On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 07:43:47 -0500, Conan the Librarian
wrote:

bugbear wrote:

Hand planing involves quite a lot of downward pressure; this
is more easily done on a (slightly) lower bench. Detail work
is easier if closer to you eyes; modellers tend to use
very high benches.

Hand sawing need the work so low that most people
use a completely separate workpiece support,
either saw horses (duh!) or a 2 level workmutt in "low"
mode.

Ideal height varies with individual AND task.

Exactly. I built my bench for planing, and it works nicely for
that. However, when I'm doing carving, I wish it was much higher. I've
even been thinking about building a small carving benchtop that I can
place on top of my regular bench to ease back and eyestrain.

For sawing (especially ripping), it's best to have a sawhorse that's
low enough so you can stand above it

put your carving benchlet on the floor and stand on it to lower your
main bench?

I suppose ... *if the heights were right... *if you didn't do much
hand sawing... *if floor space was at a premium.... it might be the
right thing....



and bend one knee and have it rest
on the horse. That way you are above the work and can get your weight
behind it, as well as using gravity to your advantage. (Just be careful
you don't make it so low that your saw hits the floor on your
follow-through.)

BTW, welcome back, Paul. Where've you been? :-)


Chuck Vance

bugbear wrote:

Conan the Librarian wrote:


BTW, welcome back, Paul. Where've you been? :-)


Why, thank you.

It's always nice to see your contributions.

OLDTOOLS, Badger Pond, and its successor, WoodCentral.

That's what I figured.

Not sure how long I'll be here; the power:hand
ratio ain't good (from my POV)

I couldn't keep up with Oldtools and I just sort of drifted away
when Badger Pond became WoodCentral. I guess the only thing that keeps
me here is that it's usually pretty easy to find the handtool threads
and I figure I'm helping keep alive the spirit of folks like O'Deen (who
hepled me so much when I was starting down the slope).


Chuck Vance

bugbear wrote:

Conan the Librarian wrote:


BTW, welcome back, Paul. Where've you been? :-)


Why, thank you.

It's always nice to see your contributions.

OLDTOOLS, Badger Pond, and its successor, WoodCentral.

That's what I figured.

Not sure how long I'll be here; the power:hand
ratio ain't good (from my POV)

I couldn't keep up with Oldtools and I just sort of drifted away
when Badger Pond became WoodCentral. I guess the only thing that keeps
me here is that it's usually pretty easy to find the handtool threads
and I figure I'm helping keep alive the spirit of folks like O'Deen (who
hepled me so much when I was starting down the slope).


Chuck Vance

(Never Enough Money) wrote in message . com...

Then someone told me about Japanese trestle beams. A search of
rec.woodworking didn't reveal any pictures. It did reveal that there's
a chapter in Landis' "The Workbench Book" but I'm not going to buy a
book just for 13 pages I may not even build.

I also learned that Fine Woodworking issue #54 (9/01/1985) has an
article "Body Mechanics and the Japanese Beams" by Drew Langston. I go
to the FWW home page and try to get that issue (for $3.50) but they
don't seem to archive back that far.

Popular Woodworking also had an article in issue #35 (2/1/1987).

Bob Bench Page shows one but somehow I don't think master Japanese
woodworkers use something like that....
http://www.terraclavis.com/bws/benches.htm fourth picture down.

So does anyone in this group have a picture, plans, etc.? Does anyone
have opinions about these beams/benches?

My intuition says that a bench about knee high with someway to hold
planks down would be perfect for planing and not take up a lot of
room. Perfect to complement my current imperfect bench.

Coming in late but here's another reference: the Bench Tools book
in *The Best of FWW* series has the piece by Drew Langston, though
titled "Body Mechanics and the Trestle Workbench". The article makes
reference to Japanese woodworking techniques as the souce of the bench
design. Accompanying pics show it to be above the knee, but not quite
middle of the thigh. Two trestles, with both a thick beam (to chop
against, etc.) and a thinner board (to hold tools) spanning them.
Langston pull-planes, chisels and saws at the bench, using different
postures. When chiseling, for instance, he half-sits on the bench,
clamping the work with thigh and shin. When planing, he uses a full
width stop to secure the work and stands at the end of the bench.

The book also features a piece on the 18th century joiners' bench, and
one on a more contemporary "classic" bench with shoulder and tail
vises.

I'm just beginning to move away from the tubi and plywood stage. This
book gave me much to think about. Got it on eBay for just a few
bucks.

Good luck, Never Enough; it's been fun reading about your experiment.

Dan

(Never Enough Money) wrote in message . com...

Then someone told me about Japanese trestle beams. A search of
rec.woodworking didn't reveal any pictures. It did reveal that there's
a chapter in Landis' "The Workbench Book" but I'm not going to buy a
book just for 13 pages I may not even build.

