wood Table Rectangle Flooring Hardwood


The load bearer here is a modified joint that boatbuilders use to attach headers and jack beams in wooden deck construction. It has great load distributing characteristics and in this iteration I have left a 1/8" space at the front side of each of the "ears" to allow it to move forward and loosen when not under pressure from the wedge. This allows it to pop out very easily but doesn't compromise it's load bearing ability. The first photo shows the block in load bearing position and the second in the loosened position, ready to pop out.

Rectangle Wood Composite material Shade Tints and shades


Rectangle Wood Grey Floor Shade


The wedge surfaces were just band sawn and smoothed with a chisel.

Wood Bumper Hardwood Gas Machine tool


The wedges and shims are detailed in the sketchup. The important feature is the angle of the wedge. If too shallow you don't get enough travel (and it will be really hard to drive out) and if too steep it won't stay in, ei: it will pop back out. My first intuition was to go for 1/2 " travel in the height of the block. I chose this because I've used wedges for years and it looked about right. It turns out that it worked perfectly so I didn't try any others. That slope expressed as an angle was 8 degrees. Maybe others will work as well. I don't know because I didn't try after the first one worked so well.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain


So far, with my bench dog holes 6" apart and the three holes in the wagons spaced at 2" intervals, I haven't found any length that I can't accommodate with the shims shown, one 1" and one 1/2" each vice.

Wood Toy Flooring Rectangle Building


The final key to this simple little construction is a critical one. It is important that the sides of the vice be unable to spread as the wedge base block is pushed back into its seat. To assure that this was solid I let the vice bodies into the solid back member of the bench.

Wood Flooring Gas Machine Hardwood


I have made one more little tweak that really helps. It is shown in the video in the first segment of this blog. I made some "eccentric wagon dogs". Sounds like an application to the Kennel Club is in order I know. What these little guys do is allow you to fine tune the height of the wedge to clear your plane. Here's a better photo of them.

Water Table Wood Flooring Floor


Here's the sketchup. You can get all the measurements from it. The only ones that really matter are the angles of the inclined planes. the rest can be modified to suit the size of your bench and the dimensions of your available material.

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model.html?id=985b3d9d548dcc9252d9fc61873164a1

Because this vice is completely self contained, you don't need to build it into a new bench during construction. To retro-fit it in any bench, all you need to do is cut out a hole that matches its outer dimensions and drop it in. A little hot hide glue, epoxy or pva will make it a permanent fixture.

That's it. It's just too easy.

Next we'll start cutting up the three sheets of 3/4" plywood (give or take a bit) that make up the entire structure of the bench.

Thanks for looking in

Questions comments and critiques are always welcome.

Paul
 

Attachments

#28 ·
Building the Wagon Vices.

OK, lets get started. I will go through the build process in the same order that I built the bench and as a non-working concept of wedge power would have been a deal breaker, the first job was to build a wagon vice or two to make sure they would work. I was fortunate enough to find a small local mill that would sell me some really nice local arbutus (madrone in USA). This is about 50 fbm and I have about ten left over.

Car Vehicle Motor vehicle Hood Automotive lighting


After milling up some nice 1 7/8" stock and a bit of 3" I made up the main pieces. For the sake of getting it done quickly and easily ,the slide tracks for the wagon are just strips added on to the side rails with hot hide glue. The attached sketchup shows it as milled out of a single piece. For what it's worth, I never changed it because it works just fine.

Wood Table Rectangle Flooring Hardwood


The load bearer here is a modified joint that boatbuilders use to attach headers and jack beams in wooden deck construction. It has great load distributing characteristics and in this iteration I have left a 1/8" space at the front side of each of the "ears" to allow it to move forward and loosen when not under pressure from the wedge. This allows it to pop out very easily but doesn't compromise it's load bearing ability. The first photo shows the block in load bearing position and the second in the loosened position, ready to pop out.

Rectangle Wood Composite material Shade Tints and shades


Rectangle Wood Grey Floor Shade


The wedge surfaces were just band sawn and smoothed with a chisel.

Wood Bumper Hardwood Gas Machine tool


The wedges and shims are detailed in the sketchup. The important feature is the angle of the wedge. If too shallow you don't get enough travel (and it will be really hard to drive out) and if too steep it won't stay in, ei: it will pop back out. My first intuition was to go for 1/2 " travel in the height of the block. I chose this because I've used wedges for years and it looked about right. It turns out that it worked perfectly so I didn't try any others. That slope expressed as an angle was 8 degrees. Maybe others will work as well. I don't know because I didn't try after the first one worked so well.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain


So far, with my bench dog holes 6" apart and the three holes in the wagons spaced at 2" intervals, I haven't found any length that I can't accommodate with the shims shown, one 1" and one 1/2" each vice.

Wood Toy Flooring Rectangle Building


The final key to this simple little construction is a critical one. It is important that the sides of the vice be unable to spread as the wedge base block is pushed back into its seat. To assure that this was solid I let the vice bodies into the solid back member of the bench.

Wood Flooring Gas Machine Hardwood


I have made one more little tweak that really helps. It is shown in the video in the first segment of this blog. I made some "eccentric wagon dogs". Sounds like an application to the Kennel Club is in order I know. What these little guys do is allow you to fine tune the height of the wedge to clear your plane. Here's a better photo of them.

Water Table Wood Flooring Floor


Here's the sketchup. You can get all the measurements from it. The only ones that really matter are the angles of the inclined planes. the rest can be modified to suit the size of your bench and the dimensions of your available material.

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model.html?id=985b3d9d548dcc9252d9fc61873164a1

Because this vice is completely self contained, you don't need to build it into a new bench during construction. To retro-fit it in any bench, all you need to do is cut out a hole that matches its outer dimensions and drop it in. A little hot hide glue, epoxy or pva will make it a permanent fixture.

That's it. It's just too easy.

