Another Sellers MkII bench build & new workshop! Project #2

[DBT85]

............. but are the winding strips the same width? :?

They are! but I'm not standing the requisite 15 feet away from the nearest one to get an accurate reading. You think maybe I'm worrying about nothing and its actually fine? :lol: :lol:

 

[DBT85]

Not huge progress today.

I did manage to get that board out of twist though probably took too much off one corner so its a teensy bit thinner than it was. Just having trouble getting a nice square mating edge with the other board. To think I thought about doing this with sawn timber. In time, maybe.

Need more work on it tomorrow and hopefully I'll get it sorted out and I'll glue the aprons and get the wellboard sorted too.

 

[DBT85]

While tending the baby at 5 this morning it occured to me that, for my immediate needs, just buying a new length of 150x50mm might be best for the moment. I'll be keeping the twisted bits obviously and will work on them for the sake of learning, but they are so out that they'll be nearly 10+mm thinner by the time I'm done, if I ever get there.

Just got some from Travis and checked it was good before walking off. Saves me a bit of time.

Also just taken delivery of a Chapman brace and 32 auger bits that are in nice nick. Just need to see if the seller of the 99p Stanley hand drill I ordered goes through with the sale and I'll be able to complete the whole bench using only hand tools, because why not.

 

[MattRoberts]

Ah, the golden hour. I've contemplated many a woodworking project problem whilst absentmindedly cleaning sick off my shoulder...

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I'll be keeping the twisted bits obviously and will work on them for the sake of learning, but they are so out that they'll be nearly 10+mm thinner by the time I'm done, if I ever get there.

Just put it away until you come across something that needs short lengths.
If you've loads of pieces for any job sort the roughest out and get the shortest bits sorted out first. Quite often with construction timber there'll be a kick somewhere in the middle rather than a slow bow or wind, and thus less work to do. If you wish to find the easiest way to do a job, ask a lazy man.

 

[thetyreman]

that looks pretty badly twisted, you'll have to whey up if it's even worth removing the twist, you might have to remove too much wood, sometimes it's easier to just start again, on my second attempt at making the apron, I had better wood, same species same place even looked the same, and it didn't move at all, it can happen. As phil.p says you can always use the spare wood you have left over so not all is lost.

 

[DBT85]

With my twisted timber cast aside for the moment I set about making final adjustments to my new piece. After a little while (it's still rocket science to me dammit, in fact worse, as I play Kerbal), I got it sorted and got my aprons both glued up.

Next up it was time to tackle my benchtop. I set my Record #5 to give me some thick shavings by backing the cap iron off to about 3mm. It quite rapidly then took down my wonky top down to flat ish. Sadly my glueup wasn't great and I had some stairstepping at one end and some big joins to fix. That part at least was easy enough to correct. Both top and bottom were roughly flattened and then I started trying to remove the wind from the underside as per Sellers video.

Had to stop before I got it all the way done but I'm close. It's now not so much getting the edge down, but the hump in the middle. I'll get there.

Still need lots of practice with my planes as getting the surface flat has been a bit frustrating at times. I think I'm getting there though. More diagonal across the top than straight up and down seems to be helping.

Amazing how these YouTube gits make it look like your paraplegic aunt could do it blindfold.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The underside doesn't need to be flat as long as it's flat where it meets the frame. Flattening the whole of it is masochism.

 

[thetyreman]

when you're finished you'll feel and look like this:

 

[DBT85]

The underside doesn't need to be flat as long as it's flat where it meets the frame. Flattening the whole of it is masochism.

It does at least need to be out of twist where it meets the frame though which is all I've been worrying about thus far.

If it's twisted where it is secured to the top of the legs then it's just going to try and lift one corner.

I suppose the weight of it all might pull it out of twist a bit, bit I've no idea how much I can rely on that yet.

I'm close.

Yes it's 6:25 and yes the baby has me awake. :shock: :shock: :shock:

 

[DBT85]

Lots going on today so I managed to spend a wholesome 37 minutes in the shop.

Aprons have glued up nicely and require minimal planing which is great.

Also, I checked my Record #5 sole against my Starrett Combi square and, in shocking news, the #5 isn't flat. Probably should have checked that before as its been making me think I'm not planing flat when I actually have. Anyway, I've 1mm of twist over a 5ft distance so a tiny more work and that'll be sorted.

Also had a quick look at my new old auger bits and they look to be in good nick all told. Should be a little work to get them sharp and I'll be off.

Just having the aprons glued and the top nearly sorted is making me feel like progress is being made. Still so much to do though.

