Hi,

I finished the latest project (a beech workbench). Thanks to the
folks who helped me in an earlier thread regarding the choice of beech
vs maple. This is my first use of beech, and it was really a pleasure
to work.

Here is a link:
http://home.earthlink.net/~nateperki...orkbench04.htm

Cheers,
Nate

Outstanding!! How was the beech to work?? I've never
worked with it. Is it like cherry or birch?? Harder than
maple?? You must have a pretty good lumber yard - was
it special order?? Am just getting ready to start my
bench, and I have a lot of decisions to make- wood,
plans, vises, etc. Am trying to collect all the info I can.
Thanks for sharing the pics.
Regards, Roy Hickman

"Nate Perkins" wrote in message
om...
Hi,

I finished the latest project (a beech workbench). Thanks to the
folks who helped me in an earlier thread regarding the choice of
beech
vs maple. This is my first use of beech, and it was really a
pleasure
to work.

Here is a link:

http://home.earthlink.net/~nateperki...orkbench04.htm

Cheers,
Nate

Nice....I especially like the dovetail work...very nice!

Layne

On 28 Aug 2004 18:35:38 -0700, (Nate Perkins)
wrote:

snip
Here is a link:
http://home.earthlink.net/~nateperki...orkbench04.htm

Cheers,
Nate

In article ,
says...
Hi,

I finished the latest project (a beech workbench). Thanks to the
folks who helped me in an earlier thread regarding the choice of beech
vs maple. This is my first use of beech, and it was really a pleasure
to work.

Here is a link:
http://home.earthlink.net/~nateperki...orkbench04.htm

Cheers,
Nate

Great job Nate, it looks fantastic. What are the dimensions of the top?

-Mark

I finished the latest project (a beech workbench). Thanks to the
folks who helped me in an earlier thread regarding the choice of beech
vs maple. This is my first use of beech, and it was really a pleasure
to work.


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

One word, three letters. WOW!

A WHOA! comes to mind also.

UA100

"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

Lucky dawg, I got wood shipped from N.Y. to So. Calif that ended up
less than half of what I would have paid if bought locally and that
included shipping! Buy more potatoes!

On 29 Aug 2004 07:14:02 -0700, (Nate Perkins)
wrote:

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).

"Roy Hickman" wrote in message ...
Outstanding!! How was the beech to work?? I've never
worked with it. Is it like cherry or birch?? Harder than
maple?? You must have a pretty good lumber yard - was
it special order?? Am just getting ready to start my
bench, and I have a lot of decisions to make- wood,
plans, vises, etc. Am trying to collect all the info I can.
Thanks for sharing the pics.
Regards, Roy Hickman

Thanks, Roy. The beech was really a pleasure to work. It seems
pretty hard (almost as hard as hard maple, I think), but it was not
bad to machine. It mills to a very sharp edge like hard maple does.
Much less burning than either cherry or hard maple. No sap pockets or
pitch, and the wood was very uniform without much in the way of knots
and all nearly quartersawn. Kind of looks a little like fine-grained
white oak with less ray and no splintering.

Good luck on your bench. It sure feels like a luxury to have
something better than MDF on 2x4s :-)

Cheers,
Nate

p.s. I looked at a lot of ways to make the end vise, and the simplest
and most bulletproof way seemed to be to use the sliding end vise
hardware (the kind with a screw and comes with three plates). It's at
Lee Valley, Rockler, and probably other places as well.

Mark Blum wrote in message ...
In article ,
says...
Hi,

I finished the latest project (a beech workbench). Thanks to the
folks who helped me in an earlier thread regarding the choice of beech
vs maple. This is my first use of beech, and it was really a pleasure
to work.

Here is a link:
http://home.earthlink.net/~nateperki...orkbench04.htm

Cheers,
Nate

Great job Nate, it looks fantastic. What are the dimensions of the top?

-Mark


Hi Mark,

The top's 54" long x 26" deep. It's about 3-1/2" thick and stands
about 33" off the ground. If I had a bigger shop I would have made it
another foot or two longer.

Cheers, Nate

Unisaw A100 wrote in message . ..
One word, three letters. WOW!

A WHOA! comes to mind also.

UA100

Thanks :-)

Unisaw A100 wrote in
:

One word, three letters. WOW!

A WHOA! comes to mind also.

UA100


And is this an acronym? Or just deserved praise?

Patriarch,
recalling AURT and the GTHRT...

