Woodworking 101 Day 2

Yesterday I go the wood to build a workbench for the shop and, in a rare burst of activity for me, I actually started to do something with it!

I had already planed down a couple of timbers that had been used as stickers int he logs when we got our kit. These were to become the legs of the workbench. The plans called for the legs to be glued up from 2x lumber and then milled to 2-1/2 x 3 inches. The stickers were already over those measurements, so I planed two sides and then ripped the others to proper size. Hey, it saved the cost of a couple of 2x6s and the time needed to allow the glue to set. Oh, they each needed to have a notch cut in the top to hold a top rails.

10" Table Saw: "The Work Horse" of any shop

After ripping them to dimension and cutting them to length, I went to work on the pieces that would connect them. Two side rails for the bottom were also supposed to be glued up 2x but I used two more stickers. These needed tenons on the ends ans a ledge cut in tone corner to support a shelf. The front and rear spacers were cut from 2x6 lumber and also needed tenons on each end.

12" Chop Saw: Great tool to make long boards short.

The cutting of the tenons is a task I need to practice more. I've a dado blade for the table saw that is a wobble variety. They do not cut as cleanly as the stacked dado blades but their cost is much, much less.

End view of a side rail showing tenon and ledge.

That's where I left off last night.

Today, I dug out my mortising machine and set it up to produce the two mortises each leg needed to take the tenons on the spacers and risers. This was the first time in a very long time that I had need to mortise out a timber but, following Norm Abrhams' advice about measure twice, cut once, everything went very smoothly--even if I did end up drilling the holes 3/16ths of an inch too deeply. Once done, It was a matter of cleaning up the tenons (especially their cheek faces) to fit the holes.

Mortiser

I glued an screwed the side pieces together and set them aside. The front spacers can wait until the top is done for the top is the top spacer and without it things could get a bit wobbly.

Time to get to work on the top which is made from three 2x10s.

Have you ever dropped a 2x10 on your foot edgewise? Let me tell you, it hurts like the dickens! It doesn't help that 1-My steel toed boots are up at the Bolt Hole and 2-I have/had triphammer toes--that is toes which are constantly curled as if to grasp the floor; toes whose "knuckles" stick up like wickets in a croquet game just waiting for a heavy 2x10 to crash down upon them. Luckily--and I use the term loosely--the board "only" fell from the height of my knee or I surely would have broken something--besides the board. Damn fragile thing. Split nearly in two lengthwise right down the middle. I should be able to salvage it since a pair of brackets will span the width of the three (almost four now) boards and will be screwed into them to hold them together.

Anyway, I got the three boards cut to length and then planed their edges to produce a smooth, flat edge on each for joining purposes. Than was a difficult task because of the size and weight of the boards. Very difficult to keep the boards perpendicular to the planer table even with the rear fence. Then the length of the boards meant having one end extend well beyond the table at the beginning and end of a run. I've only got one roller support and don't have room for a second in my current setup.

Planer with a 2x10x70" board

I got the job done but am still not satisfied with the edges I've got to work with. I'm hoping some biscuits and clamp pressure will be able to bring things together tomorrow.

Biscuit Joiner

So. that's where I am right now. The legs are ready, the top boards are cut and await gluing up. I've a few errands to run tomorrow and don't know how much I'll get done. I'll be happy if I can get the top glued up.