# Southern Yellow Pine Work Surface (workbench)



## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*My first "benchtop"*










Beginning to make a Japanese style planing beam/board. 6 boards from Lowe's - 2 X 10 X 12's cut in half and staked up on my old sawhorses.










I used a 1 X 2 "select" pine as a straight edge - screwed to the 2X with drywall screws as a guide for my circular saw. Set the depth to leave a wafer thin "bridge" on the very bottom so I didn't cut into the board below. Worked very well. (Bit of a "mis-start" on the first board. I am ripping each one down the center and the cut edge will be the top side. Garage is absolutely full of boxes of my junk. I need to go through them and sort stuff out (plus find my hand plane and any other tools that may be lurking in there).










This one has a LOT of gummy sawdust. Smells good though.










Thin wafer on the bottom of one side. I took an old chisel and sliced it off even with the cut face.










Here is the first one all split and ready to go.










All ripped and stacked up. Fairly even and almost the same width - 4 5/8". The top ones are very heavy and knotty with a lot of sap. The slab will be 18" wide and 70 or 71 inches long after laminating. I don't have but a couple of small clamps, so I got five 3/8" all-threads X 24" and some fender washers and nuts to cinch it all down good. I am going to have to be precise in drilling my holes so the threaded rod will fit - I will drill larger holes (say 7/16" or 1/2") with a Forstner bit (I have a small drill press). I bought some Elmer's wood glue to do the lamination, but later I bought a tube of Liquid Nails heavy duty adhesive instead. I'm going to use a plastic putty knife to spread the adhesive out on each board. I also bought five 4-1/2" bolts to glue two boards at a time, then join those together later.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Drilling holes for bolts and all-threads*










Using some 3-1/2" bolts to glue up two boards at a time. It is easier to keep everything square and straight this way. Also there's no rush just gluing two boards together.










The holes are 5/8" so that when I get ready to glue up the 6 sets of paired laminations, I can use the 3/8' threaded rod - hopefully the holes line up well enough.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Glueing up pairs of boards and then glueing up quads*










This is the first two boards glued together the night before this picture. I have taken the bolts out and everything looks solid. Time will tell. This first one was probably the worst for glue coverage as I was in a hurry - it has been too long since I glued boards together. I keep thinking that if I didn't hurry, the glue would set up and I'd have to do everything over again. But I think it will still be OK. I used plenty of glue on both sides and the only part I'm really only slightly concerned about is the end corners - I don't remember if I spread the glue all the way out.










This Yellow Pine is beautiful!










Here is my glue up area. I had some old closet doors to use as a flat work area - they are hollow and light, but fairly flat and easy to clean up the glue because they are painted. I got wise and started using a cheap plastic putty knife to spread the glue out more evenly.










Glue is running out, so that's a good sign!










Now all five pairs have been glued up.










So the first pair from the day before and the second pair from early morning get glued together at the very last of the day before going into the house.










And here is a quad glued up- the camera amplifies the difference in height of the laminations - this end curled a bit on one side before the glue-up.

More later.


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## benchbuilder (Sep 10, 2011)

ruddhess said:


> *Glueing up pairs of boards and then glueing up quads*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I dont believe you need to rush that much with the yellow glue. I usually glue three at a time, all 6,7 or 8 ft long. Then glue them up in pairs and pairs into slabs. Works well and if you spred the glue even and on both pieces and dont try to mash them when clamping, you will have great bench tops, just remember your 7 Ps, pryier proper planing prevents piss poor proformance. Sorry for the bad word here, just the facts..


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

ruddhess said:


> *Glueing up pairs of boards and then glueing up quads*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you benchbuilder. I just saw your comment today. I am getting more at ease with the gluing now. I have 14 boards glued together now and it is 21" wide. I still need to get someone to help me bring it down from my 2nd story apartment into the garage. It got so cold recently that I brought the pairs of boards up inside where it's warm to glue them together. I didn't do anything to the surfaces of these when I glued them up. The glue seems like it will hold very well even though each board wasn't "perfect" - some had a few mill marks, some had a few voids where knots were, etc. I have read that the wood glue works best when the two surfaces being joined are nearly perfectly flat against one another and a lot of pressure is applied. Some technical advice includes XX lbs per sq in for different species of wood. I don't get that technical with anything I do. I haven't conducted any tests on the strength of the glued joints that I have done either. I have made one "coffee" table that was just wood and glue - it's about 10 years or more old and holds together just fine - I didn't prep any edges with that one either - it's white pine. I did use some dowels though on the top - three 2 X 6's at 48" long. I am going to use glue and dowels on the rest of my bench too (I usually use bolts and other hardware in addition to glue when putting things together, but I now know that glue will hold it together alone if designed a certain way.) I had thought about gluing up beams and slabs and then chopping out a bunch of dovetails and mortise/tenons, but that seemed less efficient than just designing it to fit together like a puzzle - after all the boards start out as 2 bys and if you cut them right and fit them together right, they make their own mortise & tenons. I'll post more pictures as I go along. It's still too cold out to do very much gluing.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Glue Curing Box*

Here is what I did yesterday: made a long box to keep the wood and glue warm while curing.










