Hi wreckers,

I finally finished up the last few details on the workbench I finally got
around to building. Although not as pretty as a lot of the benches I've
seen, including several recent posts, I think the functionality it
represents will still make it a joy to use. Since this is basically a step
up from a Workmate, there is no question that I'm going to be thrilled to
put it to use.

I'll post a few pics on ABPW, but you can see them all, as well as some
further details of the bench, at this website:
http://pages.cthome.net/logmanworld/workbench.htm

Let me know what you think!

Mike

"Mike in Mystic" wrote in message
. com...
Hi wreckers,

I finally finished up the last few details on the workbench I finally got
around to building. Although not as pretty as a lot of the benches I've
seen, including several recent posts, I think the functionality it
represents will still make it a joy to use. Since this is basically a
step
up from a Workmate, there is no question that I'm going to be thrilled to
put it to use.

I'll post a few pics on ABPW, but you can see them all, as well as some
further details of the bench, at this website:
http://pages.cthome.net/logmanworld/workbench.htm

Let me know what you think!

Mike



It looks perfect. Thanks for the reports and the great pictures. You should
be very proud!

Bob McBreen

Hi Bob,

The bench is far from perfect, but I think it will work for me. Thanks for
the kind words.

Mike

"RWM" wrote in message
...

"Mike in Mystic" wrote in message
. com...
Hi wreckers,

I finally finished up the last few details on the workbench I finally
got
around to building. Although not as pretty as a lot of the benches I've
seen, including several recent posts, I think the functionality it
represents will still make it a joy to use. Since this is basically a
step
up from a Workmate, there is no question that I'm going to be thrilled
to
put it to use.

I'll post a few pics on ABPW, but you can see them all, as well as some
further details of the bench, at this website:
http://pages.cthome.net/logmanworld/workbench.htm

Let me know what you think!

Mike



It looks perfect. Thanks for the reports and the great pictures. You
should
be very proud!

Bob McBreen

Mike in Mystic wrote:

Hi wreckers,

I finally finished up the last few details on the workbench I finally got
around to building. Although not as pretty as a lot of the benches I've
seen, including several recent posts, I think the functionality it
represents will still make it a joy to use. Since this is basically a step
up from a Workmate, there is no question that I'm going to be thrilled to
put it to use.

I'll post a few pics on ABPW, but you can see them all, as well as some
further details of the bench, at this website:
http://pages.cthome.net/logmanworld/workbench.htm

It looks very nice, but what I like best about it is that you've
obviously put a lot of thought into the various work-holding devices. I
especially like your setup for clamping boards for jointing. The little
trick of having a horizontal dog in the end-vise is a good one. (And
one that I'll steal from you as soon as I figure out how to adapt it to
my bench. :-)

I'm sure you'll get a lot of pleasure from the bench. Sometime down
the line you'll stop in the middle of working on a project and wonder
how you ever got by without such a stable work-surface. DAMHIKT.


Chuck Vance

nice bench, hope to have mine finished before the year is out. I like
your cordless drill too, have one just like it and the companion
circular saw. they both do a great job.

BRuce (Benson NC)

Mike in Mystic wrote:
Hi wreckers,

I finally finished up the last few details on the workbench I finally got
around to building. Although not as pretty as a lot of the benches I've
seen, including several recent posts, I think the functionality it
represents will still make it a joy to use. Since this is basically a step
up from a Workmate, there is no question that I'm going to be thrilled to
put it to use.

I'll post a few pics on ABPW, but you can see them all, as well as some
further details of the bench, at this website:
http://pages.cthome.net/logmanworld/workbench.htm

Let me know what you think!

Mike

Mike in Mystic wrote:

represents will still make it a joy to use. Since this is basically a
step up from a Workmate, there is no question that I'm going to be
thrilled to put it to use.

So far, the bestest thing about having a real workbench for me has been glue
day. I used to have to use these gigantic 48" pipe clamps for every little
thing that was bigger than 18". Of course, I still need the pipe clamps,
and can't ever have too many clamps, but the workbench is working out great
for this most of the time.

Only problem with mine so far is that my two most-used dog holes are already
wallowing out badly. Yes, that's the price I paid for grafting a poplar
top onto a pine substructure to make my own cheapass imitation of the bench
you're talking about. I understand that, but I was still hoping it would
be longer before I'd have to think up some way to make bushings for the
thing.

Let me know what you think!

