# SYP Spilt-Top Roubo Workbench



## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

*80% Complete*

I was fortunate enough to be able to take off Christmas week and get a good start on my workbench. I've had the idea to build one in my head for a few months now, and have been slowly accumulating the parts and hardware necessary. My intention was to make it possible to take the bench apart and move it with relative ease since I will be moving it from my dad's shop once I have a shop of my own (side note: apartments suck).

I used southern yellow pine, special ordered from Menards, to build most of the bench. It's inexpensive, stiff, and I won't care so much when it gets dinged and banged around during use. The hardware is the Lee Valley Tail Vise and just the plain Tail Vise Screw for the leg vise. The breadboards and leg vise chop are hickory. The parallel guide for the leg vise and the slide rail for the deadman are scrap oak from the shop.

I had originally intended to blog about the construction of my workbench, but considering the frenetic pace of building this thing, it would have gotten in my way. I did all that you see below in the space of a week, and total hours put in was between 40-60. There were some 12+ hour days, and some only 4 hours due to the holiday. I made four big black garbage bags worth of shavings and sawdust, and I'm pretty sure I'm still blowing the finer sawdust from my nose.



















Below you can see the wedge ends for the long stretchers, which are dovetailed at the end. They're nice and easy to whack in with a mallet when the wood inevitably shrinks and expands with the seasons. Also, the back guide wheel for the parallel guide. I'll have to add one in the front.









The leg vise turned out nicely. Note to all - if you plan on removing the vise hardware from the chop at any point, don't use the included screws that come with the Lee Valley kit. They stripped out on me pretty quick.









Back view. Easier to see the tool platform and the missing chunk where the tail vise will go.



























It was very satisfying to be able to use the workbench even though it's technically not finished. The thing is rock solid and weighs quite a bit. I'll have to figure out an estimate once I put together the final SketchUp model.

Things left to do:

Finish the tail vise
Make the center fill strip for the split
Add another wheel to the front side of the leg vise
Make another vise handle on the lathe/finish the leg vise handle
Drill 3/4-in dog holes
Re-smith my holdfasts to fit 3/4" dog holes (must've measured wrong when I took that blacksmithing class…)
Make some more dogs for the rectangular dog holes
Sand/scrape and finish with BLO

That last one I'm reeeeaaaaalllyyyy not looking forward to.


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## Cory (Jan 14, 2009)

grfrazee said:


> *80% Complete*
> 
> I was fortunate enough to be able to take off Christmas week and get a good start on my workbench. I've had the idea to build one in my head for a few months now, and have been slowly accumulating the parts and hardware necessary. My intention was to make it possible to take the bench apart and move it with relative ease since I will be moving it from my dad's shop once I have a shop of my own (side note: apartments suck).
> 
> ...


Nice work. I wish I had the room for a big bench like that. I'm jealous!

Did you peg the breadboard ends or just glue them?


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *80% Complete*
> 
> I was fortunate enough to be able to take off Christmas week and get a good start on my workbench. I've had the idea to build one in my head for a few months now, and have been slowly accumulating the parts and hardware necessary. My intention was to make it possible to take the bench apart and move it with relative ease since I will be moving it from my dad's shop once I have a shop of my own (side note: apartments suck).
> 
> ...


I glued only about 1" in the middle of the breadboards to allow for expansion and contraction of the top.


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## DocSavage45 (Aug 14, 2010)

grfrazee said:


> *80% Complete*
> 
> I was fortunate enough to be able to take off Christmas week and get a good start on my workbench. I've had the idea to build one in my head for a few months now, and have been slowly accumulating the parts and hardware necessary. My intention was to make it possible to take the bench apart and move it with relative ease since I will be moving it from my dad's shop once I have a shop of my own (side note: apartments suck).
> 
> ...


pretty piece, are you going to want to pound on it? LOL! Sounds like a pretty intense build? Not bad material from Menards.


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## sb194 (Feb 19, 2010)

grfrazee said:


> *80% Complete*
> 
> I was fortunate enough to be able to take off Christmas week and get a good start on my workbench. I've had the idea to build one in my head for a few months now, and have been slowly accumulating the parts and hardware necessary. My intention was to make it possible to take the bench apart and move it with relative ease since I will be moving it from my dad's shop once I have a shop of my own (side note: apartments suck).
> 
> ...