Next we'll start cutting up the three sheets of 3/4" plywood (give or take a bit) that make up the entire structure of the bench.

Thanks for looking in

Questions comments and critiques are always welcome.

Paul
Paul, these vises are really a clever design. I'm guessing that the Deck Beam was left loose so you could repair/replace the wagon at any point in the future?
 

Attachments

#29 ·
Building the Wagon Vices.

OK, lets get started. I will go through the build process in the same order that I built the bench and as a non-working concept of wedge power would have been a deal breaker, the first job was to build a wagon vice or two to make sure they would work. I was fortunate enough to find a small local mill that would sell me some really nice local arbutus (madrone in USA). This is about 50 fbm and I have about ten left over.

Car Vehicle Motor vehicle Hood Automotive lighting


After milling up some nice 1 7/8" stock and a bit of 3" I made up the main pieces. For the sake of getting it done quickly and easily ,the slide tracks for the wagon are just strips added on to the side rails with hot hide glue. The attached sketchup shows it as milled out of a single piece. For what it's worth, I never changed it because it works just fine.

Wood Table Rectangle Flooring Hardwood


The load bearer here is a modified joint that boatbuilders use to attach headers and jack beams in wooden deck construction. It has great load distributing characteristics and in this iteration I have left a 1/8" space at the front side of each of the "ears" to allow it to move forward and loosen when not under pressure from the wedge. This allows it to pop out very easily but doesn't compromise it's load bearing ability. The first photo shows the block in load bearing position and the second in the loosened position, ready to pop out.

Rectangle Wood Composite material Shade Tints and shades


Rectangle Wood Grey Floor Shade


The wedge surfaces were just band sawn and smoothed with a chisel.

Wood Bumper Hardwood Gas Machine tool


The wedges and shims are detailed in the sketchup. The important feature is the angle of the wedge. If too shallow you don't get enough travel (and it will be really hard to drive out) and if too steep it won't stay in, ei: it will pop back out. My first intuition was to go for 1/2 " travel in the height of the block. I chose this because I've used wedges for years and it looked about right. It turns out that it worked perfectly so I didn't try any others. That slope expressed as an angle was 8 degrees. Maybe others will work as well. I don't know because I didn't try after the first one worked so well.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain


So far, with my bench dog holes 6" apart and the three holes in the wagons spaced at 2" intervals, I haven't found any length that I can't accommodate with the shims shown, one 1" and one 1/2" each vice.

Wood Toy Flooring Rectangle Building


The final key to this simple little construction is a critical one. It is important that the sides of the vice be unable to spread as the wedge base block is pushed back into its seat. To assure that this was solid I let the vice bodies into the solid back member of the bench.

Wood Flooring Gas Machine Hardwood


I have made one more little tweak that really helps. It is shown in the video in the first segment of this blog. I made some "eccentric wagon dogs". Sounds like an application to the Kennel Club is in order I know. What these little guys do is allow you to fine tune the height of the wedge to clear your plane. Here's a better photo of them.

Water Table Wood Flooring Floor


Here's the sketchup. You can get all the measurements from it. The only ones that really matter are the angles of the inclined planes. the rest can be modified to suit the size of your bench and the dimensions of your available material.

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model.html?id=985b3d9d548dcc9252d9fc61873164a1

Because this vice is completely self contained, you don't need to build it into a new bench during construction. To retro-fit it in any bench, all you need to do is cut out a hole that matches its outer dimensions and drop it in. A little hot hide glue, epoxy or pva will make it a permanent fixture.

That's it. It's just too easy.

Next we'll start cutting up the three sheets of 3/4" plywood (give or take a bit) that make up the entire structure of the bench.

Thanks for looking in

Questions comments and critiques are always welcome.

Paul
Thanks for all the effort that goes into doing such a thorough blog!!!

Following along anxiously, awaiting the next installment…....
 

Attachments

#47 ·
Building the Plywood Bench Top

NOTE: Most of this page can be avoided if you want to just drill your dog holes in the layered plywood. The inserts are the "Cadillac version".

Part of the plan for this bench from the start was that is was to use interlaid layers of plywood to make a solid monolithic structure that was absolutely rigid without using any fancy or difficult joinery. Another part was to hide and protect the edge plywood wherever possible for looks, strength and utility. The resulting strategy was to make "dog hole inserts" and lock them into the plywood layers. In order to do this without having to individually cut out 80 separate square holes with a jig saw I set up the first of the inter-lay assemblies.

This photo shows two stacks of 3/4" PW that represent the two halves of the bench top. Each stack is divided into two widths at a distance in from the outer edge equal to the distance in of either the inside or the outside of the square dog holes. This will become clearer as we go on. Each half top will be made up of two layers from each stack.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Hardwood Composite material


The pieces clamped up here represent the wider pieces from the stack on the left above and the narrower pieces from the stack on the right. Set up like this we can cut all the square dog holes with a skilsaw in very short time. (note: yes I know it's a Porter Cable but it's like xerox… right?)

Wood Table Plank Hardwood Wood stain


Step #1) Lay out the dog holes on the top and front of the stack.

Wood Floor Flooring Hardwood Wood stain


Step #2) Set the depth of the skilsaw and make several cuts.

Wood Machine Composite material Gas Hardwood


Step #3) Clean it out roughly with a chisel.

Hood Wood Wall Tool Gas


Step#4) When you get to about here…..

Wood Rectangle Brick Hardwood Facade


... go back to the skilsaw and work slowly through the rebate with a sideways motion left to right and back to "plane" out the bottom.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Hardwood Wood stain


When they're all done it should look like this. Wasn't that easier than cutting 80 square holes with a jigsaw?

Wood Flooring Hardwood Rectangle Gas


Now we can inter-lay the pieces for the two half tops like this. The stack on the left is left loose to illustrate the inter-lay better. In each layer the dog hole is entirely cut in one side.