Everything I needed was laying close at hand - literally! I had four old closet doors that I used as shelves a long time ago that were standing in the corner. I had used a couple of them as a flat work place to start gluing up the boards for my slab. I found 8 little metal angle braces with screws that I had bought a while back and never used. It is 78" long (my 72" boards fit just right) and 12" X 15" otherwise.










I will cover the ends with some old blankets.










And I had a single bulb and bare fixture hanging right beside my shop light. It was 40°F in the shop when I put the thermometer inside and closed the ends up with blankets.










Everything hooked up and ready to go.










I found that with an extra blanket on the top, it will stay 60°F inside all night. Even with outside temps as low as 7°F like last night.


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## benchbuilder (Sep 10, 2011)

ruddhess said:


> *Glue Curing Box*
> 
> Here is what I did yesterday: made a long box to keep the wood and glue warm while curing.
> 
> ...


Yes this works well, i did the same for a dog house but in place of blankets on the ends i used plywood with styrofom glued to it and on hinges with weather striping. Its amazing how much heat you can get with just one light blub. I used a 75 watt blub and have a happy dog. His water never frezzes as the temp stays about 58 to 65 degrees depending on outside weather, we to have had 4 degree nites and still a happy dog. You do have to keep a watch on the blub as they dont last but a few weeks being on full time..


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

ruddhess said:


> *Glue Curing Box*
> 
> Here is what I did yesterday: made a long box to keep the wood and glue warm while curing.
> 
> ...


benchbuilder,

I didn't think of styrofoam until I saw a picture of someone else's glue cabinet/closet here on LJ. I think a lot of people line them with the aluminum backed stuff too. If I used that stuff it would get much hotter in there I think. There were some fairly big cracks in it because I didn't put but one screw in the middle and a couple of the doors were bowed a bit. But the extra blanket over the top took care of any heat that was escaping out the top. It is kind of amazing how much heat a bulb puts out. Sounds like your dog has some of the comforts of home in his house. That's cool.


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## siavosh (Apr 11, 2013)

ruddhess said:


> *Glue Curing Box*
> 
> Here is what I did yesterday: made a long box to keep the wood and glue warm while curing.
> 
> ...


This process is new to me, does glue for the laminations need heat to cure?


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## daddywoofdawg (Feb 1, 2014)

ruddhess said:


> *Glue Curing Box*
> 
> Here is what I did yesterday: made a long box to keep the wood and glue warm while curing.
> 
> ...


I think it's Just so the glue doesn't freeze.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

ruddhess said:


> *Glue Curing Box*
> 
> Here is what I did yesterday: made a long box to keep the wood and glue warm while curing.
> 
> ...


siavosh,

If the ambient temperature falls below around 45°F (most glue labels say 60°), then it doesn't cure properly. You can tell when the glue is going to fail (or is quite likely to fail) if the glue gets "chalky" - there appears a light colored powdery surface on the glue - that is a bad sign. I built the box to put long pieces of laminated lumber in to let the glue cure when the shop temps fell below around 47° or so - I didn't experience any trouble at all when the temp was between 47° and 52°. Like 'daddywoofdawg' says, it's important to keep the glue from freezing when it's in the bottle. I've been bringing the glue bottles (and construction adhesive - AKA Liquid Nails) inside when the temps were falling to below 40°. And that worked out well enough.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Getting Close to Full Width*

I ended up gluing inside my apartment where it was warmer. Ice and snowoutside. It is wide enough now that it won't fit inside the glue box anyway.



















All 12 boards glued up. I think that I will add 2 more to make it 21" wide.










Finally got a decent picture of all 14 boards glued up. Now to find help carrying it down to the garage when the weather turns nicer. It weighs over a hundred pounds. Not bad.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Reinforcing my old sawhorses*

I'm adding some reinforcement to my old sawhorses. I want to set my workbench top on these for a while and I don't want them to wobble or collapse. I'm just using some old 3/8" T1-11 siding that I had from a long time ago.









Some small "A" frame gussets attached with drywall screws.










And with what was left of the siding, some 6-5/8" wide stretchers/stringers.










