Big slab planing and a drama (sort of).

Long time since my last post. We just came out from 3 weeks of vacation (at home of course) that we spent doing some long due home renovations.
Still I took the opportunity of the nice weather coming back to start planing some big slabs of white pine to prepare them for the bench I want to build. It is a joy to plane outside under a shining sun!

Start planing the slabs.

This was also the opportunity to play with the latest tool I got, a Millers Falls #88 jointer plane fence. I got it in perfect shape, it just needed a bit of cleaning and was ready to be back to work.

I mount it on my Stanley #7 and used it for the first time. At first it was a bit strange to use but when I got used to it I found it nice. With this, it is easy to follow a long straight edge.

Trying my Millers Falls #88 jointer fence.

After a while, and a bunch of shavings, it was time to clean up the deck a bit.

Time for a good sweep to collect the shavings.

And then came the drama... My Stanley #7 was resting peacefully on the slab when I heard a big "bang"... the plane felt down on the deck. The result was immediate:

Resulting effect of a fall.

I was lucky enough that my deck was made in wood so the shock was not too hard on the plane sole and the only damage was a broken tote and a slightly bent threaded rod.

It was easy to get the rod back straight. For the tote I used epoxy to glue it back in one piece.

Tote glued back in one piece.

After slight sanding and a coat of finish, it will be almost as new.

Anyway, lesson learned: When the job is done, put the plane back to its shelf!

Addition to my shop

After having finished my last project I decided to build some additional shelves for my shop. I was fed up to see all my planes taking my workbench space so it was time to sort that out. 

I built this on the same design as my other shelves for my braces and hand drills. Unfortunately I did not think about taking much pictures about the construction.

Gluing up the last pieces

For this one I added some support that will rest on the workbench below. The shelf itself is quite heavy but with the addition of all the plane weight I thought it was preferable to have this resting of some surface instead of putting all the strength on the wall, even if screwed in the inner studs.

At the end this is the final result.

Final setup.

Close-up

The shelves are built around my screen and this is where vintage classic tools meet with technology. I find a screen to be a very convenient tool to display a schema or plan of your project. It is easy to take a take a picture of your plan  with your phone if you draw it on paper, share your phone screen to the TV screen and you have a big size display board.

Now onto my net project. I need to build a bathroom vanity for my master bedroom. For this I came up with something that will schematically look like that:

First draft

The top will receive the vessel sink and faucet. Pretty simple and straightforward looking but this is the kind of design I like the most.

The sink is ordered and I will wait to receive it before starting any more detailed plan so to check for correct sizing. 

Sawyer bench

I need to cut the top board to be able to finish my TV stand project and as written in my last post, I wanted to make a sawyer bench to be more comfortable when sawing. So I put the TV stand on hold for few days so to build my sawyer bench.

After some research on this subject and after seeing some variations about it, I based mine on the one from Tom Fidgen. You can see some example of his design (well not sure if this is his design but the design he documented at least) here.

I however adapted the dimensions described in his book to the wood I already have in my shop as the goal here is to use what I already have that is to say mostly some offcut from other project(s).

In summary mine will be 19^1/2 inches high, 36 inches long and around 15^1/2 inches wide.
Legs are 1^1/2x2^1/2 , the two top boards are 1^1/2x7^1/2, the stretchers are 3/4x3^1/2, same for the aprons, and finally the cleat are 1x1 scraps.

The reason for these dimensions is to maximize wood usage and minimize waste. This said lets jump into the real work!

Step 1: Cut all parts to length.

This is an easy one. I used the my Stanley miter box to be sure to cut square without headache but this can be done directly with a back saw.

A bunch of parts cut to length.

Step 2: Give it some nice legs

Basically two things need to be done on each leg. First cut the notch on the end of the leg where it will be attached to the top board, second cut the notch on the leg for the lap join with the horizontal stretcher.
I used the top board to mark the notch size on the leg top end and the stretcher to mark the size of the bottom notch, 3 inches from the leg bottom end.

For the two straight legs, the top notch is easy, just cut on one side with a rip saw and the other side with a crosscut, clean the cut with a chisel or better with a shoulder plane and you are done.

