# Split top Saw Bench



## TerryDowning (Aug 8, 2012)

*The Idea*

As a life time wood worker returning to hand tool use, I found my tool set lacking. My dad made me learn hand tools before power tools could be touched, that being said, It's only been recently that I have returned to hand tools as my primary means of working wood. That being said, I do posses a working set of saws, planes, chisels, etc. The big hole was a stable secure place to hold the wood while working it.

One of the most important and basic tools for hand tool users are benches. You really need a stable platform to handle the torque of the tools under your weight and power to keep your cuts and tool handling safe and accurate. I think a hand tool wood worker needs at least 2 benches a saw bench and a work bench. In order to make the work bench, I'm going to need to do some saw work so I figured I'd start with a saw bench as a warm-up and get a useful beginning to my bench set. I also wanted this saw bench to be able to serve as sort of a mini work bench.

I've seen lots of saw benches on LJ some I like, some not. I knew I needed one but wasn't sure where to start. Until I saw episode 3 of the old timey workshop! by StumpyNubs.

I really liked the apparent versatility of the bench, the relative simplicity of the build, and the fact that I could do this build with all hand tools.

At the same time, I'm also working out in my head a proper full size wood working bench and after seeing shipwright's V-8 powered work bench I knew I wanted to try including those nifty and inexpensive wedge powered vices. I also knew that I needed to practice the joinery used in those so why not make one of the tops for this split top saw bench a wagon vice? This gives me practice for the joinery and I'll get to see how well it works before I actually commit to a full scale bench. I do deviate from Paul's design in a few areas but I'm not doing a recreation of Paul's work, I'm adapting and implementing his idea to my circumstances.

I don't use sketchup, and rarely make sketches, (especially when it comes to shop fixtures and such) most of the time, the plan is in my head so I don't have a formal plan to share. Just the idea, and how I got to where I'm at.

For the materials, I had most of it on hand in my pile of cut offs, shorts, and left overs (I hate calling these pieces "scrap"). I found some 2×6 shorts of various length and I also had some old 2×8 Pine bed rails that were just too good to throw away waiting for a project, so I figured I'd finally put them to use. I was still a bit short of material though but found a 4 ft cut off 2×6 in the cull bin at one of the big box stores and for 51 cents I could not pass it up. So far with a purchase of some poplar dowel rod for the draw bore pins and the cut-off I'm less than $5 invested into this build. This is my kind of project already!

The next installment will have some pics and show the start of the build.


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## terryR (Jan 30, 2012)

TerryDowning said:


> *The Idea*
> 
> As a life time wood worker returning to hand tool use, I found my tool set lacking. My dad made me learn hand tools before power tools could be touched, that being said, It's only been recently that I have returned to hand tools as my primary means of working wood. That being said, I do posses a working set of saws, planes, chisels, etc. The big hole was a stable secure place to hold the wood while working it.
> 
> ...


Sign me up for the show…snacks ready! 

Your saw bench is one of my fav's…lots of uses in a small package.


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## AnthonyReed (Sep 20, 2011)

TerryDowning said:


> *The Idea*
> 
> As a life time wood worker returning to hand tool use, I found my tool set lacking. My dad made me learn hand tools before power tools could be touched, that being said, It's only been recently that I have returned to hand tools as my primary means of working wood. That being said, I do posses a working set of saws, planes, chisels, etc. The big hole was a stable secure place to hold the wood while working it.
> 
> ...


I am late to the show but truly appreciate the time and effort expended to share the build with us.

Thanks Terry.


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## TerryDowning (Aug 8, 2012)

*The build (wagon vise tops and uprights)*

So, in the first installment was the idea. I knew I needed a saw bench, I decided on a split top design and that I would incorporate a wedge powered wagon vice as one of the tops.

I was not originally planning on blogging this build so the pics of the build don't start until much later in the build.

The first step was to cut the material to rough dimensions.

I measured from the floor to me knee cap to determine the height of the bench and thus the length of the uprights.