Wood Table Flooring Floor Wood stain


I made up the dog hole inserts in a long piece and then chopped them off. It's a quick way to get it done.

Wood Floor Gas Machine tool Machine


Cutting the last two rebates.

Wood Gas Machine Engineering Flooring


Next the bottom layer is made up. It is 1/4" bigger all around to fit in a rebate in the edge and end boards.
It also has cutouts in it to locate the tops of the legs and a hole for one of the leg members to lock in at the leg vice corner.

Wood Rectangle Table Art Flooring


At this point we're ready for glue-up. If you're sure everything is perfectly fitted you can install the dog hole inserts and vices and glue them in as you go. I purposely made my vice holes a little sloppy and epoxied them in later for the very best possible grip and fit. The dog holes fit very snugly but I opted to pull them out after glue-up and re-set them later. I was keeping my options open. If I did it again I'd leave them in. Assembly here was liquid hide glue (Old Brown Glue) and air staples but 1 1/2" nails would work just fine.

Table Wood Flooring Floor Wood stain


And here we have two very solid, very flat 12" x 72" half bench tops, ready to go.

Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood Wood stain


Sorry this was so long to get so little done but I wanted to be as clear as possible. The work doesn't take as long as the describing. :)

Next up: fitting the top frame joints and assembling the top.

Thanks for dropping in.

Questions, comments and critiques are always welcome.

Paul
 

Attachments

#48 ·
Building the Plywood Bench Top

NOTE: Most of this page can be avoided if you want to just drill your dog holes in the layered plywood. The inserts are the "Cadillac version".

Part of the plan for this bench from the start was that is was to use interlaid layers of plywood to make a solid monolithic structure that was absolutely rigid without using any fancy or difficult joinery. Another part was to hide and protect the edge plywood wherever possible for looks, strength and utility. The resulting strategy was to make "dog hole inserts" and lock them into the plywood layers. In order to do this without having to individually cut out 80 separate square holes with a jig saw I set up the first of the inter-lay assemblies.

This photo shows two stacks of 3/4" PW that represent the two halves of the bench top. Each stack is divided into two widths at a distance in from the outer edge equal to the distance in of either the inside or the outside of the square dog holes. This will become clearer as we go on. Each half top will be made up of two layers from each stack.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Hardwood Composite material


The pieces clamped up here represent the wider pieces from the stack on the left above and the narrower pieces from the stack on the right. Set up like this we can cut all the square dog holes with a skilsaw in very short time. (note: yes I know it's a Porter Cable but it's like xerox… right?)

Wood Table Plank Hardwood Wood stain


Step #1) Lay out the dog holes on the top and front of the stack.

Wood Floor Flooring Hardwood Wood stain


Step #2) Set the depth of the skilsaw and make several cuts.

Wood Machine Composite material Gas Hardwood


Step #3) Clean it out roughly with a chisel.

Hood Wood Wall Tool Gas


Step#4) When you get to about here…..

Wood Rectangle Brick Hardwood Facade


... go back to the skilsaw and work slowly through the rebate with a sideways motion left to right and back to "plane" out the bottom.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Hardwood Wood stain


When they're all done it should look like this. Wasn't that easier than cutting 80 square holes with a jigsaw?

Wood Flooring Hardwood Rectangle Gas


Now we can inter-lay the pieces for the two half tops like this. The stack on the left is left loose to illustrate the inter-lay better. In each layer the dog hole is entirely cut in one side.

Wood Table Flooring Floor Wood stain


I made up the dog hole inserts in a long piece and then chopped them off. It's a quick way to get it done.

Wood Floor Gas Machine tool Machine


Cutting the last two rebates.

Wood Gas Machine Engineering Flooring


Next the bottom layer is made up. It is 1/4" bigger all around to fit in a rebate in the edge and end boards.
It also has cutouts in it to locate the tops of the legs and a hole for one of the leg members to lock in at the leg vice corner.

Wood Rectangle Table Art Flooring


At this point we're ready for glue-up. If you're sure everything is perfectly fitted you can install the dog hole inserts and vices and glue them in as you go. I purposely made my vice holes a little sloppy and epoxied them in later for the very best possible grip and fit. The dog holes fit very snugly but I opted to pull them out after glue-up and re-set them later. I was keeping my options open. If I did it again I'd leave them in. Assembly here was liquid hide glue (Old Brown Glue) and air staples but 1 1/2" nails would work just fine.

Table Wood Flooring Floor Wood stain


And here we have two very solid, very flat 12" x 72" half bench tops, ready to go.

Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood Wood stain


Sorry this was so long to get so little done but I wanted to be as clear as possible. The work doesn't take as long as the describing. :)

Next up: fitting the top frame joints and assembling the top.

Thanks for dropping in.

Questions, comments and critiques are always welcome.

Paul
Your techniques are great…experience is such a wonderful teacher!
Thanks
 

Attachments

#64 ·
Fitting the top edges and ends

I know that I have said that there is no "fancy joinery" in this bench and there certainly doesn't have to be. There is however, in my own bench, a simple dovetail joint in the top frame corners. It is purely decorative and a box joint or even a butt joint would in fact do the job. If the wagon vices were not epoxied in, then the dovetails would have a real function but I personally would rather rely on the epoxy… it's a boat builder thing.

This is the joint I'm referring to and it's really quite easy.

Wood Rectangle Wood stain Plank Hardwood


I made up a little 1/4" MDF pattern and cut the rough recesses out with a router. I'm really not a dovetail guy but I'm sure this must be a somewhat standard way of doing it.

Wood Motor vehicle Bumper Vehicle door Automotive exterior


The pattern lines up with the corners of the end members via some sight holes and is tacked in place with a pin tacker.

Wood Door Rectangle Gas Circle


I routed the recesses out about 5/8" deep and left them unfinished for the time being.

