# Workbench



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

*Wagon vise from scratch*

The bench I'm building is a small one due to very limited shop area (about 10 by 4 feet), so the top is 40" by 10" (laminated pine) plus tool tray (about 6" wide). As for vises after some considerations I decided to go for leg vise and the wagon vise.

It took me a while, but now top and wagon vise are ready.

Here is my wagon vise kit ready for assembly:









The hardware is a 3/4" (19mm) machine screw with square brass nut ($10 flea-market find).

The screw was extended with the spigot so it got proper length and the flange to apply pressure to. The spigot was secured on the screw with three 1/8" rivets.


















Square screw nut gave me some problem: initially I wanted to silver solder it to the brass base, but then I decided that this would not hold clamping pressure.









The solution was to wrap the nut with steel cover and weld it to the steel base. Then I drilled and tapped four 5/16" (8mm) holes to bolt the nut to the moving vise block (3-1/8" x 3-1/8" x 2" piece of beech with oak rail glued in):




























The dados for moving vise block was chiseled out and waxed (candle wax) before gluing the top. (Memo to self: when gluing parts that must fit accurately to each other it's best to provide some means to secure them before any glue applied (dowels would work in my case), clamps won't let you position parts precisely because glue makes them very slippery.)










To fix end of the screw I made brass washer (that works as a bearing too) secured with 4 screws.



















The end cap is a beech block drilled and chiseled accordingly:



















I have a dozen of 3/4" (20mm) round nuts left from some past project, so I decided to use them to secure end cap with 3/8" (10mm) bolts. I'm 100% sure I'm not the first one who came up with this little trick: I drilled 5/32" (4mm) blind hole and tapped it at the end of the nuts to be able to install and to extract them to/from deep holes:



















This was real time saver, it took 5 minutes max for each nut (not to count that I broke two taps learning how to tap those blind holes), and it payed off on second disassemble of the vise.























































So this is first tangible result since I started building the bench. Dog holes are yet to drill, non-dog clamping capacity is 6" (150mm)-not bad for small bench.

I think I'll wax the screw and all other metal parts and oil wooden parts of the vise.

The only power tools used when building top and wagon vise were corded and cordless drills for metal work (it was really tiring to drill 5/16" thick metal plate by hand).

Next stop is legs and leg vise.


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## Boatman53 (May 21, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise from scratch*
> 
> The bench I'm building is a small one due to very limited shop area (about 10 by 4 feet), so the top is 40" by 10" (laminated pine) plus tool tray (about 6" wide). As for vises after some considerations I decided to go for leg vise and the wagon vise.
> 
> ...


Hi Yuri and welcome to lumberjocks. Nice build on the wagon vise. I too have a screw and nut (actually from an end vise, but no mounting plates) and was thinking of turning it into a wagon vise. Yours should work great but keep us posted after you get the dog holes in and how you like it.
Jim


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## terryR (Jan 30, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise from scratch*
> 
> The bench I'm building is a small one due to very limited shop area (about 10 by 4 feet), so the top is 40" by 10" (laminated pine) plus tool tray (about 6" wide). As for vises after some considerations I decided to go for leg vise and the wagon vise.
> 
> ...


Nice job, Yuri. Looks like ton of work…but a project to be proud of! Thanks for sharing all the photos…can't wait to see your bench completed!


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## Boatman53 (May 21, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise from scratch*
> 
> The bench I'm building is a small one due to very limited shop area (about 10 by 4 feet), so the top is 40" by 10" (laminated pine) plus tool tray (about 6" wide). As for vises after some considerations I decided to go for leg vise and the wagon vise.
> 
> ...


I was looking at the photos again and realized that the outboard guide bar is longer than the dog block. If you were to cut a taper or wedge shape to it it would push any chips or sawdust out of the channel like a snow plow. The side with the screw you can see to keep it clean, but the none screw side is hidden from view and forgotten till it clogs. Of course now it's all put together so it might be a little late for this modification.
Jim


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## Ted78 (Dec 3, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise from scratch*
> 
> The bench I'm building is a small one due to very limited shop area (about 10 by 4 feet), so the top is 40" by 10" (laminated pine) plus tool tray (about 6" wide). As for vises after some considerations I decided to go for leg vise and the wagon vise.
> 
> ...


4'x10' wow. Looking at your pics is proof you don't need a big shop to turn out quality work.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise from scratch*
> 
> The bench I'm building is a small one due to very limited shop area (about 10 by 4 feet), so the top is 40" by 10" (laminated pine) plus tool tray (about 6" wide). As for vises after some considerations I decided to go for leg vise and the wagon vise.
> 
> ...


Looks real good. Nice work.


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise from scratch*
> 
> The bench I'm building is a small one due to very limited shop area (about 10 by 4 feet), so the top is 40" by 10" (laminated pine) plus tool tray (about 6" wide). As for vises after some considerations I decided to go for leg vise and the wagon vise.
> 
> ...


Jim, thank you. Taper to remove dust/shavings from the channel is definitely good idea, I may come back to it later on the next "bench improvements" round. Now I just can't wait to move on and have my bench equipped with legs and leg vise.

Terry, thanks a lot. It was quite a bit of work, but when you do it piece by piece it's not that scary.

Ted, it's 4'x10' now, it'll get couple of feet shorter when I'll build tool cabinet and some storage compartments. Thank you.

Thank you, Mike, I'm glad you liked it.


