"AArDvarK" wrote:

Super nice bench Nate! That beech should be excellent for it, a dense cross grain.
My chisel handles are euro-beech and can take a wooden mallet. But most imp-
ressive is that dovetail work on the tail vise! I cannot imagine how that could be
done with a router, the long and the short tails, very fancy work, and looks very
tricky to do. Many congrats! BTW what was your B/F cost?

Alex

Hi Alex,

Many thanks. I cut the dovetails by hand; they are double
half-blinds on the tail vise ends. It really isn't all that hard to
do hand dovetails ... There is a good article in FWW April '03 that
shows the procedure. Scott Landis' "The Workbench Book" also shows
several examples.

I paid $3.20 a bf for 8/4 beech. This is around $0.20 less than what
I can buy 4/4 hard maple for here. The guy I know at the lumber yard
said they got a good deal by buying a large quantity out of Germany.
I get a 10% discount at the lumber yard because they know me as a
regular customer (I'm a small potatoes buyer, but they are trying to
encourage the local amateurs like me).

Cheers,
Nate