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December 14, 2008 By

#38. WIA: Part 3 of 3 – Forgotten Workbenches and Workholding

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Total running time: 48 mins, 54 seconds

This episode is all about workholding:

  1. Face vises – Racking is the main reason The Schwarz does not like them.
  2. Leg vise: Elegant, cheap, GREAT!
  3. Shoulder vise: Best choice for dovetailing drawers – it is fast. It is great, but too complex.
  4. Crochet: Used with holdfasts, it is great, and cool.
  5. Sliding dog vise: Otherwise called the Wagon Vise. Recently installed one on of his benches.
  6. End (tail) vise on European-style benches: Fragile, and they sag!
  7. Dogs: Round or square? Likes square, bur coming around to round. It is hard to make square holes. The round dogs are best because there is a large after-market that caters to these.
  8. Battens: Offer an effective way to work: Low profile, and cool.
  9. Planing stops: Made from scraps; make them as thin and wide as possible; install on the face vise.
  10. Planing boards: Great if the workbench is not flat; Chris has made available a construction drawing on his blog.
  11. Deadman: Installed on his Roubo; has nothing but praise for it.
  12. Other benches: Concrete block bench; wheelwright’s bench, with leg vise and cabinets; the Modern Roubo”; the English hybrid, with angled leg vise but straight legs; Moxon’s bench; the “sink” bench (laughter!), which is a Shaker bench corrupted.

The Schwarz answered many questions, all terrific and relevant, until he ran out of time. The discussion could easily have run much longer, but everyone had to run to lunch, to the Marketplace, and to other terrific sessions.

I took a good look at the construction of the sliding deadman…

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December 11, 2008 By

#37. WIA: Part 2 of 3 – Forgotten Workbenches and Workholding

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Total running time: 39 mins., 52 seconds

In this episode Christopher Schwarz, Editor of Popular Woodworking and Woodworking Magazine, presents, discusses, and points out pros and cons of several benches and their features:

  1. The European bench: He is not happy with this form, but also is not anti-European-form. His problem with this one: People take old principles and apply them to other benches. He likes to apply the kitchen door test (typical sizes we work on) and the kitchen carcase test (pushes him to narrower benches) to all benches, for suitability.
  2. Materials: For example, the Nicholson bench required only a small amount of material. He likes soft woods for his benches; SYP (Southern yellow pine) does not move much, is stiff ((no flexing), it dents (no detriment), and he can flatten a workbench in 45 minutes using a #8 jointer hand plane diagonally. Also, SYP does not sag; however, one of his benches has developed a low spot i.n the middle. He believes the critical area that requires total flatness on a bench top is the front 8 inches to 10 inches.
  3. Roman style bench: This is the one he finds in most pro shops. Pros: It is simple, and stout. Con: No planing stops, etc.
  4. The French undercarriage: Pros: Great clamping ability. Con: Requires a log of material, primarily due to its massive legs.
  5. The English bench: Pros: Requires very little wood. Con: Undercarriage clamping is tough.
  6. The Danish bench: Pro: Easy to knock down. Don: Can’t clamp easily on the front.
  7. The Shaker bench: Pros: Great looks, and storage for everything and everybody. Cons: Hard to clamp on.
  8. Tool trays: Cons: They are always full of “stuff”.
  9. The Hayward bench: The thin top flexes; but the front apron takes away some of the flex.
  10. Top thickness: At 3″ to 4″, the beam strength is enough to provide support on the legs. Holdfasts reach their holding limit around 4 inches.
  11. Bench height: For hand planing, it should hit the joint between the pinkie and the palm of the hand.
  12. Bench width: Finds that 22″ is great, but 18″ tends to be tippy.
  13. Bench finish: NO slick film. The formula he uses is 50/50 BLO (boiled linseed oil) / varnish, with solvent added to make it possible to wipe on the mixture. There is no need to finish the underside, unless the owner wants to finish it.

Next: The ending of the session on Forgotten Workbenches and Workholding.

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Related posts: Watch more videos from Woodworking in America on this blog.

Filed Under: Berea, Blog, Conference, Tools, Video, Woodworking in America, Workbench Tagged With: , , , , , ,
December 4, 2008 By

#36. WIA: Part 1 of 3 – Forgotten Workbenches and Workholding

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Run time: 40 minutes, 21 seconds

First, a lengthy apology: The lighting in the room used for this session was challenging at best. As a result, I compensated exposure in the video camera manually, as the automatic system kept being fooled by some lights in the background. An overhead light was in front of the projections screen, which interfered with a small portion of the images. And I also I continued to have tripod problems, so panning side-to-side, and tilting, were terrible at best (I tried to keep these to a minimum).

Second: Be on the lookout for the moves, now famous, that lead to The Schwarz Dances. NOW you can see them in the context of his terrific presentation. Hint: Around 31:30, and also 36:45 of this Part.

Over the years, Christopher Schwarz has built many benches – from the Roman style door-and-saw horse, to much-improved models based on old references. And he has published a book that has become a true library reference for many woodworkers: Workbenches, From Design & Theory to Construction & Use.

Now to Part 1: From my notes, a mix of some comments and facts from the presentation by Christopher Schwarz. I hope the following will get your interest in watching the video:

  • Target: How to build a bench at a reasonable cost – It must appeal to readers. Thus, the $175 bench.
  • Evolution of a simple bench, over time.
  • “Fights” with Joel Moskowitz in Joel’s apartment, while looking at his world-class woodworking library – Roubo found; Plate 11, the start of The Schwarz’s “conversion”.
  • Built the first Roubo for $300, including the crochet (pronounced “crow-shay”, not “croh-chett”…) and leg vise, and put it through its paces.
  • Some comments on the minuses of the European benches.
  • His research led Chris to ask himself “…what other early, cool benches might be buried in the literature?”

I have several pages of notes, but won’t post the remainder here. It is all in the video.

Next: Part 2 of the session on Forgotten Workbenches and Workholding.

Related Posts:
More stuff from Woodworking in America on this blog.

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