Frank Pellow’s Woodworking Bench Project -Phase 2

[Frank Pellow]

(part 1 of 5)

I started building a woodworking bench just about this time last year and reported progress in the thread: http://www.canadianwoodworking.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16233

That work stopped in early June when I packed it in for the summer.

Early this year, I picked up the project again and now the bench is (almost) complete and I have started to use it:

I will continue the “story” with extracts from my weekly journal. Also I will pick up the number of the steps from where I left off last June.


2008 Jan 20:

22) The first task at hand is to finish drilling all the dog holes in the bench top. I made a simple jig that speeded up the process:

Woodworking bench 35 -Drilling dog holes again -after 7 months -small.JPG

Compare this to the clamping both on top and underneath the bench that I was doing before -as per the photos I showed in this journal last June:

Woodworking bench 33 -drilling dog holes -take 2 -1.JPG Woodworking bench 33 -drilling dog holes -take 2 -2.JPG

This time I am screwing a temporary sacrficial piece of wood underneather the spots where the drill will emerge. Things are going much faster and about half the holes are now drilled.


2008 Jan 27:

23) I worked a little bit on the woodworking bench and almost all the dog holes are now drilled. There was a problem because the jig from Lee Valley that I was using broke due to metal fatigue. I will probably take it back. I devised my own simple jig which seems to work OK.

Woodworking bench 36 -The drill jig broke, so I made my own -small.JPG

[fdaluet]

Why not pre drill the boards? If you have a drill press and a simple jig it becomes very easy. If you don't have a drill press then a spacing jig and possibly clamping more than one table piece would also work. An alignment jig could then be used to get the boards and holes lined up, trim the ends and away we go.

[Frank Pellow]

Originally Posted by fdaluet

Why not pre drill the boards? If you have a drill press and a simple jig it becomes very easy. If you don't have a drill press then a spacing jig and possibly clamping more than one table piece would also work. An alignment jig could then be used to get the boards and holes lined up, trim the ends and away we go.

Because, until I had glued together the boards, I had no idea where to drill the holes. The glue-up process was hard enough as it was without having to align holes as well. I do own a drill press and did use it where possible on this project.

[Lost in the Woods]

Having never dealt with such a task, I would be inclined to first try to use the drill press to make the holes. I guess the table top must weigh quite a bit, and making sure of adequate support/suspension on the drill press is of major concern. I assume the throat of most drill presses is deep enough to accomodate the furthest from the edge holes on the workbench.

Has anybody used their floor standing drill press for drilling benchdog holes in their workbench top?

[Frank Pellow]

Originally Posted by Lost in the Woods

Having never dealt with such a task, I would be inclined to first try to use the drill press to make the holes. I guess the table top must weigh quite a bit, and making sure of adequate support/suspension on the drill press is of major concern. I assume the throat of most drill presses is deep enough to accomodate the furthest from the edge holes on the workbench.

Has anybody used their floor standing drill press for drilling benchdog holes in their workbench top?

Weigh quite a bit is an understatement! My guess is that it weighs about 150 pounds. I did not even contemplate attempting to manipulate that through my drill press. Also, the throat on my drill press (which is big one) is not deep enopugh to drill the middle row of holes.

[Frank Pellow]

(part 2 of 5)


2008 Feb 17:

I built the core of the base cabinet for my woodworking bench this week. This base cabinet will be very much like the mobile cart that I built last winter (see the thread: www.canadianwoodworking.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15336).

24) I experimented with using my router table to cut a long (almost 5 feet long) rabbet along the edge of a couple sections of plywood. I would normally cut this using a router on a guide rail, but I wanted to try this technique.

Woodworking bench 37 -Routing a rabbet on a cabinet part -small.JPG

It worked well:

Woodworking bench 38 -The rabbet -small.JPG

25) These two sheets also needed several dadaos and they were routed in the normal way:

Woodworking bench 39 -Routing a dado -small.JPG

26) Sunday was a bad day because I made a series of transcription and calculation errors. The first two arrors resulted in the base cabinet being 10 centimeters too wide and 4 centimetres too short. I dealt with the too wide by cutting off a complete cross section, Most of this was accomplished with a guided circular saw:

Woodworking bench 40 -I made the base cabinet 10 cm too wide -1 -small.JPG

but, for some parts, I needed to use a good old hand saw (as shown to the left below):

Woodworking bench 41 -I made the base cabinet 10 cm too wide -2 -small.JPG Woodworking bench 42 -Cross section cut off cabinet -small.JPG

The cross section is that was removed is shown to the right above. The third mistake that I made was to remove a 12 centimetre wide portion rather than 10 centimetres leaving the cabinet two centimetres too narrow.

