Woodworking Bench II My Bench Now and Future

This is a guest post by Chris Adkins of High Rock Woodworking.  It originally appeared at highrockwoodworking.com.  Feel free to check back there for more of Chriss woodworking rambling.

My Current Workbench

Like many woodworkers my two-car garage is my workshop but unfortunately I have not convinced my wife to permanently give up her side.  So I have my shop bench and tools set up on one side and have to pull her car out to actually work.

Because of the space restrictions everything in my shop needs to multi task.  If I had space to designate an area just for my workbench I would really enjoy the process of building a traditional English style woodworking bench, although I would probably go with a more American style top without the tool well. 

But for now I have adapted my workbench to the few and what I consider necessities.  For my bench top I used a solid 2/0x6/8 birch door with 4”x4” steel legs held together by 1”x1” steel welded together to form the frame.

The top is mounted on the frame and I attached a birch skirt.  The steel frame is probably a bit of overkill but I wanted a solid base to ensure that I have no movement when working.  I have also installed a shoulder vice and bench dog holes. 

Shaker Style Woodworking Bench

Based on my workbench there are several things that I would do again and several that I would change.  I like the base and will probably use it again only needing to build a top when I “upgrade” my workbench.  I also like the width, you will notice most woodworking benches are narrow, I alchoices thought that I would want a wider bench but the 24” width I have now is perfect.  A wider bench would not allow me to work all around my work.

The solid core door has served me well but it does have its restrictions, I have to be extra careful as the top is a veneer and almost any liquids on the top can destroy the thin veneer. 

Tail Vice

As for change I would definitely go with a double screw shoulder vice, the single screw shoulder vice that I have does not provide even pressure when clamping on one end and I often have to use spacer blocks at the other end to even the pressure.  I would also add a tail vise as my woodworking develops I find that I spend more time jointing and planing my boards by hand.  A tail vise would allow me many more options for securing the boards and my work.  With my current top it was not feasible to install a tail vice but it is difficult to clamp long boards for planing.     

In the end I will close the same choice as I opened in part one of this series, the perfect woodworking bench is what works best for you and your situation.  If I had all the time, space, and resources I would probably have a woodworking bench that looked like something belonging to inspector gadget but for now I am happy to continue to improve on what I have and have fun doing it.

Keep on woodworking!

Chris Adkins

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BooYah!

BooYah was a typical war cry of mine after I schooled an opponent in 3 to 4 turns with my Goblin Deck. I’ve not said it for years.I said it today. Many times. BooYah!I said it over and over because, you see, contrary to earlier reports I will be attending Woodworking in America, 2011.Getting here has been a long road, and before I get too excited there are two things I need say:First, I owe a great deal of gratitude to many people for allowing me the opportunity to go. First on that list are the Pediatric Oncology and Oncological Surgery units of the Long Island Jewish Medical Center. Then, of course, my wife. She’s taking on the burden of the kids for four (4) full days (Thursday & Friday are school holidays). Finally I need to thank my family for stepping up and taking care of the kids on the nights my wife works (and taking them to Cub Scouts, Bowling & Soccer) when my wife works.The second thing that needs to be said is a big shout out to all that will be unable to make it WIA. Great woodworking friends such at Jon McGrath, Aaron Marshall, Scott Meek, Al Navas, Marc Spagnolo and Josh Ulloa will be missing it.

After last year, the thought of missing it this year (especially on top of all that is going on) was a serious downer. I’d been in a funk for days. To all my friends who are going to miss it, I know how life intrudes. We’ll be thinking of you and we’ll all be doing out best to attend WIA 2012 also. So put it on the calender now, and we’ll call it a date.

In the mean time, if you are going to miss WIA this year, be sure to join in Google +. Al Navas is setting up a Hangout for all to join in. It’ll be a lot easier to schedule than WIA, and it’ll feature the best part of WIA . . . the people.

WIA11 The Maloof Leg to Seat Joint w Charles Brock

I had the intention of writing up every class I attended at WIA. Though that didnt quite happen, I did manage half of a class description for the first class I took. This is a quick review I wrote while in the class.

Charles Brock describes how to make the cut on the table saw.

Charles began by addressing the issue of Maloof inspired. Hes right when he says hes continuing a tradition and creating his own (beautiful) interpretations.
The focus of this class is how Charles joins the legs to the seats. He uses a rabbeted notch joint. Its a similar point to Maloof, with Charless own choice of making the splay.

The class was lively and Charles is a warm and friendly Southern Gentlemen. The class served as a good primer to this useful chair joint. If you know the joint already, the class is a bit repetitive.
And no, he doesnt sell the hat.

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