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Discovery Workbench

Started by metalspinner, July 02, 2012, 10:17:25 AM

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metalspinner

Nick has been after me for quite a while to build him a workbench for all of his interests.  Microscopy, entomology, geology, electronics, etc, etc.

After lots of searching for just the right style, this is what we found...

http://www.riogrande.com/Product/14-Drawer-Rio-Workbench-with-Extra-Wide-Top/113250?pos=25

After measuring his space and a few tweeks to the design this is what we ended up with...



 

I will tackle this in four different building stages - two drawer cabinets, center drawer unit, drawers and top, and accessories.  The drawer cabinets will be M&T with floating side panels.  The center unit I have not figured out yet. Drawers will be dovetailed and the top will be  hard maple workbench style.

After days of milling the lumber and laminating thicker stock, evrything still looks like a pile of boards.  This is going to be one of those projects that takes a while to start to look like something.
 


 




 

I didn't have a tenon jig so I cobbled this one together...

 


 

Here is the pile of beech lumber we are using.  Talk about heavy!  A few special boards are being put aside for drawer fronts and show pieces.
 


 
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

clww

Every project has a "start". I look forward to following this thread.
Many Stihl Saws-16"-60"
"Go Ask The Other Master Chief"
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Magicman

Yup, First you have a need, and then a plan.   :)

I'll wager that you come in less than that $1,595.00.   smiley_thumbsup
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Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Bill Gaiche

Will be intresting. That drum sander is zactly like mine. I like it. bg

Clam77

I look forward to this too!!  Looks like a nice desk to have with lots of space for storage!!    8)
Andy

Stihl 009, 028, 038, 041, MS362
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metalspinner

I got a bit further than I thought today.

Each of the legs have both mortises and a groove for the panels.  I built this little plywood router fixture to cut both.

The Mortise is 3/8" and the groove is 5/16".  You will see the short mortise has the little bump in it. ::)  That happened on the very first of 16 identicle mortises. I recently picked up a new to me Dewalt router and this was the first time I used it.  Apparently the locking mechanismis the exact opposite of my Porter Cable router and that surprised me. >:(  So each mortise has the little stoopid bump on it.  We will call that a glue squeeze out reservoir.  ::)



 



  

Here are the two drawer cabinets dry fit together.




 

Next up are the panels.  They will flat 5/16" floaters.

Did I mention that beech is hard?

I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

jamesamd

Excellent begining,Spinner :)
All that is gold does not glitter,not all those that wander are lost.....

WDH

Nothing wrong to have some mortises with a wry smile  ;D.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

metalspinner

The panels are in the clamps... half of them anyway.  I went to the big box to pick up a few more clamps and holy cow! Those suckers are expensive. :o  A 24" bar clamp was 35 smackers.

I missed an opportunity a few weeks ago on CL.  A fella as selling a whole stack of them for pretty cheap. :(

I'm gonna just have to glue this up in stages.  That's the safest way to do it anyhow.
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

metalspinner

A bit more progress to report...

The panels came out of the clamps today.  I left them about 7/16" thick for edge glueing.  My plan was to then send them through the planer after glue up to bring them down to 5/16".  However, the final panel width is 20 1/8" and I have just a 20" planer. ::) The bed of my Grizzley planer has a raised edge on each side creating an exact 20" opening. :(

So through the drum sander many, many  times.  Here is the board catcher on the outfeed side...



 


More sanding. It was hot today!



 



One sub-assembly in clamps. That big knot doesn't show on the good side.  This is the inside of the cabinet.



 



One drawer cabinet complete. :)

 


 

The second will be done by lunch tomorrow. :)
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

WDH

Those bessey k-body clamps are worth their weight in gold.  That is about how much they cost, too  :).  They do, however, make square case construction much much easier.  Working in the shop is a great way to spend time working with your son.  This desk will always be special to him because he helped his Dad build it.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

metalspinner

He has been saying a few things.

About the panel glue up after they came out of the clamps... "What about these glue globules? I guess it's ok to leave them, but I'd prefer them off if we can."

"There's a gap!"  "I haven't tightened the clamp yet, Nick."

"How many more times do we need to sand these panels?!?"

"Don't forget to put the panel in the frame." ::)
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

Don K

Sounds like a future perfectionist woodworker in the making. :D :D ;D

Don
Lucky to own a WM LT40HDD35, blessed to have a wife that encouraged me to buy it.     Now that\'s true love!
Massey Ferguson 1547 FWD with FEL  06 GMC Sierra 2500HD 4X4 Dozer Retriever Husky 359 20\" Bar  Man, life is getting good!