27) Five substantial legs were made by lamainating pieces of maple. Here is a photo of them dry fitted onto the cabinet:

Woodworking bench 43 -Testing the legs for fit -small.JPG

After the picture was taken, I compensated for the loss of two centimeters in width by laminating more maple onto the three legs on the right hand side. I compensated for the fact that the cabinet was 4 centimetres too short by increasing the distance that the four corner legs projected beyond the cabinet.

The four corner legs will hold the bench. Notice that the legs are higher than the cabinet. This is so there will be space between the top of the cabinet and the bottom of the bench in order to accommodate things such as hold downs inserted through dog holes on the bench.

28) Now we get to mistake number 5. The legs were supposed to project 95 mm above the cabinet top but I forgot that I would be adding a layer of ¾” MDH as well as one of ¼” hardboard on top of the double layer of plywood. Once this has been done the legs will only project 70 mm. I will correct this by adding shims that fit between the legs and the bench top. In fact, I think that I will make this a feature whereby it will be possible to have the bench at different heights by adding zero, one, or more shims.

[Frank Pellow]

(part 3 of 5)


2008 Feb 24:

I got quite a bit done on the bench this week and figure that it should be completed by this time next week. Continuing on with the construction “story”:

29) I drilled a series of eight dog holes into the three legs on one side of the bench. In the photo below the edges of the holes are being slightly rounded using a 1/8 inch roundover bit. The same thing will be done with the dog holes in the bench top.

Woodworking bench 44 -Rounding over the top of some dog holes -small.JPG

30) The maple portions of the bench are being finished with Tung Oil. I like Hendrik Varju’s bench and had planned to finish mine like he had done –that is using 7 layers of Tung Oil mixed with a slight amount of Japan Drier. That was going to take a LOT of time and, after some reading and some discussion with others, I decided to opt instead for one coat of Tung Oil Sealer followed by three coats Polymerized Tung Oil. That does not take quite as long and the temperature need not be as high for the curing. Hendrik warned me as follows when I told him what I had decided to do:

I'm not against polymerized Tung oil, but it isn't just regular Tung oil with driers added. It has been heat treated, effectively turning the finish into more of a varnish-like finish. It's much harder than Tung oil and while that might seem better, it can crack and peel when you pound heavily on the bench. Keep the finish very thin or it is even more likely. I prefer multiple coats of regular Tung oil which doesn't build up a hard film. It can be recoated at any time and it never cracks or peels off.

All sides of the maple need to be finished. The oil is rubbed on left 10 minutes then rubbed off. Then one waits for 24 hours, smoothes the surface with very fine steel wool, then does the next coat. The photo below shows the underside of the bench after the Sealer coat plus one coat of Medium Luster Tung oil:

Woodworking bench 45 -A coat of Tung Oil is now on the underside of the bench top -small.JPG

31) After 3 coats were applied to the back, the bench was flipped over (well, weighing what it does, not exactly flipped), the edges and the dog holes were rounded over with a router, then the top and sides were sanded extensively using a Festool Rotex sander with 80, 120, 180, and 220 grit paper:

Woodworking bench 46 -Sanding the top of the bench -small.JPG

32) Next the bench top was sealed, then finished with 3 Tung oil coats. In the picture to the left below sealer is being applied to the interior of a dog hole using a bottle brush.

Woodworking bench 47 -Getting sealer into the dog holes with a bottle brush -small.JPG Woodworking bench 48 -Applying sealer to the top of the bench -small.JPG

And in the picture to the right above sealer is being applied to the entire top.

33) Returning to the base cabinet. First of all, all plywood parts were finished with two coats of Spar Urethane. All five legs were bolted to the carcass using a couple of 5 inch lag bolts per leg:

Woodworking bench 49 -Attaching a leg to the cabinet -small.JPG

34) Then casters were screwed to both the legs and carcass at each of the four corners:

Woodworking bench 50 -Attaching a caster to cabinet -small.JPG

[Frank Pellow]

(part 4 of 5)


2008 Mar 1:

I almost finished my workbench this week.

35) First of all, I completed the three coats of polymerized Tung oil on the top. I am very very happy with the result –it’s the smoothest finish that I have ever applied to anything.

Next, a layer of ¾” MDF was glued and screwed to the top. On top of that I screwed ¼ hardboard put on a coat of Spar Urethane then two coats of Johnson’s Paste Wax. I don’t expect to use the cabinet without the bench-top attached very often, but I am now prepared to do so.

36) The next thing I needed to do was to devise a method for attaching the cabinet-base to the bench-top. I thought that the hardware used to attach bed rails to head and foot boards would do the job, so I bought a set of four attachments intending to place a set at each of the four corners. Here is a picture showing the two components at one of the corners:

Woodworking bench 51 -Bed Rail Connection -small.JPG

In this picture the bench top is standing on its side and the hardware is attached to the underside. The two projections on the underside of the bench slide into the slots in the companion hardware attached to the leg. This would have worked well if the bench were not so heavy or if I could always count on help when I wanted to remove the top –but I want to be able to insert and remove the top all by myself. What to do?