I think you must be an aspiring Ted Turner or something. Looks for all the
world like you ripped off some photos from Sam's book and colorized
them.

Looks a lot better than my Frankenstein monster, but I'll bet it cost me
less to get the functionality I wanted out of my grossly unsuitable bench.
($0.)

How does that whole truss rod setup work in the field? I'm thinking about
retrofitting my bench with some judiciously-placed rods to try to improve
its ability to resist wracking.

How about weight? Is it pretty solid, or does it want to scoot around on
you?

Anyway, you executed that beautifully!

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/

Mike,
I couldn't find the scratches on the cover, but I think we all
understand how you feel about them.
Good job.

jmac

Hi jmac,

Did you see the close-up of the twin-screw vise? The 4th picture down on my
website? I don't know how you can miss them hehe.

Thanks for the encouragement.

Mike

--

There are no stupid questions.
There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.


"jmac" wrote in message
...
Mike,
I couldn't find the scratches on the cover, but I think we all
understand how you feel about them.
Good job.

jmac

Hi Bruce,

Thanks.

The Milwaukee drill earned it's weight and then some on this bench. All the
dog holes were drilled with it, as were many of the the joinery joles for
the bench base. Having the quick charger is a big plus. But the best thing
was the torque on this drill - never had a problem even in the hard maple
drilling a 3/4" auger bit. I know that some of the new impact drivers have
even more torque, but I can't see why you'd need more than this drill has.

Mike

--

There are no stupid questions.
There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.


BRuce wrote in message news:1069335401.308205@sj-nntpcache-5...
nice bench, hope to have mine finished before the year is out. I like
your cordless drill too, have one just like it and the companion
circular saw. they both do a great job.

BRuce (Benson NC)

Mike in Mystic wrote:
Hi wreckers,

I finally finished up the last few details on the workbench I finally
got
around to building. Although not as pretty as a lot of the benches I've
seen, including several recent posts, I think the functionality it
represents will still make it a joy to use. Since this is basically a
step
up from a Workmate, there is no question that I'm going to be thrilled
to
put it to use.

I'll post a few pics on ABPW, but you can see them all, as well as some
further details of the bench, at this website:
http://pages.cthome.net/logmanworld/workbench.htm

Let me know what you think!

Mike

Hi Chuck,

Thanks for the compliments. I can't take credit for any of the ideas
represented in this bench. Almost all of them came straight from Sam
Allen's bench. Strangely, he has the horizontal dog-holes in his plan for
this bench, but doesn't instruct the drilling of a horizontal dog-hole in
the end vise. The Veritas workbench and vise instructions do have this
shown, so it wasn't as if I had any eureka moment. I bet it'd be hard to
find any original workbench innovation in this day and age, considering
they've been in use for thousands of years.

And, believe me, having made do without a really good bench for a long time
has me already appreciating the bench even if I haven't used it much yet.

Mike

--

There are no stupid questions.
There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.


"Conan The Librarian" wrote in message
...
Mike in Mystic wrote:

Hi wreckers,

I finally finished up the last few details on the workbench I finally
got
around to building. Although not as pretty as a lot of the benches I've
seen, including several recent posts, I think the functionality it
represents will still make it a joy to use. Since this is basically a
step
up from a Workmate, there is no question that I'm going to be thrilled
to
put it to use.

I'll post a few pics on ABPW, but you can see them all, as well as some
further details of the bench, at this website:
http://pages.cthome.net/logmanworld/workbench.htm

It looks very nice, but what I like best about it is that you've
obviously put a lot of thought into the various work-holding devices. I
especially like your setup for clamping boards for jointing. The little
trick of having a horizontal dog in the end-vise is a good one. (And
one that I'll steal from you as soon as I figure out how to adapt it to
my bench. :-)

I'm sure you'll get a lot of pleasure from the bench. Sometime down
the line you'll stop in the middle of working on a project and wonder
how you ever got by without such a stable work-surface. DAMHIKT.


Chuck Vance

Hi Mike!

I was just noticing the thread title and wondered if you secured your
bench to your liking for some serious Neander-style, heavy duty, all
out, sweat inducing PLANING? G

DAVE

Mike in Mystic wrote:

Hi Bruce,

Thanks.

The Milwaukee drill earned it's weight and then some on this bench. All the
dog holes were drilled with it, as were many of the the joinery joles for
the bench base. Having the quick charger is a big plus. But the best thing
was the torque on this drill - never had a problem even in the hard maple
drilling a 3/4" auger bit. I know that some of the new impact drivers have
even more torque, but I can't see why you'd need more than this drill has.