Looks great. Can't wait to see it finished.

Sean


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## lowellmk (Dec 31, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *80% Complete*
> 
> I was fortunate enough to be able to take off Christmas week and get a good start on my workbench. I've had the idea to build one in my head for a few months now, and have been slowly accumulating the parts and hardware necessary. My intention was to make it possible to take the bench apart and move it with relative ease since I will be moving it from my dad's shop once I have a shop of my own (side note: apartments suck).
> 
> ...


Bravo!

Great looking bench….I'm envious!


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## jeffbranch (Feb 20, 2011)

grfrazee said:


> *80% Complete*
> 
> I was fortunate enough to be able to take off Christmas week and get a good start on my workbench. I've had the idea to build one in my head for a few months now, and have been slowly accumulating the parts and hardware necessary. My intention was to make it possible to take the bench apart and move it with relative ease since I will be moving it from my dad's shop once I have a shop of my own (side note: apartments suck).
> 
> ...


I'm jealous. I want a roubo.


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## eff (Jan 21, 2013)

grfrazee said:


> *80% Complete*
> 
> I was fortunate enough to be able to take off Christmas week and get a good start on my workbench. I've had the idea to build one in my head for a few months now, and have been slowly accumulating the parts and hardware necessary. My intention was to make it possible to take the bench apart and move it with relative ease since I will be moving it from my dad's shop once I have a shop of my own (side note: apartments suck).
> 
> ...


Nicely done!


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## mileskimball (Nov 19, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *80% Complete*
> 
> I was fortunate enough to be able to take off Christmas week and get a good start on my workbench. I've had the idea to build one in my head for a few months now, and have been slowly accumulating the parts and hardware necessary. My intention was to make it possible to take the bench apart and move it with relative ease since I will be moving it from my dad's shop once I have a shop of my own (side note: apartments suck).
> 
> ...


What a great-looking bench!


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *80% Complete*
> 
> I was fortunate enough to be able to take off Christmas week and get a good start on my workbench. I've had the idea to build one in my head for a few months now, and have been slowly accumulating the parts and hardware necessary. My intention was to make it possible to take the bench apart and move it with relative ease since I will be moving it from my dad's shop once I have a shop of my own (side note: apartments suck).
> 
> ...


Thanks everyone for the compliments!


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

grfrazee said:


> *80% Complete*
> 
> I was fortunate enough to be able to take off Christmas week and get a good start on my workbench. I've had the idea to build one in my head for a few months now, and have been slowly accumulating the parts and hardware necessary. My intention was to make it possible to take the bench apart and move it with relative ease since I will be moving it from my dad's shop once I have a shop of my own (side note: apartments suck).
> 
> ...


Beautiful bench man! You did a great job on grain orientation. Straight grained SYP looks pretty sharp.


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## Witte (Apr 25, 2019)

grfrazee said:


> *80% Complete*
> 
> I was fortunate enough to be able to take off Christmas week and get a good start on my workbench. I've had the idea to build one in my head for a few months now, and have been slowly accumulating the parts and hardware necessary. My intention was to make it possible to take the bench apart and move it with relative ease since I will be moving it from my dad's shop once I have a shop of my own (side note: apartments suck).
> 
> ...


Hello , I am a wooden boat builder for about 50 years and I have a question what is the benefit off a split top Work bench ?


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## Witte (Apr 25, 2019)

grfrazee said:


> *80% Complete*
> 
> I was fortunate enough to be able to take off Christmas week and get a good start on my workbench. I've had the idea to build one in my head for a few months now, and have been slowly accumulating the parts and hardware necessary. My intention was to make it possible to take the bench apart and move it with relative ease since I will be moving it from my dad's shop once I have a shop of my own (side note: apartments suck).
> 
> ...