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## Bluepine38 (Dec 14, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise from scratch*
> 
> The bench I'm building is a small one due to very limited shop area (about 10 by 4 feet), so the top is 40" by 10" (laminated pine) plus tool tray (about 6" wide). As for vises after some considerations I decided to go for leg vise and the wagon vise.
> 
> ...


A lot of planning and work, but it is paying off big time for you with a great looking bench and vise. Thank 
you for sharing.


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise from scratch*
> 
> The bench I'm building is a small one due to very limited shop area (about 10 by 4 feet), so the top is 40" by 10" (laminated pine) plus tool tray (about 6" wide). As for vises after some considerations I decided to go for leg vise and the wagon vise.
> 
> ...


Thank you, Gus. Such a warm reception really helps.


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## jap (Oct 10, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise from scratch*
> 
> The bench I'm building is a small one due to very limited shop area (about 10 by 4 feet), so the top is 40" by 10" (laminated pine) plus tool tray (about 6" wide). As for vises after some considerations I decided to go for leg vise and the wagon vise.
> 
> ...


looks good


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## mileskimball (Nov 19, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise from scratch*
> 
> The bench I'm building is a small one due to very limited shop area (about 10 by 4 feet), so the top is 40" by 10" (laminated pine) plus tool tray (about 6" wide). As for vises after some considerations I decided to go for leg vise and the wagon vise.
> 
> ...


Good metal work! Wrapping the nut in steel must've been tricky.


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise from scratch*
> 
> The bench I'm building is a small one due to very limited shop area (about 10 by 4 feet), so the top is 40" by 10" (laminated pine) plus tool tray (about 6" wide). As for vises after some considerations I decided to go for leg vise and the wagon vise.
> 
> ...


Thanks, Jap.

Thank you, Miles.

I had to hire professional metal worker for all the welding stuff due to total lack of appropriate equipment and (most importantly) conditions for this type of work at my place. And yes, it was tricky. As the guy explained later his first attempt was total failure, but fortunately second one went well. There's still some little issue with the nut: its bottom side is not parallel with the base plate, but nut's axis is dead parallel with the base, so it works perfectly with wagon vise application.

The spigot that extends the screw was also outsourced to professional turner for the same reason.

The rest of metal work-shaping screw cover plate, making square nuts, drilling and tapping all the holes-was mine.


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise from scratch*
> 
> The bench I'm building is a small one due to very limited shop area (about 10 by 4 feet), so the top is 40" by 10" (laminated pine) plus tool tray (about 6" wide). As for vises after some considerations I decided to go for leg vise and the wagon vise.
> 
> ...


Wow great vise Yuri! Great work.


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise from scratch*
> 
> The bench I'm building is a small one due to very limited shop area (about 10 by 4 feet), so the top is 40" by 10" (laminated pine) plus tool tray (about 6" wide). As for vises after some considerations I decided to go for leg vise and the wagon vise.
> 
> ...


Thank you, Mauricio!

You know, I just examined your wagon vise build and I started to realize that I might take over-complicated route. Will see how mine will work, but yours is an example of perfect match of form and function: just a few parts, just a few cuts, easy to fit and maintain. Cool!


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise from scratch*
> 
> The bench I'm building is a small one due to very limited shop area (about 10 by 4 feet), so the top is 40" by 10" (laminated pine) plus tool tray (about 6" wide). As for vises after some considerations I decided to go for leg vise and the wagon vise.
> 
> ...


Yeah but yours is *much* nicer than mine. Thanks though!

Check out PurpLev's blog, he is the one who gave me the idea. He also put a wheel crank on it which is really nice. 
http://lumberjocks.com/PurpLev/blog/17919


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise from scratch*
> 
> The bench I'm building is a small one due to very limited shop area (about 10 by 4 feet), so the top is 40" by 10" (laminated pine) plus tool tray (about 6" wide). As for vises after some considerations I decided to go for leg vise and the wagon vise.
> 
> ...


That wheel is a beauty. If some day I find a wheel of suitable diameter (3-1/8") I'll give it a try thought it might be too small.


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

*vise handle, bench dogs, and legs*

Not much progress since last time, but still some.

First of all, I made my wagon vise a handle. It's been cut from raw oak stock that I took from my country house almost two years ago. I started with planing it to be a square, then to be octagonal, then I doubled number of edges yet more couple of times, and finished with some very light sanding.

To make end knobs I used my poor man's lathe:


















Time after time I use it to turn knobs, handles and such:









And here is my new handle:


















Second of all, I bored holes for bench dogs:








(look how small my bench is going to be compared even to the brace I used to bore the holes)

I marked second row of the bench dog holes but decided to postpone drilling them until I figure out how many of them I need.

Third of all were some "temporary" bench dogs made out of soft pine:








(will see how long those "temporary" dogs gonna work for me, I suspect at least year unless I break them by myself experimenting with stopper springs)

Here's my "pencil-sharpener" dowel jig I used:








The jig works quite badly-you can see lots of splitting on the dowels-so I will re-design it when making pegs for draw-boring.

The most fun and exiting part was using bench under construction to build its own parts:









And you know, it works!








(legs ready for M&T job)

Little boy inside of me totally happy 

Thanks for reading!


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## Mosquito (Feb 15, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *vise handle, bench dogs, and legs*
> 
> Not much progress since last time, but still some.
> 
> ...


The most fun and exiting part was using bench under construction to build its own parts

I've found that to be quite true! Not even done yet, and it's already useful!

