Saw Bench - Red Oak

Nice work Mos.It looks plenty sturdy.Have you used it much ?

-- They just don't get my chub on.-Bertha on modern handplanes

Thanks Brandon. I’ve used it to rip 2 pieces of poplar, and cross cut probably only 5 or 6 pieces of the same. I’ve only had it done for about 3 days and this past few have been a bit rough so I didn’t get to do much of anything yet.

-- Mos - Twin Cities, MN -- Stanley #45 Evangelist - www.youtube.com/MosquitoMods

Nice Chris. This on my list of things to do.

-- I hate being bipolar. It's awesome! :^ ) ^:

Thanks Scott. Simple but effective

-- Mos - Twin Cities, MN -- Stanley #45 Evangelist - www.youtube.com/MosquitoMods

Great practical project. This is on my to-do list too. How did you decide how high to make it? Is that 1/2”? Any hints or suggestions for construction?

-- Kay - Just a girl who loves wood.

Thanks Kay. All the stock is 3/4”. It wasn’t too difficult to do, and no real tips come to mind. As far as the height, what I did was stood on one foot, with my other leg bent at the knee, and measured how high that was, and then bent the other knee until I was at a comfortable position for sawing, took the measurement, and it was a little over 21”, so I made it 20” tall to accommodate for the stock thickness. I would take a picture using it, but I’m wearing shorts, and Brandon (bhog) already banned me from anymore hairy leg pictures :-P basically when I’m using it, my right knee is on the stock, and my left knee is slightly bent.

I cut all the legs, then the corresponding joint in the top. The way I did it was to clamp the short cross piece between two legs, and then tweak it until the angles on the legs matched (about 10 degrees) and then I drilled and screwed the cross piece to the two legs. Then I drilled and screwed the legs to the top. Repeat for the other pair of legs. Then I used a clamp to pull the legs closer together at the bottom, then drilled and screwed the long cross brace on one side. I had to push the legs on the other side apart so it would be the same distance as the other side. Then I fastened the long cross brace on that side.

I basically followed the plans in one of Chris Schwarz’s blogs.
http://blog.lostartpress.com/2008/02/10/this-year%E2%80%99s-model-the-2008-sawbench/

-- Mos - Twin Cities, MN -- Stanley #45 Evangelist - www.youtube.com/MosquitoMods

Mos , HUGE lol,it is only for the safety of others.

-- They just don't get my chub on.-Bertha on modern handplanes

I don’t think the 3/4 will support my weight so I can copy your top and beef up the legs. Thanks for the inspiration. It is cool.

-- when I am not on Lumberjocks I am on @ http://thisoldworkshop.com where we allow free speech

I know Brandon, I was going to take a picture anyway, but I just figured I’d say that for the time being :-)

Dude, I only weigh 140 pounds, so I’m not too worried for myself lol

-- Mos - Twin Cities, MN -- Stanley #45 Evangelist - www.youtube.com/MosquitoMods

Thanks for the details Chris – and the photo does help explain the height! Mine will be coming soon.

-- Kay - Just a girl who loves wood.

Chris, nice work. They (sawbenches) are excellent tools and incredibly versitile. I’ve made three and given away two of them. Enjoy!

-- Don't anthropomorphize your handplanes. They hate it when you do that. -- OldTools Archive

I was looking at Jim Tolpins book and on his saw benches he made the inside legs square and the outside ones at a angle. So you dont hit the legs when your ripping long boards. Chris I am down to 270 I am 6’ 4” I am down from 385 pounds but I would worry about thin legs.

-- when I am not on Lumberjocks I am on @ http://thisoldworkshop.com where we allow free speech

Sweet saw bench Mos! Those are a great addition to the shop.

A must for hand sawing, I made a little rustic bench out of pine and oak firewood for the legs, it’s not quite tall enough for hand sawing, I use it but the saw hits the ground some times.

These things are so useful to have around the shop for all kinds of stuff, as a step stool, for sitting, etc..

-- Mauricio - Woodstock, GA - "Confusion is the Womb of Learning, with utter conviction being it's Tomb" Prof. T.O. Nitsch

Not a problem Kay. Happy to help where I can :-)
-

Thanks Smitty. I’m hoping to get some good use out of it.
-

Dude, I was thinking about doing the legs in the way that you describe (I think). Kind of like a splayed leg bench, like Mauricio is making. I’m not sure why I decided against it, actually… Maybe now I have an excuse to make a second one down the road ;-). Which, I would like to do anyway, but for now I’ll just be happy with the one. I thought about using 1.5”x3.5” thick boards for the legs, but I figured the 3/4”x2.5” would be enough for me.
-

Thanks Mauricio. I think I remember seeing the one you’re talking about at some point. I’ve used it as a break bench a few times now… Though that means I’m not coming back to my computer as often to check LJ’s :-P

-- Mos - Twin Cities, MN -- Stanley #45 Evangelist - www.youtube.com/MosquitoMods

One or two or five sawbenches will always find use in the shop. I have two and want one more. A bit like potato chips and beer.

Great work.

-- Make furniture that lasts as long as the tree - Ryan