Tool Well and Leg Vise

I've made some progress since the last blog entry, so I suppose I should probably update things here…

I've cut some pine up to make the bottom of my tool well. I may rabbet the ends in the future so they sit just a hair lower, but for now they do the job fine. Didn't take many pictures of progress here, as it was just cutting up a couple pine boards and laying them in the groove and on the shelf.

The main part of of this blog post is the leg vise. I guess I might as well just jump right in with pictures

Some how I managed to not take any pictures of the work in progress with my camera… so all I've got are some phone pictures, unfortunately. And not very many.

Basically, I ripped it to width, cut it to length, and roughly cut it to shape with my circular saw. Then I planed it flat, and planed the shape to be what I wanted.

Yup, horrible at taking pictures sometimes.

Oh well, we continue.

I'm starting to realize how poorly documented this part of the build is…

I made another 1.5" wooden screw, and fellow LJ Mauricio was kind enough to send me an excess 3.5" hub, and also drilled a 1.5" hole in the end. I used it for my leg vise. I think he was right, 3.5" looks much better on the leg vise than 2" would have.

Anywho, I do have good picture coverage of this part. Here I'm working on making the garter plate for the leg vise out of a piece of 3/4" walnut

I drilled a 1" hole with a forstner bit about 3/8" deep. Enough so I could easily get the forstner bit started again with out having to use the spur in the middle. Because I then used a 3.5" hole saw, centering the pilot bit on the cone that the forstner bit spur left. I drilled down about 1/4" (I think it ended up being 3/16, or even 3/8" deep in the end, but oh well)

That established the outside edge, and then I drilled the rest of the way through the 1" hole.

Then it was time to chisel out some of the excess waste

A quick test fit with the hub

A #71 to level out the bottom

And there we have it

Now it's time to cut it off of the rest of the piece of walnut

And cut it in half so I can get it around the screw

And there she is (And yes, the screw placement was intentional based on the grain patterns of the chop. I also cut the chop to size with that as the intended result)

Then, it was time to drill out the back leg, so the leg vise screw could pass through it, so as to not limit my leg vise to a capacity of 5"

Then drilled a hole at the bottom of the leg for the parallel guide

And made another screw (threaded dowel, I suppose) for the parallel guide. I drilled a 1.5" deep hole in the 2" thick vise chop, and then tapped it so I could thread the parallel guide screw in place, and still remove it if I have to.

And here's the parallel guide screw, and the walnut nut

And with that, it was time to give it a test

Also made a 1" oak handle for it. Continuing the theme of "alternating" oak and maple (wagon vise was maple end cap, oak garter plate, maple hub, oak handle. Leg vise is oak chop, maple hub, oak handle)

It does actually close all the way even with the 3/4" thick nut still on it. So that makes me happy, in that I shouldn't have to ever remove it in use, I don't think.

Out of curiosity, this is about as wide open as it'll go with the current parallel guide screw

That'll probably be plenty

Thanks for checkin' it out This will probably be the last blog of the main bench build. I will hopefully be able to find a time to get some finish on it, but that will have to wait until a time I can do it somewhere other than in my apartment.

 

Tool Well and Leg Vise

I've made some progress since the last blog entry, so I suppose I should probably update things here…

I've cut some pine up to make the bottom of my tool well. I may rabbet the ends in the future so they sit just a hair lower, but for now they do the job fine. Didn't take many pictures of progress here, as it was just cutting up a couple pine boards and laying them in the groove and on the shelf.

The main part of of this blog post is the leg vise. I guess I might as well just jump right in with pictures

Some how I managed to not take any pictures of the work in progress with my camera… so all I've got are some phone pictures, unfortunately. And not very many.

Basically, I ripped it to width, cut it to length, and roughly cut it to shape with my circular saw. Then I planed it flat, and planed the shape to be what I wanted.

Yup, horrible at taking pictures sometimes.

Oh well, we continue.

I'm starting to realize how poorly documented this part of the build is…

I made another 1.5" wooden screw, and fellow LJ Mauricio was kind enough to send me an excess 3.5" hub, and also drilled a 1.5" hole in the end. I used it for my leg vise. I think he was right, 3.5" looks much better on the leg vise than 2" would have.

Anywho, I do have good picture coverage of this part. Here I'm working on making the garter plate for the leg vise out of a piece of 3/4" walnut

I drilled a 1" hole with a forstner bit about 3/8" deep. Enough so I could easily get the forstner bit started again with out having to use the spur in the middle. Because I then used a 3.5" hole saw, centering the pilot bit on the cone that the forstner bit spur left. I drilled down about 1/4" (I think it ended up being 3/16, or even 3/8" deep in the end, but oh well)

That established the outside edge, and then I drilled the rest of the way through the 1" hole.

