I thought I'd share my progress on my new bench. I have a stock of reclaimed cherry 2x6s and today I did a rough cut to length for the 78x26 top and the trestles. This after a half-successful 35 mile trip to Woodcraft/Rockler for 10mm dominos and a 10mm cutter. Got the cutter, but both were out of the tenons. Rockler promises them tomorrow. Both were also out of the 3/4 inch brad point drill bit I need for the dog holes.

As posted earlier, I picked up a Groz 10-inch vise for the front vise ($85 from CL) and yesterday scored a lighter 10-inch vise for the tail (CL $20).

I'm building a semi-split top. About 24 inches at the front vise end of the top will be solid across and the remainder will have a 6 inch tool well with a removable cover. Modeled in part after a gorgeous bench I saw at Lee Valley.

For joining the trestles and the stringers, I'm going to use the dominos and where feasible back them up with 3/8 inch bolts.

Pix to come when it gets interesting. At my usual pace that will be sometime next week.

Larry

On 6/26/2013 10:30 PM, Gramp's shop wrote:
I thought I'd share my progress on my new bench. I have a stock of reclaimed cherry 2x6s and today I did a rough cut to length for the 78x26 top and the trestles. This after a half-successful 35 mile trip to Woodcraft/Rockler for 10mm dominos and a 10mm cutter. Got the cutter, but both were out of the tenons. Rockler promises them tomorrow. Both were also out of the 3/4 inch brad point drill bit I need for the dog holes.

As posted earlier, I picked up a Groz 10-inch vise for the front vise ($85 from CL) and yesterday scored a lighter 10-inch vise for the tail (CL $20).

I'm building a semi-split top. About 24 inches at the front vise end of the top will be solid across and the remainder will have a 6 inch tool well with a removable cover. Modeled in part after a gorgeous bench I saw at Lee Valley.

For joining the trestles and the stringers, I'm going to use the dominos and where feasible back them up with 3/8 inch bolts.

Pix to come when it gets interesting. At my usual pace that will be sometime next week.

Larry

I used a 3/4 spiral upcut bit in my plunge router. You do have to be
careful with it though, the bit will tend to grab.. I figured out that I
had to bounce the router up and down rather than try slowly feeding.
Then I got clean cuts. But it cuts in seconds and is perfectly vertical.
I made a baseplate for my router out of hardboard, put a fence on the
hardboard and a hole for the dog. I move the router along the bench with
the fence controlling offset from the edge, and the hole references the
last doghole for repeatablitiy.



--
Jeff

I'm going to do this on the DP before gluing up the top. I think your idea was clever, but I don't have a 3/4 upcut bit for my plunge router. Even with the soft start on my router, I would be concerned about grabbing. If I did this after assembling the top, that would be a better alternative.


I used a 3/4 spiral upcut bit in my plunge router. You do have to be

careful with it though, the bit will tend to grab.. I figured out that I

had to bounce the router up and down rather than try slowly feeding.

Then I got clean cuts. But it cuts in seconds and is perfectly vertical.

I made a baseplate for my router out of hardboard, put a fence on the

hardboard and a hole for the dog. I move the router along the bench with

the fence controlling offset from the edge, and the hole references the

last doghole for repeatablitiy.







--

Jeff

Both were also out of the 3/4 inch brad point drill bit I need for the dog holes.

Funny, I was going to comment on the same item; 3/4" dog holes.

A 3/4" spiral bit is an expensive tool for such a hole. I would usea Home Depot Irwin speed cutting spade bit. They are really nice now days and in a drill press would surely deliver good results. You can probably get a whole set for the price of one 3/4 brad point spiral I assume.

Haven't checked any prices but assume a spiral at Woodcraft ain't cheap.

On 6/27/2013 4:18 PM, SonomaProducts.com wrote:
Both were also out of the 3/4 inch brad point drill bit I need for the dog holes.

Funny, I was going to comment on the same item; 3/4" dog holes.

A 3/4" spiral bit is an expensive tool for such a hole. I would usea Home Depot Irwin speed cutting spade bit. They are really nice now days and in a drill press would surely deliver good results. You can probably get a whole set for the price of one 3/4 brad point spiral I assume.

Haven't checked any prices but assume a spiral at Woodcraft ain't cheap.



I would think a Forstner bit to be easily found, most anywhere, and
relatively inexpensive.

On 6/27/2013 5:18 PM, SonomaProducts.com wrote:
Both were also out of the 3/4 inch brad point drill bit I need for the dog holes.

Funny, I was going to comment on the same item; 3/4" dog holes.