4 of those. I decided that the length would be approximately 36" again, I also want this to be a small work bench as well. Typically saw benches are much shorter. But hey this is my bench in my shop, I'll make the length I want.

for the wagon vice I decided I would use common 2×4 studs. My eventual work bench is going to use these as I'm going with the Paul Sellers style of joinery bench and this is practice and experimentation so there ya go.

Deviation from shipwright's wagon vice design. Rather than laminate runners to the insides of the wagon vice to form the wagon track I decided to use stopped dadoes.

With the 2×4 s cut to length it's time to cut the dadoes. I have a craftsman 79 duplex fillister plasne so I used that cut the dadoes. To form the stop I used a chisel and went deep enough to allow the nose of the plane to go the rest of the way into the slot.









This worked OK, but I don't have a depth stop for that plane and getting the depth accurate is fairly important in order for the wagon to move smoothly. This means routing to the final depth. Unfortunately, I don't have a router so I opted to use a modified version of the poor man's router as described by Paul Sellers.



So 2 stopped dadoes cut to form the track for the wagon vice.

In the meantime floating n the back of my mind was "How I am going to keep this vice from splitting apart from the pressure of the wedge against the bearer AND join it to the upright?"

I initially was going to go with a dove tail that should in theory keep the 2 tracks together and join the upright. Well, no plan survives first contact. The narrow side of the joint broke, so I would have to do more figuring on this.

The broken dovetail. This is later squared up and trimmed flat.









Next is the construction of the wagon vice internals

I needed a bearer block to hold against the force of the wedge. Using a 4×4 from a reclaimed shipping pallet, I was able to shape the Wagon, Bearer, wedges and spacers.

I cut it to approximate shape and the cut rabbets to sit in the bottom wagon track (This keeps the bearer from falling through)









The top wagon track is removed to allow the bearer, wedge and spacers to apply pressure against the bearer block and be removed for adjustments.










This is just a lot of paring and fitting. The wagon needs to run smoothly in the track with little lateral or vertical movement. It needs some movement in order to move freely and account for wood movement (Once everything is assembled, this does not come apart for adjustment) but it shouldn't be a sloppy fit either. The bearer is a more snug fit, and the angled surfaces where the bearer interfaces with the vise need to mate flat. This is where the load is distributed when under pressure (Which can lead to the vise separating if not secured properly, I was till puzzling through how I would address that during this fitting) All fitting and adjust is done PRIOR to nay glue up or lamination of the top. If you screw up here you don't want to deal with breaking apart glue joints or lamination. Use clamps to hold everything together during the fitting. Once you're satisfied with the fitting of the internals, then you cam laminate the three 2×4s to complete the top section.

At this point the bulk of the work on the wagon vise is complete. The non-bearing side of this will be joined to the upright with a large dovetail joint. I decided joined to the upright on the vice side with a finger joint secured in place with draw bore pins.










I don't have a lot of photos of the prep for the upright to top joinery. Three of the joints are dove tailed, the renaming is a finger joint.

Prepping the dovetail on wagon vise.

















No pics of the other joints but here are the tops and uprights ready for the next step


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

TerryDowning said:


> *The build (wagon vise tops and uprights)*
> 
> So, in the first installment was the idea. I knew I needed a saw bench, I decided on a split top design and that I would incorporate a wedge powered wagon vice as one of the tops.
> 
> ...


Looks good Terry.
The only comment I'd have that you might do differently if you make another one (or two) for your bench would be to make the wagon a little shorter. You should be able to pop the base block (bearer) out and slide the wagon back and lift it out for cleaning, adjustment replacement etc.

On a small bench like this maybe a couple of bolts across the tail end behind the block would be a good way to "contain the spread" as it were. In my bigger one it was a simple matter of trapping the ends in the end board.

Don't worry about changing the design. It's just a concept and I expect anyone who uses it will adapt it to their dimensions, material and tools. I hope it works well for you.


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## TerryDowning (Aug 8, 2012)

TerryDowning said:


> *The build (wagon vise tops and uprights)*
> 
> So, in the first installment was the idea. I knew I needed a saw bench, I decided on a split top design and that I would incorporate a wedge powered wagon vice as one of the tops.
> 
> ...


