More workbenches
#6
Mike Siemsen (through Lost Art Press) has his Naked Woodworker video. The premise being that one can start with nothing (naked) and for a relatively small investment have sufficient hand tools and a workbench ready to go in a few weekends and be making furniture, etc. i think the goal was around $500 all-in.

Anyway, at the Kansas City Woodworkers' Guild we are starting a Hand Tool School in a couple of weeks. Course will run 10 weeks. And beginning in February we start another "Beginning Woodworking" class which is essentially Jr. High woodshop for those who never got to take it. This means we needed more workbenches, particularly those suitable for hand tool work. We decided as an experiment to build three of Mike's design of the Nicholson bench. Three heights (35", 34" and 33") and a bit shorter at 6' instead of the more traditional 8'. And all three were built as doubled sided benches so two people could share if both were working on small projects.

Pretty simple build, low tool requirement. However since we do have a fully equipped machine area, we did take advantage of having 12" chop saws with long tables and a dado-stack to let in the lower stretcher on the legs. Otherwise the primary tools are a #5 and #8 bench plane (I like a #8 better than a #7), brace and bit (3/4" and 5/16") and we wimped out with a couple of drill-drivers as you use screws (lots and lots of screws) as temporary clamps while glue sets.

Anyway, once we added the Gramercy hold-fasts, we nearly doubled the value of each bench.





A few intrepid members have started using the benches but they will have a learning curve. There are no mechanical vices on these benches. That is pretty much what makes them so inexpensive. Everything is done with stops, dogs, holdfasts and battens. Should be a lot of fun.

I'll try and get some pictures of them in use during the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool event this weekend at the KCWG shop (stealth gloat #1) : https://www.lie-nielsen.com/hand-tool-events

Oh, at that video about the events, that was filmed in our shop space last year (stealth gloat #2).
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things. -- G. Carlin
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#7
Nice job on the benches Rob. Have you had a chance to work on them?

If you live in the KC area, you should join this guild. I had the pleasure of taking a chair building class there last September. its a great facility and a great bunch of folks.

Jonathan


I only regret the tools I didn't buy!

“Think about it: Everything with a power cord eventually winds up in the trash.” John Sarge
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#8
Jonathan S said:


Nice job on the benches Rob. Have you had a chance to work on them?

If you live in the KC area, you should join this guild. I had the pleasure of taking a chair building class there last September. its a great facility and a great bunch of folks.

Jonathan




Ha! Work on them he says... Too busy building them.

Actually, we did build the tallest one first, almost to completion (didn't drill dog holes) and were using that to work on the other two.
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things. -- G. Carlin
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#9
Jonathan S said:


If you live in the KC area, you should join this guild.




It sounds like a great resource. I'm envious of those who have it nearby.
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#10
Those are really very cool. Isn't a homemade bench, made the way you want it, just about the best thing / tool in your shop?
I think so, and I would be most proud of any of those benches!

Mike Siemsen's video is one of the best You Tube's to be seen on any woodworking subject, as others have pointed out here on WoodNet.
Ag
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