I went a little overboard with my vise face. The timber is Australian Redgum, this particular piece was a retaining wall slab. I rescued it from SWMBO a year ago when she was about to attack it with a chainsaw so she could fit it into the fire.
I got quite a surprise when I cleaned it up today. Pics on abpf and abpw.
cheers,
Greg
It's a ripper, Groggy!
Where is abpf and abpw?
abreviations for alt.binaries.pictures.furniture and alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking newsgroups.
That's a NICE looking piece of wood. Where did it come from? SWMO was going to BURN it??? Nice save!!
I could only see a little of the rest of the bench in the photos, but it looked really nice. I have a couple of questions about your bench construction - I'm in the process of planning mine, finding wood, etc. 1.) I notice you have round bench dogs - any problem with them turning or rotating when under load? I read a recommendation for "square" bench dogs to prevent that. 2.) What type of wood did you use for the top? What type for the legs?
Nice job with the bench -
Nick Bozovich
No problems so far, the round dogs are fine. Mind you, I have not been trying to hog off large amounts of timber. I have used a number 4 a fair bit, the ROS and that's about it. I am confident they will take a fair amount of abuse though.
Bench top is just pine (jummywood to some), the legs are the same. The apron is made from Tasmanian Oak. I wanted the top and bench parts to have representative Australian timbers where I could.
thank you!
Greg - Sorry to be a PITA, but what did you finish your bench top with? Like you, I'm making mine out of a relatively soft wood (I have some 1x1x3 edge joined poplar panels), and I want to get a good finish on it that will hopefully counter the softness of the wood, and not get too marked up as I use it.
Thanks -
Nick
You have a problem. The amount of improvement you can make with a finish is limited. Even if you use the hardest toughest finish in the world, you will have an ultra thin hard layer over your relatively soft wood. The wood beneath the finish will still dent almost as easily as if the were nothing on it.
How about an easily replaceable top over your bench. Like
1/4 inch hardboard held in place with double sided tape?BTW, unlike natural wood, the hardboard I've bought lately seems to soak up thin polyurethane like a sponge and does feel tougher after I coat it until it doesn't absorb anymore.
Dick
Nick,
I have only applied boiled linseed oil at this stage, I'm still thinking about what to apply as the true finish coat. It may take me ten years to decide, I don't really care as it's only a working bench. The important aspects of this bench are the building (for practice, learning and planning) and the using.
Pine is very soft and there is not much I can do to protect it though I don't think I particularly want to. The softer the bench top the less likely it will damage any project I have on it. I suggest you put a finish on that will repel glue, perhaps a BLO, beeswax and mineral turps combination. Note that the combination will do next to nothing to 'harden' the top. You can also keep a false hardboard top at the back of the bench for the times you want to protect it.
regards,
Greg
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