Mike

--

There are no stupid questions.
There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.


BRuce wrote in message news:1069335401.308205@sj-nntpcache-5...

nice bench, hope to have mine finished before the year is out. I like
your cordless drill too, have one just like it and the companion
circular saw. they both do a great job.

BRuce (Benson NC)

Mike in Mystic wrote:

Hi wreckers,

I finally finished up the last few details on the workbench I finally

got

around to building. Although not as pretty as a lot of the benches I've
seen, including several recent posts, I think the functionality it
represents will still make it a joy to use. Since this is basically a

step

up from a Workmate, there is no question that I'm going to be thrilled

to

put it to use.

I'll post a few pics on ABPW, but you can see them all, as well as some
further details of the bench, at this website:
http://pages.cthome.net/logmanworld/workbench.htm

Let me know what you think!

Mike

Hi Dave,

I haven't really addressed that issue yet. I'll see how it goes, now that I
have the end vise on, and if I put some heavy power tools on the shelf,
maybe I won't need to do any more than make sure the thing is level and all
four feet are touching the floor evenly. I might try the sandpaper on the
bottom of the feet thing. I'm still not too keen on drilling holes in the
garage floor.

Mike

--

There are no stupid questions.
There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.


"Bay Area Dave" wrote in message
. com...
Hi Mike!

I was just noticing the thread title and wondered if you secured your
bench to your liking for some serious Neander-style, heavy duty, all
out, sweat inducing PLANING? G

DAVE

Mike in Mystic wrote:

Hi Bruce,

Thanks.

The Milwaukee drill earned it's weight and then some on this bench. All
the
dog holes were drilled with it, as were many of the the joinery joles
for
the bench base. Having the quick charger is a big plus. But the best
thing
was the torque on this drill - never had a problem even in the hard
maple
drilling a 3/4" auger bit. I know that some of the new impact drivers
have
even more torque, but I can't see why you'd need more than this drill
has.

Mike

--

There are no stupid questions.
There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.


BRuce wrote in message news:1069335401.308205@sj-nntpcache-5...

nice bench, hope to have mine finished before the year is out. I like
your cordless drill too, have one just like it and the companion
circular saw. they both do a great job.

BRuce (Benson NC)

Mike in Mystic wrote:

Hi wreckers,

I finally finished up the last few details on the workbench I finally

got

around to building. Although not as pretty as a lot of the benches
I've
seen, including several recent posts, I think the functionality it
represents will still make it a joy to use. Since this is basically a

step

up from a Workmate, there is no question that I'm going to be thrilled

to

put it to use.

I'll post a few pics on ABPW, but you can see them all, as well as some
further details of the bench, at this website:
http://pages.cthome.net/logmanworld/workbench.htm

Let me know what you think!

Mike

Mike in Mystic wrote:

I haven't really addressed that issue yet. I'll see how it goes, now that I
have the end vise on, and if I put some heavy power tools on the shelf,
maybe I won't need to do any more than make sure the thing is level and all
four feet are touching the floor evenly. I might try the sandpaper on the
bottom of the feet thing. I'm still not too keen on drilling holes in the
garage floor.

I must have missed the original thread, but in case it wasn't
mentioned, a great way to shim bench-legs is with those old hard rubber
mousepads. They grip the floor well, and they'll compensate for any
unevenness of your garage floor.


Chuck Vance

"Mike in Mystic" writes:
I'm still not too keen on drilling holes in the garage floor.

how about putting a piece of plywood down and L bracketing the legs to
it. then stand on the plywood when you are working...
all forces exerted by your upper body will be balanced by the counter
force from your lower body.

--
be safe.
flip
Verso l'esterno! Verso l'esterno! Deamons di ignoranza.
Remove origin of the word spam from address to reply (leave "+")

Can you picture Mike on the dance floor doing the Twist or Watusi?

dave

Philip Lewis wrote:

"Mike in Mystic" writes:

I'm still not too keen on drilling holes in the garage floor.


how about putting a piece of plywood down and L bracketing the legs to
it. then stand on the plywood when you are working...
all forces exerted by your upper body will be balanced by the counter
force from your lower body.

how did you maintain vertical? i will be drilling through prefinished
hardwood flooring and 2 x 3/4" plywood so it won't be as difficult but
vertical seems to be an issue.

yep, lots of power and the quick charger is very good. SWMBO got me the
package last year for Christmas and the "rebate" was another battery, so
one in the drill, one in the saw and one in the charger. I have never
had to wait for a battery to charge.