Thanks Paul!

I've used it a few times now and it seem to work great. The joint on that side is a finger joint draw bored together. It's really messy and my lack of craftsmanship shows (I rushed aligning and assembling the joint and introduced a bunch of gaps, holes, and other issues that have follow-on effects) but it seems to be holding OK for now. I don't envision a whole lot of force being applied to this particular application, the wedge does an outstanding job of securing things with minimal fuss.

I'm trying to avoid metal fasteners in these benches. I don't know why, probably just for the challenge of it.

On the next wagon I will consider adjusting the openings/dimensions to make the wagon removable.

Thanks again for your input and inspiration.


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## AnthonyReed (Sep 20, 2011)

TerryDowning said:


> *The build (wagon vise tops and uprights)*
> 
> So, in the first installment was the idea. I knew I needed a saw bench, I decided on a split top design and that I would incorporate a wedge powered wagon vice as one of the tops.
> 
> ...


That has to be a happy luxury having a wagon vise on your saw bench. Well done Terry. Thanks.


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## TerryDowning (Aug 8, 2012)

*Feet, uprights and assembly*

Ok, so the tops are dry fit, and I have a clue how to assemble. but with out a stable platform to sit on the floor it's still useless.

The feet will be joined to the uprights with mortise and tenon joints. Simple enough, cut tenons on the bottom of the uprights approximately 1" wide.









In stumpy's video he demonstrates a rather innovative approach to creating mortises.

Feet material is 2×6 18" in length

mark the center of the foot, and layout the width of the uprights centered approximately 1 1/2 " apart.

Cut the walls of the mortise









Then remove material 1/2 the width of the tenon.
I used my (new to me) Millers Falls 85 duplexing fillster plane for this and it worked great. This one has a depth stop, so with the depth stop adjusted it's just a matter of plowing throw dadoes until you have the width covered.










You need to do this 4 times 1 for each leg.









This makes it easy to fit the tenons for width and depth. Once the tenons are snug and fitting correctly. Rip the boards in half and glue back together to form the mortises.










Dry fit and rehearse the glue up!! I did not do this enough and introduced several issues.

Did I mention rehearsing? I did not rehearse this joint nearly enough and I'm still paying for it. 









I didn't make this joint clean enough and did not rehearse it's assembly and glue up. As a result it was not fitted correctly and this introduced all kinds of issues.
The height of the uprights are now different between the regular side and wagon side since the upright on the wagon side is not seated completely, this made the leg longer. It also introduced significant twist to the top. I had to trim the tenon shoulder to adjust for the difference. This also introduced wobble into the completed piece. If I build another one of these, I will fasten the feet to the uprights first. Then negotiate the top. I'm still making adjustments to the feet as there is till wobble in the completed bench.

Did I mention rehearsing? Lesson learned!!

The dovetails are square though.









You can see the gaps on the finger joint in this photo as well.










Feet draw bored in place joints glued. It was still a bit wobbly but adding a stringer dovetailed between the uprights solved that.










Let the trimming and clean-up begin!










Need to trim those tenons off









Basic trimming complete and a usable bench. At this point I still needed to bore the dog holes in the wagon and top, but the bench is now usable as a saw bench.










Dog holes bored out









First test of the wagon vise. It works!! You can also see that the laminated 2×4s for the wagon vise side were not as wide as the 2×6 upright material so I fitted some 1×4 material into those spaces on either side.









After this test, I realized a flaw in the wedge. I did not make it long enough and driving it out was a pain. I made an additional spacer and a new wedge that is longer so I can drive it out when I want to to remove what I'm working on.

It works great for cross cutting as well. You can see the new wedge here 









prepping stock for the next installment on this series. I'm adding a saw till to the opposite side. I figure what better place to have a saw till than on the saw bench where they are used.


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## JeremyPringle (Aug 17, 2011)

TerryDowning said:


> *Feet, uprights and assembly*
> 
> Ok, so the tops are dry fit, and I have a clue how to assemble. but with out a stable platform to sit on the floor it's still useless.
> 
> ...


This is awesome!


