Frank’s Workbench – Project of the Week
This week’s project comes from Frank (yep, the Woodcraft guy from Ep. 62). Let’s hear what he has to say:
Well, I finally completed my workbench. I would love to have a typical European style bench with a large twin screw vice on the side, but I have neither the space nor the funds. Furthermore, I needed a bench that I can easily move by myself, yet is strong enough to work with mortising chisels or hand planes. Also, because of my height, I prefer a bench that stands just a little higher than most.
This bench turned out to be a pretty good compromise. Its design revolves around the Zyliss vice and Veritas Bench Dogs / Wonder Dogs / Surface Clamp. My father purchased a Zyliss vice back in the 70’s and I have been very impressed with them ever since. New, they tend to be pretty expensive but if you keep your eyes open they are quite reasonable on eBay. I now have four of them.
The light wood is Alder and the darker is Eucalyptus. The Eucalyptus is not only beautiful but also tough as nails. I will say that if I were to do it again, I would replace the Alder with Hard Maple. The Alder is softer than I expected. I made the feet out of Ash to handle the abuse of being moved around. All of the joinery is either pairs of 10×50mm Dominos or Miller dowels. I finished it with Danish Oil and several coats of wax.
Wood Talk Online- Episode 36
Topics:
A Safety Week recap. Matt’s upcoming steam bending class. A reminder about Woodworking in America- Hand Tool & Technique Conference: Nov. 14th-16th in Berea, KY. A voicemail about hickory and color change from Denis, the Teenage Woodworker, and a voicemail from Craig about jointing boards with a hand plane and possible glue up issues. We then went into our main feature for the day: a basic review of bench vises. We have a few recommended articles for reference: “Making Sense of Vises” by Garrett Hack – May/June 2007 Fine Woodworking and also “The Workbench” by Graham Blackburn – Tools & Shop 2002 also by Fine Woodworking. We also reference Chris Schwarz’s Workbenches Book.
If you want to leave us a voicemail: 623-242-2450
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