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Scandinavian workbench from salvaged Iroko

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Re: Scandinavian workbench from salvaged Iroko

Postby TrimTheKing » 19 Jan 2021, 13:11

Lovely work mate.

Like Adrian I would like to understand the alu plate use in one of the pics. You seem to suggest you're using it to help with the mortice walls somehow. How? By bashing it down the sides to take material off?
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Mark
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Re: Scandinavian workbench from salvaged Iroko

Postby TomTrees » 19 Jan 2021, 20:11

Hello again
I think I properly muddled up my first post, so you can just forget that, besides I've found
better ways of doing things.
I will try and be a little more clear on things regarding that plate used for transferring graphite, which is
maybe just good for a reference for the folks who have more skill than I,
It has got me out of some pickles I put myself in, and for most of the operations
are probably better off with other methods.

It has value for one who wants very tight fitting mortises, well....
I have yet to see something better, might be worth saying.

I'll start with the long grain mortise walls, as that's how I got about picking it up and trying it out first.
I first used it to transfer graphite to high spots, as I cracked a few lengths of long timbers, due to the plugs being too tight, so had to find a solution for checking out large mortises like this
Long grain inserts.JPG
(198.57 KiB)


Here is the thing used to transfer graphite, I'd prefer to flip the timber around now, instead of having the bevel
facing me.
Note that this tool can be much over used, leading to something resembling something like a hand scraped
tool way from a lathe bed, this is why I'd prefer the bevel of the chisel facing away as I am better at finding high spots with the chisel instead of just removing the graphite only.
SAM_2942.JPG
(188.15 KiB)



It is a good tool for a visual aswell, and actually taught me to use a chisel in the same fashion.
(a chisel which has a flat back/face, and not that vintage one down a bit :lol: )
I'll give an example of what I mean from this photo underneath...

Note that the plate is sitting near flush on the left not quite though, ,but has a big gap on the right side,
Basically you are aiming for no shadow or gap whatsoever, which means a very light marking line needed
with the bevel facing the waste...a pencil could work well too, a deep line would make this difficult.
Both lines of the mortise walls done from one face to ensure parallel.

(Very handy if you happen to go past your line, as you don't really need one if you had it there before)
SAM_2945.JPG
(167.96 KiB)


I had better pictures on the other computer, but I can't get them off it, hopefully that part is clear...

So with a trustworthy way of pairing long grain walls, I will try and describe working on the end grain parts of the mortises using this tool,
This method only works if the timber is absolutely parallel, you would chase your tail and not get anywhere otherwise.

I'll start with how I first went about this, and how the plate makes it easier afterwards
Using a straight edge, I've since got a larger 150mm engineers square from Axi for a tenner
was doing it this way for a bit,
It takes a surprising amount of concentration to actually get a proper reading with the thin blade of that straight edge, as you have to hold it tight to the wall and you can't get you're hands in there.
checking for square.JPG
(177.02 KiB)


SAM_3336 (copy).JPG
(257.81 KiB)




Here is a method I use for doing so on a blind hole
SAM_2898.JPG
(188.37 KiB)

SAM_3341.JPG
(206.51 KiB)



Here is a load of faff
SAM_2717.JPG
(192.89 KiB)


I was grateful that I bought the larger square, which probably had something to do with me using the plate for the last job above.
SAM_2824.JPG
(304.23 KiB)


I think I tried using the timber squared on the shooting board with the plate
for the same thing as the load of faff picture above...
It works twice as well being pushed hard against the wall instead of inconsistent pressing it against the
block. repeating the picture underneath for clarity
The long bit of timber is great for pushing against the plate which will mark any high spots the far end of the mortise, it should give a good squeak whilst using it.
SAM_3649.JPG
(213.65 KiB)


I mentioned cast iron is much better for transferring marks, maybe waay too good.
A simple carpenters pencil would well for that, instead of needing that wee stick of graphite that seems to last forever. as it doesn't be long coming off aluminium.
I have been thinking of making one for narrow spaces, I think it's about 7.5mm thick or over.
It seems a nice thickness....well, for this plate anyway.
SAM_2697.JPG
(203.76 KiB)

SAM_3745.JPG
(219.83 KiB)


Those wee holes are difficult to do well, often the plug goes in half way or breaks, as is evident something went wrong here.
And even if I get the mortise bang on, I still haven't came up with a practical solution to supporting a narrow thing like this, but it would be a big help
[attachment=0]SAM_2238.JPG[/attachment

But disregarding using it as a marking tool , it was still really handy for checking things like this.
I thought it was very handy for a checking tool, whilst fitting the top component of the trestles, I might have went a bit past my lines getting to grips with the shoulder plane, it seems like it would be impossible not to have a gap showing somewhere, so the baseline in between tenons was proud from doing so...

I presume many would undercut this as I did somewhat, but still handy for suggesting that somethings not right with the shoulders





Tom
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Re: Scandinavian workbench from salvaged Iroko

Postby Trevanion » 20 Jan 2021, 21:44

TomTrees wrote:I might see if I can dig out some of those calcium bits, and compare it next to what I thought was silica.
Maybe I might try and see which seems to blunten first.
I ain't no scientist and I'm not going to be able to do proper test though.


By happenstance, I was planing up some Iroko today and came across this:

Image

Image

Image

These didn't seem so hard that they were outright wrecking the knives instantly this time but were more than likely blunting them much earlier than normal, I've had really hard deposits completely total knives in the past in a single pass. If I was doing a lot with Iroko I'd be tempted to fit in knives with a 10-degree back bevel to get a better surface finish right off the planer and have the knives last a little longer, but they'd be not so great for other work in softwoods.

Interesting article about it here: https://www.theseedybusiness.com/blog/a-tree-made-of-stone-milicia-excelsa
Image
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Re: Scandinavian workbench from salvaged Iroko

Postby thetyreman » 20 Jan 2021, 23:55

that bench looks very solid! nice work Tom
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Re: Scandinavian workbench from salvaged Iroko

Postby AJB Temple » 21 Jan 2021, 12:53

Intersting article Mr T. Thank you.

I am still puzzling a bit about the aluminium plate. I've cut a hell of a lot of mortise holes, both stopped and through and never really thought about how I get the walls square. I always try for an interference fit unless I am wedging. However, the vast majority of these have been in oak framing, and so I can check the sides for vertical and depth using my combination square. Obviously can't do that in smaller mortices.

For furniture mortices my method was learnt from a book and so I always chop out the endgrain first, working along from each end. I shall have to think it over more. This will become relevant to me soon.

Very nice work on the bench.

Adrian
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