What up Benches?

doc henderson · February 11, 2019, 11:27:23 PM

...so I used the laser engraver instead... for the paw pattern!

SwampDonkey · February 12, 2019, 06:10:01 AM

Thanks for sharing your techniques.

What I've always done Doc, to make the legs all even and the base of them to all sit flush is sit it upright on a flat surface, like the table saw and scribe the cut around the leg and then use a very thin kerf Japanese saw to make the cuts. Last chair I made was a fiddle back with the back legs angled back some. Scribed and cut flush. Noth'n to it.

Always nice to have a drill press around. Came it real handy for making wooden ratchet handles for the loom. A big chunk of 8/4 maple, lathed round. Centre mortied out square with attachment for drill press. Then drill the holes for the handles around the circumference on a bent angle. Works like a charm.

Magicman · February 12, 2019, 10:03:03 AM

Trying to decide if that is footloose, da udder foot is in da mouth, ihop, or, high steppin'. ;D

samandothers · February 12, 2019, 11:44:32 AM

Why did you feel compelled to indicate you had someone else measure the bed? :D

Very nice job and very thoughtful, or great suck up job to the CMO! ;D

All kidding aside you did a wonderful job and thing here.

doc henderson · February 12, 2019, 12:41:18 PM

Quote from: samandothers on February 12, 2019, 11:44:32 AM
Why did you feel compelled to indicate you had someone else measure the bed? :D

Very nice job and very thoughtful, or great suck up job to the CMO! ;D

All kidding aside you did a wonderful job and thing here.

Good point. A few know, but my last day at that hospital is past, and I have taken over at a regional Hospital 3 minutes from my house. I know you were kidding, but it does come to mind.!!! smiley_heh_heh Thanks for all the kind reviews and ideas

doc henderson · February 13, 2019, 09:30:29 PM

Over at a buddy's house and saw the bench I helped his son make his mom for Christmas a few years back. locust wood, no thorns. nice long bench with all the kids names including one they lost close to term. thin slab with bark on the bottom, very dense wood, no flex when you sit.

this thing is over 4 feet long. heavy as heck and looks great. Jim is x-navy, friend I brew beer with occ.

SwampDonkey · February 14, 2019, 05:34:04 AM

Awesome Doc.

samandothers · February 14, 2019, 11:37:10 AM

Congratulations on scoring the new hospital job closer to home! Speaks highly of your abilities!

The locust really looks nice. It is pretty wood. Around SW Va we have black locust but few of my trees get to a size for a bench with out some issue.

Old Greenhorn · May 27, 2019, 08:54:03 PM

Hey @doc henderson I just came back to this thread for reference. I may not be fast, but I do follow up.... eventually. We have new neighbors I just met today, 30 somethings, nice kids. They are working their butts off to clean their place up and make it nice. Flowers, quartz stone paths, fire pit area, and anything they can do that requires supplies from Home Depot. :D ;D
Anyway, nice to see youngsters work so hard and I thought I would make something for them. They could use some small table by their fire pit or on their deck and those slabs I cut up yesterday would work well I think. So I ordered a lumberjack 1-1/2" tenon cutter and a forstner bit. I am wondering how you pick your drill angles? I am thinking something in the 5 degree range in the X and Y axis?
Anyway, pictures to follow in a few weeks. I hope they are not as ugly as my work bench.

doc henderson · May 27, 2019, 09:01:44 PM

about 10 to 13 degrees is what I use for benches. if it is a narrow 8 inch seat I splay wider, if it is wider and more stable i go less. for an end table you could also do a mass base with a petit top with a single post up the middle. depends on the degree of rustic-nationish- tolerance. (made up word). i try to stay at least 1 inch from the edges.

Old Greenhorn · June 12, 2019, 02:38:24 PM

Well @doc henderson , here I am studying back on this thread again. All your (bench) legs look so uniform and that style appealed to me. Last night I wasted my evening trying to salvage a decent piece of WO to no avail, it's on the burn pile now. I will start again with a fresh maple log tonight if allowed. SO I am going to take pretty much the whole log and cut it into leg stock. My (new) question: what is your cross-sectional size? It looks like 2-1/2 square, but could be 3". I'll see how the log looks but maybe I will make both sizes. Then I will set up the drill press to do a better job on the tenons.

doc henderson · June 12, 2019, 02:56:15 PM

@Old Greenhorn . I like the drill press but also just clamp some to may table saw bed and fence and use a dewalt 18 v drill by hand. mine have the level. cutting tenons in green wood comes off in big shavings (better) and very dry wood is a little more "chattery" (made up word). If planning well in advance a guy could cut the tenon a size bigger and let it dry, then do the final size. My standard stock is 2 to 2.5 inches square. It depends on the seat dimensions and what looks good. I have a few benches around the shop that I use for reference. I have considered, if wood is about to rip my arms off, soaking the tenon in water to help with smooth cutting. Glad you are having a good time. 8) 8) 8)
ps there are some other ideas online video's if interested. I got a few ideas there.