For the slanted legs I started to cut each end to the correct angle, then marked the top board thickness and finally the cut. Depth of cut should be half of the leg but this does not really matter provided the leg is used to mark the top board afterward.

Slanted legs top cut.

For the notch for the bottom stretcher, it is even easier. Cut each side with the crosscut saw, then saw parallel cuts in the waste and chop it with a chisel.

Multiple cuts on the waste...

...and chop chop chop.

Finally I used a shoulder plane to clean the cut shoulders and bottom carefully checking the depth and width of the cut.

Few pass with the shoulder plane and we are done.

Step 3: Top boards joinery

The two top boards need to be notched the same way the legs lap joins were cut. I used the legs to mark the cut depth and the stretchers to mark the cut width. It does not really matter where the cut are located (meaning no need to exactly measure from ends) provided that they are the same on the two boards and matching legs and stretchers.

Step 4: Dry fit stretchers and legs assembly

After having cleaned the joins it is time to test the legs and stretchers assembly. It should give a snug fit with no gap.

Legs and stretcher assembly dry fit...

...no gap

Then dry fit the assembly with each top boards.

Top board and legs assembly dry fit.

The two assemblies side by side.

Step 5: Aprons and cleats.

The last parts to be made are the two aprons and cleats. I first cut one apron end to the same angle as the slanted legs, then positioned it between the two legs on the side by side dry fit and marked the other end with a  pencil. I added 2 inches to the marked line for the middle space (but this can be any width) and cut the other end square.
The same thing needs to be done to the cleats, minus the legs depth.
Finally I glued the cleats on the aprons, done.

Apron and cleat assemblies.

Step 6: Bird mouth, round and bevels.

Now that all parts are done, the last thing to do before final assembly is to finish the pieces. I cut the bird mouth on the top boards, rounded corners and beveled all edges.

Mouth bird and rounded corners.

Step 7: Final assembly

The final assembly is pretty straightforward. First glue legs and stretchers.

Legs and stretcher glued.

When dry, assemble with each top board.

Legs and top board glued.

Reinforce all joins with dowels.
I used 3/8" dowels for legs and stretcher joins...

Legs and stretcher join reinforced with 3/8" dowels.

...and 5/16" dowels for top board joins.

Top board join reinforced with 5/16" dowels.

Lastly I affixed the aprons and cleats with screws.

Step 8: Step back and enjoy.

Now that my long awaited sawyer bench is done I can enjoy looking at it.

Bird mouth...

Butt view.

I really enjoyed building this bench, first because I wanted one for quite some time and also because it was really a joy to work on it.

I like it very much!

I will make a fence, drill holes for holdfast and apply some finish later as I first need to use it to finalize my TV stand.

60 mortises later...

A while ago I began to work on an extension to my workbench, starting with the workbench legs. After having done the 4 front legs I took care of the 4 back legs.
This time I used my new Stanley 49 auger bit depth stop instead of a simple piece of tape. I got this one recently and was eager to use it.

The Stanley 49 depth stop.

I must admit that I am very pleased with it. At first sight it did not inspired me much but it revealed to be a nice little addition that held well on the bit, is easy to set, and much more precise than a piece of tape.
I applied to the back legs the same recipe as for the front legs, that is to say that I drilled out the mortise waste using the hand brace and then cleaned/chopped the mortise with a chisel. With the back legs the side mortise are located 1/2 inch from the leg side so I needed to be careful when chopping the waste so not to get a split leg.

Chopping the waste at 1/2" from the side.

After a while, and 60 mortises later, I am done with the legs.

A bunch of mortised legs.

Next is to take care of the stretchers. I traced the tenons using a marking knife, then highlighted the mark using a pencil.

The tenon traced on the stretcher.
Note that the tenon is starting from the top of the stretcher.

I then made a kerf on the waste side using a chisel so to guide the saw blade.

Kerf to guide the saw blade.

It takes some time to make these kerfs before sawing but I find it far easier and quicker to have a clean saw cut using this technique. I start with the crosscut of the tenon shoulders, checking to stay square during all the cut.

Tenon shoulder crosscut.

Clean square cut.

Then follows the rip cut...

Tenon shoulder rip cut. Note that the waste at the bottom
of the tenon is already removed on that picture.

The result is satisfying for me, I will clean the shoulders with the shoulder plane when I will adjust the tenon to its mortise.

