mvflaim

I submitted a piece. Let me know what you think

zoom batta boom boom

Your work belongs in the Smithsonian.

Hi Michael,

Thanks for the compliment. The dimensions are:48 1/2" L x 20 1/2" W x 25" T

Mike

Some of my personal non-woodworking favortie tools are:

1> Paraffin Wax; for rubbing over the soles of a bench plane so that it slides better

2> Postal Scale; for acurrately measuring shellac flakes

3> Hot Plate; for use in steam bending, sand shading and hide glue

4> Cast Iron Skillet; for sand shading

5> Canning Jars; for keeping shallac, dyes and stains in

6> Tea Kettle; for steam bending

7> Socket Set; for tuning up machines

8> Sirius Sattellite Radio; because commercial radio blows

Thanks! I finally win something!

A carriage makers rabbet plane.

Hi Bob,

I've played around with it a lot and so far so good. I really can't see any way it could be approved upon. Brian did a great job designing it. The biggest caveat to the horse is the size of the head. Since it's only 4 1/4" wide, I can't really stick big stock (like a chair seat) in the horse.

As far as a carving bench incorporated into it, I guess you could remove the arms and make a new wide head with hold down clamps on it and stick it through the horse body. ???

Sign me up. I need this DVD.

As painful as it is to watch these type of videos, it's vitally important that we realize the apparent danger we face while working with wood. Good video!

This book is on my wishlist

ncrob,

I would say the racking came from poorly design mortise and tenon joints. The tenons on the stretchers were too small for the legs as they were only about an inch deep. I built the bench from plans from a ShopNotes magazine back in '93 and I believe I made the tenons to spec.

I just put my old bench on craigslist tonight for $50 and have had a couple of inquiries on it already. It definetly needs a new revamped top as the poplar has split terribly but I'm sure someone will give it a good home.

Book has gotten a few good reviews on Amazon. I put it on my wish list.

This is an excelelnt book full of inspiration.

I have noticed that there are a lot of good books by Fox Chapel Publishing out recently. The Bending Wood book is awesome.

Hi TaffGoch,

SketchUp is absolutely amazing. I need to learn how to use it someday.

Thanks for the link,
Mike

Hi Tomkontis,

The idea of using southern yellow pine to construct the bench came from Chris Schwarz's book "Workbenches". He makes a strong argument about the benefits of pine in chapter two. However one of the biggest reasons for me using southern yellow pine was the cost. It only cost me $130 for the lumber to make the bench. Had I made it out of hard maple or ash it probably would have cost over $1000. Unfortunately I don't have that kind of cash lying around.

Thanks Mike

Hi windwoodtrader,

I'll avoid chopping at the bench as much as I can but I know in time the bench will be beaten to death. Over time the top will need to be resurfaced again so any minor dents and chisel marks will be removed when I plane it flat.

Calrosablerto,

Gracias por el cumplido. Espero que el diseño funciona para usted.

Mike

Thanks Chris,

I appreciate that. Good luck with your bench. Let us know how you made out.

This is an actual quote from the guy in the video from the YouTube website

jdat747 () Reply "I need to post my updated way of starting that saw. I use a strip of bike inner-tube now. Works great."

He's still using the saw!!!

Hi Rhysling,

I did consider putting an end cap on the bench but I wanted the vise jaw to be flush with the bench so I opted for the custom fit. I even considered of drilling holes on the bottom of the bench top where the screws would drive through and insert hardwood dowels so that the screw would bite into the side grain of the dowel. In the end I did neither. Maybe a mistake but when I routed out the top area for the vise plate and laid it into place, the vise sat pretty solidily. Then when I drilled 3" #14 wood screws into the top plate holes for the vise, it became even more solid. The one thing I did do for the end grain screws is when I initially tested fitted the vise, I used 1 1/2" #14 wood screws. Then for final fitting, I switched over to 3" #14 screws so that the screw would have fresh meat and hold better. Only time and use will tell if my vise becomes loose but I'm fairly confident it won't.

Thanks for the compliment,
Mike

I love your website. I wished my portfolio pages worked the way yours do.

I own all of Roy's books (even Khrushchev's Shoe). This is his best book IMHO. Very simple and straight forward to read. Makes an excellent reference book.

Ernest1,

I'm using southern yellow pine. 2 x 10's I bought at Home Depot.

Mike

Hi AAAndrew,

I built the top first because my legs are going to be attached to the top with through joinery. The back legs will be a mortise and tenon joint while the front legs will be a rising dovetail. I needed to know what the final top thickness will be (3 7/8") so that my joinery will fit well. Building your bench legs first will probably work just fine. I wouldn't worry about it.