37) I like the way that the hardware shown above establishes a precise position for the top- on the leg, so I decided to keep the hardware for one corner. It’s possible for me to position one corner by myself. Once that corner is properly positioned, it is easy to move the top to an appropriate position on the other four corners. After much thought, I came up with the idea of using barrel bolts on the other three legs and drilling holes to receive the bolts on the underside of the bench. The bolts can be slid into place after the bench top has been placed in its desired position. The picture below shows a barrel bolt on one leg and a receiving hole drilled on the underside of the bench (which is, again, standing on its side).

Woodworking bench 52 -Barrel Bolt Connection -small.JPG

I am using a large barrel bolt (the one shown) on one leg and smaller barrel bolts on the other two legs.

38) On the side of the bench where the vise is mounted, I am installing 8 home-made drawers. On the non-vise end I installed a bank of Veritas so called “toolbox trays” and to the right of that there will probably be a couple of cubby holes.

Woodworking bench 54 -Drawers -small.JPG

The home-made drawers in the picture are not yet finished or mounted.

39) On the other side of the bench, I placed the three legs that have dog holes.

Woodworking bench 55 -The side of the bech where the legs have dog holes -small.JPG

Some time in the future I might build a leg vise on this side. But, for now, I am planning to experiment with Veritas surface clamps, one of which I have already. It is shown in one of the do holes in the left leg. Below is a picture from the Lee Valley web site showing the clamps in use. Perhaps, with a few of these clamps I will decide that a leg vise is superfluous.

veritas surface clamp.jpg

40) I did hit a snag. The end vise is not working properly. Like the technology started by Record, it is supposed to be “quick release” which means that turning it a couple of turns anti-clockwise frees up the vise so that it can be pulled or pushed to any position. Turning a quick release vise a couple of turns clockwise then engages it and allows one to tighten the vise again. Right now I can only get the vise to engage again sporadically. On Saturday morning I took the vise into Lee Valley and left it to see if some expert there can determine what the problem is.

[Frank Pellow]

(part 5 of 5)

2008 Mar 7:

I finally finished my woodworking bench this week.

40 –continued) First of all, someone at Lee Valley found that the problem with my vise was that the manufacturer had left a glob of paint in the works. Now that the glob has been removed the vise works well.

41) I installed three shelves with ¾ inch holes to hold bench dogs, hold downs, clamps, etc on one side of the bench. The offset chuck on my Festool drill came in handy again:

Woodworking bench 56 -The offset chuck on my Festool drill comes in handy -small.JPG

It’s not something I use a lot, but when I need to drill or screw close to a wall, I really appreciate the chuck.

42) I decided, for now at least, not to make shims to raise the height of the bench. Someone at the Festool Owners Group forum to me that: “To determine the correct height of your own personal bench, stand erect with your arms down straight by your side, as if you are "at attention". Without moving your hands, stick your thumbs out straight and they should sit on top of your workbench.” I took the test as shown in the photo below and the current height is bang on.

Woodworking bench 57 -Bench height test -small.JPG

43) Here is a picture of the underside on the bench-top resting on it’s side on the base-cabinet. All the barrel bolts are installed and all the holes are drilled.

Woodworking bench 58 -Bench top resting on it's side underside forward on the cabinet top -small.JPG

It takes about a minute for me to install the top and about the same amount of time top remove it. The top is heavy but not so heavy that I can’t do these operations by myself.

44) The shelves for the bench-dogs, hold-downs, etc. work well. Here is photo of that side of the bench:

Woodworking bench 59 -Finished Bench -Vertical dog hole side -small.JPG

45) And here are a couple of photos of the other side of the bench:

Woodworking bench 60 -Finished Bench -Drawer and vise side -small.JPG Woodworking bench 61 -Finished Bench -Veritas drawer end -small.JPG

Notice the a bank of Veritas “toolbox” drawers on the end. I have these things all over the shop and they are very handy. There is a hole (14 cm wide, 49 cm high, and 34 cm deep) beside the drawers that I have not yet decided how I am going to use.


46) And, to complete the ‘tour around the bench’, here a photo of the vise end:

Woodworking bench 62 -Finished Bench -Vise and shelf end -small.JPG

47) The wooden drawers are mostly empty at this stage. In fact, the picture below shows the only contents of any of the drawers:

Woodworking bench 63 -Finished Bench -Two top drawers open -small.JPG

By the way, that’s the only hand plane that I currently own and it was my Dad’s. Over time, I plan to put drawer liners and dividers into them and, of course, to acquire more quality hand tools.