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## TerryDowning (Aug 8, 2012)

TerryDowning said:


> *Feet, uprights and assembly*
> 
> Ok, so the tops are dry fit, and I have a clue how to assemble. but with out a stable platform to sit on the floor it's still useless.
> 
> ...


Thanks Jeremy.


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## BTimmons (Aug 6, 2011)

TerryDowning said:


> *Feet, uprights and assembly*
> 
> Ok, so the tops are dry fit, and I have a clue how to assemble. but with out a stable platform to sit on the floor it's still useless.
> 
> ...


You're moving along at a great pace. We may have another Airframer on our hands.


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## TerryDowning (Aug 8, 2012)

TerryDowning said:


> *Feet, uprights and assembly*
> 
> Ok, so the tops are dry fit, and I have a clue how to assemble. but with out a stable platform to sit on the floor it's still useless.
> 
> ...


Oh no.

I'm not nearly as prolific as Eric.

I started this project back in Early September. It's early November and I'm not done. I usually only get about 20-30 minutes a day ion my shop.

Three consecutive blog posts today because I carved out some time to get the writing done.

It will be a while until the section on the saw till is complete. That just started yesterday.


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## terryR (Jan 30, 2012)

TerryDowning said:


> *Feet, uprights and assembly*
> 
> Ok, so the tops are dry fit, and I have a clue how to assemble. but with out a stable platform to sit on the floor it's still useless.
> 
> ...


Great work, Terry!

You're typing these blogs faster than I can read, and plan my version…


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

TerryDowning said:


> *Feet, uprights and assembly*
> 
> Ok, so the tops are dry fit, and I have a clue how to assemble. but with out a stable platform to sit on the floor it's still useless.
> 
> ...


Well done Terry. My version is much simpler, but then I usually just use them to sit on.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

TerryDowning said:


> *Feet, uprights and assembly*
> 
> Ok, so the tops are dry fit, and I have a clue how to assemble. but with out a stable platform to sit on the floor it's still useless.
> 
> ...


Looks like it all worked out in the end and a day when you learn a lesson is a good day.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

TerryDowning said:


> *Feet, uprights and assembly*
> 
> Ok, so the tops are dry fit, and I have a clue how to assemble. but with out a stable platform to sit on the floor it's still useless.
> 
> ...


I don't know Paul? I've learned a few lessons I wish I had not learned. Of course I typically tend to insist on learning the hard way, so maybe that's got something to do with it.


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## Tim457 (Jan 11, 2013)

TerryDowning said:


> *Feet, uprights and assembly*
> 
> Ok, so the tops are dry fit, and I have a clue how to assemble. but with out a stable platform to sit on the floor it's still useless.
> 
> ...


This is great, Terry, thanks for blogging it. How do you like the split top design and longer length now that you've used it a bit? A sawbench is on my short list and the split top design is one I've been considering.


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## TerryDowning (Aug 8, 2012)

TerryDowning said:


> *Feet, uprights and assembly*
> 
> Ok, so the tops are dry fit, and I have a clue how to assemble. but with out a stable platform to sit on the floor it's still useless.
> 
> ...


So far I like it. Currently storage is a bit of an issue, but eventually it will live under my work bench and be out of the way. I've decided to go with a traditional English joiner's bench which does not have the stretchers on the bottom like the French, German and Scandinavian benches, rather big beefy aprons for rigidity. The saw bench should be able to slide right under.


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## terryR (Jan 30, 2012)

TerryDowning said:


> *Feet, uprights and assembly*
> 
> Ok, so the tops are dry fit, and I have a clue how to assemble. but with out a stable platform to sit on the floor it's still useless.
> 
> ...


My thoughts exactly as far as storage, Terry!

Thanks, again, for blogging this and all the photos. The wagon vice is gonna be tough, but I want it.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

TerryDowning said:


> *Feet, uprights and assembly*
> 
> Ok, so the tops are dry fit, and I have a clue how to assemble. but with out a stable platform to sit on the floor it's still useless.
> 
> ...


very nice build!