Rectangle Wood Art Road surface Flooring


Then after cutting the tails on the bandsaw, I fitted each corner and marked the recess from the tails.

Rectangle Wood Gas Flooring Hardwood


From there it was an easy job to finish them up with a chisel.

Hand tool Wood Metalworking hand tool Computer keyboard Automotive tire


The next job was to set the vices into the end rail to lock their sides against spreading under wedge pressure.

Wood Flooring Gas Machine Hardwood


Finally the side and end rails were rebated to accept the larger bottom layer of the plywood top layup.

Wood Hardwood Plank Rectangle Composite material


This was actually done prior to the plywood layup in the last segment of this blog and that is the order I would recommend but I thought it would be easier to describe if I explained the plywood assembly first.

After reaching this point and dry fitting the assembled top inside the rails I left this part of the job and moved on to the leg construction.

That's the next segment.

Thanks for looking in.

Comments, questions and critiques always welcome.

Paul
 

Attachments

#65 ·
Fitting the top edges and ends

I know that I have said that there is no "fancy joinery" in this bench and there certainly doesn't have to be. There is however, in my own bench, a simple dovetail joint in the top frame corners. It is purely decorative and a box joint or even a butt joint would in fact do the job. If the wagon vices were not epoxied in, then the dovetails would have a real function but I personally would rather rely on the epoxy… it's a boat builder thing.

This is the joint I'm referring to and it's really quite easy.

Wood Rectangle Wood stain Plank Hardwood


I made up a little 1/4" MDF pattern and cut the rough recesses out with a router. I'm really not a dovetail guy but I'm sure this must be a somewhat standard way of doing it.

Wood Motor vehicle Bumper Vehicle door Automotive exterior


The pattern lines up with the corners of the end members via some sight holes and is tacked in place with a pin tacker.

Wood Door Rectangle Gas Circle


I routed the recesses out about 5/8" deep and left them unfinished for the time being.

Rectangle Wood Art Road surface Flooring


Then after cutting the tails on the bandsaw, I fitted each corner and marked the recess from the tails.

Rectangle Wood Gas Flooring Hardwood


From there it was an easy job to finish them up with a chisel.

Hand tool Wood Metalworking hand tool Computer keyboard Automotive tire


The next job was to set the vices into the end rail to lock their sides against spreading under wedge pressure.

Wood Flooring Gas Machine Hardwood


Finally the side and end rails were rebated to accept the larger bottom layer of the plywood top layup.

Wood Hardwood Plank Rectangle Composite material


This was actually done prior to the plywood layup in the last segment of this blog and that is the order I would recommend but I thought it would be easier to describe if I explained the plywood assembly first.

After reaching this point and dry fitting the assembled top inside the rails I left this part of the job and moved on to the leg construction.

That's the next segment.

Thanks for looking in.

Comments, questions and critiques always welcome.

Paul
Paul, that looks like a very nice Dovetail…
... is there a darker wood lining the joint or is it just the Cut-Line with the edges slightly rounded to emphasize the line?
... it's hard to see in the picture.

LOOKS COOL!

Thank you.
 

Attachments

#75 ·
Assembling the inter-laid legs.

Ok, lets get into the leg assemblies. This is one of the really interesting parts of my bench. The leg assemblies end up as perfectly fitted finger joints with the very best possible glue joint but can be cut and assembled with butt joints and simple fasteners. I used a pneumatic stapler.

Here I have fitted the inner leg vice piece. It is 1 3/4" X 6" arbutus and is half lapped inside the face board up to one layer into the bench top. It is fitted here to act as a spacer while assembling the plywood leg members for the vice end of the bench. You can see, just inside this piece, that there is a hole that goes right through the top layers. This will be filled by the outer of the two plywood leg layers.

Wood Floor Road surface Flooring Gas


Here the two plywood leg members have been dry fitted. The first in its hole in the tabletop and the second (inner) butted against the bottom.

Wood Drill Pneumatic tool Flooring Floor


Pulled out for a photo op, the whole leg vice leg joint looks like this. It isn't that important here how the interlock works as much as that it does interlock in some way to make a rigid base for the vise. The second piece of arbutus on the outside is the movable vice component.

Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain Plank


In this photo three recesses have been jig sawn into the 1 1/2" plywood leg member and the five layer top leg beam is laid up beside it…. all dry fits so far.

Wood Wood stain Composite material Hardwood Plank


Now the top beam has been dry fitted and the five layer back leg has been added. You can see that the vice end piece now has jig sawn recesses for the bottom leg beam.

Wood Hardwood Wood stain Table Flooring


Finally the lower beam has been dry fitted and the leg is complete. The fact that the beam is not completely filling the space left for it in the bottom layer of the top is because at this point I was still planning to "plate" the plywood with 1/2" arbutus to create the solid wood illusion.

Wood Floor Tool Drill Hardwood


On to the free standing leg. This photo shows one of the alternating layers of the free standing leg. All joints are simple butts.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Composite material Hardwood


This is the other alternate layer. The joints are reversed here and the verticals run through the top, not the bottom. By alternating these layers the leg can be laid up with staples and glue to form a monolithic structure of immense rigidity and strength. It isn't even necessary that all pieces be full length. You can, with discretion, use up some short pieces in these leg layups with no loss in strength. It's very material efficient.

Wood Rectangle Composite material Flooring Art


Here the leg is being assembled for a dry fit. It's easy to see how the layering will work.

Wood Floor Engineering Gas Machine


This is a little video of how easy these parts are to assemble. It was actually shot to detail the use of hot glue, hence the dialog.

Watch Wood Art Creative arts Machine tool




Last thing before the glue up was to jig saw holes for the stretchers.

Wood Hardwood Window Machine Engineering


Here are the legs all glued up, sanded and ready to assemble to the stretchers and table.

Wood Hardwood Creative arts Art Wooden block


Here are the box beam stretchers…..