Progress looks awesome. I can't wait to see this thing come together int he end. I still love that wagon vise.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

yuridichesky said:


> *vise handle, bench dogs, and legs*
> 
> Not much progress since last time, but still some.
> 
> ...


very nice work Yuri.

it does feel great being able to actually using the workbench to continue working on building it. enjoy the ride!


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## JulianLech (Jan 13, 2011)

yuridichesky said:


> *vise handle, bench dogs, and legs*
> 
> Not much progress since last time, but still some.
> 
> ...


That's a great looking bench. A smaller bench can still be very useful. Looks like you got pretty good results off your "poor man's" lathe.


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *vise handle, bench dogs, and legs*
> 
> Not much progress since last time, but still some.
> 
> ...


Mos, thank you! We all here are the same, in a good manner 

Lev, thank you! I do enjoy the ride, the only my complain is that I have to limit amount of woodworking time due to bunch of reasons. As many of us here at LJ.

Julian, thank you! Some day™ I'll build more lathe-like device, it's already cooking in my head.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

yuridichesky said:


> *vise handle, bench dogs, and legs*
> 
> Not much progress since last time, but still some.
> 
> ...


enjoy it when you can, and plan ahead when you can't. I myself haven't been in the shop for several months so I know the feeling


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *vise handle, bench dogs, and legs*
> 
> Not much progress since last time, but still some.
> 
> ...


I love the poor mans lathe. I had looked around alot in the past for ways to turn a drill into a lathe but yours takes the prize for simplicity. Great idea!

I love seeing the bench top in action making the legs. This is going to be one very nice little bench!

Great work Yuri.


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

yuridichesky said:


> *vise handle, bench dogs, and legs*
> 
> Not much progress since last time, but still some.
> 
> ...


^ Ditto on the Lathe! It's not the tool, it's the operator that makes it great! 

Nice build you have going, Yuri. Congrats, looking forward to seeing more!


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *vise handle, bench dogs, and legs*
> 
> Not much progress since last time, but still some.
> 
> ...


Mauricio and Smitty, thank you guys! The lathe is a product of my laziness on one hand and passion to make stuff up on the other. It's still too many clamps to match with my laziness though


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

*Preparing for draw-boring (dowels jig that finally works for me!)*

While my leg vise hardware is still being machined to mate screw and the wheel I've been working on the legs. In particular got ready for draw-boring.

My target was 10mm pegs (3/8" approx).

I made them from rough oak stock: first planed it a little, then ripped into beams and planed square blanks about 11×11mm (7/16" approx), so I had about 1mm allowance (1/32" approx). Then I rounded them roughly with the block plane:




























At this point dowels were a little bit non-round and a little bit over-sized: time to employ some dowel-cutting jig.

First attempt was with pencil-sharpener jig that I first saw at Wood Gears. Here's what I came up with:








Despite my hard trying I wasn't able to tune it to make it work: it just trashed blanks. Failure.

Second attempt was with John Heisz's dowel maker. My version was *much* less accurate, no surprise it didn't work well.

















Failure.

The third attempt was my own [re-]invention: I drilled 10mm hole in 4mm (5/32") thick steel bar-the same bar I used for John Heisz's dowel maker-then I filed a bevel from input side of the jig (maybe 5 to 7 degrees I guess), then I filed teeth on the bevel:


















And it worked like a champ!



























So finally it took me just 5 minutes to make it work: two minutes to drill a hole, two more minutes to file bevel and teeth, and one more minute to fine-tune the jig (I enlarged the hole just very-very little so I'd have some little allowance for sanding). And yes, I used corded drill to drive dowels through the jig.

Don't get me wrong, it's me who failed with first two attempts, and those jigs are more than fine. But I found that my final version just gives you fewer chances to screw up.

Ok, here's my draw-boring set: dowels and a guide I made especially for this occasion:









I hope next week my leg vise hardware will be ready so I can make all vise-mounting stuff on the leg and assemble legs finally.

Thanks for reading!


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## foneman (Mar 11, 2007)

yuridichesky said:


> *Preparing for draw-boring (dowels jig that finally works for me!)*
> 
> While my leg vise hardware is still being machined to mate screw and the wheel I've been working on the legs. In particular got ready for draw-boring.
> 
> ...


I like your setup the best and will have to give it a try for myself!!!

thanks for posting!
john


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Preparing for draw-boring (dowels jig that finally works for me!)*
> 
> While my leg vise hardware is still being machined to mate screw and the wheel I've been working on the legs. In particular got ready for draw-boring.
> 
> ...


Thanks, John! I was surprised myself how quick and accurate it turned to be. Just make sure metal plate is thick enough.


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Preparing for draw-boring (dowels jig that finally works for me!)*
> 
> While my leg vise hardware is still being machined to mate screw and the wheel I've been working on the legs. In particular got ready for draw-boring.
> 
> ...


You got to love the versatility of that wagon vise right Yuri! Great for holding a board vertically as well as horizontally.

I missed the part where you made a drawbore pin. It's a nice one. Much better than mine because you have that gradual convex taper. Very nice!

Wow, I have never seen those two dowel making methods, very cool! I thought I had seen them all.

Check out this Japanese guy on YouTube, he has about 100 different ways to do it. You have obviously found a method that works, this is just interesting stuff to watch.


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Preparing for draw-boring (dowels jig that finally works for me!)*
> 
> While my leg vise hardware is still being machined to mate screw and the wheel I've been working on the legs. In particular got ready for draw-boring.
> 
> ...


Mauricio, you're absolutely right about wagon vise! Can't tell about leg vise yet, but wagon vise is my favorite clamping device so far.