Hello , I am a wooden boat builder for about 50 years and I have a question what is the benefit off a split top Work bench ?p


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## Witte (Apr 25, 2019)

grfrazee said:


> *80% Complete*
> 
> I was fortunate enough to be able to take off Christmas week and get a good start on my workbench. I've had the idea to build one in my head for a few months now, and have been slowly accumulating the parts and hardware necessary. My intention was to make it possible to take the bench apart and move it with relative ease since I will be moving it from my dad's shop once I have a shop of my own (side note: apartments suck).
> 
> ...


Hello , I am a wooden boat builder for about 50 years and I have a question what is the benefit off a split top Work bench ?p


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## SMEAC (May 29, 2020)

grfrazee said:


> *80% Complete*
> 
> I was fortunate enough to be able to take off Christmas week and get a good start on my workbench. I've had the idea to build one in my head for a few months now, and have been slowly accumulating the parts and hardware necessary. My intention was to make it possible to take the bench apart and move it with relative ease since I will be moving it from my dad's shop once I have a shop of my own (side note: apartments suck).
> 
> ...


In my opinion the two best benefits are: (1) easier to build and often guys can run an entire slab through their lunchbox planer/thicknesser (2) it opens up some opportunities regarding clamping, setting up quick long grain shooting board on the bench top, being able to hoop smaller casework on ends. Some less important reasons (at least IMO) a planing stop can be made to fit the slot, though I think the ones with gaps just fill the shelf with sawdust/shavings, some guys route grooves into the sides of the slabs so they can add sliding blocks for hold-downs, lamps, tool holders, etc, and finally if you don't wedge the tenon, you can presumably move the bench easier by removing the tops.



> Hello , I am a wooden boat builder for about 50 years and I have a question what is the benefit off a split top Work bench ?p
> 
> - Witte


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

*Finished Leg Vise*

I finally got some shop time this weekend and had a chance to complete my leg vise. After my last building session, I had left it basically functional, but lacking a couple bells and whistles to make it really nice.

The first addition was a guide wheel on the underside of the parallel guide. I bought another plastic wheel from Woodcraft and mounted it below the guide. It looks like it could become an ankle biter, but I haven't run into any problems yet.










It's only pocket-screwed into the leg, so it may have to be replaced after a while. For the time being though, it works.

The next was to make the pin for the parallel guide. I had bought some 3/8" steel rod from the hardware store, and just needed to mount it on a suitable handle. Some of the leftover hickory from the bench was used, along with a brass compression fitting for the ferrule. I had to grind/sand the rod down a little bit since i drilled the parallel guide holes to 3/8" instead of a little bigger (whoops).










I had the chance to actually use the leg vise in making the tail vise. It grips like none other.


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## BigRedKnothead (Dec 21, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Finished Leg Vise*
> 
> I finally got some shop time this weekend and had a chance to complete my leg vise. After my last building session, I had left it basically functional, but lacking a couple bells and whistles to make it really nice.
> 
> ...


I was so planning on doing that with my roubo in progress right now. Maybe we both borrowed it from benchcrafted. But who cares. Their vise cost more than my whole bench. Looks good.


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Finished Leg Vise*
> 
> I finally got some shop time this weekend and had a chance to complete my leg vise. After my last building session, I had left it basically functional, but lacking a couple bells and whistles to make it really nice.
> 
> ...


You're right about that. I did borrow the idea from Benchcrafted, though admittedly theirs is much more elegant. However, while their bench hardware looks amazing and I'm sure it performs wonderfully, I can't justify that cost.


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## BigRedKnothead (Dec 21, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Finished Leg Vise*
> 
> I finally got some shop time this weekend and had a chance to complete my leg vise. After my last building session, I had left it basically functional, but lacking a couple bells and whistles to make it really nice.
> 
> ...


Same here. Wouldn't mind supporting the company since their here in Iowa. Maybe one day. Anyway, is it worth the effort? Do the rollers make the vise move more smoothly?


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Finished Leg Vise*
> 
> I finally got some shop time this weekend and had a chance to complete my leg vise. After my last building session, I had left it basically functional, but lacking a couple bells and whistles to make it really nice.
> 
> ...


They bind sometimes, but I'll chalk that up as poor tuning on my part. I'm planning on redoing them to be adjustable, similar to the Benchcrafted wheels.


