Getting ready to build my first workbench
I'm very excited to say I'm going to build a workbench in the near future.
Last week, I decided to start on a necklace rack for my wife. I have a piece of cherry that I could resaw and use to make a panel for it and I thought it'd look great. But, that piece of cherry has quite a bit of twist to it I would need to plane out. No problem, but… sigh. I really, really enjoy using my (small but growing) collection of hand planes, but really don't have a good surface to work on.
Over the past year while exploring woodworking I've been working on an old dining table (which racks horribly) and a much higher (40"?) wall-mounted workbench that is stable but is very high. I have a vice on the high bench but the QR nut doesn't hold well and a bump causes it to release. Gah. I'm doing this woodworking stuff so very wrong. I need a good bench. Need.
I've looked at building a bench a few times over the past year. I like the Benchrafted split-top roubo design a lot, but don't feel I have the skill to execute on it yet, and I'm concerned about spending that much money on quality wood only to screw it up or run into trouble I'm just not able to resolve. But I can't be blocked any more!
In an effort to get moving I decided to make some sacrifice: I sorted through a pile of "burrill" 2×4s at HD to start a collection for the bench. They're sitting in the basement, stickered, and drying out. I will add to the collection on successive visits to HD. I'm thinking I can start on the bench over Christmas vacation; drying for a month should help ensure stable(-r) wood… I hope. And I asked for the Benchcrafted split top roubo plans for Christmas. While I won't be building exactly as the plans show, I think they'll be a great starting point and a good hand-holding for me to understand what to do.
I'm very excited to say I'm going to build a workbench in the near future.
Last week, I decided to start on a necklace rack for my wife. I have a piece of cherry that I could resaw and use to make a panel for it and I thought it'd look great. But, that piece of cherry has quite a bit of twist to it I would need to plane out. No problem, but… sigh. I really, really enjoy using my (small but growing) collection of hand planes, but really don't have a good surface to work on.
Over the past year while exploring woodworking I've been working on an old dining table (which racks horribly) and a much higher (40"?) wall-mounted workbench that is stable but is very high. I have a vice on the high bench but the QR nut doesn't hold well and a bump causes it to release. Gah. I'm doing this woodworking stuff so very wrong. I need a good bench. Need.
I've looked at building a bench a few times over the past year. I like the Benchrafted split-top roubo design a lot, but don't feel I have the skill to execute on it yet, and I'm concerned about spending that much money on quality wood only to screw it up or run into trouble I'm just not able to resolve. But I can't be blocked any more!
In an effort to get moving I decided to make some sacrifice: I sorted through a pile of "burrill" 2×4s at HD to start a collection for the bench. They're sitting in the basement, stickered, and drying out. I will add to the collection on successive visits to HD. I'm thinking I can start on the bench over Christmas vacation; drying for a month should help ensure stable(-r) wood… I hope. And I asked for the Benchcrafted split top roubo plans for Christmas. While I won't be building exactly as the plans show, I think they'll be a great starting point and a good hand-holding for me to understand what to do.