Line it up flush on the right, and whack the left side off. I'm using my "three drill system" - the old orange B&D for drilling the pilot hole/my grandma's old silver metal bodied drill with the countersink bit/old green and putty gray B&D with the side chunk missing and the phillips bit driver embedded in the chuck (seriously, no amount of force in the universe will loosen the chuck, I even broke the chuck key for this drill trying to loosen it). Works good, except for all the cords going everywhere, but I'm used to it by now.










Stretchers bow in on this one. The sawhorse lumber is from an old chicken barn 2X4s and has twisted or was twisted to begin with maybe.










And a little bow to the outside on this one.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Remainder of yellow pine lumber for workbench*

Here is the remainder of the yellow pine that I need for my workbench. I had decided to give this thing legs and a skirt (hmm, sounds bad I know - hey maybe it's a Scottish bench? LOL). The 2 X 12 was for the skirts on the front and the back, and the 2 X 8's were for leg stretchers. I had 6 pieces of center ripped 2 X 10's left over from making the top that I could use to make the legs. Still deciding whether to make a regular workbench or stay with my original plan of making some very sturdy Japanese trestle style horses to put the benchtop slab on. What to do, what to do?










This 2 X 12 is beautiful. The winter growth rings are wide and it is a heavy board. It has part of the pith of the tree running down the middle and after cutting the 12 footer in half has begun to cup a bit at one end. I will monitor the cupping and decide whether to cut a little bit of the pith out and re-glue it together. That's probably what I'll do.










I am leaning toward this style of "horse" to set the slab on and keep to the original plan of a Japanese style slab on horses work surface. (Watching Stumpy Nubs video on making a saw bench is what gave me the inspiration for this particular design - I'm not sure where the original style came from.)










Beginning on the Saw Bench/Saw Horse stands shown above.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Beginning Cuts on Saw Bench/Saw Horses*

Cheap tools (except for the Starrett combination square - left over from my metal fabrication days) are getting the job done for now.










My saw cuts are getting better. Fairly square - they need to be since I haven't dug out my jack plane and my block plane needs sharpening, and I don't have a solid place to hold anything down yet.










I'm using my Swiss Army knife to mark my cut-lines and putting a shallow kerf line on three (or sometimes four) sides before making my thru-cut. Much better accuracy this way.










These four braces came out relatively equal in length with saw cut only (no planing - just a bit of sanding of burrs off the ends).


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Cutting more boards for the saw bench style saw horses*

All the boards are cut now and lined up.









A couple of the uprights and the top boards standing up on the work area.









Marked them to keep track.









Beautiful end grain!


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Dovetail Saga - Dovetail Number One*

Beginning dove tail number one.









This is how I clamp it up to work on the end cuts.









More saw cuts to remove waste between the pins.




































It doesn't want to fit yet.


















Got start whittling it down - just now wants to fit together.









About 1/3 of the way.









Almost there!









Finally! Not too bad for first dovetail ever.


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

ruddhess said:


> *Dovetail Saga - Dovetail Number One*
> 
> Beginning dove tail number one.
> 
> ...


Off to a great start Rodney, good job!


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

ruddhess said:


> *Dovetail Saga - Dovetail Number One*
> 
> Beginning dove tail number one.
> 
> ...


Thank you waho6o9,

Now that I have caught up on my blog posts and pictures, I can tell you that I have abandoned the dovetails for rabbet joints on this project. My very first dovetail was the best one. Admittedly I was a bit impatient. I have not abandoned making dovetails - I am just going to practice some more before trying to incorporate them into a project. Your encouragement is appreciated though! Lots of great people here on LJ! I am really enjoying this!!!


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Dovetail Saga - Dovetail Number Two*

Went a little past the mark on the tails on this one.









Yikes! Looks a little bit jagged on the back side - that's the side it's more difficult to keep an eye on.









Uh oh! Big mistake - back to the lumber yard to fetch more wood to fix this mistake. Just a teeny bit discouraging.


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## TheFridge (May 1, 2014)

ruddhess said:


> *Dovetail Saga - Dovetail Number Two*
> 
> Went a little past the mark on the tails on this one.
> 
> ...


Just shorten the bench up maybe?


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

ruddhess said:


> *Dovetail Saga - Dovetail Number Two*
> 
> Went a little past the mark on the tails on this one.
> 
> ...


Hi TheFridge - yep! I ended up abandoning the dovetail joints on this project (see next few posts - I just added them - finally got caught up on posting progress on this project, whew!) I am going to do rabbet joints and put some 5/16" oak dowels in the joints for appearance and added strength (sheer strength too). I made some arrows a long time ago with the oak dowels - but never got to fletching them because they warped so much, so I am going to use them to make dowels for my joints on this project. They should look nice after putting a bit of finish on the wood.