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## BigRedKnothead (Dec 21, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Finished Leg Vise*
> 
> I finally got some shop time this weekend and had a chance to complete my leg vise. After my last building session, I had left it basically functional, but lacking a couple bells and whistles to make it really nice.
> 
> ...


Been plugging away on my Roubo: http://lumberjocks.com/BigRedKnothead/blog/34408, if your interesed. How about the leather on the vise? Do you find it helpful?


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Finished Leg Vise*
> 
> I finally got some shop time this weekend and had a chance to complete my leg vise. After my last building session, I had left it basically functional, but lacking a couple bells and whistles to make it really nice.
> 
> ...


I actually just read your post on making the dovetailed tenons. Interesting stuff. The leather on the vise is quite helpful. It adds a not-insignificant amount of grip and helps cushion the clamped piece. I got my leather from an Amish leathercrafter's scrap bin, so I can't point you to a specific source, unfortunately. I would imagine ebay has plenty of listings with scrap leather though.


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## BigRedKnothead (Dec 21, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Finished Leg Vise*
> 
> I finally got some shop time this weekend and had a chance to complete my leg vise. After my last building session, I had left it basically functional, but lacking a couple bells and whistles to make it really nice.
> 
> ...


Cool. I have some leather scraps left from the morris chair I made. Might have to try that. I imagine it protects the work as well.


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Finished Leg Vise*
> 
> I finally got some shop time this weekend and had a chance to complete my leg vise. After my last building session, I had left it basically functional, but lacking a couple bells and whistles to make it really nice.
> 
> ...


I would suggest roughing the smooth side of the leather. Even if you don't want to glue that side, it'll help grip the wood better.


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

*(Mostly) Finished Tail Vise*

Previously, I had run out of time to complete the tail vise on my workbench:










This weekend I finally got the time to remedy that situation. I started off by routing the dog holes in one of the boards, then gluing up the leg vise block. The dog holes are spaced at 3" for versatility.










Then I needed to figure out what to remove for the various pieces of the vise hardware. Some time was spent with the adjustable square to figure out the recess locations. Note: the measurements shown below are the depths of the recess, not the width.










The drill press and I spent some quality time boring out the recesses. Then I used a mortising chisel and a bevel-edged chisel to clean things up.



















The groove for the sliding rail was done with a plunge router and a fence.










Since I mounted the attachment plate flush to the face, I had to route out a wide, shallow recess for that as well on the router table.










With that done, it was time to add the end piece to the tail vise. I used hickory again. I suppose a dovetail would have been better than a tongue/groove, but I don't trust myself with accurate dovetails yet.










The dry fit worked out nicely.










Next I had to attach the sliding rails to the block. This proved to be an exercise in frustration. I had to shim the bottom rail since the block isn't thick enough. Then I bored holes for the connecting bolts, which I had to ream out with a file to get the bolts in the right spot. There may have been swearing involved.










Finally, I got the %^&* things to fit. However, I had to take the rails off to get the block mounted on the workbench. Then I had to re-bolt the rails onto the block. Again with the reaming, since things weren't lining up properly.

Finally it all came together. Here are some money shots of the vise in action (first one is blurry, unfortunately).




























I realized too late that I had cut the groove for the end piece along its entire length instead of just for the width of the block. I'll have to come back later and glue in a piece to fill that so that it works properly as a face vise. After that, I'll pad both the end piece and the front of the vise with leather like I did with the leg vise.


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## johnstoneb (Jun 14, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *(Mostly) Finished Tail Vise*
> 
> Previously, I had run out of time to complete the tail vise on my workbench:
> 
> ...


Nice job. Thanks for the photos and blog. I have always wondered how that style tail vise mounted.


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## eff (Jan 21, 2013)

grfrazee said:


> *(Mostly) Finished Tail Vise*
> 
> Previously, I had run out of time to complete the tail vise on my workbench:
> 
> ...


Looks great. Nice work.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

grfrazee said:


> *(Mostly) Finished Tail Vise*
> 
> Previously, I had run out of time to complete the tail vise on my workbench:
> 
> ...


that is one massive block of wood. nice work!


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## Jack_D (Mar 6, 2013)

grfrazee said:


> *(Mostly) Finished Tail Vise*
> 
> Previously, I had run out of time to complete the tail vise on my workbench:
> 
> ...