Wood Flooring Floor Automotive design Gas


...And here is the whole assembly. This is as far as you need to go to have a solid base for your bench. The rest of what I did was just to make it a little prettier.

Table Wood Flooring Floor Building


Same shot but right side up. The dog hole inserts are installed and glued in here but the vices are just sitting in place.

Musical instrument Wood Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


Next I got a little carried away and walnut veneered the legs. The original plan, as I said was to "plate" them with 1/2" arbutus. Hammer veneering it was easier.

Wood Floor Wood stain Hardwood Flooring


and the stretchers.

Wood Plant Rectangle Floor Hardwood


Now I'm just having too much fun. Here the little solid walnut "feet" have been screwed on the bottoms of the legs and a bit of stain applied to accent the grain.

Wood Hardwood Gas Wood stain Composite material


Well that about does it for the legs. Next up will be installing the vices and cosmetic top.

Hope this is understandable.

Thanks for dropping in.

Questions, comments and critiques are, as always, welcome.

Paul
 

Attachments

#76 ·
Assembling the inter-laid legs.

Ok, lets get into the leg assemblies. This is one of the really interesting parts of my bench. The leg assemblies end up as perfectly fitted finger joints with the very best possible glue joint but can be cut and assembled with butt joints and simple fasteners. I used a pneumatic stapler.

Here I have fitted the inner leg vice piece. It is 1 3/4" X 6" arbutus and is half lapped inside the face board up to one layer into the bench top. It is fitted here to act as a spacer while assembling the plywood leg members for the vice end of the bench. You can see, just inside this piece, that there is a hole that goes right through the top layers. This will be filled by the outer of the two plywood leg layers.

Wood Floor Road surface Flooring Gas


Here the two plywood leg members have been dry fitted. The first in its hole in the tabletop and the second (inner) butted against the bottom.

Wood Drill Pneumatic tool Flooring Floor


Pulled out for a photo op, the whole leg vice leg joint looks like this. It isn't that important here how the interlock works as much as that it does interlock in some way to make a rigid base for the vise. The second piece of arbutus on the outside is the movable vice component.

Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain Plank


In this photo three recesses have been jig sawn into the 1 1/2" plywood leg member and the five layer top leg beam is laid up beside it…. all dry fits so far.

Wood Wood stain Composite material Hardwood Plank


Now the top beam has been dry fitted and the five layer back leg has been added. You can see that the vice end piece now has jig sawn recesses for the bottom leg beam.

Wood Hardwood Wood stain Table Flooring


Finally the lower beam has been dry fitted and the leg is complete. The fact that the beam is not completely filling the space left for it in the bottom layer of the top is because at this point I was still planning to "plate" the plywood with 1/2" arbutus to create the solid wood illusion.

Wood Floor Tool Drill Hardwood


On to the free standing leg. This photo shows one of the alternating layers of the free standing leg. All joints are simple butts.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Composite material Hardwood


This is the other alternate layer. The joints are reversed here and the verticals run through the top, not the bottom. By alternating these layers the leg can be laid up with staples and glue to form a monolithic structure of immense rigidity and strength. It isn't even necessary that all pieces be full length. You can, with discretion, use up some short pieces in these leg layups with no loss in strength. It's very material efficient.

Wood Rectangle Composite material Flooring Art


Here the leg is being assembled for a dry fit. It's easy to see how the layering will work.

Wood Floor Engineering Gas Machine


This is a little video of how easy these parts are to assemble. It was actually shot to detail the use of hot glue, hence the dialog.

Watch Wood Art Creative arts Machine tool




Last thing before the glue up was to jig saw holes for the stretchers.

Wood Hardwood Window Machine Engineering


Here are the legs all glued up, sanded and ready to assemble to the stretchers and table.

Wood Hardwood Creative arts Art Wooden block


Here are the box beam stretchers…..

Wood Flooring Floor Automotive design Gas


...And here is the whole assembly. This is as far as you need to go to have a solid base for your bench. The rest of what I did was just to make it a little prettier.

Table Wood Flooring Floor Building


Same shot but right side up. The dog hole inserts are installed and glued in here but the vices are just sitting in place.

Musical instrument Wood Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


Next I got a little carried away and walnut veneered the legs. The original plan, as I said was to "plate" them with 1/2" arbutus. Hammer veneering it was easier.

Wood Floor Wood stain Hardwood Flooring


and the stretchers.

Wood Plant Rectangle Floor Hardwood


Now I'm just having too much fun. Here the little solid walnut "feet" have been screwed on the bottoms of the legs and a bit of stain applied to accent the grain.

Wood Hardwood Gas Wood stain Composite material


Well that about does it for the legs. Next up will be installing the vices and cosmetic top.

Hope this is understandable.

Thanks for dropping in.

Questions, comments and critiques are, as always, welcome.

Paul
You sure changed the picture dramatically when you started covering up that Plywood!

Just goes to show… what you see is NOT necessarily what you're going to get! LOL

Super design… Beautiful use of plywood!

Do you have a Sketchup model prepared for this… knowing you, I'd say it helped you quite a bit…
... going to make it Public? (grin)...

Thank you… What Hat size are you up to now? LOL
 

Attachments

#89 ·
Mounting the Wagons and Cosmetic Top.

As a boat builder I worked with epoxy A LOT… so for me it was a no brainer that the vices would be loose fitted and fixed in place with epoxy. This gives both the best possible fit and the strongest grip you're going to find. That doesn't mean that it's the only way. Epoxy has a learning curve and I wouldn't want to recommend it to someone who wasn't comfortable and confident with it. The option would be using your normal glue and carefully fitting the plywood around the vices and gluing them in layer by layer as you assembled the plywood top. Then once all assembled you might,if you wished, drill some 3/4" holes down the sides of the vice rails, half in the vice body and half in the table top. Gluing dowels in these would make for a very solidly installed vice.