This dowel-maker guy is a boss, I spent whole evening watching his videos


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Preparing for draw-boring (dowels jig that finally works for me!)*
> 
> While my leg vise hardware is still being machined to mate screw and the wheel I've been working on the legs. In particular got ready for draw-boring.
> 
> ...


Check out his yotube channel, he has so many ingenious ideas.


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## mafe (Dec 10, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Preparing for draw-boring (dowels jig that finally works for me!)*
> 
> While my leg vise hardware is still being machined to mate screw and the wheel I've been working on the legs. In particular got ready for draw-boring.
> 
> ...


Really nice, I have to try and make one of these, looks really like you get perfect results.
Best thoughts,
Mads


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Preparing for draw-boring (dowels jig that finally works for me!)*
> 
> While my leg vise hardware is still being machined to mate screw and the wheel I've been working on the legs. In particular got ready for draw-boring.
> 
> ...


I'm glad you liked it, it worked for me really well plus it's quite simple and (very important in my case) doesn't require any storage space.


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

*Legs: mortise and tenon*

First of all, my workbench build is far beyond the point that I'm going to share, I just have bunch of pics and I decided to throw them on the blog. There's nothing special here, but some little documentary to remember. So…

For M&T job I made couple of marking gauges out of pine. I know pine is not the best choice for this, I just wanted to practice a little before making marking gauge of my dream.



















I put pins just where I needed and then just re-inserted them for different dimensions. And I have an extra beam for replacement.

Next I marked the mortises and bored out most of the waste.



















Then I cleaned up rest of the waste with the chisel.










Memo to self: get a corner chisel.

.
.
.

Well, I think I lost all the tenon pics somewhere on my hard drive…

Ok, in brief: marked the tenons, then cut knife walls for crisp edge, then sawed along knife walls, then chiseled out waste and cleaned tenons with small rabbet plane.

I was quite happy with M&T job results, and bravely moved to drawboring. So the next blog entry is going to be "Drawboring: the good, the bad and the ugly"...


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

yuridichesky said:


> *Legs: mortise and tenon*
> 
> First of all, my workbench build is far beyond the point that I'm going to share, I just have bunch of pics and I decided to throw them on the blog. There's nothing special here, but some little documentary to remember. So…
> 
> ...


looks good. note to self - you don't NEED a corner chisel. you did great job here - keep it going and before you know it it will be second nature and that corner chisel will be useless.


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## mafe (Dec 10, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Legs: mortise and tenon*
> 
> First of all, my workbench build is far beyond the point that I'm going to share, I just have bunch of pics and I decided to throw them on the blog. There's nothing special here, but some little documentary to remember. So…
> 
> ...


Yes; looks really good.
Note: agree corner chisels are not needed.
Lovely gauges.
Best thoughts,
Mads


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Legs: mortise and tenon*
> 
> First of all, my workbench build is far beyond the point that I'm going to share, I just have bunch of pics and I decided to throw them on the blog. There's nothing special here, but some little documentary to remember. So…
> 
> ...


Lev, Mads, thank you, guys. You know, getting corner chisel is a Christmas time affair, so I may change my mind by then and will find something different on the top of my wish list.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Legs: mortise and tenon*
> 
> First of all, my workbench build is far beyond the point that I'm going to share, I just have bunch of pics and I decided to throw them on the blog. There's nothing special here, but some little documentary to remember. So…
> 
> ...


nice work on these marking gauges Yuri.


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## theoldfart (Sep 9, 2011)

yuridichesky said:


> *Legs: mortise and tenon*
> 
> First of all, my workbench build is far beyond the point that I'm going to share, I just have bunch of pics and I decided to throw them on the blog. There's nothing special here, but some little documentary to remember. So…
> 
> ...


Yuri, there are a few other tools that may be more useful than a corner chisel. The picture of your mortis proves you don't need one! Real nice work. Look forward to seeing the next steps.


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## CL810 (Mar 21, 2010)

yuridichesky said:


> *Legs: mortise and tenon*
> 
> First of all, my workbench build is far beyond the point that I'm going to share, I just have bunch of pics and I decided to throw them on the blog. There's nothing special here, but some little documentary to remember. So…
> 
> ...


+1 on corner mortis not needed. Beautiful work Yuri! And good design for the marking gauge.


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Legs: mortise and tenon*
> 
> First of all, my workbench build is far beyond the point that I'm going to share, I just have bunch of pics and I decided to throw them on the blog. There's nothing special here, but some little documentary to remember. So…
> 
> ...


Mike, thank you. Sometimes those "side effect" jigs and tools turn out surprisingly useful.

TheOF, CL, thank you guys. BTW, right now you make me want to try that corner chisel even harder to see what this fuss is all about


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

*Drawboring: the good, the bad and the ugly*

Finally I got to drawboring point.

Dowels were ready, drawboring pins were ready, M&T on the legs and stretchers were ready.

Drilling holes for drawboring didn't cause any problem.

Since I wasn't sure my drawboring technique was good enough I used glue and clamps to get best possible results (and I didn't care about chances to disassemble legs in the future). And you know, the drawboring started with "the good" part:



















I heard a quite a bit of crackling when drove dowels through the joints and was very surprised to see how oaken dowels were bent:










Now about "the bad".

Well, good news: there's no "the bad" part, it just sounds solid and familiar: "the good, the bad…", couldn't help myself not to take it.

And here is "the ugly".



