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## Buckethead (Apr 14, 2013)

ruddhess said:


> *Dovetail Saga - Dovetail Number Two*
> 
> Went a little past the mark on the tails on this one.
> 
> ...


Rod, despite the over cut, those dovetails were looking good. I'm thinking you should incorporate them into your repertoire. If not on the bench, then in a first build.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

ruddhess said:


> *Dovetail Saga - Dovetail Number Two*
> 
> Went a little past the mark on the tails on this one.
> 
> ...


Thanks Buckethead! Thank you for the encouragement. Dovetails are immensely fascinating. I really like the big ones like these. And I really love this southern yellow pine! What a great wood. For some reason I like the resinous parts the best. I guess I like the smell of turpentine, LOL! I am really happy with the outcome of the first two upright assemblies that constitute the first saw bench/saw horse (the ones that I did the rabbet joints on instead of these dovetails). I am getting ready to attach the feet to the first one and then on to the second one. Then I'll solicit the help of a friend and move the 4-1/2" slab down to the garage and begin to plane the top flat (then I will even up the bottom boards) - or perhaps do the bottom of the slab first and then the top? I feel confident that if I take my time and cut the tails and pins proud, then trim them to fit that I can make a decent dovetail more like the very first one that I did. Thanks again for your kind words.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Dovetail Saga - Dovetail Number Three*

Tails of dovetail number three. Middle is humped up, but at least it's not cut past the mark like the ends are.









Starting to look sloppy. I'm not sure if I was getting tired or what here. Good picture though - the camera decided to focus on the boxes and stuff in the background.









Dovetail number three I think - Whoa! Little bit of a gap there dude!









And the view from the end - Wow, too much space in between the parts. I know what happened though. The first dovetail, I was very cautious (because I had never done one before) and I ended up trimming and paring a lot to make it fit (apparently that is what you are supposed to do - but it seemed like a LOT of work - but probably because I hadn't sharpened my chisels and I wasn't using them on these dovetails - not good.)


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## TheFridge (May 1, 2014)

ruddhess said:


> *Dovetail Saga - Dovetail Number Three*
> 
> Tails of dovetail number three. Middle is humped up, but at least it's not cut past the mark like the ends are.
> 
> ...


Sharp tool are a must, especially with softwoods, where the fibers tend to compress instead of shear if the tool is getting dull. I'd try making a dove tail guide and using a marking knife if you haven't.

The longest journey always begins with the first step.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

ruddhess said:


> *Dovetail Saga - Dovetail Number Three*
> 
> Tails of dovetail number three. Middle is humped up, but at least it's not cut past the mark like the ends are.
> 
> ...


TheFridge - you are so right. I was SO being lazy and not using a chisel. I did eventually buy a 5/8" Kobalt chisel a couple nights ago. Sharpened that baby up tonight after I got off work (I am actually working on making some dado cuts on my uprights for my stretchers - and I am taking my time with my saw cuts and then knocking out small chunks of waste at a time with the chisel. It is sharp enough to easily clean up the bottom of the dado too). I had thought about making a galvanized metal template for my dovetails, and next time I will do that. It makes marking the tails quicker and easier. At least they are the same that way.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Dovetail Saga - Dovetail Number Four*

Pic of the tails (I've miss designated some of the other pictures in DT 2 & 3 I think - calling them tails when they were actually pins - doh!) on the second top piece.









More tails - this piece really has a lot of resin in the knots - smells good, but gums up my saw a lot.









The resin makes the wood almost translucent.









Had to trim a shave off the pins to make it fit right.









That's a sliver for sure - all done with an old Stanley back saw - the kind with a solid plastic handle - I don't remember how old it is, but it sure beats the one I have with a thinner blade and hollow plastic handle. Cut so much better.









I'll use it for a shim sometime.









Again as with the other dovetails (no. 2 and no. 3) there is WAY too much space in between the parts. The only thing to do is to use 2 part epoxy I guess. Not sure about this.









View from another angle of dovetail number 4.









Standing up on their own. Entirely too much daylight coming in through the cracks!









The 2 X 12 they are sitting on is crowned in the middle - not enough to topple them over though.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Transition from Dovetails to Rabbet Joints*

If thy dovetail offend thee, cut it off!









I decided to not use these dovetails that I have been practicing on. I read on two different articles that you should practice on scrap wood and not on your project (which is what I have been doing). Plus, I want the joints to reflect a similar quality/skill level as the rest of the project. So, I am "ditching" these dovetail pieces and transitioning to rabbet joints (not as strong, not as "flashy", but adequate) with oak dowels for added strength and appearance. I actually bought enough wood to cover this design change when I had to replace the pins on dovetail number two that I cut matching the tails (oops!).