BRuce

Mike in Mystic wrote:

Hi Bruce,

Thanks.

The Milwaukee drill earned it's weight and then some on this bench. All the
dog holes were drilled with it, as were many of the the joinery joles for
the bench base. Having the quick charger is a big plus. But the best thing
was the torque on this drill - never had a problem even in the hard maple
drilling a 3/4" auger bit. I know that some of the new impact drivers have
even more torque, but I can't see why you'd need more than this drill has.

Mike

--

There are no stupid questions.
There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.


BRuce wrote in message news:1069335401.308205@sj-nntpcache-5...

nice bench, hope to have mine finished before the year is out. I like
your cordless drill too, have one just like it and the companion
circular saw. they both do a great job.

BRuce (Benson NC)

Mike in Mystic wrote:

Hi wreckers,

I finally finished up the last few details on the workbench I finally

got

around to building. Although not as pretty as a lot of the benches I've
seen, including several recent posts, I think the functionality it
represents will still make it a joy to use. Since this is basically a

step

up from a Workmate, there is no question that I'm going to be thrilled

to

put it to use.

I'll post a few pics on ABPW, but you can see them all, as well as some
further details of the bench, at this website:
http://pages.cthome.net/logmanworld/workbench.htm

Let me know what you think!

Mike

what do you mean by "maintaining vertical"? If you mean drilling the holes
perpendicular to the surface, then I follow. I used a drill guide
(http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...180,42311,4232
1&abspage=1&ccurrency=2&SID=)

(watch the wrap on the link)

This worked very well. It only accepts 3/8" shank bits though. I used a
3/4" auger bit for everything, and it worked fine.

I did end up destroying the drill guide, though. On the 2nd doghole in the
hard maple end vise jaw I didn't have as good a grip on the drill as I
thought and when the auger bit started to bit into the maple the torque
whipped the drill around, pinning my hand between the drill and one of the
guide posts. The bad thing was, the force from this was strong enough to
bend the shank where the drill chuck attaches to the sliding portion of the
drill guide by about 45 degrees. AND the trigger on the drill was stuck in
the depressed position, causing my fingers to be compressed between the
drill body and the guide bar. Needless to say it hurt like a B**ch and I
was yelling something fierce. It took a second or two to realize what was
causing the drill to keep trying to turn. Anyway, the moral of the story is
make sure you have a good grip on your drill when drilling in hardwoods,
especially when you have a drill that can put out some torque like that
Milwaukee. I did the remaining vise jaw dogholes freehand, as well as the
dog holes on the edge of the benchtop. I wouldn't have tried that with the
holes on the benchtop itself, though, and if I ever need to do this type of
drilling again I'll definitely buy another of these drill guides.

Mike

--

There are no stupid questions.
There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.


BRuce wrote in message news:1069360905.393745@sj-nntpcache-5...
how did you maintain vertical? i will be drilling through prefinished
hardwood flooring and 2 x 3/4" plywood so it won't be as difficult but
vertical seems to be an issue.

yep, lots of power and the quick charger is very good. SWMBO got me the
package last year for Christmas and the "rebate" was another battery, so
one in the drill, one in the saw and one in the charger. I have never
had to wait for a battery to charge.

BRuce

Mike in Mystic wrote:

Hi Bruce,

Thanks.

The Milwaukee drill earned it's weight and then some on this bench. All
the
dog holes were drilled with it, as were many of the the joinery joles
for
the bench base. Having the quick charger is a big plus. But the best
thing
was the torque on this drill - never had a problem even in the hard
maple
drilling a 3/4" auger bit. I know that some of the new impact drivers
have
even more torque, but I can't see why you'd need more than this drill
has.

Mike

--

There are no stupid questions.
There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.


BRuce wrote in message news:1069335401.308205@sj-nntpcache-5...

nice bench, hope to have mine finished before the year is out. I like
your cordless drill too, have one just like it and the companion
circular saw. they both do a great job.

BRuce (Benson NC)

Mike in Mystic wrote:

Hi wreckers,

I finally finished up the last few details on the workbench I finally

got

around to building. Although not as pretty as a lot of the benches
I've
seen, including several recent posts, I think the functionality it
represents will still make it a joy to use. Since this is basically a

step

up from a Workmate, there is no question that I'm going to be thrilled

to

put it to use.