Old Greenhorn · June 12, 2019, 03:45:05 PM

Thanks Doc, baby steps right now. When I set up the drill press I will get a photo. I think you will like what I have in mind, (assuming it works at all) but it will require uniform size for each leg of a given size group. For me, the legs seem like the PITA part of the job (next to final sizing, leveling), so I think I might just make up a mess of them in one shot, like you do, so I can just use them as needed. I can leave them in the shed to dry somewhat. Not even sure what the MC is on that log I was gonna mill tonight. I cut it back in the fall, so it's probably still high. If'n I mill them at 2-1/2" I could take them down to 2" later if needed for style points, or if I wanted to make short stiles (see what I did there?). ;D :D
Edit to add: Yes, I know there are lots of neat ideas out there, it boggles the mind. I am trying not to think about them just yet. I need to get the basic process of making a top, making legs, putting them together, and finishing it off. I have never been a good woodworker because I am impatient. I need to work on my zen a lot more.

doc henderson · February 26, 2020, 10:42:44 PM

made a bench for a guy at work. he is the one clearing his land and cutting ERC for me. made him some trim. and his son (grandson) loves cows @Southside so made him a bench. 18 inches by 8 inches, 12 inches tall.

Southside · February 26, 2020, 11:05:58 PM

That is nice!!

SwampDonkey · February 27, 2020, 06:05:56 AM

Excellent! Nice work.

thecfarm · February 27, 2020, 08:26:06 AM

I betcha they will enjoy that.

doc henderson · February 27, 2020, 09:07:10 AM

Sean is post military, now going full time with us as a PA. He has been part time for 4 years. He is close to 50, just bought 90 acres that no one had maintained for 30 years. he want to plant trees so is taking out cedars. his son is 3 (adopted from within his family) he loves cows. the bench should be his size in terms of sitting and moving it.

here is a whack of ERC. he thought he would have another 6 of these, but now he says he grossly underestimated the volume and it will be much more. I go to get my pallets done!

SwampDonkey · February 27, 2020, 12:35:46 PM

Your red cedar down there is like us with balsam fir. Grows back like weeds by the time you make a circle. :D 50 years is a 20" diameter log on good ground. I have been burning some fir in with other stuff the last two years. Never run out of fir growing back. :D Heck the stuff will grow under maple, aspen, or spruce, you cut that off and your next woods is fir.

kantuckid · March 10, 2020, 09:54:57 AM

Leg trims: I simply place the finished item upright on a flat surface and lay a pencil flat towards the sides of the legs and draw a cut line. If needed I use a piece of wood to make the pencil line catch the shortest leg of the group. Then I mostly use the same saw doc shows in his picture and cut to the line.
Achieves the same thing as the "doc jig" seen in picture to mark legs for equalization.

WV Sawmiller · March 10, 2020, 10:44:19 AM

I just turn my bench upside down on my mill, clamp it securely, set the blade height (Normally I use 17"), set the blade guides wide, engage and make one pass. All legs are cut exactly the same height and angle. No fuss, no muss (Whatever muss is).

doc henderson · July 04, 2020, 04:42:56 PM

was not sure where to put this. I have been trying to finish up a few projects in my shop. had made this blue stain pine bench quite a while ago. I sat a spray bottle with denatured alcohol on it, and got this weird green discoloration. two passes on the jointer did not take it out. so i hit it x2 with wood bleach. i hesitated cause i did not want a bland spot devoid of not only the green spot, but also the blue stain and some darkness to the grain. so the green spot did fade, but the grain and blue stain remained. i can see it, can you?

fairly well centered in the pic. I can live with that. It has stopped me from finishing this bench for months!

doc henderson · July 04, 2020, 04:53:16 PM

looked back and found this bench... made on 2-11-2019. i really did not like the green stain, and was worried the fix might ruin the look of the bench.

SwampDonkey · July 04, 2020, 05:08:14 PM

Could always pine tar it. ;D ;)

doc henderson · September 11, 2020, 07:12:04 PM

found a flitch I saved a few years ago to make a bench. thought it might be walnut as it was dark. has been outside on a stack for a couple years. nope it is yellow, not brown inside. after all this time and no special care, about a eighth of brown then yellow. it is Mulberry.