Tuesday, December 6, 2011

She's on her feet!

Things went quite smoothly.  I glued the bottom two inches of the sideboards and installed screws from the back in elongated holes on the tops.  The bottoms of the sideboards will be pegged to the legs.

After the glued dried, I spent time making sure the tops of the sideboards are as co-planar as I can possibly make them.  The decision to leave them proud of the legs was a good one for this purpose.

Standing back to look at it, I have two reactions.  I like it a lot, and eight feet is long for a bench.  I can't even imagine a bench twelve feet long.  Next step is to start installing transverse bearers.



6 comments:

  1. Excellent job, it's really coming together! I'm following your build closely as I am planning to build one in the near future. Can't wait to see the finished product. I noted that you drilled holdfast holes in both aprons. Are you planning to work from both sides of the bench?

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  2. Andy,

    Looking great, checking in several times a day...

    Pete

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  3. David and Pete,

    Thank you. I am planning to have the bench against a wall but thought that I may as well bore the holes in both sides while I was at it so I'd have the option.

    Did you notice that my holes go uphill the wrong way as compared to the original engraving? I'm left handed, so I thought I would flip them. I have no idea if this makes sense.

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  4. Andy,

    Just noticed the hole pattern! I'm sure it will work fine either way.
    What is the final thickness of the top and aprons? Looks nice and thick.

    Pete

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  5. Both are 2". I decided to make the ledgers a full 2" too and they are glued, so the side boards are effectively 4 inches thick on their bottom halves. It was a way of adding mass and rigidity. Probably overkill.

    If you use construction material, I think this would be an excellent way to beef it up some with little effort or expense.

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  6. Coming along nicely Andy! The full 2" thick boards really seem to simplify things. As for the length, 8' seems long when you are used to working on a shorter bench. But after using it for a couple of months, it magically seems to shrink down in size. My first 2 benches were 7'. My current bench is 8', and there are times I'd like it to be 10' (primarily when sticking moldings). Sure, 5-6' is sufficient 75% of the time. But when I need the extra 2-3', I'm really glad to have it.

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