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## AnthonyReed (Sep 20, 2011)

TerryDowning said:


> *Feet, uprights and assembly*
> 
> Ok, so the tops are dry fit, and I have a clue how to assemble. but with out a stable platform to sit on the floor it's still useless.
> 
> ...


I really like the split-top. Nicely done.

Thanks Terry.


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## TerryDowning (Aug 8, 2012)

*Adding a saw till to the saw bench*

Not only am I in need of a saw bench, but a place to store my hand saws. Right now I keep them in an old toolbox, that is often difficult to get at. I planned the length of this to accommodate a saw till of some sort.

The plan is for a simple box suspended in the non vice side to keep my saws in a handy place near where they will be used most.

I ended the last entry and start this one with cutting the stock to length.

















and starting the layout









The saws will be held in theses cradles. The cradles will be held in the box frame with wedged tenons.









The raised portion on the cradle on top is intentional, I plan on making a small box in the saw till to accommodate spacers and wedges for the vice when not in use.

Layout complete. The ends of the box frame will be dovetailed.










I started chopping out mortise holes this morning.









Obviously these need to be cleaned up but I had to get work.

More on this later as chopping and fitting progresses.


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## AnthonyReed (Sep 20, 2011)

TerryDowning said:


> *Adding a saw till to the saw bench*
> 
> Not only am I in need of a saw bench, but a place to store my hand saws. Right now I keep them in an old toolbox, that is often difficult to get at. I planned the length of this to accommodate a saw till of some sort.
> 
> ...


Looking good.

Am I understanding correctly that this will be somewhat cantilevered from the side of the bench?

Thanks Terry.


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## TerryDowning (Aug 8, 2012)

TerryDowning said:


> *Adding a saw till to the saw bench*
> 
> Not only am I in need of a saw bench, but a place to store my hand saws. Right now I keep them in an old toolbox, that is often difficult to get at. I planned the length of this to accommodate a saw till of some sort.
> 
> ...


Actually, it is going to be a box that will tilt out ward.

No pics, but I have dry fit the box together.

Picking up some 3/4" dowel tonight on the way home from work to fashion the pivot points.

Hopefully some pics tomorrow.


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## AnthonyReed (Sep 20, 2011)

TerryDowning said:


> *Adding a saw till to the saw bench*
> 
> Not only am I in need of a saw bench, but a place to store my hand saws. Right now I keep them in an old toolbox, that is often difficult to get at. I planned the length of this to accommodate a saw till of some sort.
> 
> ...


Pivot from the bottom similar to a potato bin?


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## TerryDowning (Aug 8, 2012)

TerryDowning said:


> *Adding a saw till to the saw bench*
> 
> Not only am I in need of a saw bench, but a place to store my hand saws. Right now I keep them in an old toolbox, that is often difficult to get at. I planned the length of this to accommodate a saw till of some sort.
> 
> ...


Yup, that's the idea.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

TerryDowning said:


> *Adding a saw till to the saw bench*
> 
> Not only am I in need of a saw bench, but a place to store my hand saws. Right now I keep them in an old toolbox, that is often difficult to get at. I planned the length of this to accommodate a saw till of some sort.
> 
> ...


Great idea, saws right in the bench.


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## TerryDowning (Aug 8, 2012)

*The saw till with Dog House (Dry Fit)*

This till will hold 4 full sized saws and 2 back saws. I'm also including a small box I'm calling the Dog House to hold bench dogs and wedges for the wagon vice, maybe a grease box (once I make one).

Finally a chance to get things cleaned up and a dry fit accomplished.


















Then I cut the dovetails, and cut a divider piece to complete the dog house. All of the supports and the divider are held with through tenons that will be wedged.

















Here it is with some saws
















You can see the dog house in this photo. The rest of the till has no bottom, I did this on purpose to keep sawdust from collecting in there since it will be suspended under the saw bench. The bottom of the Dog House is just a floating panel in some dadoes. You can aslo see that I had to make adjustments to the end panel by cutting dadoes to accomodate the length of the D-8 and D-12 saws. I still had to cut an additional notch in the toe end for the D-12 as it still would not fit even with the Dadoes.