Believe it or not, but this was the last drawboring dowel. The reason of this failure was that I didn't sharpen the dowel well enough, and didn't care about "dead" hammering feedback. But the core of the problem was that I was tired and in a hurry to finish the work. So memo to self: have a rest when you tired and postpone important work when you in a hurry.

Fortunately I managed to fix this issue:



















So my general impression of drawboring was/is quite positive. I successfully drawbored parallel guide of the leg vise chop (will be in my next blog entry), and now highly recommend this technique.

But try to feel your hammer feedback, just in case.


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## Mosquito (Feb 15, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Drawboring: the good, the bad and the ugly*
> 
> Finally I got to drawboring point.
> 
> ...


Ouch, I've had that happen before too, except mine was because I offset the drawbore holes too far. Looks like a good recovery none the less, nice work


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## CL810 (Mar 21, 2010)

yuridichesky said:


> *Drawboring: the good, the bad and the ugly*
> 
> Finally I got to drawboring point.
> 
> ...


Looks very solid Yuri. The ugly was not so ugly in my view.


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## theoldfart (Sep 9, 2011)

yuridichesky said:


> *Drawboring: the good, the bad and the ugly*
> 
> Finally I got to drawboring point.
> 
> ...


Yuri, I don't think that little repair will compromise the joint. Nice recovery.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Drawboring: the good, the bad and the ugly*
> 
> Finally I got to drawboring point.
> 
> ...


Looks good Yuri, and the repair you made came out very well too. I like the idea of draw boring, but I can't think how a draw bored joint can be stronger or better than a mortise and tenon joint that is glued and clamped. Therefore I am thinking that it's main purpose must be to make a tight fit and keep it that way while the glue dries and without the necessity to keep it clample after installing the dowels. This is just a theory as I have absolutely no experience with draw boring. Can anyone inform me about this?


----------



## CL810 (Mar 21, 2010)

yuridichesky said:


> *Drawboring: the good, the bad and the ugly*
> 
> Finally I got to drawboring point.
> 
> ...


Stefang, I think you pretty much said it. Chris Schwarz said in his book Workbenches, that drawboring fell out of favor because of modern glues and "piston fit joint." However, he also said that whenever he builds something that requires an "extra measure of stoutness." like chairs and benches, he drawbores the joints. It does pull the shoulders tight which, I think, strengthens the joint by reducing stress on the glue.

I drawbored the legs of my bench and will on my next one. Bench legs take abuse and I can't help but think drawboring helps.


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Drawboring: the good, the bad and the ugly*
> 
> Finally I got to drawboring point.
> 
> ...


Thank you, everyone.

Mike, to be honest I have no proof that drawbored joint is stronger than glued one. I just wanted to make it as strong as I could, and so I used everything I had at my arsenal. Plus I wanted to practice in drawboring, and I think I'm going to drawbore less critical parts without a glue.


----------



## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Drawboring: the good, the bad and the ugly*
> 
> Finally I got to drawboring point.
> 
> ...


Geat progress and nice fix!


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Drawboring: the good, the bad and the ugly*
> 
> Finally I got to drawboring point.
> 
> ...


Mauricio, thanks a lot! Learning to make, learning to fix… Never know which one goes first.


----------



## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

yuridichesky said:


> *Drawboring: the good, the bad and the ugly*
> 
> Finally I got to drawboring point.
> 
> ...


Been there, big time. I sharpen my pins like a pencil now.

AND it's ALWAYS the last pin.

Nice save.


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Drawboring: the good, the bad and the ugly*
> 
> Finally I got to drawboring point.
> 
> ...


Thank you, Ryan. About sharpening pins: I even bought big pencil sharpener for this very purpose.


----------



## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

yuridichesky said:


> *Drawboring: the good, the bad and the ugly*
> 
> Finally I got to drawboring point.
> 
> ...


I find the big sharpener designed for doing carpenters pencils makes a good pin sharpener.


----------



## doubleDD (Oct 21, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Drawboring: the good, the bad and the ugly*
> 
> Finally I got to drawboring point.
> 
> ...


Solid


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Drawboring: the good, the bad and the ugly*
> 
> Finally I got to drawboring point.
> 
> ...


Thank you Dave. It is solid, but you know you just can't overbuild the workbench.


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

*Leg vise chop*

The leg vise chop's wood is beech (I just have one big thick beech board and so I use it when I need some hardwood).

.
First some rough cuts:



















.
Then cleaning up:









(you can see here template I used to mark curves of the chop)









(and this is my cleanup kit)

.
Ready for parallel guide mortise:









.
Parallel guide mortise: first saw cut then cleaning with the chisel (and a block of wood as a guide).










.
Dry fit:










.
Drawboring:










.
Closeups of drawboring results:



















.
And a teaser of the next blog entry:










.
Stay tuned, interesting stuff about to start!


----------



## Airframer (Jan 19, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise chop*
> 
> The leg vise chop's wood is beech (I just have one big thick beech board and so I use it when I need some hardwood).
> 
> ...


Looking good! You are going to love that chain vise! You just open and close it.. nothin' to it.


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise chop*
> 
> The leg vise chop's wood is beech (I just have one big thick beech board and so I use it when I need some hardwood).
> 
> ...


Thank you, Eric, already love it!
Spent hour or two just opening and closing it, crushed couple of beer cans (will shoot a video when workbench is finished), tested on thin and thick boards…
Jim's work is awesome!


----------



## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise chop*
> 
> The leg vise chop's wood is beech (I just have one big thick beech board and so I use it when I need some hardwood).
> 
> ...