Here's the epoxy method. The bottom is first puttied with well thickened epoxy and after that is set a looser mix is poured in the top and allowed to flow into all the little gaps. It will actually have a better mechanical bond if your cuts were wavy than if they were clean and straight. When this is cured they are as good as welded in.
You will notice that the end board is glued on at the same time. This was necessary to dam the epoxy in. The dog hole inserts are getting their first use.

Wood Flooring Hardwood Wood stain Plank


Since the wagon vices are self contained inserts, that's all there is to installing them. You could do the same thing in any existing bench.

Now, at last we're ready to bolt the top to the legs. At this point a decision must be made. If you want to break it down into two pieces, be careful not to glue the top to the legs and that includes the hole by the leg vice.

Table Wood Tool Hand tool Floor


I chose to leave the option of partial dis-assembly open. That means I have to lock the the nuts into the top as they won't ever be accessible again. To this end I epoxied the bolts and nuts into the bench top and left the washers and nuts exposed under the top leg beams.

Wood Window Gas Hardwood Wood stain


The next part of the top is a bit of a departure from my original plans, like the veneer. I had left 1/2" of room on top of the plywood for a hardwood top, Then I started thinking that the hardwood certainly didn't need to be that thick and thinner hardwood stock would be less likely to present swelling problems. The resulting solution that I chose was to glue down a layer of 1/4 MDF and then a layer of 1/4" arbutus on top of that. If I were building a strictly utilitarian bench, I would go with 1/2"MDF and skip the hardwood.

Wood Creative arts Wood stain Hardwood Plank


Again I chose epoxy to glue the thin arbutus because it doesn't require extensive clamping and doesn't curl the thin wood like water based glues do. You could use other glues but you would have more clamping to do.

Wood Table Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


I always separate my cauls, blocks or clamps from epoxy joints with plastic film.

Table Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood


All glued up, the top is given a preliminary planing, just to even the surface with the inserts prior to adding the sides.

Wood Gas Engineering Machine Composite material


The edge is given a final flattening and readied for gluing the side boards.

Wood Wood stain Flooring Hardwood Rectangle


...And finally the sides, left end and the trough liners are glued in. Again, my choice was epoxy but it needn't be.

Furniture Table Wood Flooring Gas


That's all for today. I should be able to finish up next time.

Thanks for looking in.

As always questions, comments and critiques are welcome.

Paul
 

Attachments

#90 ·
Mounting the Wagons and Cosmetic Top.

As a boat builder I worked with epoxy A LOT… so for me it was a no brainer that the vices would be loose fitted and fixed in place with epoxy. This gives both the best possible fit and the strongest grip you're going to find. That doesn't mean that it's the only way. Epoxy has a learning curve and I wouldn't want to recommend it to someone who wasn't comfortable and confident with it. The option would be using your normal glue and carefully fitting the plywood around the vices and gluing them in layer by layer as you assembled the plywood top. Then once all assembled you might,if you wished, drill some 3/4" holes down the sides of the vice rails, half in the vice body and half in the table top. Gluing dowels in these would make for a very solidly installed vice.

Here's the epoxy method. The bottom is first puttied with well thickened epoxy and after that is set a looser mix is poured in the top and allowed to flow into all the little gaps. It will actually have a better mechanical bond if your cuts were wavy than if they were clean and straight. When this is cured they are as good as welded in.
You will notice that the end board is glued on at the same time. This was necessary to dam the epoxy in. The dog hole inserts are getting their first use.

Wood Flooring Hardwood Wood stain Plank


Since the wagon vices are self contained inserts, that's all there is to installing them. You could do the same thing in any existing bench.

Now, at last we're ready to bolt the top to the legs. At this point a decision must be made. If you want to break it down into two pieces, be careful not to glue the top to the legs and that includes the hole by the leg vice.

Table Wood Tool Hand tool Floor


I chose to leave the option of partial dis-assembly open. That means I have to lock the the nuts into the top as they won't ever be accessible again. To this end I epoxied the bolts and nuts into the bench top and left the washers and nuts exposed under the top leg beams.

Wood Window Gas Hardwood Wood stain


The next part of the top is a bit of a departure from my original plans, like the veneer. I had left 1/2" of room on top of the plywood for a hardwood top, Then I started thinking that the hardwood certainly didn't need to be that thick and thinner hardwood stock would be less likely to present swelling problems. The resulting solution that I chose was to glue down a layer of 1/4 MDF and then a layer of 1/4" arbutus on top of that. If I were building a strictly utilitarian bench, I would go with 1/2"MDF and skip the hardwood.

Wood Creative arts Wood stain Hardwood Plank


Again I chose epoxy to glue the thin arbutus because it doesn't require extensive clamping and doesn't curl the thin wood like water based glues do. You could use other glues but you would have more clamping to do.

Wood Table Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


I always separate my cauls, blocks or clamps from epoxy joints with plastic film.

Table Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood


All glued up, the top is given a preliminary planing, just to even the surface with the inserts prior to adding the sides.

Wood Gas Engineering Machine Composite material


The edge is given a final flattening and readied for gluing the side boards.

Wood Wood stain Flooring Hardwood Rectangle


...And finally the sides, left end and the trough liners are glued in. Again, my choice was epoxy but it needn't be.

Furniture Table Wood Flooring Gas


That's all for today. I should be able to finish up next time.

Thanks for looking in.

As always questions, comments and critiques are welcome.

Paul
Thank you for doing such a fantastic job of documenting the project!

Great Job!
 

Attachments

#97 ·
Installing the Leg Vice and Finishing up.

The leg vice is so simple as to be self explanatory and its installation likewise, to the point that you can install it and uninstall it in less than a minute. This is nice on those occasions when you don't want a vice in the way of your work table.

For the above reasons I will keep the descriptions short and just show you some detail photos. This one is the fully operational vice.