Saws Left to Right
Disston D-12 cross cut 8 PPI? (I need to count)
Disston D-8 Rip 5 PPI (This thing is a beast!!)
NOS Disston cross cut 10 PPI? Circa late 1980's not a great saw but it handles dimensional lumber like a champ. I used this saw a lot when I was doing concrete forming. This saw needs sharpening and I'm planning on changing it to a Rip, that 5 PPI D-8 is a bear to get started and does leave a rough edge.

Unknown Mfg crosscut 10 PPI? maybe more, I haven't really counted. It does have a Warranted Steel Medallion but no etch that I can see. It's very rusty and needs a good cleaning. It is very sharp though and cuts well.

The 2 back saws are also unknown manufacturer with no medallions and no etch, they both need sharpening, (they still cut but not very well) one will definitely be filed rip to serve as a tenon saw. I may keep one as a cross cut pattern to use in my Miter box, We'll see.

All that is left is Glue-up/final assembly of the till, figure out how to make the till flip in and out like a potato bin (It's all in my head) and build some Bench Dogs to replace the awful plastic ones I'm using now.


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## TerryDowning (Aug 8, 2012)

*Finishing up*

It's been a while and I've been plugging and plodding away on this.

When I left off, I had finished off the dry fit of the saw till/dog house and had the vision of a tilt out feature like a potato bin.

No pics on the glue up. Not any different than the dry fit/rehearsal anyways.

After the glue dried I spent some time with my 60 1/2 low angle block plane and MF #9 smoother finishing and fitting the till to the saw bench.










While trying to determine the pivot location (and still working out in my head how this would work. I realized that a simple pull out drawer arrangement would be easier and more convenient.


















I cut Dadoes top and bottom for runners in either side and glued them in place.









The top runner keeps the drawer from falling out and flat as I slide it out to get a saw.









The dog house works great for holding bench dogs and wedge parts/spacers not in use.









Made some bench dogs for the wedge vice.









Took the slight wobble out by truing the bottoms of the feet with my cambered Jack Plane and flattened the tops using my winding sticks and my Millers Falls 22









I can't think of anything else for this and I'm not going to put a finish on it so I'm calling it done!!


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## BustedClock (Jun 30, 2011)

TerryDowning said:


> *Finishing up*
> 
> It's been a while and I've been plugging and plodding away on this.
> 
> ...


I see what you did there…

Allegedly a post about a workbench, but what you're really doing is bragging about your collection of Miller's Falls planes!

I'll bet you're a member of the Wood-planes-oholic group.

Like your bench and the saw till. I have trouble keeping my saws handy since they live in a toolbox that ends up in strange places.


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## CL810 (Mar 21, 2010)

TerryDowning said:


> *Finishing up*
> 
> It's been a while and I've been plugging and plodding away on this.
> 
> ...


Nice build & blog.


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## jstegall (Oct 9, 2008)

TerryDowning said:


> *Finishing up*
> 
> It's been a while and I've been plugging and plodding away on this.
> 
> ...


You did good sir..


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

TerryDowning said:


> *Finishing up*
> 
> It's been a while and I've been plugging and plodding away on this.
> 
> ...


Even a dog house !
You have more packed into that little rascal than many people have in their full size workbenches.
Well done.


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## TerryDowning (Aug 8, 2012)

TerryDowning said:


> *Finishing up*
> 
> It's been a while and I've been plugging and plodding away on this.
> 
> ...


Thanks Paul!!

A compliment from a craftsman of your caliber is truly meaningful.

Thanks to all for all of the positive comments.


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## palaswood (Aug 9, 2013)

TerryDowning said:


> *Finishing up*
> 
> It's been a while and I've been plugging and plodding away on this.
> 
> ...


Aha! Wonderful


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## LumberZac (Nov 27, 2020)

TerryDowning said:


> *Finishing up*
> 
> It's been a while and I've been plugging and plodding away on this.
> 
> ...


Well this is quite a find. I have also looked at that sawbench that Stumpy made in a video and thought I might adapt it into a multi-functional low bench.
Nicely made. How much have you used it since?


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