Hi. Is that the woodriver large end vise slide sold by Amazon for $90 including shipping?


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *(Mostly) Finished Tail Vise*
> 
> Previously, I had run out of time to complete the tail vise on my workbench:
> 
> ...


Hi Jack, no, it's the Lee Valley tail vise. The vises are pretty similar, so the process is also similar with the WR vise.


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

*Cost & Weight Estimate*

I'm sure there are those of you interested in how much this thing weighs and (more importantly) how much it cost to build.

A quick volume estimate puts the total amount of wood at ~5 cubic feet. Considering an average specific gravity of about 0.60 (range for SYP is 0.54 - 0.65, and the hickory is more than that), the weight is:

(5 cu. ft.)*(62.4 lbs/cu. ft.)*(0.60) = 187 lbs

So, the wood alone is about 190 lbs. Factor in the weight of the vise hardware and the many metal planes I store belowdecks, I would guess it's at least 260 lbs as it stands in the shop.

As far as costs go, I have pasted a screenshot from my Excel table below.










Tax is a low-end average value for all the purchases (~5% in WI and ~9% in IL). These prices reflect buying the SYP in November 2012 in Burlington, WI and the rest of the stuff (including hickory) in the west Chicagoland area not long after. The Lee Valley vises were bought on their website.

Personally, I think this price is well within the budget of the average woodworker. Heck, $60 of my cost was hickory for the end caps and leg vise, which could easily have been replaced by $5 of SYP. It is possible to build this bench with a very limited set of hand tools, but there's no way I could have done so in the time it took me. The planing and jointing of the top laminates was very time consuming, and I can only imagine how long it would have taken with a #5 and a #7.

This is not the end of the series. I still have a few more things to accomplish with the bench, but I figured I'd post this now while I'm thinking about it.

Thanks for reading.


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## jap (Oct 10, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Cost & Weight Estimate*
> 
> I'm sure there are those of you interested in how much this thing weighs and (more importantly) how much it cost to build.
> 
> ...


thanks for doing this blog, its interesting to see the cost


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## WhoMe (Jul 9, 2009)

grfrazee said:


> *Cost & Weight Estimate*
> 
> I'm sure there are those of you interested in how much this thing weighs and (more importantly) how much it cost to build.
> 
> ...


+1 to what Jap said.
I have bookmarked this for future reference as I plan to build one of these also. Just different wood since SYP is not something easily obtained in Southern California.

BTW, I read through your whole blog and didn't see any dimensions. And I couldn't get a indication from your bill of materials list. Care to share them when you get a chance. Like length, overall L x W x H of bench, width of each top slab, thickness of slabs, Leg dimensions and so on.

Thank you again for posting.


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Cost & Weight Estimate*
> 
> I'm sure there are those of you interested in how much this thing weighs and (more importantly) how much it cost to build.
> 
> ...


...You're right, I haven't done that yet! I was planning on making the first post a "Plan & Dimensions" post, but that got away from me.

I'll have to update one of these posts with dimensions, but for now here are the rough dimensions:

(2) 4" x 11" x 7'-6" top pieces with a ~2" gap (big enough to fit the head of a parallel clamp through)
~34" to the top
Legs/stretchers roughly 4" x 4"


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

*Drilling Holdfast Holes*

Happy Mothers' Day everyone!

Finally got a chance to go back to my parents' house for the weekend (i.e., the location of my shop). Went into the shop and this is what my bench looked like:










Looks like my dad has been at work in the 2.5 months I've been away. No surprises there.

I made a pair of holdfasts in a blacksmithing class last fall. When I made them, I tried to round them down to about 3/4". Since they aren't necessarily a standard size shaft, I had to do some experimenting to see what size hole I needed. Luckily I had a hunk of cutoff from when I made the bench that I could drill some holes in.










Turns out that 3/4" holes were the right size. I think the shafts are somewhere around 5/8"-3/4" round, but pretty irregular since I rounded down some 5/8" square stock. They hold pretty well.



















I decided to drill the holes in the top using a bit brace instead of a power drill. I had bought a nice 3/4" Bosch auger bit for the task a while ago but decided against it. I figured I could get better control with the hand tool.