This one shows the assembly removed from the bench. You can see the mortise for the wedge has been formed by ripping the wedge log in three and reassembling it after removing the wedge hole. This is held only by hot hide glue, no mechanical fasteners.



The lower brace and the wheel are both on pins made of 3/8" threaded rod with a slot cut on one end for a screwdriver. The hole on top is 3/8" and the one underneath is a little smaller. The rod will self thread. The lower holes are at 1/2" intervals in three staggered rows. The holes in the wedge log are at 1" intervals in two rows. All are 3/8" diameter.



The deadman is self explanatory. It has a box joint at the corner and a dog hole in the top. it stores nicely on a stretcher underneath. There is a 3/4" spacer for the vice to make up for the thickness of the deadman being on the outside of the bench top.



All that's left is to trim up the ends of the trough and finish the visible plywood behind the vice. Here one end of the trough is already glued in place and the other is being shaped in the leg vice. You can see that the remaining visible plywood on the back of the leg vice has been covered with 1/4" arbutus. The trough length was determined by the length of material I had available to line it, hence the plywood showing inside the end compartments. The trough ends are curved for easy blowing or wiping out.



The end compartments are finished off with a router rebate and a 1/4" arbutus top. They will serve to hold the shims and dogs, hence.. dog houses.



About the little inlay around the vices….. It too is a result of my available material being a tad too short. I could go back to the mill and buy more arbutus or …. make lemonade….. and since I was doing it anyway, I took the opportunity to make some already quite acceptable fits around the vises look just a little better.



So that's it ! All done.

If I've missed anything, let me know.

I will post the sketchup when it is ready… I won't rush an artist at work. I've seen Rance's preliminaries and they are so much better than mine. The finished SU will be worth waiting a few days for… trust me.

As always, questions, comments and critiques are welcome and if you decide to build one of these or even just use the vices, please keep me posted and I'll help any way I can.

Paul
 

Attachments

#98 ·
Installing the Leg Vice and Finishing up.

The leg vice is so simple as to be self explanatory and its installation likewise, to the point that you can install it and uninstall it in less than a minute. This is nice on those occasions when you don't want a vice in the way of your work table.

For the above reasons I will keep the descriptions short and just show you some detail photos. This one is the fully operational vice.

Wood Table Wood stain Hardwood Plank


This one shows the assembly removed from the bench. You can see the mortise for the wedge has been formed by ripping the wedge log in three and reassembling it after removing the wedge hole. This is held only by hot hide glue, no mechanical fasteners.

Wood Hardwood Plank Wood stain Plywood


The lower brace and the wheel are both on pins made of 3/8" threaded rod with a slot cut on one end for a screwdriver. The hole on top is 3/8" and the one underneath is a little smaller. The rod will self thread. The lower holes are at 1/2" intervals in three staggered rows. The holes in the wedge log are at 1" intervals in two rows. All are 3/8" diameter.

Wood Office ruler Tool Rectangle Hardwood


The deadman is self explanatory. It has a box joint at the corner and a dog hole in the top. it stores nicely on a stretcher underneath. There is a 3/4" spacer for the vice to make up for the thickness of the deadman being on the outside of the bench top.

Wood Table Wood stain Workbench Hardwood


All that's left is to trim up the ends of the trough and finish the visible plywood behind the vice. Here one end of the trough is already glued in place and the other is being shaped in the leg vice. You can see that the remaining visible plywood on the back of the leg vice has been covered with 1/4" arbutus. The trough length was determined by the length of material I had available to line it, hence the plywood showing inside the end compartments. The trough ends are curved for easy blowing or wiping out.

Pneumatic tool Table Handheld power drill Drill Wood


The end compartments are finished off with a router rebate and a 1/4" arbutus top. They will serve to hold the shims and dogs, hence.. dog houses.

Wooden block Wood Rectangle Hardwood Wood stain


About the little inlay around the vices….. It too is a result of my available material being a tad too short. I could go back to the mill and buy more arbutus or …. make lemonade….. and since I was doing it anyway, I took the opportunity to make some already quite acceptable fits around the vises look just a little better.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain


So that's it ! All done.

If I've missed anything, let me know.

I will post the sketchup when it is ready… I won't rush an artist at work. I've seen Rance's preliminaries and they are so much better than mine. The finished SU will be worth waiting a few days for… trust me.

As always, questions, comments and critiques are welcome and if you decide to build one of these or even just use the vices, please keep me posted and I'll help any way I can.

Paul
Very nice bench Paul! Thanks for sharing with all of us!!
 

Attachments

#121 ·
The Sketchup ....Worth Waiting For

When I started thinking about this bench I did a sketchup to organize my ideas before I started building. This is a real switch for me but I have to admit it was kind of fun and clearly made building easier. That sketchup however was not really good enough to give someone unfamiliar with all the thought processes a simple plan to follow.

Realizing that several people may actually want to build it I decided that a better SU was in order so I asked LJ resident Sketchup Master, Rance, if he could clean it up for me and make it a better template from which to build the bench. He did so much more.

Here is a complete SU with features I didn't even know existed, detailed to the fine points, courtesy of Rance.

Thank You Rance !!

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model.html?id=eac92d1e533271b452d9fc61873164a1

I think that now anyone can easily build this bench with the blog and the SU in conjunction. It should be a piece of cake.

Just a couple of photos of the bench and vice in actual use on a real project. I've been using it for a week now and I still like it. There are times when operating the leg vice that I could use another hand but there are ways around the obstacles and I don't think I would have fared better with a screw vise.

Blue Wood Table Floor Flooring


Wood Flooring Floor Workbench Table


As always questions, comments and critiques are welcome although this time around, if they are SU specific, I will ask Rance to answer them.

Don't expect any quick answers from me, I'm going sailing for a few days but will answer what I can when I get back

Thanks for looking in.