I'll post a few pics on ABPW, but you can see them all, as well as some
further details of the bench, at this website:
http://pages.cthome.net/logmanworld/workbench.htm

Let me know what you think!

Mike

Hey Silvan,

Thanks for the compliments.


"Silvan" wrote in message
...

I think you must be an aspiring Ted Turner or something. Looks for all
the
world like you ripped off some photos from Sam's book and colorized
them.

Looks a lot better than my Frankenstein monster, but I'll bet it cost me
less to get the functionality I wanted out of my grossly unsuitable bench.
($0.)
Yes, you're right there. I figure I've got close to $500 in this bench.
This is mainly hardware. The Veritas twin-screw vise was $160, the Record
vise was $85 (got it on clearance), the bench dogs were $8/pair, the wonder
dogs were $23?/each, and the hold-down was $52. So, that's about $350. The
actual materials (MDF, masonite, lumber, truss rods, etc.) for the bench
weren't too bad. The contact cement was probably $25 on it's own. I guess
it's more like $425-450. Still, that's a lot less than many mail-order
benches. And I can reuse the vises whenever I upgrade to a solid 8/4 hard
maple bench. (probably not for 10 years hehe)

How does that whole truss rod setup work in the field? I'm thinking about
retrofitting my bench with some judiciously-placed rods to try to improve
its ability to resist wracking.

So far so good - haven't really had a chance to put it through it's paces
yet. Will be starting a lingerie dresser project very soon, so I'll get to
really get the bench on the road, so to speak. The truss rods definitely
made the base extremely solid. There are dowel pins at each joint, also,
which is really where the anti-wracking comes from. I have no reason to
believe it won't maintain it's stability indefinitely.

How about weight? Is it pretty solid, or does it want to scoot around on
you?

This is a good question. I had tried to practice edge jointing a board that
was held in the front vise, and was about the same length of the bench. It
was actually the hard maple that became the vise jaws. The piece was
3"x8"x5', so it was pretty heavy. I did find that the bench wanted to walk
a bit with this when I got catches during planing. I posted a question
about this a little ways back and I think that if I improve the tuning of my
planes, and install some sort of anti-skid material to the bench feet, that
will help immensely. I'm not really sure of the overall weight of the
bench, but I estimated it at about 250 pounds, fully outfitted. I'm already
thinking of building a storage cabinet out of 3/4" MDF that will fill up all
the space under the bench. A bank of drawers on one side and a cabinet with
shelves on the other. I think Sam Allen's book has some details about this,
but I know I've seen it somewhere and it is common on a lot of the
commercial benches. If I do that and fill it up with tools, I can't imagine
the bench will walk at that point.

Anyway, you executed that beautifully!

Thanks again.

Mike



--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/

Mike in Mystic wrote:

Hey Silvan,

Thanks for the compliments.

Thanks for showing off your bench. Now if only you had made it out of 12/4
rosewood...

Yes, you're right there. I figure I've got close to $500 in this bench.

I have somewhere around $100 in mine. Maybe not that much. To some extent,
you get what you pay for. It sure isn't an ideal bench, but it's what I
have room for, and what I can afford.

This is mainly hardware. The Veritas twin-screw vise was $160, the Record
vise was $85 (got it on clearance), the bench dogs were $8/pair, the
wonder
dogs were $23?/each, and the hold-down was $52. So, that's about $350.

I don't have any hold-downs yet. My dogs are 3/4" oak dowels with a brad
shot into one end so I have a way to keep them from constantly falling
through the bench.

I bought some steel rod to tap for fake wonder dogs, but I haven't been able
to come up with a decent way to make a pad for the end, or a decent crank,
or a decent screw, so I'll probably suck it up and buy the real deal. They
look very handy.

I'm wishing I had some kind of tail vise already, but have made no decision
as yet. I might try one of those pipe clamp deals that was posted on here
a bit ago, or else buy some parts from Lee Valley and try to cobble
something together on my own.

You've probably heard me blathering about my other vises. I think that was
you. Old vise, new vise, big vise, small vise, free vise, cheap vise, one
vise, two vise, blah blah, blah, right?

The sweet thing was a the top. Neighbor's old table. Poplar with walnut
veneer. Not very tough, but it's pretty, and I could afford it.

made the base extremely solid. There are dowel pins at each joint, also,
which is really where the anti-wracking comes from. I have no reason to
believe it won't maintain it's stability indefinitely.