Once I got down to the bottom of the hole, I clamped a backer board underneath so the bottom of the hole didn't tear out.










The first hole worked, on to the others.










Still going through. Luckily my 3/4" brace bit was sharp, the drilling went pretty fast.



















And now the finished product. I think it took about 1.5 hours to do all the drilling and testing of the holes. Finally, I can use those holdfasts I made last year!


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## Tugboater78 (May 26, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Drilling Holdfast Holes*
> 
> Happy Mothers' Day everyone!
> 
> ...


very nice bench, just read through your blog. hoping to start on making me a bench but time constraints lack on usable work space atm has me on hold. I have a bunch of rough reclaimed lumber, mostly Oak that i plan on using, though i want to get maybe some nice Walnut maybe for my chop and "accents".


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Drilling Holdfast Holes*
> 
> Happy Mothers' Day everyone!
> 
> ...


I had originally wanted to build this bench with reclaimed lumber but couldn't find a source in my area. I hope we get to see your efforts on your own bench soon!


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## rexb (Mar 28, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Drilling Holdfast Holes*
> 
> Happy Mothers' Day everyone!
> 
> ...


Love those homemade holdfasts. It adds another cool handmade touch to the bench.


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Drilling Holdfast Holes*
> 
> Happy Mothers' Day everyone!
> 
> ...


Thanks Rex. They can be a bit finnicky at times, but definitely worth it.


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## Kestrel (May 14, 2013)

grfrazee said:


> *Drilling Holdfast Holes*
> 
> Happy Mothers' Day everyone!
> 
> ...


Nice bench and holdfasts. Great opportunity and project for a blacksmithing class. I have a question about your
Moxon Vise, the screws, where did you get them? What are they called? Benchcraft has a set but $149.00, yours look like they would work great and probably less expensive.


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Drilling Holdfast Holes*
> 
> Happy Mothers' Day everyone!
> 
> ...


Thanks, it was a good project for my blacksmithing class. More useful than making a railroad spike knife, anyway.

I got them from Lee Valley. I would direct you to the previous post in this blog for more info.


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

*Plane Cabinet*

After getting tired of cleaning sawdust out of the nooks and crannies of my planes, I decided to build a little cabinet for them. It's just a basic scrap plywood box with plywood drawers. I got a couple pairs of 100# full-extension drawer slides off Amazon for the drawers.



















I'm not the greatest at building carcasses (i.e., making them square), so I had to do some trial and error getting the fit right.

For the drawer backs I just screwed on a couple pieces of scrap OSB.










I had to put a spacer on the middle of the panel so that the screws for the middle slides didn't hit each other. I suppose I could have offset the slides vertically, but that didn't jive with my OCD.










Next was fitting the drawer fronts for each drawer. These are pre-finished oak plywood my dad had left over from the bookcases he built my mom.










For the drawer pulls, I went with trapdoor pulls from Home Depot. I got these because they are flush-mounted and I didn't want them interfering with the sliding deadman.










These were easy enough to fit out with a forstner bit and a chisel.




























The drawer fronts are just screwed on. In fact, the whole thing is just screwed together with a few dadoes in the necessary places (drawer bottoms and the vertical partitions of the carcase).










And here's the finished product. Now my planes have a home!



















The drawers are different sizes. The one on the right is about 25" wide to accommodate the No. 8 (which is 24" long).


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

grfrazee said:


> *Plane Cabinet*
> 
> After getting tired of cleaning sawdust out of the nooks and crannies of my planes, I decided to build a little cabinet for them. It's just a basic scrap plywood box with plywood drawers. I got a couple pairs of 100# full-extension drawer slides off Amazon for the drawers.
> 
> ...


well done. I just hope you never fall in love with a 26" jointer!!


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## lysdexic (Mar 21, 2011)

grfrazee said:


> *Plane Cabinet*
> 
> After getting tired of cleaning sawdust out of the nooks and crannies of my planes, I decided to build a little cabinet for them. It's just a basic scrap plywood box with plywood drawers. I got a couple pairs of 100# full-extension drawer slides off Amazon for the drawers.
> 
> ...