Clean work Yuridicheshky!

I like the idea of a block of wood for a chisel guide.

I shall try that.


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise chop*
> 
> The leg vise chop's wood is beech (I just have one big thick beech board and so I use it when I need some hardwood).
> 
> ...


Thank you, Waho.

This cut was on visible side of the chop, so to make it crisp and clean I had to use something to guide a chisel.


----------



## CL810 (Mar 21, 2010)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise chop*
> 
> The leg vise chop's wood is beech (I just have one big thick beech board and so I use it when I need some hardwood).
> 
> ...


Fine craftsmanship on display Yuri!


----------



## theoldfart (Sep 9, 2011)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise chop*
> 
> The leg vise chop's wood is beech (I just have one big thick beech board and so I use it when I need some hardwood).
> 
> ...


Yuri, outstanding execution the the chop, can't wait to see the final product. The draw boring looks tight! Great work.


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise chop*
> 
> The leg vise chop's wood is beech (I just have one big thick beech board and so I use it when I need some hardwood).
> 
> ...


CL and Kevin, thank you. Final product is on the way, but I need some more time (and more tools too!) to get it done.


----------



## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise chop*
> 
> The leg vise chop's wood is beech (I just have one big thick beech board and so I use it when I need some hardwood).
> 
> ...


Great work Yuri, cant wait to see the next installment.


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

*Leg vise*

Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog 
.
.
.
In total I spent quite a bit time working on leg vise, but to my excuse I had to built most of the parts from scratch except for Jim Ritter's (aka Boatman53) chain mechanism . I'm more than happy with this chain-driven vise and highly recommend it. *Jim*, thank you a lot for all your effort to send your kit up here to Russia!
.
.
.
Ok, leg vise implies that there must be something done with the leg to make it work.

Front side of the leg.

Cutting recess for the low-friction plastic washer:








Screw works as some primitive depth gauge to mark depth of the recess. Simple and very useful.

Drilling perfectly centered holes for the screws:









Ready:









To be honest I'm not sure this low-friction washer affects operation of the vise. But anyway it's there, and I'm not going to throw it away.

Another part on leg's front side is a roller to support parallel guide.

Piece by piece:









Installed:








As you can guess I bolted it through to be dead sure it won't move. And I think it's worth the effort 'cause legs wood (pine) is very soft.
.
.
.
Now quick look on the back side of the leg.

Screw nut and chain sprocket:









Lower chain sprocket and yet another support of parallel guide:









Many people build some additional support for the parallel guide, so I decided to build one as well. Here's what I came up with:









I have to say it works just nicely:








Clamping surface of the chop stays parallel to workbench front surface unless I apply some serious torque on the wheel.

Lower sprocket brackets are also bolted through, see square nuts cut into the leg above parallel guide slot:








.
.
.
Now it's time to mount a wheel.


















Thrust bearings for the win! The bottom screw of the garter is fake.










When fitting a mounting screw through the main screw I eventually made it too loose, so that I had to dent couple of dots to move the metal and so to make it nice and tight:









Also mounting screw is not perfectly co-axial to the main screw, and it goes into its place only when wheel and the screw are in some certain position. To ease their positioning I dented dots on the wheel and on the screw:









After some time I realized that thrust bearings get too dusty very quickly. To address the issue I made some protecting hoop:



























And a wheel handle finally:








.
.
.
I guess this is it. As I already mentioned I'm pretty happy with my leg vise. 20cm/8" of clamping capacity. Nice and smooth in operation. Insanely strong. What else one needs?


















Notice piece of blue tape on the parallel guide, it visually marks max opening of the vise.









.
.
.
Thank you for looking!


----------



## theoldfart (Sep 9, 2011)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


Yuri, nice build on the leg vise. The bench will be a great asset to your shop.


----------



## Sergeich (Jun 25, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


Wow. Looks like large handron collider. I am impressed man.


----------



## mikeevens45 (Jan 31, 2014)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


wow ...just wow that's nice


----------



## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


Fine leg vise Yuri!


----------



## Boatman53 (May 21, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


Excellent writeup Yuri, I love your attention to detail. That is a vise that will survive for a long time, and serve all your needs. I don't think the blue tape is permanent, I put a bung of contrasting wood in the top of the beam to warn me of it's max travel.

Jim


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


Guys, appreciate your kind word, thank you!

Jim, contrasting wood instead of piece of blue tape is a good idea. Gonna steal it.


----------



## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


Wow Yuri, that looks great, no doubt it works like a dream! Great attention to detail. The side rollers are a brilliant idea.


----------



## Mosquito (Feb 15, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


awesome work! I like it


----------



## woodcox (Nov 21, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


Great detail Yuri. Conrats with some nice hardware on your bench.


----------



## CL810 (Mar 21, 2010)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


You're going to love this vise. Great build and craftsmanship as always Yuri!


----------



## Boatman53 (May 21, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


Yuri here is a photo of mine. I couldn't post it this morning, had to figure out how to reduce the size.










Not needing the pin in the beam is something you won't even know your missing 'cause you never had it.
Jim


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


Thank you everyone!

I know how great your own works are, and your encouragement really makes me feel good!


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


Yes, Jim, I got it.

At first I was thinking about making some kind of removable stopper on the beam so it wouldn't allow leg vise to travel beyond some certain position, but then decided to keep it simple and just put visual reference. Your white spot on the beam looks neat and catches the eye easily.


