Finishing the tail vice screw

All the frame components have been machined to final dimension and I've made a start on trimming them to length before cutting mortices.

The maple screw I ordered from the US arrived last week, it's beautifully machined and I'm looking forward to working on the tail vice.

I've given the threaded parts several coats of danish oil in accordance with the instructions on the manufacturer's website and will wax them for smooth running prior to final assembly of the tail vice.

The hub and handle have had several coats of wax, I chose a simple wax finish for the exposed parts to keep them as close as possible to unfinished maple - bench tops here are typically left unfinished.

I picked up a nice Record 52 1/2 quick release vice on Ebay a while ago which will be fitted to the bench before making a start on the tail vice but there's a lot of work to be done before that...

Workbench design

Short entry to show you the design of the workbench project I'm undertaking. The sketch shows angled front legs but these will be vertical in the finished bench; rear legs will be angled.





The design is based on the standard student bench built here at the school with the addition of a wooden screw in the tail vice and deeper bottom rails and stretchers to accommodate a curve to the underside.


I may add trays to the tool well instead of the simple removable boards shown and a drawer between the vices once the bench is complete.

Do I need a low angle jointer - part 2

Having spent another day using the low angle jointer side-by-side with the No. 5 1/2 I've pretty much decided on the standard angle jointer over the low angle version and will buy the Lie Nielsen No. 7. My decision was based on the method of adjustment of the low angle plane and the fact that I'll be able to use the same plane irons in both bench planes.

I found the small knurled adjuster difficult to use; it's low down and very close to the bed of the plane, difficult to reach and the small diameter makes it hard to turn. Also, I miss the ability to adjust the depth of cut on-the-fly as I do with the No. 5 1/2.

This finding may affect my decision on a block plane which is one of the final hand tools left on the school's recommended tool list. Most of the LN block planes, both standard and low angle versions, are adjusted using the same small knurled knob so I may look elsewhere for a block plane.

I do like some of the other qualities of the low angle planes and interestingly, the LN low angle smoothing has a bailey type adjuster much like the bench planes so I may look at this if I need a smoothing plane in the future.

Do I need a low angle jointer plane?

While fine tuning the workbench frame components with my LN No. 5 1/2 jack plane I wondered if the process would be easier or quicker with a jointer plane; that would be the correct tool for the job after all.

I bought the 5 1/2 with the idea of adding a No. 7 when I started working on larger projects... like a workbench. I chose the 2 3/8" wide 5 1/2 over the 2" wide No. 5 because the parts can be used on a No. 7 so if I add a high angle frog or buy an extra blade or two I can use them in both planes.

I borrowed a No. 7 1/2  low angle jointer which has made the decision more difficult! The finish the low angle jointer gave was very good with no tear out, using the 5 1/2 on the same surface earlier had left some tear out but I did miss being able to adjust the depth of cut on the fly.

I'm used to setting-up and adjusting the 5 1/2 but doing this on the low angle plane didn't seem as intuitive which might just be what I'm used to. I don't have enough experience with the No. 7 1/2 to make a decision so I'll sharpen and set-up the plane in the morning and use it for another day.

I'd appreciate comments from anyone who had the same decision to make and how you decided to spend your money.

From the machine room to the bench room

I completed jointing and planing the workbench base components down to about 2 mm oversize today and apart from a couple that needed some extra attention on the jointer everything went well.


The next step is to refine the reference face and edge on each component with a bench plane before taking them down to final dimension back in the machine room. This can take a while depending on how each component looks after the rough milling process.





I started with the front stretcher and I've still got a bit of work to do - accepted tolerance here is 0.25 mm so any light showing beneath your straight edge has to be taken out by hand planing before you can move on the the next one.

Making a start on the workbench

This is the bench room where I spend my days; that's my bench on the left shortly before moving to the empty space under the window.

The bench in the middle is being built by Dan using iroko for the base and hard maple for the top with a steel face vice and traditional tail vice.

Dan's bench uses the school's standard design which has been built by many students over the years. Students often add their own touches but I'm told the basic design doesn't change very much.

Wanting to do something a little different, I chose to use hard maple throughout and ordered a maple screw for the tail vice from Lake Erie Toolworks in the US.




The timber for my workbench arrived last week and has been acclimatizing in the machine room ready to make a start this week.

After a close inspection to decide where each board would be used I started rough cutting the base components to length on the radial arm saw and ripping to width on the bandsaw.

All components are oversize and will be brought down to final dimension as work continues; why not follow the build over the coming weeks.

Welcome

After more than twenty years working in the construction industry for consulting engineers and an outsource service provider I decided to try something different...


Having taken a week long woodworking course in September 2009, I signed up for a year to learn how to make fine furniture at the International Woodworking School in Devon.


The blog will document my time in the workshops starting with the build of my workbench, the first large project made by everyone taking the course.