Then it was time to chisel out some of the excess waste

A quick test fit with the hub

A #71 to level out the bottom

And there we have it

Now it's time to cut it off of the rest of the piece of walnut

And cut it in half so I can get it around the screw

And there she is (And yes, the screw placement was intentional based on the grain patterns of the chop. I also cut the chop to size with that as the intended result)

Then, it was time to drill out the back leg, so the leg vise screw could pass through it, so as to not limit my leg vise to a capacity of 5"

Then drilled a hole at the bottom of the leg for the parallel guide

And made another screw (threaded dowel, I suppose) for the parallel guide. I drilled a 1.5" deep hole in the 2" thick vise chop, and then tapped it so I could thread the parallel guide screw in place, and still remove it if I have to.

And here's the parallel guide screw, and the walnut nut

And with that, it was time to give it a test

Also made a 1" oak handle for it. Continuing the theme of "alternating" oak and maple (wagon vise was maple end cap, oak garter plate, maple hub, oak handle. Leg vise is oak chop, maple hub, oak handle)

It does actually close all the way even with the 3/4" thick nut still on it. So that makes me happy, in that I shouldn't have to ever remove it in use, I don't think.

Out of curiosity, this is about as wide open as it'll go with the current parallel guide screw

That'll probably be plenty

Thanks for checkin' it out This will probably be the last blog of the main bench build. I will hopefully be able to find a time to get some finish on it, but that will have to wait until a time I can do it somewhere other than in my apartment.

Top shelf workmanship Mos, a definite favorite.

Thanks for posting the process of your fine bench.

 

Tool Well and Leg Vise

I've made some progress since the last blog entry, so I suppose I should probably update things here…

I've cut some pine up to make the bottom of my tool well. I may rabbet the ends in the future so they sit just a hair lower, but for now they do the job fine. Didn't take many pictures of progress here, as it was just cutting up a couple pine boards and laying them in the groove and on the shelf.

The main part of of this blog post is the leg vise. I guess I might as well just jump right in with pictures

Some how I managed to not take any pictures of the work in progress with my camera… so all I've got are some phone pictures, unfortunately. And not very many.

Basically, I ripped it to width, cut it to length, and roughly cut it to shape with my circular saw. Then I planed it flat, and planed the shape to be what I wanted.

Yup, horrible at taking pictures sometimes.

Oh well, we continue.

I'm starting to realize how poorly documented this part of the build is…

I made another 1.5" wooden screw, and fellow LJ Mauricio was kind enough to send me an excess 3.5" hub, and also drilled a 1.5" hole in the end. I used it for my leg vise. I think he was right, 3.5" looks much better on the leg vise than 2" would have.

Anywho, I do have good picture coverage of this part. Here I'm working on making the garter plate for the leg vise out of a piece of 3/4" walnut

I drilled a 1" hole with a forstner bit about 3/8" deep. Enough so I could easily get the forstner bit started again with out having to use the spur in the middle. Because I then used a 3.5" hole saw, centering the pilot bit on the cone that the forstner bit spur left. I drilled down about 1/4" (I think it ended up being 3/16, or even 3/8" deep in the end, but oh well)

That established the outside edge, and then I drilled the rest of the way through the 1" hole.

Then it was time to chisel out some of the excess waste

A quick test fit with the hub

A #71 to level out the bottom

And there we have it

Now it's time to cut it off of the rest of the piece of walnut

And cut it in half so I can get it around the screw

And there she is (And yes, the screw placement was intentional based on the grain patterns of the chop. I also cut the chop to size with that as the intended result)

Then, it was time to drill out the back leg, so the leg vise screw could pass through it, so as to not limit my leg vise to a capacity of 5"

Then drilled a hole at the bottom of the leg for the parallel guide

And made another screw (threaded dowel, I suppose) for the parallel guide. I drilled a 1.5" deep hole in the 2" thick vise chop, and then tapped it so I could thread the parallel guide screw in place, and still remove it if I have to.

And here's the parallel guide screw, and the walnut nut

And with that, it was time to give it a test

Also made a 1" oak handle for it. Continuing the theme of "alternating" oak and maple (wagon vise was maple end cap, oak garter plate, maple hub, oak handle. Leg vise is oak chop, maple hub, oak handle)

It does actually close all the way even with the 3/4" thick nut still on it. So that makes me happy, in that I shouldn't have to ever remove it in use, I don't think.

Out of curiosity, this is about as wide open as it'll go with the current parallel guide screw

That'll probably be plenty

Thanks for checkin' it out This will probably be the last blog of the main bench build. I will hopefully be able to find a time to get some finish on it, but that will have to wait until a time I can do it somewhere other than in my apartment.

Sweet bench there, outstanding work. I know it is very satisfying to get one of these finished, it is a major process. Your work will really improve once you start using it.