Time for a new bench (dog holes)

[Mike G]

I got given this old thing by my father in law when I scored my first first class hundred. I'm guessing that puts it somewhere in the early 80s. It was an old schoolbench that his college was throwing out. I've hung on to it way, way too long:









These last few years I have only hung on to it because all of my woodwork history happened on that bench, and I'm rather fond of the memories. It has all sorts of faults which I hope to correct in the new one. For a start, the top is packed up off the base by a couple of bits of 6x2 because it was schoolboy-height:



The new bench will be a bit more solid in the undercarriage. It will also be taller, by a fairly substantial 65mm, longer, and with a tool well in a more appropriate location. I have always enjoyed having a shelf behind my bench:



........and that feature will be repeated and improved. I will have round dog holes so that I can use holdfasts (rather than screwing bits of offcut onto the bench top!). This is what it will look like:



.....and this is how the structure works:



It will have a beech top and front apron (the only apron), but the rest will be made from an old conservatory a friend of mine took down a few years ago. It may be Meranti, but is on the heavy side to be certain of that. I've had it stored in the workshop for years, so it is properly acclimatised (it's the stuff at the top):



It's all 125 x 42 actual size, so three of them glued together will give me legs 5" square. Unfortunately it isn't all perfect, so I spent some time sorting out the pile for straight stuff:





Then it was time to pick up a saw:



These are the stretchers and cross members supporting the top:



And these are the legs:



Then I got called in to sort out the fairy lights.........

 

[Malc2098]

Nice.

 

[Mike G]

I got a good half day at this today, so made some progress. The first job, not the most exciting in the world, was to dimension the timber. I started with a hand plane and winding sticks:







I really like those photos, as you don't normally see so clearly what you are doing when planing out wind. Anyway, this is a hybrid exercise, and I then moved to the planer:



I glued up the legs:



I was then interrupted by a neighbour's escaped dog which got in amongst our chickens and scattered them to the 4 corners of the parish. Two hours later.....

Obviously with hand-tool woodworking, setting out is done from tenon shoulders. So, I started work on the stretchers by knifing the shoulders on the first one, and transferring those marks to all the others in sequence:



I marked out everything then created a knife wall:



By close of play I had all the shoulders cut, and tomorrow I'll remove the cheeks:

 

[RogerS]

Enjoying this, Mike. What's a 'knife wall' ?

 

[Mike G]

I'm not sure of the proper terminology, Roger, but I've heard it called that in Youtube clips. It's where you cut with a knife, then chisel out a little of the waste up to the cut line, and the little cliff you've formed by doing that then acts as a guide for your saw. Doing that should mean never having to adjust your shoulders.

 

[RogerS]

Thanks, Mike...interesting approach.

 

[Blackswanwood]

I find that there is something quite satisfying about planing out wind.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Lons]

Keep the 'photos coming Mike, far more interesting than the faffing about I've been occupying my time with.

As an aside I hope you think carefully before turning on that electric heater, it might be full of dust and shavings and you could end up warmer than you would like.

 

[Mike G]

It's on all the time, Bob. I blow it out now and again with an air-line, and the fan in it tends to keep the insides fairly clear of dust. I never leave the heaters on when I leave the workshop, though.

 

[Lons]

It's on all the time, Bob. I blow it out now and again with an air-line, and the fan in it tends to keep the insides fairly clear of dust. I never leave the heaters on when I leave the workshop, though.

I thought you'd have it sorted Mike. One of my old mates back a long time ago had one go up in flames do to sawdust and shavings, luckily he was there to put it out but I know he used to leave it on when he went in for lunch.

 

[fiveeyes]

Always following, Mike. I have, and continue to learn, from your skills.

thanks.....bil

 

[Mike G]

I spent some time this morning sawing the tenon cheeks. All my saws are filed rip, so tenon saws are just as at home sawing along the grain as across it, and this one has a fairly large set of teeth. Nonetheless, 8 big tenons (16 cheeks) was quite tiring:



Its kerf is wider than that of this panel saw, which I needed to finish off the cuts:









I also planed up all of the legs, and trimmed an end square to use as a reference for marking out:





On to the mortices. First job was to mark out the reference lines (top of the top rail, and the underside of the bottom rail), and then orient the legs and mark them:



Deep mortices are a bit of a test of skills, and for this size I definitely prefer to drill away much of the waste:



I forgot to take a photo of an actual mortice, but I am sure you've seen one before. Anyway, here's some piccies of the dry fit:









Trial fits like this are certainly easier when you've allowed for wedges. You've got a bit of wiggle room side-to-side. I don't think I'll get much done tomorrow, but for hand-tool work I'm pleased enough with that progress today.

 

[AndyT]

Looks brilliant!

I'm somewhat reassured that you're taking a day off tomorrow, but look forward to seeing it all finished before the mince pies run out!

