Hi 2

[vaj]

Hi all. This is just to say hello.
I posted for a few years on the original version of the site quite a few years ago and have re-registered in the hope of raising some good advice on plunge router choices.
I'm a retired mech engineer with a background in R&D and manufacturing.
Woodwork has always been in the mix, but due to work, illness and household projects it's really only in the past year or two that the focus is fine cabinet work.
Starting with building a hefty bench in beech with proper work holding to replace the rougher one recently sold on...

 

[Malc2098]

Hi. Welcome from Mid-Devon.

 

[Mike G]

Welcome Ian. I hope you'll post some photos of your bench build.

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

Welcome Ian, from an ex-patriate Northerner.

 

[AndyP]

Welcome Ian

 

[TomTrees]

Another welcome from me Ian, I only recently came across some pics I'd saved of your super impressive cyclone build, from the first woodhaven site.
The place was looking like a real productive setup, so it'll be interesting to see the place now.

All the best
Tom

 

[TrimTheKing]

Hi Ian and welcome back.

 

[DeBangis]

Nice and welcome to the forum.

 

[vaj]

Thank you for the welcome guys - there's a nice vibe about the site.
I recognise quite a few of the names Tom including yours.
Health and competing priorities mean that I didn't make quite the progress that I hoped in woodworking over the past 15 years, but luckily it's all settled down so that I've had a clear run since late last year. I do need to pace it a little - 12 hour days are not feasible.
The dust system (it's the Bill Pentz design but DIY built in metal) has proven a godsend because I don't do well with dust - having lots of airflow and suction makes such a difference to effectiveness.
The bench is a slightly refined (I hope) version of the split top Roubo design popularised by Benchcrafted in German beech.
It's well under way but with still quite a lot to do. The stock is all ripped, resawn and planed to slightly over size from the 4m long rough boards I've had in stock for the project for years. It's been quite a workout - for myself and for the dust system. (regular trips to the local recycling to get rid of drums of chips)
The legs have been glued up (flexible epoxy) and finish planed, the leg joinery and provision for vise etc fittings is the current focus. Big mortice and tenon joint kick up some interesting angles.
I'm taking pics as I go along and can post a coherent story nearer to the end (my slow pace would make it boring otherwise) but I've attached a few for interest.

 

[vaj]

More pics

 

[Lurker]

Welcome

 

[Weekend_Woodworker]

Welcome that is quite some bench you are building. You look like you are very well equipped with clamps, something I never seem to have enough of.

 

[vaj]

Thanks WWW.
The saying that 'you can never have too many clamps' seems to be true.
It's not that everything is in use all of the time, but on the other hand most get used at some time or another.
It's problematical here in Ireland to find mid job that you don't have the right clamp - what's available tends to be limited, expensive and not very local.
The pic shows pairs of legs being laminated up. The glue is West's flexible G flex 600 epoxy - it requires use of exactly the right fine toothed spreader and lots of clamps to avoid ending up with thick glue lines and/or drips. The plastic is Screwfix decorators cover sheet off a roll - it's very cheap and keeps the epoxy off the floor and worksurfaces.
The glue ups are on a 4x2in heavy box section steel beam wrapped in parcel tape so that everything stays straight and doesn't stick to it.
I got the opportunity to buy a large order of Bessey clamps at a big discount in the US back in the early/mid 2000s. (at a saving of more than 50% compared to Ireland/UK)
It felt for while as though it could have been a mistake, but pretty much everything has been used over the years.
That's both in terms of quantity (I still find myself running out of F clamps and pressing parallel clamps into service instead) and variety of types.
In the case of the latter so many situations pop up that require yet another type..

 

[Cabinetman]

Ooh goody, nothing I like more than a Bench build. Mine is delayed again grrr.

 

[johnward]

Welcome Ian

 

[Phil]

Welcome from far down South

 

[vaj]

Thanks again all.

 

[Lons]

Hi Ian
I don't know how I missed this your first thread. That's a great looking workshop and a hefty bench build, you can tell a mile off it's an engineer's space, clean, well organised and tidy.

Presumably you have a contact for wine boxes or does your family just like nice wine. it looks a good storage solution.

 

[vaj]

Thanks for the interest Bob.
The workshop has been developing since the 90s when the heavens aligned and I got the chance to build a large double garage with a loft over head accessed by stairs - it was a long held ambition. It's still a work in progress, but has stabilised to the point that most stuff by now has a place to live.
It's perhaps somewhat organised - mostly because after years of frustration with changing set ups on a Robland universal I bit the bullet and shoved in some separate machines with large footprints and ended up tight for space.
It's by most hobby standards a decent sized space, and it works - but it entails a lot of walking around stuff. On the other hand the additional capability has proven hugely useful. (the spindle moulder proved to be something of a revelation)
The space where the cut down timber for the bench is stacked is where my old bench lived and where the new one is going - I sold it to make enough room to work on the new bench.
Four solid wood Ikea kitchen trollies (modified with leg extensions and levelling feet) bought years ago strap together to make an assembly table - or get used separately as work tables. They are very solid, but those currently offered by the company may be a bit more lightweight.
The wooden wine boxes work well for storage - they are robust, the size is about right for a lot of items and they fit nicely in the big Ikea storage units.
I bought a load of them for pennies from wine shops back when they were still widely used and a problem for the shops to get rid of - this after a few bad experiences with moulded polyethylene boxes turning brittle in a year or two and breaking up while carrying stuff.

 

[Lons]

................The wooden wine boxes work well for storage - they are robust, the size is about right for a lot of items and they fit nicely in the big Ikea storage units.
I bought a load of them for pennies from wine shops back when they were still widely used and a problem for the shops to get rid of ............

A shrewd buy Ian. If you believe some of the bargain hunt type TV progs they're possibly worth stupid money these days.
My workshop is also a double garage and high enough to stick up a dormer window and mezzanine, often considered but never got-around-tuit I'm nowhere near as organised as you though.

 

[vaj]

Wine boxes have become difficult to find Bob. Only the expensive Bordeaux and similar now come in them. Not only that but they became fashionable.
I've as you say of late seen huge prices asked on EBay and the like.
The wine shops here hang on to what they have for use in displays and look at you like you have three heads if you ask if they are throwing them out.
The last consignment I got came from a guy with a business doing fancy corporate entertaining - he ended up with a stack of the things. I still had to pay for them though...