The vises I will be using are a leg vise on the front and a Emmert Pattern Makers vise on the end. Unfortunately, you can't buy this size pattern maker's vise anymore. You can find an imported smaller version at a woodworking store but I don't know how well they work. As a matter of fact, I'm actually designing this entire bench around the pattermaker's vise. If you notice in some of the pictures, my top has a pennisula (for a lack of a better word) at the end. This area is 19" wide, the same width as my PM vise. The reason I did this is so I will be able to work on both sides of the vise with ease.

I glued up 22 boards that I orginally bought as eleven 2x10x8's ripped in half. If you notice in the second to last pic, my boards are uneven after the glue up. I'll scribe a line on both ends and cut them flush.(already done) This was another reason why I started with the top. Since I wanted an overhang of 18" on each end of the bench, I cleaned up the ends and then measured in on both sides to determine the length of my base.

Currently I'm milling the legs and tomorrow I'll be cutting the through mortise and tenons and rising dovetails. I'll keep you posted of my progess in a week or so.

Thanks and good luck with your top.
Mike

P.S. While laminating your boards together, you may want to follow Chris Schwartz's suggestion of planing down the middle of some boards so that they bond better. I didn't do that but I wished I had as it was a b*tch to get all the boards to squeeze together tightly.

Nice island! I'm jealous you found old reclaimed chestnut to work with. Nice find!

PT74,

Try the Iron Hand website. http://www.mprime.com/Emmert/index.htm

From there you may be able to find links in finding missing or replacement parts

I just started milling the lumber for the top yesterday. I'll post my progress in the coming week.

If you can't find the 1/2" punch at a dollar store, you can try Archiver's scrapbooking store. If there isn't an Archiver's store in your area, try the internet. They run about $5.00.

Excellent story! Makes you realize what the important things in life are.

Hi Bob,

The 66 is really a different animal than the 45 and in my opinion, a lot easier to use. There's not much to learn when you scrape and piece a metal across some wood to create a profile. The major issue you will have using the Stanley 66 is keeping the tool against the wood as the cutter will have a tendency to follow the grain and scratch over ruining your profile. Just make sure you start by taking light passes so the cutter will follow the initial channel on the next pass. Also the 66 has a lot more versatility over the 45 since you can easily make any profile your heart contents so long as the cutter fits within the blade holder. Cutting a new profile blade on a Stanley 45 is a lot more challenging.

The Stanley 45 is a great plow plane and is a joy to use. However, using the profile blades of the Stanley 45 is where you start to see the planes limitations. Because the 45 doesn't have a sole but rather uses skates to glide over the wood, the wood fibers are not being pressed down prior to the blade contacting the wood. This ends up creating the tear out you so frequently hear from frustrated users of the plane. You can’t really get a nice clean profile using these blades unless the plane is set up perfectly, your blades are razor sharp and the grain is running in your favor. If you plane against the grain you’ll probably end up having massive tear out on your profile. I often end up using my set of hollows and rounds when I need to form curved profiles or I simply switch over to using a router.

So all and all, I believe the Stanley 45 is a nice plow plane but not a great anything else. It may be the reason why Veritas recently introduced a small plow plane without offering any profile blades along with it. They may have found about it’s limitations as well.

dswcpa, So how did you make out?

Thanks for the vote of confidence guys. One of the best things about being a hobbyist woodworker is that I have plenty of time to experiment with new design ideas. Some go well, some not so well. But sometimes part of the fun is the challenge to bring my ideas to life. The biggest obstacle I faced building this piece was figuring out how to attach the cabinet to the base. In the end it turned out to be a big mortise and tenon joint glued into the skeleton of the back and covered with a 1/4" thin maple veneer.

I still have the cabinet and I may try to sell it in a consignment shop someday since there is no room left in storage. Someone may love it. Not me, and definitely not my wife!

Hi Billy, making the six chairs at once was by far the biggest project I ever worked on. There were chair parts everywhere in my shop! However, when I made all the same parts at one time, I discovered that they became much faster and easier to make once I knew what I was doing.

The finish is four coats of General Finishes Arm-R-Seal wiped on with an old t shirt. I sanded in between the coats with 320 grit sandpaper. The top was finalized with two grits of pumice and one grit of rottenstone rubbed with mineral oil. Thanks for the compliment!

Looks like the half blind dovetails have been cut by hand. Very well done! I agree with Bob, you're teasing us with only one picture.

Excellent work!

Thanks! I finished it with green stain when I built the chairs but later painted them black to match the the ver changing decor of the dining room.

Thanks Serge! My wife painted the piece. She was trying to capture a french rustic antique look you would find on pieces at Pottery Barn. A matching china cabinet is going to be built soon.

Nice skateboards Matt.. They have article written all over them. Teenagers across the country would thank you.