WDH

Tell him that the glue globules drive us all crazy  :D.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Norm

Tell him about the other uses for duct tape.  ;D

metalspinner

 :D :D

Norm,
There's a good story about my son, a strip of duct tape, and summer camp.  bUt we won't go there now. :D
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

WDH

I have never used beech in a furniture project.  I am sure that it will look awesome!  Does the beech mill well without chipping?  I am currently making a project out of cherry, so I am being spoiled  :).

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

metalspinner

This beech is milling very well. :)  I have had no tear out of routed or sawn edges and it has not burned. It's just heavy and hard.

Drying defects from the solar kiln took it's toll on the overall stack, though. Any board near the pith curled like crazy.  And I threw out prior to drying all the pith boards. Mixed in with the beech in the kiln was plenty of soft maple.  What  a differance! The maple came out perfectly flat.

This project is all short and narrow stock, so the drying defects are no problem jointing flat.

Another big step was made on the bench yesterday, though I have no pictures to prove it. :D

The center console is in clamps drying as I type this. I had a half sheet of birch plywood kicking around the shop, so I edged it with beech and made the console with it.  It would easily weight 5 times more if it was solid beech.

I'm still trying to figure out a way to mount the console to the cabinets. An idea currently in my head is to glue corbels in place on the legs of the cabinets to carry the weight of the console. Then use furniture bolts through the sides to keep it in place and tie everything together.

Maybe after another cup of coffee a clearer idea will come to mind. :)
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

metalspinner

It's all starting to come together... 8)

Here are the corbel brackets that the console will rest on. While making the cabinet parts, I made up a few extra rails just in case.  They were exactly what was needed to tie the corbel together. :) A couple of mortises later and they were ready to go.



  

Glued and screwed in place.



 

Here is yesterday's work...



 

And all the parts clamped together.



 

I started poking around the wood stacks in the shop looking for benchtop material.  I don't have enough 8/4 maple. :( I have only two species in 8/4 that will be enough - red oak and white oak.  Both quarter sawn. I think I'll go with white oak because of the closed grain and the blond color.  Getting it out of the stacks will be a project in itself. ::)


Next up drawers, drawers, and more drawers.  I bought fresh dovetailing bits this morning. ;)
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

SwampDonkey

Quote from: Norm on July 06, 2012, 06:55:11 AM
Tell him about the other uses for duct tape.  ;D

Since Chris won't tell, I will tell one. ;D

An elderly lady up the road had a visit from mother and my brother. My brother when he was bored or wanted to leave for home would put a fuss and not sit still. The old lady grabbed the duct tape and tied his hands and feet hog style and that stopped the squirming and crawling around the table.  Mother kept him tied until she got him home. ;D :D

Nice project to by the way. Following closely. :)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

beenthere

So she carried him home?

Nowadays that hog tying could get child abuse charges. ;)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

SwampDonkey

He was lucky that's all he got. :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

tyb525

That's looking great, I love seeing people use the much-underrated Beech :)
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

POSTON WIDEHEAD

Quote from: tyb525 on July 07, 2012, 08:00:26 PM
That's looking great, I love seeing people use the much-underrated Beech :)

I'm mixed up....are you talking about using DUCT TAPE on a much underrated Beech?  say_what

That'll getcha 10-20 in the slammer.  :D :D :D

The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

metalspinner

 :D :D

Alright.  So we can clear the air of all the duct tape stories, here's ours. ::) :D

My son was at a summer day camp a couple years ago. Once he gets started talking about something, he just cannot stop.  His mouth, hands, and arms run 100 MPH until he has completely exhausted the subject.

Throughout the day, he was going and going and, finally, everyone had had enough. :D  Somebody blurts out, "What's it gonna take to make you stop talking?!?" Everyone chuckles about it and continues on with the activities. Including Nick.

As a joke, he grabs a roll of duct tape and sticks a strip across his mouth (really his face) and shows everyone just what it would take to shut him up. ::)

This is when we get a call from the instructor to alert us to the situation.  I said, "Rip it off!" :D She did.  And he had a nice red beard on his face for the rest of the afternoon. :D


I've gotten started on the drawers.  The drawer faces will be spalted beech.  But my supply is very limited to the 1' -2' lengths on the ends of a few longer boards.  So we spent some time cross cutting, jointing and planing these pieces.  Then we edge glued them together to make up a very wide and very short board. We have two of these. One for each drawer bank.

 

We will rip these to make our drawer faces and keep them in order (hopefully) throughout the drawer making process so the spalt lines run throughout the bank of drawers.

This next glue up will be for the center console drawer faces.  If everything goes as planned, the spalting figure will travel throughout these drawers, too. :)

I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

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