----------



## BigRedKnothead (Dec 21, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


Yuri- if I missed it, just refer me…. but where did the wheel, bearing and threads come from?


----------



## Boatman53 (May 21, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


Red and anyone else, I have a bunch of 3/4" think plastic that could be used for the screw bearing. Just send me a PM and I'll see what I can do.
Jim


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## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


Red,

Screw/nut pair is a flea-market find, about $20. I guess they were parts of some machinery broken into pieces and sold part by part.

The wheel is also flea-market find, about $10. Wheel didn't fit to the screw, so I had to hire a professional metal turner to mate them (and to extend screw a little in order to have larger vise opening - see the pipe) - about $50.

Here's the screw/wheel kit before assembling:










And here's some plan of whole thing put together (but without thrust bearings that I added later):










The pipe and this little flange on the pipe were secured on the screw with steel rivets.

The screw nut had no flange, so cut 1/4" thick brass flange and outsourced welding job to professional welder who did it for me for about $20.

The thrust bearings were added later to avoid metal tear-outs in wheel/garter contact area.

The low-friction plastic washer/bearing was cut from some larger piece and squared with shooting board - turned out to be surprisingly accurate. The main hole was bored with specially tweaked drill bit to match screw diameter exactly.

I guess this "from scratch" approach didn't win much from financial point of view, but anyway I like the final result.


----------



## BigRedKnothead (Dec 21, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


Wow, that's cool you were able to source the vice stuff the way you did.

You've got me kicking around ideas to get my leg vise working better. As Jim suggested, I believe I need to install some sort of bearing or bushing where the acme thread enters my bench leg. As it sits, the nut/flange is on the inside of a 6" thick leg. When my leg vise is open, the acme thread extends as much as 12-14" from the nut (counting the 6" leg)

All that to say, I believe gravity is the reason my leg vise doesn't spin very well. I think you've addressed that with the "low friction plastic washer". Now I need to;-)


----------



## john2005 (Jun 8, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


Just catching up here. You do strong work Yuri! Dang fine bench!


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Leg vise*
> 
> Got sick a little and can't work in the shop, so it's time to blog
> .
> ...


John, thanks a lot! I still need to post one more blog entry about tool tray.


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

*Wagon vise reloaded*

Wagon vise was the first vise I built and used intensively during workbench construction.

It worked great from the very beginning, the only thing bothering me was poor steel-on-steel friction conditions just where the pressure applied - between crank and garter plate. The solution came from workbench smackdown thread guys: thrust bearings.

So one day I disassembled my wagon vise and upgraded it with thrust bearings. Plus I did couple of other things: shortened the handle (no need in long handle at all) and turned garter plate to make it horizontal to be able to place a shooting board or a bench hook there when I need.

Here's upgraded version:










Can you see little brass button with a spring on the picture above? This is another improvements I put to my vise. This button sits at the end of vise screw and pushes it out to eliminate any play and chatter:










It's interesting how those little bits make big difference!

And here's the wagon vise put together after upgrade:










Now it works smooth, quick and effortless thanks to thrust bearings and little button on the spring 

Thanks for looking!


----------



## CL810 (Mar 21, 2010)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise reloaded*
> 
> Wagon vise was the first vise I built and used intensively during workbench construction.
> 
> ...


Yuri these are great upgrades. I'm sure the bench hook from the end will be especially convenient. I sometimes wonder if you are a mechanical engineer/machinist/genius….


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise reloaded*
> 
> Wagon vise was the first vise I built and used intensively during workbench construction.
> 
> ...


Andy, thank you man!

I think that small shop size and limited tool set constraints make my mistakes more obvious so I find those mistakes on early stages and try to fix them. Plus I feel I've got strong professional deformation as a software engineer: I try to do less except when I can't stop myself improving stuff


----------



## Sergeich (Jun 25, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise reloaded*
> 
> Wagon vise was the first vise I built and used intensively during workbench construction.
> 
> ...


Now I start to understand that I know nothing on vice science.


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise reloaded*
> 
> Wagon vise was the first vise I built and used intensively during workbench construction.
> 
> ...


Sergey, here's quick course on vise science: either get manufactured one and just use it, or build one from scratch with trial and error approach until you're tired of improving it 

What are you working on now?


----------



## Sergeich (Jun 25, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise reloaded*
> 
> Wagon vise was the first vise I built and used intensively during workbench construction.
> 
> ...


Ok. My choice is number one so far 
I am in the end of pasochnitsa storage box built now. May be tonight I will post a couple of photos in my blog.


----------



## Jim Jakosh (Nov 24, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise reloaded*
> 
> Wagon vise was the first vise I built and used intensively during workbench construction.
> 
> ...


Yuri. I love it. It looks so slick and I'll bet it feels good to use!!!


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise reloaded*
> 
> Wagon vise was the first vise I built and used intensively during workbench construction.
> 
> ...


Jim, thank you! It's real joy to use, very smooth and fast, and holds like crazy.


----------



## charliedevon (Apr 14, 2015)

yuridichesky said:


> *Wagon vise reloaded*
> 
> Wagon vise was the first vise I built and used intensively during workbench construction.
> 
> ...


wow! amazing fitting. it works like anything. If you want or searching for quality bearings you can visit : thrust bearings


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

*Attaching benchtop to the base*

This blog entry is further in the past than the previous one, sharp-sighted will notice that leg vise is not ready yet here. I believe it's not a big deal, so here we go…
.
.
.
At the very beginning of the project I wanted to build some kind of folding workbench, but as project evolved I rejected this folding approach and decided to build solid yet collapsible bench. Thus I started to figure how to mount benchtop on the base when both were ready.