I made a quick and expedient marking gauge.









The only thing to buy is a thumb screw and dowel. Cheap.









Works pretty well on soft yellow pine.









Also made a couple of bench hooks out of some scrap white pine I had laying around. Really soft wood, but works for what I am doing. Really makes cutting the joints (all straight cuts now) so much easier - and more accurate!









Not extremely precise, but accurate enough and square enough for what I am doing on this project. It is pretty soft wood, but I don't have any wood that is actually that hard except for a couple of tiny sticks of red oak. Otherwise I have always worked with construction lumber which is fairly soft (except for some old seasoned wood from old chicken barns and old farm houses).









OK, here is the first rabbet cut - all made with just the back saw. Not too shabby. I'm getting better at cutting my straight cuts accurately. I'm thankful for that.









Straight lines, straight cuts. The marking gauge helps a lot.









This is the first rabbet joint held together to see how close my saw cuts come to fitting. Acceptable. I like the way it looks too.









Two pieces cut exactly the same. I like it!


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## RustyHacksaw (Dec 10, 2014)

ruddhess said:


> *Transition from Dovetails to Rabbet Joints*
> 
> If thy dovetail offend thee, cut it off!
> 
> ...


The last picture is very telling. I cannot achieve those results yet. It is a lot of technique… but probably has to do with my lack of proper layout, and accurate lines to begin with.

Good job.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

ruddhess said:


> *Transition from Dovetails to Rabbet Joints*
> 
> If thy dovetail offend thee, cut it off!
> 
> ...


Thank you RustyHacksaw!

I am proud of those cuts. All done with an old Stanley back saw. I am getting fairly good at my straight cuts. I don't miss my old direct drive Delta table saw at all (well maybe a tiny bit, but I don't miss the ROAR). I really like sawing by hand. It's so much quieter and hand saws are fascinating. One of these days I will have a really nice back saw (probably like what they call "sash" or "carcase" saw - I don't know that I'll ever need anything as deep as what they call "tenon" saw). I'd prefer it be an antique, but I wouldn't reject the idea of a new quality saw. Until then, my old Stanley is doing the job for me. Only bad thing is that the handle sucks. Doesn't fit my hand at all. And I really prefer the feel of wood for a handle rather than plastic. Although the handle on my saw is the older solid plastic rather than the more recent lighter hollow kind - those are SO not cool. I might go to Home Depot and buy one of those Husky wood handled back saws (close to $10 - the handle is worth that IMO) and cannibalize the wood handle for my Stanley.

As for layout and accurate lines, I have been combing the internet for tips and information about how to do all this better. One of the things that helped me so much on the rabbet cuts was making a marking gauge. I'm not sure if I posted pics of the quick and dirty one that I made one night after work. Here it is:









Also I made a couple of quick and dirty white pine bench hooks - that too has helped beyond words. It is just so much more relaxing to not have a 'death grip' on the board while cutting it! Here is a picture of them:









I used to work at metal fabrication several years ago when I was raising and supporting a family and maybe that helps me to layout and mark more accurately. Seems the tolerances in fine woodworking are close to the kind of tolerances in metal fab - more strict than say rough carpentry/framing, though not as demanding as a machinist. When I take my time and am careful, I get good results. I read about using a knife instead of a pencil, but I sometimes use a really sharp lead pencil to mark stuff out - I've had lots of practice drawing the lines with pencils - I have done a lot of hand drafting and my day job is computer drafting and mapping. It helps a lot to draw stuff out before making it. Even if it's just a hand drawn sketch.

Thanks again for the compliment and I wish you the best in your journey toward better and more accurate layouts.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Rabbet Joints - Well Underway*

Cutting dados for stretchers. I finally sharpened my new Kobalt 5/8" chisel and I am taking my time removing the waste. Also being real careful not to cut below the mark on depth.



























All cut for one side of one horse and laying on the work surface (uprights are on the wrong side - it fit much better with them switched to the correct side (reversed).









Stretchers fit nicely.









Gaps aren't too big or wide. Good for saw bench/saw horse.









And it stands up on it's own without any help from glue, clamps, or screws (yet anyway). And it's square!









Glue added to stretcher joints and held together with "bunk bed" screws.









"Bunk Bed" screws up close:


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Oak Dowels in Screw Holes*

From my "bunk bed" screws holding the rails on while the glue dries overnight, to 5/16" oak dowels glued in enlarged holes.









Here are four more pins for the next rail.









Gluing up the top rail now using new HF 1/2" pipe clamps. At first I didn't think they were going to work. The back clamp wanted to slide badly. But after I took some Coleman stove fuel to the pipes to remove much of that gummy, waxy finish they worked brilliantly. They are a little bit heavy, but they seem to work fine so far. I have pre-drilled (drill press so they will be perpendicular) some 3/16" pilot holes through the top and sides so that after the glue dries, I can enlarge the holes for dowel pins to match the bracing rails/stretchers.









