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Workbench (Cont'd)

3K views 23 replies 6 participants last post by  RainMan 2.0 
#1 · (Edited)
I have essentially completed the restoration of the Defiance C73 plane. There is more rust and corrosion to remove but I will do that by the electrolysis method when I get a chance. The iron is now sharp and honed to 1000 grit (the next honing will be to 1500). It has proved itself usable but not of high quality and requires frequent adjustment. However, it will do what I need for the immediate future.

Now the task is to complete the workbench. The frame is done and the casters installed. The next increment will be building and mounting a Moxon-style end vise using the hardware from a couple 1/2" pipe clamps (several examples on YouTube). Following that will be the construction of a side vise using the bench screw I got from Grizzly for $33.00.

I will make jaw faces for both out of 1/2 or 3/4 hardwood. Then, of course, comes the bottom shelf and top which I will make out of a quarter sheet of plywood underneath and a quarter sheet of MDF on top, all edged in hardwood. The shelf may be plywood or perhaps 1 X 4s. I will try to post progress pictures.

My sister-in-law's health is stable for now but her long-term prognosis is not good.
 
#6 ·
Nice solid table. Looking forward to seeing more.

I used to be a photog for publications. I just found that all the negatives for photos I took for the paper are in a historical record. I'm going to go ahd digitize them. I did some nice work in those days. Not so much these days. Still working some so I have a bit of extra income still to indulge my woodworking addiction. I went to Rockler a couple of weeks ago and realized I have about every tool I can imagine wanting or needing. Mostly about buying materials now. My wood supplier has the real BB ply at $28 per 5x5 sheet. Hardwoods are an arm, leg and one other appendage to buy, but ya gotta do what ya...

Beside more picture frames, next project is a 10ft wide display cabinet with glass doors and interior illumination to go over a wall installation for TV and storage in the living room. Going to be about 16 inches high. It will hang forward of the book cases about 4 inches so I can install some down lights.

On camera; down to a Nikon D 3000 and a couple of lenses and a Nikon Coolpix which is nearly unusable in daylight, but takes excellent video. I've retired my strobe setup in favor of a couple of battery powered LED lights, which are daylight balanced. I still have my old light stands. Using a cell phone does not substitute for careful composing and finding the right angle. Anyone need an old Sekonic incident light meter and a strobe meter? Relics of a more complicated time in photography.

I'll post some of my old pictures after I digitize them. Will be a full day or two process.
 
#10 ·
Back to the table and plane. That table looks really solid and I'm looking forward to seeing the versions with the vises installed.

One of the things I've noticed about good planes is they all have heavy, thick, high quality irons, with flat backs and sharpened to a really fine edge. Flat bottoms and square sides for the body, are another thing. So if the bottom's flat and the sides are 90 to the bottom, then replacing the iron (Hock Tools), should improve performance a lot. And a good blade holds an edge much better than a lower quality one.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Spent the morning fabricating and installing a Moxon-style end vise. Started by filling voids with additional wood. Extended the apron on one end to 5 1/2" with an additional 2" of wood doweled, glued and screwed to the 2X4 above. Then filled the void on the front side of the apron with an additional piece of 2X6. With the drill press, bored 7/8 holes in the jaw and clamped it to the apron. Used that as a template for boring 7/8 holes through the apron and the backer. Installed the pipe clamps et VOILA! It holds very tightly. I will finish it off with hardwood jaw liners both front and back. Current capacity is about 9", which might be reduced to 7-8 when the hardwood liners are in place. And there is just under 8" between the pipes. It can't accommodate wide panels but I could do drawer sides for dovetailing, etc. For anyone who might have noticed, the lower corner screws had to be moved about 2" inboard to clear the pipe clamps. And also for the sharp-eyed, there is (deliberately) a little slack in the holes in the jaw so the clamp can be canted a few degrees to accommodate odd-shaped workpieces. It can be held in perfect alignment and tightened.
 

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#14 · (Edited)
I'm a little red-faced...after installing the friction grippers on the pipes under the tabletop, things got a little bound up. The pipes were difficult to move in and out of the vise and, as a result, the outer jaw tended to get stuck in the closed position. I couldn't immediately figure out what the problem was and went to bed wondering what I did wrong. I must have worked on it in my sleep because this morning I looked at the growth rings on the jaw and discovered it was backwards.