Sounds like maybe I should do more than retrofit some rods then. I s'pose I
should go dig out the book in question and pay more attention to the base
construction.

Or not. I can always fix it when it gets a lot worse. Angle bracketing it
to the wall of the shed^h^h^h^h shop helps some.

a bit with this when I got catches during planing. I posted a question
about this a little ways back and I think that if I improve the tuning of
my planes, and install some sort of anti-skid material to the bench feet,

Oh yeah, I forgot. I didn't realize that was you.

bench, but I estimated it at about 250 pounds, fully outfitted. I'm
already thinking of building a storage cabinet out of 3/4" MDF that will
fill up all
the space under the bench. A bank of drawers on one side and a cabinet

Filling up the space is a good plan. Just by way of demonstrating that, I
dropped the cap off my 1" chisel. Spent every bit of an hour rooting
around in the shavings on the floor trying to find it. Even vacuumed, and
then rooted around in the shop vac. I finally found it on the shelf under
the workbench, on the base of the circular saw, curled up in a walnut
shaving. I'm kinda thinking closing that space off would be a good idea
myself.

commercial benches. If I do that and fill it up with tools, I can't
imagine the bench will walk at that point.

I've been thinking about hanging some weights from mine. Hang them so they
swing. Seems it would have a dampening effect.

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/

Mike:

Ain't the prettiest but looks like a user.

Suggestions though

1. knock of the sharp corners now rather than after they
gouge out part of your body. They will bite you-
honest.

2. lightly round over the edges - reaching under the
bench to get a tool and making contact with the
back of your forearm will be less painful.

3. don't know if your bench dogs will ovalize your
dog holes but I do know that the whack down, bump
to remove, hold downs will in relatively few uses,
especially if you whack them down hard.

4. probably to late to add leg levelers but should
you ever get around to doing another bench or
changing the feet on this one (as if) check out
the bottom of this page (all one line)
http://www.wood-workers.com/users/charlieb/!M&T/CBbench20.html
Using an allen wrench you can adjust them up or
down without having to lay on the floor, fiddling with
a pair of wrenches. The foot swivels so you can
compensate for floors that are less than flat and
smooth. Some 60 or 80 grit glued to the bottom and
the bench won't slide, even on an epoxied floor.
IF THE BOTTOM OF THE LEGS AIN'T COPLANAR THE TOP
AIN'T GONNA BE FLAT LONG.

Bullseye levels make leveling - however you shim/
wedge things - easier and quicker.

Hadn't thought of putting a dog hole on the side the
the vise jaw but it makes sense. Am going to have
to go over the Allen book again. Way too many things
to miss in that book, even on the third pass. Add the
Landis book and it's mental overload time.

OK to pick your brain on installing the Veritas Twin
Screw?

Thanks for the page with all the good photos.

charlie b

ps - your shop floor is WAY to clean. That will change
once all those hand planes start getting used.
And curlies will clog that dust collector.

Thanks Mike, I had just bought something similar to this for another
project, now it will get used at least twice.

Yep, the torque will get you if you are not careful. Long time ago in
another life, I was an electrician and we used Milwaukee right angle
drills and a 1" bit to drill wiring holes for new construction. After
hitting a hidden nail or 6 you learned what torque was all about. :-)
that thing would flip you across the room if you weren't braced for it.

BRuce

Mike in Mystic wrote:
what do you mean by "maintaining vertical"? If you mean drilling the holes
perpendicular to the surface, then I follow. I used a drill guide
(http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...180,42311,4232
1&abspage=1&ccurrency=2&SID=)

(watch the wrap on the link)

This worked very well. It only accepts 3/8" shank bits though. I used a
3/4" auger bit for everything, and it worked fine.

I did end up destroying the drill guide, though. On the 2nd doghole in the
hard maple end vise jaw I didn't have as good a grip on the drill as I
thought and when the auger bit started to bit into the maple the torque
whipped the drill around, pinning my hand between the drill and one of the
guide posts. The bad thing was, the force from this was strong enough to
bend the shank where the drill chuck attaches to the sliding portion of the
drill guide by about 45 degrees. AND the trigger on the drill was stuck in
the depressed position, causing my fingers to be compressed between the
drill body and the guide bar. Needless to say it hurt like a B**ch and I
was yelling something fierce. It took a second or two to realize what was
causing the drill to keep trying to turn. Anyway, the moral of the story is
make sure you have a good grip on your drill when drilling in hardwoods,
especially when you have a drill that can put out some torque like that
Milwaukee. I did the remaining vise jaw dogholes freehand, as well as the
dog holes on the edge of the benchtop. I wouldn't have tried that with the
holes on the benchtop itself, though, and if I ever need to do this type of
drilling again I'll definitely buy another of these drill guides.