This joint closed up nicely. Looks OK.









More dowels prepped for installation.









I put the remaining dowels in the first assembly. I skipped a step (finish drilling pilot holes in the top rail and uprights) and that was a mistake. I thought I could drill the 5/16" hole straight the rest of the way (I had gone so far as to drill 3/16" pilot holes in the top part of the joint on my drill press before gluing the pieces together.) Almost all of the 6 remaining dowel holes were crooked. One barely blew out the side of the upright (bleep!) It's not noticeable, but I know it's there, and I know its a mistake that I shouldn't have made. Why do I get in such a hurry? I've been really taking my time sawing and chipping out the dados by hand with my sharp chisel. Then I get careless and do this. Lesson learned? I wonder sometimes.









Here is the second upright assembly (that goes with the first one to make the first saw bench/saw horse). I glued the stretcher rails up last night and used the bunk bed screws to hold it together while the glue dried. I used a little bit more glue on this one than the first one and was worried about glue getting on the screws and them being difficult to remove, but they came out very easily. These screws seem to have a plastic waxy coating on them that shows no signs of glue being able to stick to it in any way. I bought them at Lowes and they came 50 to a box for about $19. At the time I bought them I didn't know if I was going to leave them in as a fastener or not so I bought enough to cover all the places I would put them. They were worth the money for sure - excellent screws.









And the shop as I was leaving to let glue dry until I come back. The pieces for the second saw bench/saw horse are in the background.









My new flush saw. It's a HF buy, but it works for what I need it to. I would not use it on anything "fine" though - it's so sharp and jagged that it wants to cut into the surrounding wood as well as the dowels. But the handle is pretty fancy looking wood! It as the best looking one on the rack and had that speckled look, so I chose this one.









Here are the screws:









Cut off oak dowels.









This is a clearer image of the dark oak dowels in contrast to the lighter yellow pine. Looks good I think.









The pattern of the grain in the oak dowels is almost checkered or speckled.









One of the finished rails.


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## siavosh (Apr 11, 2013)

ruddhess said:


> *Oak Dowels in Screw Holes*
> 
> From my "bunk bed" screws holding the rails on while the glue dries overnight, to 5/16" oak dowels glued in enlarged holes.
> 
> ...


Builds coming along nicely, looking forward the final result. Are you planning on using Japanese planes with this bench?


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

ruddhess said:


> *Oak Dowels in Screw Holes*
> 
> From my "bunk bed" screws holding the rails on while the glue dries overnight, to 5/16" oak dowels glued in enlarged holes.
> 
> ...


Hello siavosh,

I don't have any Japanese planes yet, so I will be using what ever I have at hand first. I did see one Japanese plane at a flea market/Antique store locally not long ago. It was described as from the 1950's and they wanted $87 for it. I thought that was a good price, but I didn't buy it. It probably isn't there now at that price, but you never know. I don't know very much about Japanese planes or woodworking tools. At another flea market I once saw two Japanese Ryoba. They were quite old and the price on each one was $17. I didn't buy those either and when I went back to look for them again, they were gone. Like the old adage goes, "the time to buy it, is when you see it" - when it comes to a bargain and such.


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## siavosh (Apr 11, 2013)

ruddhess said:


> *Oak Dowels in Screw Holes*
> 
> From my "bunk bed" screws holding the rails on while the glue dries overnight, to 5/16" oak dowels glued in enlarged holes.
> 
> ...


Hi Rodney, I've taken a couple classes in Japanese woodworking and such, I'm not expert whatsoever, so take this unsolicited advice for what it's worth. I don't think you missed much on those two items. Vintage non-replaceable blade saws require almost a master to sharpen, from my understanding a descent job sharpening a Japanese saw is a lot harder than Western saws. In Japan, there are specialty saw sharpeners where that's all they do (there's fewer and fewer of them). I was always recommended to not deal with the hassle and buy replaceable blade ryoba, especially when first starting out. Gyokucho is very easy to find and respected brand.

As for planes, they're pretty finicky to setup initially but there's great online resources. I bought my first Kanna new, it's an economy model that's has performed wonderfully, all for less than $50, direct message me if you want a couple good online sources.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Putting On The Feet*

Here I am cutting out a chunk of wood from one side of the "feet" boards. It's so much easier to chip out waste if there are smaller wafers standing. This reminds me somehow of piano keys.



























One side almost done. Just a little more fitting and then glue and dowel pins.









Have to trim a bit on this one side of one of the upright posts to get the two boards to close together at the back.