Paul
 

Attachments

#122 ·
The Sketchup ....Worth Waiting For

When I started thinking about this bench I did a sketchup to organize my ideas before I started building. This is a real switch for me but I have to admit it was kind of fun and clearly made building easier. That sketchup however was not really good enough to give someone unfamiliar with all the thought processes a simple plan to follow.

Realizing that several people may actually want to build it I decided that a better SU was in order so I asked LJ resident Sketchup Master, Rance, if he could clean it up for me and make it a better template from which to build the bench. He did so much more.

Here is a complete SU with features I didn't even know existed, detailed to the fine points, courtesy of Rance.

Thank You Rance !!

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model.html?id=eac92d1e533271b452d9fc61873164a1

I think that now anyone can easily build this bench with the blog and the SU in conjunction. It should be a piece of cake.

Just a couple of photos of the bench and vice in actual use on a real project. I've been using it for a week now and I still like it. There are times when operating the leg vice that I could use another hand but there are ways around the obstacles and I don't think I would have fared better with a screw vise.

Blue Wood Table Floor Flooring


Wood Flooring Floor Workbench Table


As always questions, comments and critiques are welcome although this time around, if they are SU specific, I will ask Rance to answer them.

Don't expect any quick answers from me, I'm going sailing for a few days but will answer what I can when I get back

Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Very nice Paul and Rance.
That is a very complete model.

Thanks to both of you,
Steve
 

Attachments

#144 ·
Logo Offer

When I made the logo for this bench, I cut the marquetry in Boulle style which means that there is a reverse copy left over. (Mine is maple on purpleheart, this one is purpleheart on maple) I don't want to just throw it away and I don't need it so I've decided to give it to the first person who asks for it ….. to apply to the bench or wedge leg vice that he has already made (photo proof required)

I realize I may be waiting a while but I will have it around. If/when I give it away I will edit this post to that effect so If you don't see the edit here….. You can still ask.

BTW In case you think this one is backwards, you are looking at the glue side (back).

EDIT: And the winner is …... Lumberjoe! Congrats Joe, Logo is on the way.

Brown Rectangle Wood Font Beige


Paul
 

Attachments

#145 ·
Logo Offer

When I made the logo for this bench, I cut the marquetry in Boulle style which means that there is a reverse copy left over. (Mine is maple on purpleheart, this one is purpleheart on maple) I don't want to just throw it away and I don't need it so I've decided to give it to the first person who asks for it ….. to apply to the bench or wedge leg vice that he has already made (photo proof required)

I realize I may be waiting a while but I will have it around. If/when I give it away I will edit this post to that effect so If you don't see the edit here….. You can still ask.

BTW In case you think this one is backwards, you are looking at the glue side (back).

EDIT: And the winner is …... Lumberjoe! Congrats Joe, Logo is on the way.

Brown Rectangle Wood Font Beige


Paul
Very cool Paul fantastic work,this emblem looks like the V8 on a 32 Ford
 

Attachments

#153 ·
Offer Extended

Tomorrow morning the extra V8 degree marquetry logo that I had left over when I made my bench will head across the continent from British Columbia, Canada to Maine, USA. In the last entry to this blog I offered it to the first person who actually built a leg vice like mine. Well here it is.

It gave me a great feeling to see another vice like this built and I felt proud that Joe was actually looking forward to adding the logo. In fact it felt so good that I'm going to extend the offer to anyone who builds one and wants to add a marquetry V8 logo so if anyone out there wants one it's as easy as sending a photo of your bench / vice. Yes you do have to build it first. I won't have it in stock next time though so it may take a few more days.

EDIT : I have made some more so they are available now.

To me sharing ideas and tips is the best part of Lumberjocks and nothing makes me happier than when someone uses one of my silly ideas.

Thanks again Joe, you made my day!
 
#168 ·
Wedge Vice Upgrade

I've been doing a bit of repetitive hand cutting (dovetails) in my leg vice (or vise if you prefer) lately and while I am very happy with it in general, I guess the one drawback has always been that you almost need another hand for the wedge sometimes. It became enough of a frustration this week that I gave it a little thought and came up with this solution.

It's very simple. I just inlayed a rare earth magnet into the sloped face of the wedge hole and a strip of steel (straightened out angle bracket) into the wedge. Now when you lift the wedge to move a piece in the vice instead of the wedge falling and closing the jaws, it stays up until you push it down. It makes life a lot simpler.

Wood Natural material Wood stain Hardwood Plank


Wood Wood stain Hardwood Flooring Plank


Wood Wood stain Hardwood Rectangle Composite material


I've used the leg vice a lot over the last two years and while this has always been a little inconvenience, it didn't ever seem worth worrying about until I started the repetitive work. Now I like it better than ever.

If this all seems like Greek to you, a look at my V8 bench will clear it up.

Thanks for looking in

Paul
 

Attachments

#169 ·
Wedge Vice Upgrade

I've been doing a bit of repetitive hand cutting (dovetails) in my leg vice (or vise if you prefer) lately and while I am very happy with it in general, I guess the one drawback has always been that you almost need another hand for the wedge sometimes. It became enough of a frustration this week that I gave it a little thought and came up with this solution.

It's very simple. I just inlayed a rare earth magnet into the sloped face of the wedge hole and a strip of steel (straightened out angle bracket) into the wedge. Now when you lift the wedge to move a piece in the vice instead of the wedge falling and closing the jaws, it stays up until you push it down. It makes life a lot simpler.

Wood Natural material Wood stain Hardwood Plank


Wood Wood stain Hardwood Flooring Plank


Wood Wood stain Hardwood Rectangle Composite material


I've used the leg vice a lot over the last two years and while this has always been a little inconvenience, it didn't ever seem worth worrying about until I started the repetitive work. Now I like it better than ever.

If this all seems like Greek to you, a look at my V8 bench will clear it up.

Thanks for looking in

Paul
well knowing what i know i will give you a thumbs up here…:)
 

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