 

[NickN]

37 minutes eh? You beat me by 6 minutes, I only managed 31 minutes before a 10 hour shift, but having had an awfully miserable day yesterday with a bad cold, it's now clearing up nicely, at last.

 

[DBT85]

37 minutes eh? You beat me by 6 minutes, I only managed 31 minutes before a 10 hour shift, but having had an awfully miserable day yesterday with a bad cold, it's now clearing up nicely, at last.

Me not popping over sounds like a wise choice in the end!

 

[DBT85]

Last update for a few days.

Aprons are now both planed flat, square and the benchtop is also done.

Also got the wellboard glued up. Since the boards I bought are only 21mm I was able to plane the edge of both mating surfaces at the same time, so got a nice joint.

Then I took half an hour to do a minor tune up on my Stanley #4. The blade was sharp from my earlier sharpening session, but the depth adjust thread was a bit sticky and was undoing the thread from the frog making it unusable. A strip down, brief clean, oil and a tiny drop of threadlock on the thread had prevented it moving since.

Next up it was time to start planing the rails and making sure they were out of twist. Substantially easier on shorter boards!

Got another week off work coming up next week so should finally finish the rails and then the legs, and then start chopping bits of wood out. (hammer)

 

[MikeG.]

.........Just having trouble getting a nice square mating edge with the other board.......

Put the two boards together, edge to edge, and lightly clamp them at the ends (with the clamps under the boards). If the gap is really bad, run a circular saw along the join, re-clamp (lightly) and repeat. Once the gap has gone, plane them up. If the gap isn't too bad, run a hand-saw along the join. These techniques essentially just knock the high points off. You aren't concerned with getting a pair of straight edges, so much as a pair of meeting edges.

 

[DBT85]

.........Just having trouble getting a nice square mating edge with the other board.......

Put the two boards together, edge to edge, and lightly clamp them at the ends (with the clamps under the boards). If the gap is really bad, run a circular saw along the join, re-clamp (lightly) and repeat. Once the gap has gone, plane them up. If the gap isn't too bad, run a hand-saw along the join. These techniques essentially just knock the high points off. You aren't concerned with getting a pair of straight edges, so much as a pair of meeting edges.

More great advice. Thanks Mike.

My issues were in part due to not getting my boards actually flat even if they had no twist. So if I used the rule of my square on the face and the stock agsainst the edge, I was out (with the rule being longer), but if I used the rule on the edge and the stock on the face, I was in.

Just lots of little learning to do here and there.

I'm really pleased with how its coming so far. I had to remove more from the top than I'd have liked, but needs must when the devil vomits into your kettle. I think it's still going to come in at at least the 60mm spec from PS cut list.

Really can't wait to get the rails and legs sorted so that I can start on my joinery. My only other attempt at such before was on my dining table and the results were.... well it worked. Lets leave it there. There's a reason my dining table is one of my "to do" projects once the bench and workshop are set up to my satisfaction.

It's also been great doing this little log and following along with Nick's, as the tips and advice from you guys have been invaluable.

 

[MattRoberts]

Where are the photos?! Looking forward to seeing your progress

 

[DBT85]

Where are the photos?! Looking forward to seeing your progress

Ahh I didn't bother as bits of wood out of clamps and planed don't look too dissimilar to bits of wood in clamps lol.

Lots more pics as I start chopping holes in things!

 

[NickN]

Ahh I didn't bother as bits of wood out of clamps and planed don't look too dissimilar to bits of wood in clamps lol.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Looking forward to your next update *with photos*

 

[DBT85]

Despite appearances I have actually been quite active in trying to progress with this!

Pretty much every length I had cut for this had twist/bow/cup in it and so I've been beavering away at them to try and fix it all. It's taken time and its been mildly frustrating at times, but I'm there. The only thing left to plane is the wellboard which, as you can see, still lives inside its protective clamps.

My pile of shavings is really quite something now and will be put to good use once winter rolls around again and I need to get the fire going.

Today in the 55 whole minutes I got in there I realised that my legs were still only rough cut to length and also that I'd not left quite as much meat on them as I thought. My cuts were all mostly quite good but I've now got to get them to length and get my ends square. This one seemed one of the worst offenders. My knife wall showing a nice line all around.

So I set about sorting that out. Not that easy especially when one doesnt have a nice sturdy workbench in/on which to clamp it. I got there in the end, I think. Tomorrow I'll hopefully be getting some more done.

Soon(TM) I'll actually start doing some joinery.