If you can't lower the bench...
Paul M. in San Diego
>I've been turning many round holes into square ones for my current fence project. I'm using Ipe which is a tough weatherproof wood to make rails and balusters in a typical deck railing. I've drilled out round holes in the rails to fit the balusters, and I'm squaring them off with a mortise chisel to fit the square balusters. I'm sure there are many other ways to do this, but this is what I've selected.
So no problem... just bang out lots of square holes. Except with my high bench, I'm getting shoulder problems from wielding the mallet up around and above head level. I know that most people use a low mortising bench to do this type of activity to lower the work to a more friendly level. But I don't have such a bench available (or even a log to use here in suburbia), so I found a differnet way.
If you can't move Mohammed to the mountain, then move the mountain to Mohammed. I got out a cinder block and stood on it at my bench to raise myself up about 8". This works great. You don't move around much when mortising since you typically stand in one spot over the leg of the bench and bang away. Now the mallet is below shoulder level, so it's mostly elbow action rather than shoulder. I'm much more productive now.
Cinder blocks... they're not just for flattening waterstones anymore. ;-)
-- Paul M.