Hi Mark,

The top's 54" long x 26" deep. It's about 3-1/2" thick and stands
about 33" off the ground. If I had a bigger shop I would have made it
another foot or two longer.

Cheers, Nate


Thanks Nate. I thought the top looked kind of short compared to what
most people build, but I certainly understand shop limitations. I just
completed a bench of my own (pictures at my site) and I also had to keep
it kind of short due to the size of my basement shop.

You did an excellent job on the tail vise as well. I originally wanted
to do the exact same type of dovetails on mine as you did. In the end I
decided to keep it simple since I was not sure of my ability to cut such
complicated dovetails by hand. I am envious of yours though, they
look great. Have you cut a lot of similar dovetails previously?

Again, good job on your bench!

-Mark
http://home.mindspring.com/~hobbesct

And is this an acronym? Or just deserved praise?

Patriarch,
recalling AURT and the GTHRT...



Upside down it spells MOM.

UA100

" wrote in message . ..
Lucky dawg, I got wood shipped from N.Y. to So. Calif that ended up
less than half of what I would have paid if bought locally and that
included shipping! Buy more potatoes!

Yeah, these guys know I'm an amateur and I do it for fun. Because I
do it for fun, they know I'm not going to hassle them about a buck or
two, and I'm more likely to smile at 'em as I walk out the door.

The cool thing is now most of them know me by name ... last week one
of them actually stashed away a prime piece of dense large-eyed
birdseye maple in the back and offered it to me when I came in.

I wish more local businesses would thrive like this one is doing. I'd
much rather support a community business that provides great service
.... as opposed to having to self-check myself out at Home Despot.

On 29 Aug 2004 07:14:02 -0700, (Nate Perkins)
wrote:

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).

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).

Around my parts (WA) 4/4 (13/16") beech goes for $3.99 a bf, there is
no quarter sawn and there is no 8/4 stock. I made several beech
panels (8) for a pedestal bed vs making rail and stile type
construction I would use if I did it again and I found the flatsawn
beech to cup quite badly.

Alan

Very nice!

I especially like the tusk tenon idea and appearance.
How did you connect the top to the trestle?

John

John Poole wrote in message om...
Very nice!

I especially like the tusk tenon idea and appearance.
How did you connect the top to the trestle?

John

Hi John,

It just has a big lag screw going through each side of the trestle and
into the lower side of the top. The screw in in the center of each
side of the trestle only, so that there won't be problems with the top
expansion.

It doesn't really take much to hold it down because the top is pretty
heavy.

Cheers,
Nate

Mark Blum wrote:

Thanks Nate. I thought the top looked kind of short compared to what
most people build, but I certainly understand shop limitations. I just
completed a bench of my own (pictures at my site) and I also had to keep
it kind of short due to the size of my basement shop.

You did an excellent job on the tail vise as well. I originally wanted
to do the exact same type of dovetails on mine as you did. In the end I
decided to keep it simple since I was not sure of my ability to cut such
complicated dovetails by hand. I am envious of yours though, they
look great. Have you cut a lot of similar dovetails previously?

Again, good job on your bench!

-Mark
http://home.mindspring.com/~hobbesct

Hey, nice workbench! You did a great job on it. I think I recall
seeing your bench posted on an earlier thread, and admiring the great
job you did. The website also does a great job documenting the
construction.

I've made a few handcut dovetails previously (on smaller items), but
this was the first time I've done double dovetails. Honestly, they
are not very difficult and these are far from perfect -- you just
can't see the little gaps very well in the pictures. The only thing
about making really large ones is that there's a lot of wood you have
to hog away, so it's a good idea to drill most of it out with a
Forstner bit on the drill press.

The through dovetails on your bench are well made and are very strong,
and I am sure they will last you a very long time.

Cheers,
Nate

says...

Hey, nice workbench! You did a great job on it. I think I recall
seeing your bench posted on an earlier thread, and admiring the great
job you did. The website also does a great job documenting the
construction.

I've made a few handcut dovetails previously (on smaller items), but
this was the first time I've done double dovetails. Honestly, they
are not very difficult and these are far from perfect -- you just
can't see the little gaps very well in the pictures. The only thing
about making really large ones is that there's a lot of wood you have
to hog away, so it's a good idea to drill most of it out with a
Forstner bit on the drill press.

The through dovetails on your bench are well made and are very strong,
and I am sure they will last you a very long time.


Well maybe I'll do the double dovetails on my next bench, in another
twenty years or so. :-)

-Mark
http://home.mindspring.com/~hobbesct