Mike

--

There are no stupid questions.
There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.


BRuce wrote in message news:1069360905.393745@sj-nntpcache-5...

how did you maintain vertical? i will be drilling through prefinished
hardwood flooring and 2 x 3/4" plywood so it won't be as difficult but
vertical seems to be an issue.

yep, lots of power and the quick charger is very good. SWMBO got me the
package last year for Christmas and the "rebate" was another battery, so
one in the drill, one in the saw and one in the charger. I have never
had to wait for a battery to charge.

BRuce

Mike in Mystic wrote:


Hi Bruce,

Thanks.

The Milwaukee drill earned it's weight and then some on this bench. All

the

dog holes were drilled with it, as were many of the the joinery joles

for

the bench base. Having the quick charger is a big plus. But the best

thing

was the torque on this drill - never had a problem even in the hard

maple

drilling a 3/4" auger bit. I know that some of the new impact drivers

have

even more torque, but I can't see why you'd need more than this drill

has.

Mike

--

There are no stupid questions.
There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.


BRuce wrote in message news:1069335401.308205@sj-nntpcache-5...


nice bench, hope to have mine finished before the year is out. I like
your cordless drill too, have one just like it and the companion
circular saw. they both do a great job.

BRuce (Benson NC)

Mike in Mystic wrote:


Hi wreckers,

I finally finished up the last few details on the workbench I finally

got


around to building. Although not as pretty as a lot of the benches

I've

seen, including several recent posts, I think the functionality it
represents will still make it a joy to use. Since this is basically a

step


up from a Workmate, there is no question that I'm going to be thrilled

to


put it to use.

I'll post a few pics on ABPW, but you can see them all, as well as some
further details of the bench, at this website:
http://pages.cthome.net/logmanworld/workbench.htm

Let me know what you think!

Mike

BRuce BRuce wrote:

drills and a 1" bit to drill wiring holes for new construction. After
hitting a hidden nail or 6 you learned what torque was all about. :-)
that thing would flip you across the room if you weren't braced for it.

Hee... I have one of those torque monsters too. I got an auger bit tangled
up in a chain link fence once. It came very close to breaking my wrist.

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/

"charlie b" wrote in message
...
Mike:

Ain't the prettiest but looks like a user.

Suggestions though

1. knock of the sharp corners now rather than after they
gouge out part of your body. They will bite you-
honest.

Good suggestion and I'll consider it, but since I laminated MDF and then
contact cemented masonite onto the edges, I probably will have to live with
the sharp corners, at least on the bench top. I am thinking about
chamfering the outside corners of the Veritas vise jaws, though.


2. lightly round over the edges - reaching under the
bench to get a tool and making contact with the
back of your forearm will be less painful.

This might be more doable. I'm already planning a storage cabinet, with 3
or 4 drawers on one side and a cabinet with shelves on the other. I also
have a nice 30" wide piece of wall convenient to the workbench where I'm
going to build a nice handtool cabinet. I've looked yours over and it is a
great example and something to emulate. Whenever I get around to building
my cabinet, I'll definately have some questions for you. One I can think of
right now is how do you secure the large bench planes in a vertical
position? I've seen this in a lot of cabinets, but never any really
detailed descriptions of how it is done. Did you consult any books in
designing your cabinet?

3. don't know if your bench dogs will ovalize your
dog holes but I do know that the whack down, bump
to remove, hold downs will in relatively few uses,
especially if you whack them down hard.

These bench dogs have a wire spring on the side that keeps them snug in the
hole. I haven't noticed any deforming of the dog holes yet, but I haven't
really used it much yet. Hopefully that won't happen too badly. The hold
down I have (the Veritas version) seems to ride pretty easily in the dog
holes. The dowel portion has some ridges on it, that apparently act to hold
it in place as the horizontal force resulting from tightening the clamping
screw is generated. It works quite well, and definately doesn't require the
blunt force those tap-in-place hold downs require.

