2844D2017-02-08T12-44-57

I have discovered the scrub plane and really love it; I have been using it to remove the fuzz and gunk from rough lumber and to quickly get close to my knife line (especially when planing a board to exact width after botching the rip saw cut); it only takes a minute to remove a lot of wood with it #SawBench

2845D2017-02-08T15-39-04

Chamfering all edges of the pieces of my #SawBench using the Veritas Chamfer Guide. It takes a couple of minutes to set it up, but it works really well. I designed the bench so all edges can be chamfered along their full length; it is simpler to do and I chose to do it before the joinery.

2843D2017-02-08T23-07-15

Ripping long stock on the WorkMate turned out to be less than peasant, so I decided to take a break from #TheEnglishWorkbench and build myself a proper #SawBench using some of the 8/4 pine I had bought for the workbench.

2846D2017-02-13T16-16-51

Now that all the parts for the #SawBench are dimensioned and the ripping notch is cut and shaped, it is finally time for some joinery!

2848D2017-02-14T08-18-17

Here is the top of the #SawBench with the notches for the legs. I scored the pencil lines with a marking knife, cut a little wall with a chisel, sawed the sides with a backsaw, chiseled out most of the waste with a chisel, and cleaned up with a router plane.

2850D2017-02-15T09-53-48

Holding stock vertically to cut joinery for the #SawBench with the WorkMate is far from ideal; man, am I looking forward to having a proper workbench!

2852D2017-02-16T08-18-41

The #SawBench is starting to come together; the joinery for the legs is done and the fit is pretty good. I was stressing about the sloped cuts, but they worked out nicely.

2853D2017-02-16T08-19-06

The #SawBench is starting to come together; the joinery for the legs is done and the fit is pretty good. I was stressing about the sloped cuts, but they worked out nicely.

2857D2017-02-18T19-20-29

I always find glueing a piece very stressful, especially with the splayed legs of the #SawBench. Everything worked out well even though later on I realized the base of the back pair of legs is almost a 1/4” wider than the base of the front pair (the two closest to the ripping notch); but that is the result of a 1/64” discrepancy in the sloping cuts of the leg joints so I cannot complain :-)

2862D2017-02-18T21-03-24

Using the waste cut of the leg joinery as a clamping caul to compensate for the angle of the splayed leg of the #SawBench and prevent the jaws of the clamp from slipping.

2864D2017-02-18T21-04-50

I always find glueing a piece very stressful, especially with the splayed legs of the #SawBench. Everything worked out well even though later on I realized the base of the back pair of legs is almost a 1/4” wider than the base of the front pair (the two closest to the ripping notch); but that is the result of a 1/64” discrepancy in the sloping cuts of the leg joints so I cannot complain :-)

2865D2017-02-18T21-05-13

I always find glueing a piece very stressful, especially with the splayed legs of the #SawBench. Everything worked out well even though later on I realized the base of the back pair of legs is almost a 1/4” wider than the base of the front pair (the two closest to the ripping notch); but that is the result of a 1/64” discrepancy in the sloping cuts of the leg joints so I cannot complain :-)

2867D2017-02-22T16-39-44

The #SawBench braces are done; next is the single stretcher and a few dowels; the end is near :-)

2868D2017-02-22T16-40-03

The #SawBench braces are done; next is the single stretcher and a few dowels; the end is near :-)

2871D2017-02-22T16-40-46

The #SawBench braces are done; next is the single stretcher and a few dowels; the end is near :-)

2873D2017-02-25T15-17-32

Time to add dowels to the leg/top joinery of the #SawBench. I find that the Auger bits have a tendency to lift the occasional splinter around the entry point when used on soft wood, so I now take the time to start the hole with a Forstner bit before switching to the Auger bit.

2874D2017-02-25T15-18-01

Time to add dowels to the leg/top joinery of the #SawBench. I find that the Auger bits have a tendency to lift the occasional splinter around the entry point when used on soft wood, so I now take the time to start the hole with a Forstner bit before switching to the Auger bit.

2876D2017-02-26T08-05-08

The dowels are in; the 5/8” diameter hardwood rod I bought at The Home Depot turned out to be smaller than 5/8” and not even that round; luckily I found out on a scrap of wood and not on the #SawBench; the 3/4” rod from The Home Depot was instead sized as advertised and worked out well; I’ll have to improve my brace drill technique because my holes are still not so clean.

2878D2017-02-26T08-05-53

The dowels are in; the 5/8” diameter hardwood rod I bought at The Home Depot turned out to be smaller than 5/8” and not even that round; luckily I found out on a scrap of wood and not on the #SawBench; the 3/4” rod from The Home Depot was instead sized as advertised and worked out well; I’ll have to improve my brace drill technique because my holes are still not so clean.

2879D2017-02-26T08-06-47

For the braces of the #SawBench, I decided to go with round-head brass screws; I like the look and they are easier to install than dowels.

2881D2017-02-26T08-07-47

For the braces of the #SawBench, I decided to go with round-head brass screws; I like the look and they are easier to install than dowels.

2882D2017-02-26T12-50-51

A long stretcher straddles the braces of the #SawBench. Initially, I simply glued it and screw it to the braces; unfortunately, the joinery was a bit tight and the stretcher did not sit all the way down, so 15 minutes later I ended up scrambling for a few clamps in a panic.

2883D2017-02-26T12-51-31

A long stretcher straddles the braces of the #SawBench. Initially, I simply glued it and screw it to the braces; unfortunately, the joinery was a bit tight and the stretcher did not sit all the way down, so 15 minutes later I ended up scrambling for a few clamps in a panic.

2885D2017-02-26T17-05-25

I started trimming the dowels with a Japanese flush-cut saw, riding on a couple business cards I had taped to the legs of the #SawBench to protect them, but the blade still had a tendency to flex and sink below the surface of the legs. I switched to a Japanese Dozuki saw, using a couple of fingers to lightly press its back on the wood; it took only a few seconds to trim the dowels and the top of the legs leaving only a millimetre or so for the hand plane.