I also learned that Fine Woodworking issue #54 (9/01/1985) has an
article "Body Mechanics and the Japanese Beams" by Drew Langston. I go
to the FWW home page and try to get that issue (for $3.50) but they
don't seem to archive back that far.

Popular Woodworking also had an article in issue #35 (2/1/1987).

Bob Bench Page shows one but somehow I don't think master Japanese
woodworkers use something like that....
http://www.terraclavis.com/bws/benches.htm fourth picture down.

So does anyone in this group have a picture, plans, etc.? Does anyone
have opinions about these beams/benches?

My intuition says that a bench about knee high with someway to hold
planks down would be perfect for planing and not take up a lot of
room. Perfect to complement my current imperfect bench.

Coming in late but here's another reference: the Bench Tools book
in *The Best of FWW* series has the piece by Drew Langston, though
titled "Body Mechanics and the Trestle Workbench". The article makes
reference to Japanese woodworking techniques as the souce of the bench
design. Accompanying pics show it to be above the knee, but not quite
middle of the thigh. Two trestles, with both a thick beam (to chop
against, etc.) and a thinner board (to hold tools) spanning them.
Langston pull-planes, chisels and saws at the bench, using different
postures. When chiseling, for instance, he half-sits on the bench,
clamping the work with thigh and shin. When planing, he uses a full
width stop to secure the work and stands at the end of the bench.

The book also features a piece on the 18th century joiners' bench, and
one on a more contemporary "classic" bench with shoulder and tail
vises.

I'm just beginning to move away from the tubi and plywood stage. This
book gave me much to think about. Got it on eBay for just a few
bucks.

Good luck, Never Enough; it's been fun reading about your experiment.

Dan

Conan the Librarian wrote:



I couldn't keep up with Oldtools and I just sort of drifted away when
Badger Pond became WoodCentral. I guess the only thing that keeps me
here is that it's usually pretty easy to find the handtool threads and I
figure I'm helping keep alive the spirit of folks like O'Deen (who
hepled me so much when I was starting down the slope).

And, boy, did you end up at the bottom :-)

BugBear

Conan the Librarian wrote:



I couldn't keep up with Oldtools and I just sort of drifted away when
Badger Pond became WoodCentral. I guess the only thing that keeps me
here is that it's usually pretty easy to find the handtool threads and I
figure I'm helping keep alive the spirit of folks like O'Deen (who
hepled me so much when I was starting down the slope).

And, boy, did you end up at the bottom :-)

BugBear

bugbear wrote:

Conan the Librarian wrote:

I couldn't keep up with Oldtools and I just sort of drifted away
when Badger Pond became WoodCentral. I guess the only thing that
keeps me here is that it's usually pretty easy to find the handtool
threads and I figure I'm helping keep alive the spirit of folks like
O'Deen (who hepled me so much when I was starting down the slope).

And, boy, did you end up at the bottom :-)

I guess that's a matter of perspective. :-)


Chuck Vance
Just say (tmPL) To borrow from a great blues song: I'm down so
far that it looks like up to me.

bugbear wrote:

Conan the Librarian wrote:

I couldn't keep up with Oldtools and I just sort of drifted away
when Badger Pond became WoodCentral. I guess the only thing that
keeps me here is that it's usually pretty easy to find the handtool
threads and I figure I'm helping keep alive the spirit of folks like
O'Deen (who hepled me so much when I was starting down the slope).

And, boy, did you end up at the bottom :-)

I guess that's a matter of perspective. :-)


Chuck Vance
Just say (tmPL) To borrow from a great blues song: I'm down so
far that it looks like up to me.

(Never Enough Money) wrote in message . com...
....
Then someone told me about Japanese trestle beams. A search of
rec.woodworking didn't reveal any pictures. It did reveal that there's
a chapter in Landis' "The Workbench Book" but I'm not going to buy a
book just for 13 pages I may not even build.
....

It's a good book. Helped me a lot when I was building my bench. Your
local library probably has it, or they can get it by interlibrary
loan.

(Never Enough Money) wrote in message . com...
....
Then someone told me about Japanese trestle beams. A search of
rec.woodworking didn't reveal any pictures. It did reveal that there's
a chapter in Landis' "The Workbench Book" but I'm not going to buy a
book just for 13 pages I may not even build.
....

It's a good book. Helped me a lot when I was building my bench. Your
local library probably has it, or they can get it by interlibrary
loan.

And, boy, did you end up at the bottom :-)

I guess that's a matter of perspective. :-)


I think he means about the 'making it to the bottom', where your stuck in the
"ubliet" of that which you love, you've made it to the top... in essence.

:-)

Alex

And, boy, did you end up at the bottom :-)

I guess that's a matter of perspective. :-)


I think he means about the 'making it to the bottom', where your stuck in the
"ubliet" of that which you love, you've made it to the top... in essence.

:-)

Alex