A freshly cut tenon on the top stretcher...

...and a bunch of them.

A hair larger than 1/2 inch.

Next is to apply the same recipe to the bottom stretchers, so I start with the marked line and kerf...

Bottom stretchers marked and kerfed.
For these ones the tenon is centered.

...then cut square following the kerf. For these ones I started with the rip cut, followed by the cross cut.

Rip cutting the tenon...

... then cross cutting to remove the waste.

After 60 mortises, the 60 tenons were done, next will be to assemble all these, but before that I deserve a cold one!

Planning for a Roubo bench

Some years ago, my dad came to visit us and took the opportunity to build a pergola over my backyard deck. To build it, he used some really massive white pine slab cut on demand by a nearby sawmill. To give some proportion, the two main posts are 10"x10", the rafters are 4"x6" and the main rail is 4"x10".

Quite a massive frame.

Since then, I have some leftover that are drying for 4 years in my backyard.

A bucnh of massive slab waiting to find their utility.

These left over are white pine and of the following size:

• One 10" wide, 4" thick, 17' long.
• One 7" wide, 5" thick, 9' long.
• One 5" wide, 4" thick, 17' long.

This one will be cut in two pieces and assembled.

Looking at the size of these pieces, they would be a perfect choice to build the Roubo bench I want for such a long time. By assembling the first two slabs I will get a 27" wide, 8' long, 4" thick top. The central part would be 1" thicker, I may plane it to 4" or leave it as is, not sure yet.

The bench top, made by assembling two 10"x4" with a 7"x5".

 The last slab will be cute to make the legs that will be 4"x5" and 32" in height.

While I like the way Christopher Schwarz built the Roubo bench in his book "The Workbench Design Book", I want to be able to dismantle the bench to make it movable if needed. In other terms, I neither want to glue the stretchers tenons nor to use dowels to lock the legs and the benchtop. Not that I plan to move it here and there but if I build a Roubo bench, I want to keep it and bring it with me in the event I move to another place.

For the assembly of the legs and bench top I don't see it as an issue as the bench top should be heavy enough and the joints strong enough to keep everything in place.

This leaves me with a challenge, how to assemble the stretchers so the bench is stiff enough that it does not rattle and at the same time keep the ability to dismantle it (at least the legs) so I can move it to another location. I know that this can be easily achieved using some nuts and bolts but I do not want any nut nor bolt on my Roubo. One solution to this could be to use tusk keyed through (Thank you Bob) tenons.

For those who don't know (I guess you all know but just in case), a tusk keyed through tenon is a tenon locked by a wedge going through it.

Illustration of a tusk keyed through tenon.

Hopefully the wedge would be tight enough so the bench will remain stiff, and even if the wood dried a bit, I guess that one or two hit on the wedge with a mallet will tighten it enough from time to time.

Before starting to cut everything to length I need to build some strong sawhorses, but that is another story...

Workbench legs

After having spent too much time away from my shop to tackle some other tasks, it is time to get back to my workbench project. I ended my last wood butchering session with a bunch of legs cut to length.

These legs have been cut from square cedar post, well so I thought...

Not so square...

So after a good workout session using my Bailey #5 I finally got really square legs.

Better now.

I started to work on the front legs. Each of these will have 3 mortises on 3 faces, only the front facing will be plain. I started to mark the post center line and the mortise position.

Top mortise marked.

This is the first time I plan to do all these mortises by hand. For the first section of my workbench, as fool as I was, I used a power router thinking it was quicker. How much ignorant I was! I could not have been more wrong.

First I used my hand brace with a 1/2 auger bit to make a hole at each mortise end.

Hole drilled at each end of the mortise.

Then using the same bit I made holes all along the mortise length, taking great care to put the bit tip right on the center line.

Hole drilled all along.

Finally a short session with a sharp chisel and the waste was removed.

Using a chisel to remove the waste.

The whole process took me less than 10 minutes per mortise. This was almost the same time I needed to only properly set each leg into the jig I used with my power router. Power tools 0 / Hand tools 1!

Brief moment of satisfaction looking at my work. 

Now that my first 3 mortises are done on one leg, I still have 33 of them to make for the 4 front legs I need, some more upcoming pleasure!