Here's what I came up with: benchtop (laminated pine 3-1/2" thick) attached to the base using mortise and tenon joint and bolted through these tenons with 3/8" bolts.

6 tenons are glued into the base (three on each side), and 6 mortises are cut on the bottom side of benchtop about half-way through. The tenons are drilled through to receive bolts.

Tenons:









Mortises:









I didn't want to have large holes for the bolts heads on the benchtop, but small heads won't allow to tighten strong enough because they'd just crush this soft pine. To address this I glued large metal washers into benchtop.

Large hole for the head:









Wooden plug:









All the bolts and nuts:









Wooden plug glued in:









...and planed flush:









Little jig I used to bore holes through the plugs:









Some side note. I like simple things, I appreciate simple stuff that works. All my software engineer career I've been trying to find and implement some simple solutions that work, and I know how hard it is to do something simple but yet effective. While working the wood I always ask myself if what I do simple enough, and I constantly find myself over-designing and over-building my projects. Just like those washers and plugs glued into benchtop. On one hand I see how much against the KISS rule they are, but on the other I don't know how to make it more simple and yet provide desirable result. I think simplicity is related to craftsmanship level, and I hope that things WILL get more simple with experience and practice. Will see…

Back to workbench. Base and the top finally got together.

Front view:









Back view:









You can see the base is wider than the benchtop, but don't worry, there will be a tool tray at the back. Not just tool tray, but tool tray with a twist 

Thank you for looking!


----------



## Mosquito (Feb 15, 2012)

yuridichesky said:


> *Attaching benchtop to the base*
> 
> This blog entry is further in the past than the previous one, sharp-sighted will notice that leg vise is not ready yet here. I believe it's not a big deal, so here we go…
> .
> ...


Very nice. I like the approach of gluing in the washer, then filling in the extra. Nice clean look


----------



## CL810 (Mar 21, 2010)

yuridichesky said:


> *Attaching benchtop to the base*
> 
> This blog entry is further in the past than the previous one, sharp-sighted will notice that leg vise is not ready yet here. I believe it's not a big deal, so here we go…
> .
> ...


Interesting details.

"I think simplicity is related to craftsmanship level" That is absolutely true. Trying to figure out how to do something for the first time, plus desire to avoid mistakes, equals lots of thinking/overdoing.


----------



## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Attaching benchtop to the base*
> 
> This blog entry is further in the past than the previous one, sharp-sighted will notice that leg vise is not ready yet here. I believe it's not a big deal, so here we go…
> .
> ...


Your bench looks very good. It's nicely made with a lot of useful destails. Personally I hate tool trays as I find they collect shavings and mingle with any tools or other stuff that winds up in there while working on a project. I'm sure many others get good use out of their tool trays, but it just doesn't work well for me. I hope you have better luck with yours.


----------



## Jim Jakosh (Nov 24, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Attaching benchtop to the base*
> 
> This blog entry is further in the past than the previous one, sharp-sighted will notice that leg vise is not ready yet here. I believe it's not a big deal, so here we go…
> .
> ...


Mighty fine! a lot of thought went into that!!


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Attaching benchtop to the base*
> 
> This blog entry is further in the past than the previous one, sharp-sighted will notice that leg vise is not ready yet here. I believe it's not a big deal, so here we go…
> .
> ...


Thank you everybody!

Mike, you're right about shavings and dust in the tool tray. But still I find some positive outcome too, as far as I built one I just have to find something positive


----------



## Sergeich (Jun 25, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Attaching benchtop to the base*
> 
> This blog entry is further in the past than the previous one, sharp-sighted will notice that leg vise is not ready yet here. I believe it's not a big deal, so here we go…
> .
> ...


Interesting decision on decreasing bolt hole size. Very clever. I have rather big bolt holes on my temporary workbench and they annoy me much because they collect all sorts of dust and chips. I am going to glue them with wood at all.
BTW what about that jack plane on a photo. I saw exactly such a plane in local tool shop for low price. But I was not shure in its quality.


----------



## yuridichesky (Jan 9, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Attaching benchtop to the base*
> 
> This blog entry is further in the past than the previous one, sharp-sighted will notice that leg vise is not ready yet here. I believe it's not a big deal, so here we go…
> .
> ...


Sergey, privet!

Thank you, man!

The jack on the photo is an old counterpart of #5 made by Voskov factory (Завод Воскова). My cousin found it somewhere and asked me to fix and tune it for him. I spent maybe couple of hours on it, and it turned to be quite decent one. Now plane is back at my cousin's, and I bought some Chinese copy of #5: 350mm Kraftool plane. To be honest it's not as good as old Voskov plane. I spent half a day trying to make its sole flat, but still it's far from perfect.


----------



## Sergeich (Jun 25, 2013)

yuridichesky said:


> *Attaching benchtop to the base*
> 
> This blog entry is further in the past than the previous one, sharp-sighted will notice that leg vise is not ready yet here. I believe it's not a big deal, so here we go…
> .
> ...


Ok. I like Voskov planes. I bought one of them on a flee market - analogue of Stanly #1. It is pretty good.


----------



## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

yuridichesky said:


> *Attaching benchtop to the base*
> 
> This blog entry is further in the past than the previous one, sharp-sighted will notice that leg vise is not ready yet here. I believe it's not a big deal, so here we go…
> .
> ...


Very innovative ideas Yuri, both the tenons and the plugs.


----------