In the last two pictures above you can see the growth rings are at the outer edge on top, at the inner edge in the middle and out again at the bottom. That was not what I intended. I deliberately oriented the jaw so the rings were in-out-in , thinking if the jaw began to cup, the pressure at the center would tend to keep it straight...or straighter.

After repositioning the jaw everything went together easily and the vise opens and closes as it should. Obviously, things are not perfectly symmetrical. :surprise:
 
#16 ·
I think the next part of the project will be fabricating and installing the top and shelf. I made a tactical error with the Moxon vise in that the top of the jaws will not be level with the benchtop. That won't be a major problem because there will be no bench dogs and it will be mainly used for holding panels vertically. I'll probably start on the top next week.

The top will be made from a quarter sheet of 3/4 ply, topped by a quarter sheet of 3/4 MDF. It will be edged with 1 X 2 hardwood, probably mitered and fastened to the plywood with biscuits every 8". The MDF will be loose inside the edging for easy (sorta) replacement. I still haven't decided whether to make the shelf of plywood or 1 X 4s.

The side vise will be a major project. To accommodate the bench screw, I will have to find a machine shop to fabricate a front plate of 3/16 (?) steel, split vertically in the center, with a 3/4 diameter hole that will capture the bench screw. The jaws will be similar to the end vise, made of 2 X 6 material and faced with hardwood. But that will come later...I won't know exactly when until I arrange for the front plate. I've toyed with the idea of making the anti-racking bars out of 1" hardwood but haven't decided. Thoughts on this?
 
#20 ·
Problem is, Mike, in northern California it usually only gets hot for 2-3 days at a time once or twice a year...and rarely over 90. But we were at 100 degrees the other day and have been abnormally hot for the better part of a week. Air conditioners are not common here. We have one but it's a 1-ton window unit and while it cools most of the house, it does nothing for the garage (my shop).
 
#21 · (Edited)
The top is partially completed now...all but the last picture shows the plywood inverted from its final orientation, i.e., the bottom of the top. I began with my biscuit joiner, which I have not used for a couple years, and the table saw, circular saw and miter saw. I cut the plywood to size using the circular saw and table saw and set it upside down on the workbench frame. With the biscuit joiner I cut slots in the plywood spaced about every 8-10 inches. Then I mitered the 1X2 edge banding (3 edges of the top), set them with the bottom edge up and cut corresponding slots for the biscuits. Then using glue, biscuits and 18 gauge pin nails (with my Harbor Freight pneumatic pin nailer), I set the edge banding in place and let the glue dry for a couple hours. Then I oriented the top in its final position and fastened it to the frame with six #10 X 2" screws. As you will see in the last picture, the MDF has not yet been added. I will have to cut it to size and slide it into the frame. If necessary I'll stick it to the plywood with double sided tape. The edge banding will be flush with the top of the MDF (or if it isn't exactly flush I'll finish it with the plane or the router with a pattern bit with bearing. I'll finish that in the next day or so. Yet to be done is the bottom shelf (I cut an old scrap piece of particle board for temporary). The side vise is still in the planning stage and may not be added for a while. Just as an aside, the work I did with the restored plane was perfect. The top of the frame is now level and straight, as is one of the shelf cross members, which was about 1/8" proud.

Here are today's pics:
 

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#22 · (Edited)
And here is the top with the MDF sized and installed. I did use a couple 8" pieces of carpet tape to stick it down to the plywood. In the pics you can see that the end where the Moxon vise is installed is not edge banded. I will dress that edge up with hardwood when I face the vise with hardwood jaws. And in the last pic you can see my shop-built disc sander. Just a meaningless observation: that bench with the sander and compressor on the shelf is about as heavy as my table saw. It ought not to wiggle around much while I'm working.
 

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#23 · (Edited)
I'll guess everyone is wondering about the purpose of the Irwin clamps on the benchtop. The MDF had just a little bow in it and I clamped it down on the carpet tape to see if it would straighten itself out. I'll leave the clamps on for a few days and if there is still a bow I'll do something else. I don't want to permanently fasten the MDF to the plywood so I can easily replace it if/when it gets beat up. I suppose I could do flat-top screws with a deep counterbore. I'll have to give it some thought.
 
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