4. probably to late to add leg levelers but should
you ever get around to doing another bench or
changing the feet on this one (as if) check out
the bottom of this page (all one line)
http://www.wood-workers.com/users/charlieb/!M&T/CBbench20.html
Using an allen wrench you can adjust them up or
down without having to lay on the floor, fiddling with
a pair of wrenches. The foot swivels so you can
compensate for floors that are less than flat and
smooth. Some 60 or 80 grit glued to the bottom and
the bench won't slide, even on an epoxied floor.
IF THE BOTTOM OF THE LEGS AIN'T COPLANAR THE TOP
AIN'T GONNA BE FLAT LONG.

Bullseye levels make leveling - however you shim/
wedge things - easier and quicker.

This point is well taken. I'm still playing with the layout of the bench a
bit - basically moving it an inch or two and then working around it awhile
to see how I like it. I don't have a whole lot of options, so it won't take
me long to decide where it will be "permanently". My garage floor is so out
of level it's sad, so it really will depend greatly on the specific location
on how I will have to shim/level it. But, you're right and I'm not going to
waste too much time for fear of getting any twist in the benchtop.


Hadn't thought of putting a dog hole on the side the
the vise jaw but it makes sense. Am going to have
to go over the Allen book again. Way too many things
to miss in that book, even on the third pass. Add the
Landis book and it's mental overload time.

I looked through the Allen book again this morning and realized I'd
misrepresented it previously (not sure if it was in this thread or one on
the spalted board). In the book's illustrations it does show the dog hole
in the side of the twin-screw vise front jaw, and also in one of the
photographs of a completed bench. It's just that in the text there is no
mention of this dog hole, so I neglected to credit this book as the source
for this. In the Veritas instructions, IIRC, there are also instructions
for this. As you might have noticed in the pictures I took of the bench
using this dog hole to hold a board for jointing, it will be extremely handy
in a lot of clamping situations. I'm still going to make some board jacks
to use with the front vise, however, for instances where I'd rather not
apply clamping force to the ends of boards.


OK to pick your brain on installing the Veritas Twin
Screw?

Sure, that's no problem. It was pretty straightforward, and I followed the
warning in the instructions not to deviate from the path. But, ask me
anything you want and I'll try to help as best I can.


Thanks for the page with all the good photos.

charlie b

ps - your shop floor is WAY to clean. That will change
once all those hand planes start getting used.
And curlies will clog that dust collector.

Well, I did sweep the floor (just around the bench) prior to picture taking,
so don't be fooled too much. And I have a trash can separator (that works
quite well, by the way), so hopefully the majority of curlies will find
their home there. Now that I have the bench all my other shop rearrangement
plans are in dire need of progressing. I have to clean out about 150 bf of
ash, find a temporary place to store about 50 cans of finishes and related
supplies, move some ladders to a new home, build 6 feet of floor and wall
cabinets, etc. etc. I think the next year or so is going to find me living
in a bit of squalor in the shop, because SWMBO doesn't sympathize too much
with "shop projects". She just this morning gently "prodded" me about
getting to the 12 feet of built in bookcases she wants me to build for our
finished attic. And the 3-month old's dresser....the high chair....picture
frames....

Ain't life great

Mike

luckily back then there were no trigger locks, don't know if the new
ones have them.

"chain link fence".... that's going to leave a mark!

BRuce

Silvan wrote:
BRuce BRuce wrote:


drills and a 1" bit to drill wiring holes for new construction. After
hitting a hidden nail or 6 you learned what torque was all about. :-)
that thing would flip you across the room if you weren't braced for it.


Hee... I have one of those torque monsters too. I got an auger bit tangled
up in a chain link fence once. It came very close to breaking my wrist.


--
---

BRuce

BRuce BRuce wrote in news:1069460597.312711@sj-nntpcache-3:

luckily back then there were no trigger locks, don't know if the new
ones have them.

I know my Hole Hog doesn't (thank goodness).

Mike in Mystic wrote:

getting to the 12 feet of built in bookcases she wants me to build for our
finished attic. And the 3-month old's dresser....the high
chair....picture frames....

Ain't life great

Hmmm... Puts me in a mind to coin a new term. "Chick sticks."

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/

BRuce BRuce wrote:

luckily back then there were no trigger locks, don't know if the new
ones have them.

I've had the drill since my birthday in May, and I have no idea whether it
has a trigger lock or not. If it does, I don't use it.

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/