 

[Cabinetman]

That’s some nice solid Maranti there. As ever Mike, I am in awe of the speed at which you achieve things. I started my bench over a month ago and though I’ve started to cut up the 2” Ash for doubling up to make the legs, that’s as far as I’ve got!
Mind you I have started doing it all by hand. Not sure if I have the patience to finish it that way though yet.
Ian

 

[Mike G]

I resumed this morning by chopping out the last 4 mortices in the legs. It's hard to take a decent photo of a mortice, but here's a try:



I dry-fitted the other legs and rails:





To give you (and me) an idea of the final construction, I mocked it up quickly:







I spent the rest of the day cleaning up those other bits (the stretchers and the cross brace thingies):





The last job of the day was to glue up the double stretcher (for the front of the bench behind the apron):

 

[Cabinetman]

That’s going to be a really solid bench.
I was looking at your plan before you started Mike, it looks as though the main front rail is housed into the back of the leg, glue and trenails?
I’m interested as I have a similar problem. I understand you want to set the rail back to enable cramping to the top, that will give you 4”? I have given myself 2” to cramp to so that the set back front rail can be morticed into the legs. What do you think, will a housing resist wracking over time?
Ian
Edit just thought are you making a cross halving there? That would be a lot better at resisting wracking.

 

[Mike G]

I'm doing half-housed dovetails for those junctions. They'll be glued and ......not sure yet.....could be trenails, could be coach screws. It could even be both. The main racking resistance, though, will come from the apron which will be housed and wedged onto the front of the legs. The whole thing will be coach-screwed to the wall, so racking isn't a big threat anyway.

 

[Cabinetman]

Yes good, as ever I shall follow with interest. Hadn’t spotted the Apron on the plans.

 

[johnward]

As usual Mike, I am always interested in the high quality of your work. The sub-structure to my own bench has similar hefty legs, rails and joints, and is absolutely rock solid.

 

[Mike G]

Thanks John, Ian, et al.

After cleaning up the doubled up stretcher from its overnight gluing, I marked it with the position of the innermost shoulders. This is the only measuring involved horizontally, because everything is now set out by transfering those marks, and by offering up and marking:



I cut the first of many halving joints, on one of the stretchers:







That's to the paring stage. Note the two router planes in the background, neither of which worked with this joint, unfortunately. The bog oak one is too small, and the other, although big enough, didn't have the reference surfaces in the right places. I reverted to something I did for years before I had a router plane:





That simple marker shows the high spots, and combined with my No. 10 I soon had a flat face:



I marked it for a dovetail, and cut it out:



The next step shows a complete cock-up, but fortunately, no harm was done. I put the stretcher in the wrong location, and marked the dovetail:





Luckily the dimensioning of my timber was accurate so when I put the stretcher in its correct location it fitted really well, and by complete luck the joints were the same.

Moving on to the doubled-up stretcher... This was to have a secret halved dovetail joint. Secret only because there is no alternative. The first job was to house out in the same way as above. I then marked for the dovetail:



A few minutes work with a chisel or two, and I soon had half the joint done:





Offered in place, it fitted nicely. However, it wasn't possible to knife the entire length of the dovetail onto the leg, so half knife, half pencil:



After doing all the stretchers, and offering them into place to mark the joints, I dis-assembled the whole bench to cut out the other halves of all the joints on the legs:









Fingers crossed, I'll be gluing this lot together tomorrow. And just an note on the meranti. It is really easy to work with, and can produce some pretty crisp surfaces and edges. There are no blemishes at all in any of the timber I've got, so doing decent joints is pretty straightforward.

 

[Cabinetman]

Lovely stuff! I had wondered how you would see to mark that DT but that was fine, don’t think you’ll need anything other than glue Mike those are a good fit and lots of gluing area, they’ll never come adrift.
Ian
That’s a good trick with the depth screw! I shall definitely remember that one.

 

[Mike G]

Thanks Ian. I'm looking forward to photos of yours.

 

[AndyT]

I'm beginning to think that this bench isn't just designed to be practical to use but to be fun to make, as well.
Great stuff.

 

[Mike G]

Spot on, Andy. This will be the only bench I'll ever make, so enjoying the process is a large part of the point.

 

[Cabinetman]

Thanks Ian. I'm looking forward to photos of yours.

Oh Hell, no pressure there then haha.
Just arrived back in the us yesterday, I don’t know how you manage to escape to your workshop for what must be quite long periods. Mine always seems to have other plans.
Just realised, I wouldn’t want to detract from your wip, so that gives me a lot more time. Phew wriggled out of that one well!