Fuzzy picture from the front.









And the 'feet' for the right side have saw cuts, but still require chipping out waste and fitting to upright posts.









Walking around on wood chips!









More pics of the other side and ready to glue on the feet.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Gluing Up The Feet*

Here is a shot of the upright posts in their "sandwich" mortises.









Left side: C-clamps do the job.









Right side: Pittsburgh bar clamps and one C-clamp.









Almost complete.









Front and back upright assemblies are skewed by about 3/16".









It's beautiful wood though!









And the top rails are dead even in height.


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## benchbuilder (Sep 10, 2011)

ruddhess said:


> *Gluing Up The Feet*
> 
> Here is a shot of the upright posts in their "sandwich" mortises.
> 
> ...


Starting to look like something to work on, oh, wait its a great workbench. Looks good my friend..


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

ruddhess said:


> *Gluing Up The Feet*
> 
> Here is a shot of the upright posts in their "sandwich" mortises.
> 
> ...


Thanks benchbuilder. I am really satisfied with how it is coming out. It's 1/2 of a fancy set of "legs" for my work slab that I'll be bringing down before long. These 2 X 12s have really been nice to work on too though. One down, one to go. Got a little more done on the feet tonight - put some oak nails (dowels) in for good measure (you can't see the back side in this photo, but the dowels stop about 3/16" from the surface so they only show on the front side, but they go almost full length through everything):









I was going to glue in a "spacer" somewhere in between the two uprights, but I've decided to make a "T" shaped piece 28" long that will set on top to make it a little bit taller (friction fit), and removable in cases where I need less height for certain tasks. I like the idea of mobility and modification to fit different jobs.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

ruddhess said:


> *Gluing Up The Feet*
> 
> Here is a shot of the upright posts in their "sandwich" mortises.
> 
> ...


Like this:


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Saw Bench/Saw Horse No. 2 - Layout & Beginning Cuts*

Straight cuts done fairly quickly, cleanly, and accurately now - becoming second nature.









Needed to to shave off a bit more than I wanted to deal with using a chisel, so I am using my mitre/back saw to dissect this "whisper" of a shaving.









Thinnest sliver I've ever re-sawn before.









Oops! Almost messed up! Got be careful with layout & marking.









More marks - I've gone to marking waste with an "X" even when it's so obvious, just in case.









Saw cuts ready for chisel chopping.









Second upright on saw bench/saw horse number two.









Chopping out waste with chisel.









Looking kind of snaggled.









I wait until most of the waste is removed before final sawing to the line on the middle cuts. Easier to see.









Getting down close to flat on the bottom of the dado with chisel cutting.









Close-up side view of cut-out.









Sharp chisel makes the difference. Easy cutting on this one. Wood is pretty soft.









Stretcher beam laid into dado cut. Short by about 1/16" - need to chop a bit off the stretcher.









Getting ready for the glue up using "bunk bed" screws - these are the pilot holes just drilled.









Upright structure with "bunk bed" screws test fit in progress.









Dry run with 1/2" pipe clamp to hold everything together. I used some ancient Coleman stove fuel to take most of the black stuff off these pipes. Now the clamps don't slide so bad. I do have to hold down on the lever on the friction end of a couple of them though.









This second upright was out of square by 1/4", so I put a couple of 48" pipe clamps (didn't remove the black stuff off of these very well, so they are getting my wood all black!) on the diagonal - carefully, easy does it.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Moving Workbench Slab*

Some photos of my workbench slab after getting a friend from work to help me move it from my upstairs apartment living room into my garage. (Well, actually, he just heaved it up on his shoulder and carried it for me. I'm SO out of shape! Thanks dude! I did make him a good deal on one of my 75" walnut slabs though, so it worked out well.)









I have a lot of work to do in getting this top surface flat and relatively smooth.









Airplane runway view.









You sure can tell where I DIDN'T wipe the glue up while it was still wet. I know some people talk about just chipping it off with an old chisel after it dries, but I like to keep it "contained" just after putting the clamps on. Clean-up is easier then. But I hardly stain or finish anything. And when I do, I don't worry that the glued part doesn't accept the stain or finish like the rest of the piece. It just doesn't bother me. But I haven't made any 'fine furniture' yet either. I might change my ways at some point. You can tell also where I used the Elmer's brown glue and the TiteBond II yellow glue. It's a workbench top though and it's going to get some abuse.









