New bench height

Re: New bench height

Mike In Los Angeles

The treatment on the arrises of your legs is how I like mine, i have always fought grain direction at whichever end I have to back up to the angled cut. Most recently in Elm I had a lot of tearout, what do you think is the best approach?

I hope those risers help your back, the only thing that keeps mine from spasms is a hike in the morning with some push-ups on a park bench.

Re: New bench height

Steve D, in CT

Elm has no "right" direction of grain from what I remember.

We had elm trees in my neighborhood growing up. A neighbor's dead tree fell into my father's yard and I took short logs home to split and burn. Little did I know that elm doesn't split. It just eats wedges.

From what I recall on the bench I used a bullnose rabbet plane for the chamfer and pared to a stop cut. The lambs tongue was probably done with a chisel but may have been done with a rasp or file.

I'll grab a better photo. I think they may be facets as opposed to curved elements. It's fir construction lumber so not anything great to work with.

The back lasted longer today but still hurts like hell from leaning over. I've been too sedentary while working at home and nursing an old inactive dog in her twilight year that I lost a lot of strength. Pushups or assuming that position does seem to help.

I had some awesome BBQ in LA

Steve D, in CT

In the 80's I traveled to CA a few times on business and stumbled on a BBQ place on Topanga Canyon Rd. It was a brown building with no windows and I don't know why we decided to go in there but it was great.

I thought of that when you said you like to hike near LA. There were a lot of neat areas out of town.

Re: I had some awesome BBQ in LA

Mike In Los Angeles

Keep it under your hat but LA has great spots, I’ve been watching these 5’ ferruginous hawks squabbling with hordes of ravens all day from my patio 10 mins from downtown LA and the hiking trails start outside my door. The people you pass up in the park are acting worse and worse but that might be a widespread condition.

I think I might know of the bbq place you went to but I haven’t been.

I hope your old dog gets to live to the end, where would we be without them?

Re: I had some awesome BBQ in LA

Steve D, in CT

That would be something for the BBQ place to be in business still. Like I said, that was in the 80s, probably 1985 or 6.

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our pup in September. She was a sweetie.

The pup

Steve D, CT

This was when she was coming to work with me and still could walk distances.

Re: I had some awesome BBQ in LA

Mike In Los Angeles

The place I was thinking of is called “the old place,” and as you might imagine it goes back. But I think it’s not the place you meant. That dog is really my type, hard when they get to the end.

Re: New bench height

Steve D, CT

Here is a closeup of the chamfer termination. Just straight cuts.

Re: New bench height

Mike In Los Angeles

I like that style. Where I always have trouble with grain is at the end where a spokeshave or chisel would tear the flat going back to the beveled cut. Same as carving a box lid, inside there’s one end that’s happy and one end that tears up. I think on the arrises of legs like youre, the traditional solution is most likely a fine rasp but for some reason I always feel sheepish using it.

Re: New bench height

William Duffield

Have you considered Goeff Noden's Adjust-A-Bench?

Re: New bench height

Steve D, CT

I had not considered that. I question how rigid something like that would be for rough planing of stock.

While my back still gets sore I have been putting some hours on the bench at its new height and it's much much better. I could barely get out of my chair at the end of the day.

Hip bone height is the height of my next bench although it's a lot easier to elevate one than to drop one lower.

Re: New bench height

William Duffield

All the ones I've worked on have been very rigit, but it depends on how beefy you make the stretchers, and whether you attach the wheels. If you do attach the wheels, then it depends on whether or not you lift the wheels off the floor when you are planing on it. If you need to move it around a lot, then moving the wheels up and down might be difficult with a bad back, since you need to get down on your knees with a socket wrench.

Re: New bench height

Mike In Los Angeles

Is that height going to be a drag when you’re malleting?

Re: New bench height

Steve D, in CT

Good question. I'll have to wait and see.

I haven't done any malleting in a while but I am frequently planing, sharpening and laying out. I did notice that planing wide boards set above the vise rods was awkward. Once I get a set of wood jaws in my record vise I should be good to go.

Re: New bench height

William Duffield

For edge planing wide boards, instead of clamping the board above the Record's guide bars, I have found it to be much more effective to clamp to the side of the bar and to support the other end of the board in a board jack (a.k.a. Dutchman).

There are at least three ways to support the board jack:

- You can make it free standing on a platform on the floor. This has advantages for planing long boards on a short bench, but it is a trip hazard.

- You can mount it on a pair of rails, one on the top of the lower stretcher, the other on the bottom of the upper stretcher (if you have one) or the bottom of the front edge of the bench top.

- If you have a top stretcher, you can hook the jack over the top of the bottom stretcher and over the top and around the back of the top stretcher. This has the advantage of accommodating the thickness of a wooden chop added later to the back jaw of the Record vise (DAMHIKT) by extending the top of the jack's vertical member to even with the top of your bench and making it the same thickness as the added rear vice chop.

Re: New bench height

Steve D, in CT

Thanks for all the good points.

I have been woodworking for decades but have been on hiatus for quite a while. I'm getting back in via a mostly hand tool approach and my shop is evolving in that direction.

It's a bit of a mess (actually it's a disgrace) that evolves as needs arise. It started with a tiny cleanup that involved decommissioning the table saw. Then I built the too low bench. Then a major house repair that caused my wood storage to reside on my other bench for a year. Then more attempts at organizing while trying to squeeze more projects in and keeping up with the home projects.

I should be OK but I have plumbing, electrical, painting, mechanic's, auto, gardening and woodworking all competing for space.

I do have vise on the end of that bench and for longer boards I could reliably clamp a support in that. If I were making another bench base I would put a leg flush to the front to just take a peg and not be another doo-dad to store.