 

[Mike G]

I carried on making the joints in the legs to take the stretchers:





Incidentally, here is my workshop sketch working out the secret dovetail halving joint:



After finishing all the joinery, I had a last minute change of heart and decided to draw-bore peg the main M&Ts so that I could carry on working on the frames immediately after gluing. I drilled the peg holes (1/2"):



After re-assembling the frames I marked up the centre of the holes through the mortices:



On the tenon I then marked a new centre point 2 or 3mm closer to the shoulder (the marked point from the above photo is arrowed):



I marked up for the slits for the tenon wedges, and drilled a stopping hole at the end:



I then cut the slits for the wedges:



.......and then made the wedges:





........and the pegs:





They were finished off with a good waxing:



The final job before gluing was to chamfer all the necessary edges:



People were informed I was gluing, and they all know not to disturb me in the process:



The pegs pulled all the joints nice and tight:



Here is one of the tenons before the wedges were added:



......and after:



Here are both frames sturdy and strong, with no clamping necessary:



People arrived at the point, and work came to an abrupt halt.

 

[Malc2098]

Nice.

 

[RogerS]

Super WIP, Mike...and those joints ! Tight as a D'sA. :eusa-clap:

 

[Mike G]

:lol: :lol: Thanks Roger. Yes, but with dead straight and true stock it's hard to stuff up a joint.

 

[Lons]

:lol: :lol: Thanks Roger. Yes, but with dead straight and true stock it's hard to stuff up a joint.

Oh no it isn't :lol:

 

[Mike G]

I started the day by cleaning up all the wedged tenons, and the pegs, and just a gentle tiffle with the smoother over all of the legs. It's important to remember that this is just a bench, and not a piece of furniture. Given that, these joints are just fine:



I cut all the legs to their final length, which is not a 5 minute exercise. Then, it was time for a dry assembly for a final check, and mark-up for chamfers etc.:



Then it was time to glue it all together:



The two bottom stretchers had a batten glued and screwed to their inside faces. These were reclaimed from a bed I picked up on Facebook Marketplace last year:



Something else I got free was a group of 8 pub tables. They are made of solid heavy wood (someone on here suggested it might be rubber wood), and I had always planned to use them to add weight to the bench. 700 square by 42ish mm thick, they are heavy, heavy, heavy

:









I trimmed a couple to act as the base of the cupboard:



There is also going to be one on each end, and a couple forming the back of the cupboard. Unfortunately, they are just a little too thick to just slot into the leg frame and screw flat onto the rails, so I have to remove a little from the back first. One nasty long cut entailed clamping a batten as a guide for a tenon saw:





I think all the woodwork on the base will be finished tomorrow, and there will then be a hiatus until I've bought the beech for the top and apron.

 

[—Tom—]

Very tidy work. Out of interest why didn’t you run the slope from corner to corner?

Looks to mean that you can’t cut the mating interface straight off the saw - needing chiselling out instead?

Threads like this always make me feel I should just bite the bullet and get on with making a new bench

 

[Mike G]

Well spotted Tom. That shows an in-workshop change of mind. I was originally going to house out for the cross members which sit on that piece at right angles. The reality is that that would have contributed no strength whatever, so I changed my mind when I saw that junction in a dry fit. And yes, you're right, it did mean chiselling the little remnant outside of a straight saw cut to achieve that cranked slope.

 

[—Tom—]

Thanks for the explanation, think I follow - glad I’m not the only one that has the occasional change of plan as I go along.

 

[Mike G]

Thanks for the explanation, think I follow....

I was expecting to house out rouhgly in this area:



I didn't want to leave a funny little corner, or a void where it cut through the dovetail.

 

[thetyreman]

nice joinery mike, looks solid.

 

[Cabinetman]

Can’t beat Beech for a bench top in my opinion. Steamed German? It’s rare here so I will be using Ash.

 

[Mike G]

Thanks Ben.

Steamed European, Ian, but I'm not sure which country it's going to be from.

I'm tired of always sweeping rubbish up from under my existing bench, so turned the new one upside down to fit a kickboard at the front:





That's only screwed in place so that it can be removed if I need to alter the bench height. I put my name on it on ther underside of a frame member to give the person who eventually takes this bench apart a moment's thought:



On to the rainwater pipe. Cutting it to length:



Then cutting out for it in the end panels:







I tipped the bench up to screw the bottom panels and the back panels in place. My goodness, it was a struggle lowering it into place. It's quite heavy now:



And viola. This is as far as I can get until I've bought the beech, which might be a few days:







From the back:



.....and with the cross members just standing in place. Again, I can't fix them or the rainwater pipe in place until I've got the top:

 

[Dr.Al]

I've really enjoyed reading this write-up, thanks for all the details Mike.

Once again I'm extremely impressed, both by the rate of work and also by the quality of the joinery involved. I keep going back and looking at this image:



That looks a lot cleaner than any mortice I've ever cut!

 

[Lons]

At risk of looking stupid, what's the rainpipe for Mike?