A 3/4" spiral bit is an expensive tool for such a hole. I would usea Home Depot Irwin speed cutting spade bit. They are really nice now days and in a drill press would surely deliver good results. You can probably get a whole set for the price of one 3/4 brad point spiral I assume.

Haven't checked any prices but assume a spiral at Woodcraft ain't cheap.

The 3/4 spiral was cheap compared to carbide, ONSRUD makes a HS steel
one. I think I paid $20 3 years ago at Woodcraft.

I would never have cut my maple with a spade, it most probably would
have twisted off.

I had to use an auger for the bolts on the stretchers/rails which ever
you want to call them in this case, and even with waxing the bit
frequently it did heat up and twist, and that was in beech which I find
more friendly to machine than maple.

--
Jeff

On 6/27/2013 9:54 PM, woodchucker wrote:
On 6/27/2013 5:18 PM, SonomaProducts.com wrote:
Both were also out of the 3/4 inch brad point drill bit I need for
the dog holes.

Funny, I was going to comment on the same item; 3/4" dog holes.

A 3/4" spiral bit is an expensive tool for such a hole. I would usea
Home Depot Irwin speed cutting spade bit. They are really nice now
days and in a drill press would surely deliver good results. You can
probably get a whole set for the price of one 3/4 brad point spiral I
assume.

Haven't checked any prices but assume a spiral at Woodcraft ain't cheap.

The 3/4 spiral was cheap compared to carbide, ONSRUD makes a HS steel
one. I think I paid $20 3 years ago at Woodcraft.

I would never have cut my maple with a spade, it most probably would
have twisted off.

I had to use an auger for the bolts on the stretchers/rails which ever
you want to call them in this case, and even with waxing the bit
frequently it did heat up and twist, and that was in beech which I find
more friendly to machine than maple.



Ok, just checked the price on that bit, and it's not close to $20
anymore. Damn, it more than doubled in price in 3years.



--
Jeff

I will have about 18 holes to bore thru 2 inch cherry. My experience with my Forstner bits is that it is very slow going thru dense hardwoods and that would be a 3 hour job. I'm going to bite the bullet on a decent brad point bit.



I would think a Forstner bit to be easily found, most anywhere, and

relatively inexpensive.

On Thu, 27 Jun 2013 16:24:20 -0500, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
I would think a Forstner bit to be easily found, most anywhere, and
relatively inexpensive.

That's what I used along with one of these. Clean, relatively quiet
and low dust threshold.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...,42322&p=42322

On Thu, 27 Jun 2013 21:40:42 -0700 (PDT), "Gramp's shop"
wrote:

I will have about 18 holes to bore thru 2 inch cherry.
dense hardwoods and that would be a 3 hour job.

Hmmm. Used a carbide tipped Forstner on my maple laminated bench and
it took about three minutes per dog hole with frequent chip clearing
and a little rest time between holes.

On 06/27/2013 07:53 AM, Gramp's shop wrote:
I'm going to do this on the DP before gluing up the top. I think your idea was clever, but I don't have a 3/4 upcut bit for my plunge router. Even with the soft start on my router, I would be concerned about grabbing. If I did this after assembling the top, that would be a better alternative.


Howzabout square dog holes - just dado out the holes in the side of one
of the top boards before glue up.

Square dogs ain't all that bad and you can make them from any good hardwood.

I would never have cut my maple with a spade, it most probably would

have twisted off.

I used to feel the same way about spades but the new bits by Irwin and others have a pretty sophisticated grind. In construction it takes about 2 seconds to get through a 2x. I mean these things are aggressive and cut clean if you control the rate of feed and they feel like they are pulling the bit through the wood, if not possibly literally doing so.

Just an idea.

woodchucker wrote:

On 6/26/2013 10:30 PM, Gramp's shop wrote:
cutter, but both were out of the tenons. Rockler promises them tomorrow. Both were also out of the 3/4 inch brad point drill bit I need for the dog holes.



I used a 3/4 spiral upcut bit in my plunge router. You do have to be
careful with it though, the bit will tend to grab.. I figured out that I
had to bounce the router up and down rather than try slowly feeding.
Then I got clean cuts. But it cuts in seconds and is perfectly vertical.
I made a baseplate for my router out of hardboard, put a fence on the
hardboard and a hole for the dog. I move the router along the bench with
the fence controlling offset from the edge, and the hole references the
last doghole for repeatablitiy.

Jeff was obviously watching me build my bench

I second every piece of advice above.
--
Alex -- Replace "nospam" with "mail" to reply by email. Checked infrequently.