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Workholding and a long face frame

June 20, 2011 By

I am back in the shop, after taking care of some outdoor jobs like re-sealing the entire deck, opening the swimming pool (finally!), and helping with transportation to Swim Team practice for three of our granddaughters.

This time I am helping our son-in-law make a face frame and doors for a built-in cabinet he created in the bathroom. The frame needed just a tiny bit of touch-up at the top one edge to fit the opening in the wall. This was a job for my shop-made, Krenov-inspired smoothing hand plane and good, steady holding of the frame on the bench.

To get the job done I wanted to make sure the frame did not move as I hand planed the edge to get a perfect fit. It turned out this was the first time I finally used the support system at the far right of the workbench:

Workholding and a very long face frame.

I remembered the right workbench leg has a set of five  rectangular holes that accept a wooden scrap, just for the purpose of assisting with workholding. It worked perfectly!

— Al Navas

Filed Under: Blog, Workbench

It is just a workbench

March 3, 2010 By

My workbench is just a workbench. Of course, I did not always think so; it was so nice and clean when I first bought it, but it’s not that way now. Over the years it has become a work “area”, a work horse of a fixture in the shop.

I mention this because two readers wrote me a note after they read recent articles about finishing components of a desk I am working on. They  asked if I always use the workbench to apply finish to components of an item I am working on. My answer is “it depends”.

For example, if I have items in the finishing room, I will use the workbench to apply finish; currently I have the large dust cover on the turntable in the finishing room, waiting for a warm(er) day when I can open the windows in the shop to allow makeup air to replace the air blown out by the exhaust fan. As I have been finishing only in the shop, all the dust has settled quite well; applying finish is a nice experience in the open shop, with barely-audible music in the background, and concentrating on the job.

Yesterday I applied a few wash coats of alcohol-based shellac to the quarter-sawn white oak aprons, and I used the workbench. I used some plastic sheets on the workbench, though, as I don’t want any coating film on the surface of the bench:

A workbench... for work.

I managed to get some shellac on the workbench top, as the plastic sheet had some small holes I missed. That’s fine, as I will simply scrape them off later. It is, after, only my workbench.

Lest you misunderstand me, I want to explain a little of the background, and why I feel the workbench should be treated as “just” a workbench. In early 2008 I discovered the bench top had developed a bad crown that did not allow things to sit flat on it:

Should I flatten it...?

I struggled for a couple of days, putting off the inevitable. And then I took things into my own hands, literally, and flattened the bench top – a hard decision, but it had to be done:

But it must be done...!

I invite you to watch the video I made during the flattening process. From start to finish, it took me 42 minutes to flatten the bench top – and my muscles reminded me of that workout for several days after! But I learned an important lesson that day; a workbench is a work area, and I learned I must treat it just like any other tool in the shop. If I have it, I will use it.

As I leave the shop, I like to look around, to see if the snow has caused any damage to tree or building. I saw some snow had started to melt, and was frozen in mid-stream during the night hours. Change is definitely in the air, as the warming trend continues in NW Missouri:

Floating snow...?

I would like to hear from you about your workbench:

  • Did you make your own bench? Or did you buy it?
  • Do you baby your workbench, or is it a workhorse in your shop?

— Al Navas

Filed Under: Blog, Finishing, Workbench Tagged With: ,

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

December 11, 2008 By

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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: , , , , , ,

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