Picture of my benchtop after first pass with HF 7.5 amp power planer (3-1/4"). Went to HF to get some "C" clamps that were on sale and got a power planer. I had read many reviews and the 7.5 amp one is the better one, so I got it. Thanks to the dude at the check-out for getting me 20% off the already ridiculously low price (90 return policy in case anything blows-up). No worries though because I got the 2 yr warranty. I was all set to hand plane the top of my workbench/slab, but my Stanley No. 7 needs restoring (clean up really good, flatten irons - they are bent a bit at the top, replace missing screw on front of tote, and sharpen the dickens out of the iron). I was afraid that the electric planer would be loud, but it's really relatively quiet. I was pleasantly surprised. I've really got to keep an eye on the tiny sawdust collector bag on this thing - it fills up in a hurry! I didn't notice it was full for a bit and wondered why shavings were flying all over the place - BAG FULL! Motor got warm, but not hot - caught it in time before I blew the thing up immediately after purchase! LOL I set the blade at 1/16" and I really like the way it shaves off a little bit at a time. I had never used a power planer before this. Kind of cool!


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Finishing Up Saw Bench/Saw Horse No. 2*

Making up a bunch of oak dowel pegs.









I use my old Delta belt/disc sander to clean-up the splinters and chamfer the ends of the dowels. Those oak splinters are a big pain!









Oak dowels come in all colors!









I keep the sets together and use them on the same joints as much as possible.









Second upright on Saw Bench/Saw Horse No. 2 was out of square by 1/4" (diagonal measurements) - after removing the 48" pipe clamps, this is the resulting diagonal measurements:


















I call that square!  I need to clean the black stuff off my 48" pipes.

Here are a couple of oak dowel nails glued and hammered in. I don't know if there is enough glue in there or not, but the fit is fairly snug and I think they will hold for a good long time. Not worried. The amount of glue around the edge after I hammer it in is way less than the amount I put on the dowel, so most of it is going into the hole and around the dowel.









And the two uprights side by side. I forgot the one dowel on the end of the top beam though. Had to add them after I discovered the omission.









Laying out the feet for the SB/SH2.


















End cuts down to the line. This is the near side that I can see when sawing.









And this is the back side away from me. Close enough.









And one foot with half mortises all hogged out.









This is the only one of four legs that actually fit the width cut. I had to chop out an extra 1/16" on the other three (actually for good measure, I removed one thin-kerf width of material on all four openings).









There always seems to be one side that has a big gap. I did a dry run clamp-up before the real deal and the gap closed fine. I did have to tighten all the C-clamps bit by bit simultaneously. It worked though.









And finally, here is SB/SH2 with it's feet all glued up. The only thing left to do is flush cut the oak dowels in the uprights and put 16 oak dowels in the joints on the feet. Then I just need to make the "T" plates for the tops of each of the horses and THEN I can put the benchtop slab on them! Yay!









Forgot to put in spacers at the top in between the uprights when I glued up the feet on this one. I almost didn't get this one in there. I spread the uprights apart at least half an inch. I kept waiting to hear wood splitting. But it didn't. Whew!









Oak pegs in the feet - cutting ends off tomorrow after work and then they will be done (except for adding the modular/removable "T" spacers).









Here are both of them side by side: brothers!


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Almost Finished!*

This is what it looks like all put together.









Still have to do a bit of flattening to the top side. It started out almost perfectly flat. But a couple three boards had warped so there were a couple of low spots. I've removed about 1/4" so far, leaving only two spots untouched by the planer - one about three or four square inches and another just a bit bigger.









I've been taking several 45° angle passes across the entire surface.


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## ruddhess (Feb 1, 2015)

*Workbench Modifications & Additions*

I made about 10 half inch deep cuts to remove most of the waste wood for the groove.









My white pine 1X2 saw guide and clamps.









Here is the 1-1/2" wide by 1/2" deep groove the length of the top board.









I can't believe how good it looks! I made and used my "poor man's router" that Paul Sellers talks about in one of his videos. It is a poor man's router made poorly by me. But it worked well enough to get the bottom of the groove flat. I'll have to take a picture of it and put it up here.









Not too bad a fit. It's not tight, but not too loose either. It will work.









Dry fit before I drill the holes for the screws and glue it up.









"Bunk bed" screws holding it toether while glue sets.


















Screws taken out.









Holes over-bored to 5/16" for oak dowels.









And oak dowels glued in their places.


















"T" boards from the end view.









Rough finish and joins, but they will work OK.


















Flush cut dowels sanded down.









T-board going on top of saw bench horse.









One day I may put some holes for dowel pin inserts in the vertical part so I can adjust the height.









For now though it will have to look like this.









This one upright post stuck out too far below the foot, so I shaved it off a bit.









Hanging on by just a few wood fibers.









There is a gap on this one in the same place as the other one. Oh well. Shouldn't affect it too bad.









And this is what it looks like with the t-board attached.









I declare the saw bench horses comlete!


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