48) Being mobile, there was a minor concern that the bench would not be solid enough. So, I tested it with a few different tasks –such as the planing shown below:

Woodworking bench 64 -First use of finished bench -small.JPG

No problem -It’s solid and stable!

Wrap-up) The final dimensions of the bench, without vises, are 88 cm high by 60 cm wide by 165 cm long (that’s approximately 34.5 inches by 23.5 inches by 64 inches).

Over time, I expect the make a few additions and modifications to the bench. For example, right away, I set that I need a few higher up dog holes on the vertical plane. But, the important thing is that, at last, I have a real woodworking bench tailored to my specific needs. I am a “happy camper”.

[Drew in Victoria]

Very nice looking bench Frank. I am looking at building one myself in the near future. Hope you don't mind if I borrow some of your ideas?

[Jack in Nepean]

The bench is stunning, with an impressive attention to detail. Once finished and the drawers filled, you'll have to hire three men, two boys and a mule to move it.

That said, the drive by festool gloats are a bit much for the tool deprived, not to mention the K bodies.

[Edward G. Burlington]

Frank: Great looking bench! It will be stable enough and tough enough for anything you do. Do the castors stay solid when locked down? Some day you may need to add something if those castors get loose but there are times I wish I could move mine just a bit. Looks like you made it a good height for joinery and hand tools, a great addition to your shop.

Congratulations on getting it done, a big project for sure.

E.G.

[Woodwreck]

Sir: Your bench is as much a work of art and furniture in and of itself, as you are a gentlemen to take all the time to document and share your good work.

A word of caution is in order e.g. :p to now smear it with paint, gouge it with tools of the trade or normal abuse willl presumably run the risk of being accused of defacing a monument by the bench police.

Thank you for your fascinating project and particularly the annotations of your methods.

[ergeek]

Great post Frank

Thanks for taking the time.

[Rick Thom]

Your bench looks great! You've added many refinements that will be useful as well as handy reflecting the thought and planning you've put into it. Perhaps working for several years without it has been an advantage in a way because you knew which tools and operations would be frequently used and could keep them close at hand in the final result.
It will be interesting to see how this integrates with your Festool table. Since you do quite a lot of work with sheet goods, the large work surface will be very handy.
Some say that the table saw is the heart of a woodworking shop, but I think a good woodworking bench is.
Great job on journalizing as usual. Always clear, concise, instructive and interesting. The accountants have a question though... have we got a final tally of cost and labour hours invested?

[Frank Pellow]

Originally Posted by Drew in Victoria

Very nice looking bench Frank. I am looking at building one myself in the near future. Hope you don't mind if I borrow some of your ideas?

It would be great if you borrowed some of my ideas. The reason that I post so much detail about my projects is that some folks tell me that the detail has been interesting and/or helpful (or amusing?) to them.

[Frank Pellow]

Originally Posted by Jack in Nepean

The bench is stunning, with an impressive attention to detail. Once finished and the drawers filled, you'll have to hire three men, two boys and a mule to move it.

That said, the drive by festool gloats are a bit much for the tool deprived, not to mention the K bodies.

Thanks Jack. I hope that you are wrong about the the effort required to move it because the bench is supposed to be mobile (and right now it is).

[Frank Pellow]

Originally Posted by Edward G. Burlington

Frank: Great looking bench! It will be stable enough and tough enough for anything you do. Do the castors stay solid when locked down? Some day you may need to add something if those castors get loose but there are times I wish I could move mine just a bit. Looks like you made it a good height for joinery and hand tools, a great addition to your shop.

Congratulations on getting it done, a big project for sure.

E.G.

Thanks Ted. Its great to receive a compliment from the guy who made the best woodworking bench that I have ever seen (in person or in a picture).

The castors stay solid now but I will keep my eye on them. I didn't pay very much for the castors and it would not surprise me if someday I need to replace them.

[Frank Pellow]

Steve, thanks for your over-the-top praise. If you look closely, you will see that the bench is really very practical and not a ‘work of art’ as you say. For instance, the drawers are simply screwed and glued together, I did not bother to hide hardware, and you can see several places where I filled holes with Bondo. The bench is meant to be used (but probably not painted upon), I expect it to get dented and gouged, and I will probably fix most (but not all) of those dents and gouges.

Hans, thanks.

Rick, as you know, it was your bench that inspired me to make mine. Thanks also for your help with my bench. I will figure out the approximate cost for the accountants and let you know. My off-the-top guess is about $500.

[Keith H.]

Originally Posted by Rick Thom

Great job on journalizing as usual. Always clear, concise, instructive and interesting.

Ditto to that! Bang up job on the bench and documentary.

Cheers,
Keith.