Very functional and utilitarian. Now, no more dust to cover the dust on those planes. :^)


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Plane Cabinet*
> 
> After getting tired of cleaning sawdust out of the nooks and crannies of my planes, I decided to build a little cabinet for them. It's just a basic scrap plywood box with plywood drawers. I got a couple pairs of 100# full-extension drawer slides off Amazon for the drawers.
> 
> ...


Thanks guys.

@Don - I suppose if that happens, I'll have to build a wall till. Oh, darn…guess I'll have to fill that with tools too…


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

*Benchtop Divider*

My bench has had a gaping…er…gap in the middle of it since I built in in December 2012.










Since I have Thanksgiving week off, I thought I'd remedy the situation. The divider is a simple piece made with two boards of sapwood-y black walnut with oak spacers.

The bench was quite useful for gluing the thing together.










The shot below shows that I staggered the spacers to accommodate different sized tools.










After a little cleanup on the table saw and some finessing with handplanes, it fits!



















Next I added a "step" to the divider so that the top would protrude about 1/8" from the top of the bench, making a planing stop.










The maple shim rides on top of the horizontal top supports and the two bumpers keep it from moving.










With that finished, the divider functions as a planing stop for wider panels.










Disregard the fact that I have a handplane on plywood - I didn't have a scrap of a wider board to use for an example, so plywood had to do.










Aaand, if I don't need it as a planing stop, I just slide it back a couple inches and the spacers make nifty tool rests.










Thanks for looking. All I have left to do now is flatten the top and apply BLO! So close!


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## racerglen (Oct 15, 2010)

grfrazee said:


> *Benchtop Divider*
> 
> My bench has had a gaping…er…gap in the middle of it since I built in in December 2012.
> 
> ...


Nicely done !


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## CL810 (Mar 21, 2010)

grfrazee said:


> *Benchtop Divider*
> 
> My bench has had a gaping…er…gap in the middle of it since I built in in December 2012.
> 
> ...


Great bench.


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

grfrazee said:


> *Benchtop Divider*
> 
> My bench has had a gaping…er…gap in the middle of it since I built in in December 2012.
> 
> ...


Cool addition to the great bench!


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

grfrazee said:


> *Benchtop Divider*
> 
> My bench has had a gaping…er…gap in the middle of it since I built in in December 2012.
> 
> ...


Looks like very handy addition to your very fine bench. Nice work!


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

*Flattening and Finishing*

Finally got the bench to the point where it's time to flatten the top and finish it.

Going into the project almost a year ago, I made a promise to myself that I would flatten the top by hand. I've seen the fancy router sled used by the Woodwhisperer (among others), but that's not how I wanted to go (besides the fact that I don't want to put down $50 on a wide-pass router bit).

The top wasn't too far out of flat, globally.










However, there were lots of local spots that needed touching up, not to mention cleaning off the glue drops, grease, and other crud that has built up over almost a year.










I used my two winding sticks (read: plywood offcuts) to find the high spots on the top. They're kinda hard to see, but the pencil squiggles are there.










So, out came the No. 5 to do some hoggin'.



















My brother came out to the shop to have a look-see. After giving him a crash course on operating a plane, he was hoggin' along there with me.










We ended up getting the top workably flat. It's not perfect, but I expect it to move so I wasn't too concerned. It'll be flat enough for the work I do.










Next came the BLO. This is actually the first time I ever used it. We ended up putting two coats on the top, sides of the top, and the leg vise chop.










That done, all was left was to sweep up the shavings and admire the new bench.


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## DonBroussard (Mar 27, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Flattening and Finishing*
> 
> Finally got the bench to the point where it's time to flatten the top and finish it.
> 
> ...


Nice piece of shop furniture, Glenn! I really like the wagon vise. She looks good as a blonde too. Nice work on the bench.


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

grfrazee said:


> *Flattening and Finishing*
> 
> Finally got the bench to the point where it's time to flatten the top and finish it.
> 
> ...


Thanks Don. Glad you like it!


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

grfrazee said:


> *Flattening and Finishing*
> 
> Finally got the bench to the point where it's time to flatten the top and finish it.
> 
> ...


Great looking bench!


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