Benchtop with a Bench

I’ve already established that my bench isn’t finished but it is usable. That’s enabled me to complete a few projects to get a little bit of woodworking income which in turn has steered me away from making any progress. Well I’ve finally made it back to bench building. Thinking back to the very beginning when I first started building the front half of the top, I thought of how my knees would ache from all the hours of milling on the ground just to get the first eight boards laminated.  Those painful memories have begun to fade.

Using the bench to mill the boards for the second half has not only made the chore less painful on my body but has also allowed me to complete it in a fraction of the time. No more planing on the floor, checking flatness with the winding sticks on the saw bench, back to the floor, back to the saw bench, etc… With the use of the bench, I seem to have been able to knock out the complete second half in just two days of after work shop time.

Since there was nothing exciting about building the other half of the top, I didn’t document anything. I did take the time to take a shot after I cleaned it up after I got it out of the clamps.

I did get the mortises in the top but let me just say it was about 2230 (1030 pm for you non military types) when I did them… That being said, I may not have measured things with my full attention. I cut my mortises at 10-3/4″ from the right side instead of 11-3/4″ so things are a little off.

I have no intentions on fixing it either. I thought about adding a chisel holder there but we’ll see. Although she looks done, there is still quite a bit left to do. The left side still needs to be trimmed flush with the front, gotta make the planing stop, I have to build the center piece, secure the top to the legs, flatten the top and finally add an oil/varnish finish. I may actually meet my end of 2012 deadline!